We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. Onthe contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel thatthere are many disadvantages in streaming(把......按能力分班) pupils. It doesnot take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It canhave a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, itcan be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!
Besides, it is rather unreal tograde people just according to their intellectual ability. This isonly one aspect of their totalpersonality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to thefull, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities andsocial skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all theseaspects of learning.
In our classrooms, we work invarious ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunityto learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They alsolearn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, tomake decisions, to analyse and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. Thepupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.
Sometimes the pupils work inpairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can dothis at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this isappropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them theskills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can doadvanced work: it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupilsto do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement toattain this goal.
1. In the passage the author's attitude towards"mixed-ability teaching" is _______ .
A) critical B)questioning
C) approving D)objective
2. By "held back" (Line I) the authormeans ______ .
A) made to remain in the same classes
B) forced to study in the lower classes
C) drawn to their studies
D) prevented from advancing
3. The author argues that a teacher's chief concernshould be the development of the
student's _______ .
A) personal qualities and social skills
B) total personality
C) learning ability and communicative skills
D) intellectual ability
4. Which of the following is NOT MENTIONED in thethird paragraph?
A) Group work gives pupils the opportunity tolearn to work together with others.
B) Pupils also learn to develop their reasoningabilities.
C) Group work provides pupils with theopportunity to learn to be capable organizers.
D) Pupils also learn how to participate inteaching activities.
5. The author's purpose in writing this passage isto _______ .
A) argue for teaching bright andnot-so-bright pupils in the same class
B) recommend pair work and group work forclassroom activities
C) offer advice on the proper use of thelibrary
D) emphasize the importance of appropriateformal classroom teaching