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There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, vastly different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority（优先）it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling.

If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher's interest, clearly a bright child will be likely “to play safe”. He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That's why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.

I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece or writing about a personal experience:“This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling errors and your writing is illegible（难以辨认的）.” It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupil's technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had omitted to read the essay, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child's deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the errors, but if his priorities had centered on the child's ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more motivation（动力）to seek improvement.

1．Teachers are different in their opinions about____.

A．the difficulties in teaching spelling

B．the role of spelling in general language development

C．the complexities of the basic spelling skills

D．the necessity of teaching spelling

2．The expression “to play safe” （Line 2, Para. 2）probably means____.

A．to write carefully

B．to do as teachers say

C．to use dictionaries frequently

D．to avoid using words one is not sure of

3．Teachers encourage the use of dictionaries so that____.

A．students will be able to express their ideas more freely

B．teachers will have less trouble in correcting mistakes

C．students will have more confidence in writing

D．students will learn to be independent of teachers

4．The writer seems to think that the teacher's judgment on that sensitive piece of writing is____.

A．reasonable

B．unfair

C．foolish

D．careless

5．The major point discussed in the passage is____.

A．the importance of developing spelling skills

B．the complexities of spelling

C．the correct way of marking compositions

D．the relationship between spelling and the content of a composition

1．【答案】B

【精析】文章第一段中提到：“There are, however, vastly different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority it must be given over general language development and writing ability.”故选B项。

2．【答案】D

【精析】文中对play safe进行了解释：“He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language.”与D项相符。

3．【答案】A

【精析】文章第一段的末尾：“The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling.”而后作者又提到：“That's why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.”可知A项是正确答案。

4．【答案】B

【精析】从第三段末尾“The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the errors, but if his priorities had centered on the child's ideas”来看，在这里关键是读出but的语义转折及后面的虚拟。由此可知该教师的评语是不太公平的。

5．【答案】D

【精析】整篇文章围绕拼写和写作的关系展开，故A项为正确答案。