Question

The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphones, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic (怀旧的)skill. However, while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful---both in school and in life.

Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.

Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.

In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to how well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.

Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe(转换) “those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot(发现) spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct then over time.

“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child has a functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won’t have the knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”

1.What makes writing by hand a thing of the past?

A．The absence of blackboard in classroom.

B．The use of new technologies in teaching.

C．The lack of practice in handwriting.

D．The popular use of smartphones.

2.Berninger’s study published in 2009 ___________.

A．focused on the difference between writing by hand and on a computer

B．indicated that students prefer to write with a pen and paper

C．found that good essays are made up of long sentences

D．discussed the importance of writing speed

3.Which of the following best shows the role of spelling?

A．Spelling improves one’s memory of words.

B．Spelling ability is closely related to writing ability.

C．Spelling benefits the translation from words into ideas.

D．Spelling slows down finding exact words to express ideas.

4.What does “mind’s eye” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Window.          B．Soul              C．Picture           D．Imagination.

5.What conclusion could be drawn from the passage?

A．Computers can help people with their choice of words.

B．Spell checks can take the place of spelling teaching.

C．Handwriting still has a place in today’s classrooms.

D．Functional spelling ability develops fast in the fifth grade.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.A

3.B

4.D

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要讲述的是：随着现代科技的发展，书写渐渐被人们所忽视。但是Berninger的研究表明，书写在现代教学中应该占有一席之地。

1.细节理解。根据第一段“With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphone, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic (怀旧的)skill.（随着像电脑和智能手机的使用，书写已经成为了人们怀旧的东西）”可知答案是B。

2.细节理解。根据第三段首句“Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand.（Berninger和她的同事做了个研究，想看看学生用电脑和用手工完成各种写的任务的情况）”可以知道答案是A。

3.细节理解。根据第四段首句“In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to know well they can write.（在更近的一次研究中，Berninge想看看拼写在学生写作技巧中所发挥的什么作用，结果发现字写得好的孩子文章也写得好）”可以知道答案是B。

4.词义猜测。根据第五段可知：拼写帮助学生把想法转化为他们思想中的文字，再把思想中的文字转换到纸上，得知答案是imagination，不仅帮助孩子们把想法转化为文字，而且能发现拼写错误并改正它们。选D

5.主旨大意。根据叠加全文的主题句和文章的最后一段，首段说明随着新技术的到来，手写已经成为过去，之后文章中部提到手写的好处，最后一段进一步阐明书写的重要。选C。

考点：考查文化类短文

点评：这篇文章篇幅较长，学生要培养快熟阅读能力，难点的题目是推理题，解推断题最主要的方法是根据词义关系推断具体细节。