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（复杂）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 of 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.
【小题1】Teachers are different in their opinions about ___________.

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（复杂）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 of 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 ___________.

2. The expression “play safe” probably means ____________.

3. Teachers encourage the use of dictionaries so that___________.

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

5.The major point discussed in the passage is_____________.

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，重点) it must be given over general language development and writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling.

If spelling becomes the only key 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 not to use adventurous language. That’s why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than spelling ability only.

I was once shocked to read a teacher’s comment on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing: “This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling mistakes!” It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupil’s spelling ability in writing, but it was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had failed to read the composition which contained some beautiful expressions of the child’s deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the mistakes, but if his priorities had centered on the child’s ideas, an expression of his appreciation would have given the pupil more encouragement to seek improvement.

72. The underlined expression “play safe” in paragraph two probably means _______.

  A. to write carefully                                             B. to do as teachers say

  C. to use dictionaries frequently                             D. not to write words one is not sure of

73. Teachers encourage the use of dictionaries so that _______.

  A. they may spend more time teaching writing techniques

  B. they may have less trouble in correcting mistakes

  C. students will have more confidence in writing

  D. students will learn to be independent of teachers

74. 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

75. Teachers are different in their opinions about _______.

  A. the necessity of teaching spelling

  B. the role of spelling in general language development

  C. the way of teaching spelling

  D. the importance of the basic grammar

There is a common belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever considered spelling unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, quite 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 in writing without holding him back with spelling.

If spelling becomes the only point of his teacher’s interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to “play safe”. He will write only words within his spelling range. 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 of writing about a personal experience: “This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling mistakes.” It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupils’ technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad thing for the teacher who had omitted (略过) to read the composition, which contained some beautiful expressions of the child’s deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw atten­tion to the mistakes, but if his priority had centered on the child's ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more hope to seek improve­ment.

41. Teachers differ in their opinions about       

A. the difficulties in teaching spelling

B. the necessity of teaching spelling

C. the importance of the basic writing skills

D. the role of spelling in general language development

42. The expression “play safe” probably means ____.

A. to write carefully        

B. to avoid using words one is not sure of

C. to use dictionaries frequently  

D. to do as teachers say

43. 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 trust in writing.

D. students will learn to spell words correctly.

44. 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

45. The main idea of the passage is _______.

A. the importance of developing writing skills

B. the importance of spelling

C. the correct way of marking composition

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