The baby boomers began streaming into the first grade by the mid-1950s and became a flood by 1960.The public school system suddenly found itself overtaxed.While the number of school children rose because of wartime and postwar conditions, these same conditions made the schools even less prepared to cope with the flood.The wartime economy meant that few new schools were built between 1940 and 1945.Moreover, during the war and in the boom times that followed, large numbers of teachers left their profession for better-paying jobs elsewhere in the economy.
Therefore, in the 1950 s and 1960 s, the baby boom hit an antiquated (陈旧的) and inadequate school system.Consequently, the“custodial rhetoric”of the 1930 s and early 1940 s no longer made sense; that is, keeping youths aged sixteen and older out of the labor market by keeping them in school could no longer be a high priority for an institution unable to find space and staff to teach younger children aged five to sixteen.With the baby boom, the focus of educators and of laymen interested in education inevitably turned toward the lower grades and back to basic academic skills and discipline.The system no longer had much interest in offering nontraditional, new, and extra services to older youths.
1.The word“it”near the end of paragraph 1 refers to.
A.value. B.economic science.
C.economic aspect. D.the baby boom.
2.The public schools of the 1950s and 1960s faced all of the following problems EXCEPT.
A.a declining number of students.
B.old-fashioned facilities.
C.a shortage of teachers.
D.an inadequate number of school buildings.
3.The word“laymen”in paragraph 3, sentence 3 is closest in meaning to.
A.professionals B.non-professionals.
C.officials D.bystanders.
4.Where in the passage does the author refer to the attitude of Americans toward raising a family in the 1950 s and 1960 s?A.Paragraph 1, sentence 1.
B.Paragraph 2, sentence 2.
C.Paragraph 3, sentence 3.
D.Paragraph 1, the last sentence.
5.Which of the following best characterizes the organization of the passage?A.The third paragraph presents the effect of circumstances described in paragraphs 1 and 2.
B.The third paragraph provides a fictional account to illustrate a problem presented in the first paragraph.
C.The third paragraph argues against a point made in the second paragraph.
D.The third paragraph introduces a problem not mentioned in the first paragraph.
Pronouncing a language is a skill.Every normal person is expert in the skill of pronouncing his own language; but few people are even moderately proficient at pronouncing foreign languages.Now there are many reasons for this, some obvious, some perhaps not so obvious.But I suggest that the fundamental reason why people in general do not speak foreign languages very much better than they do is that they fail to grasp the true nature of the problem of learning to pronounce, and consequently never set about tackling it in the right way.Far too many people fail to realize that pronouncing a foreign language is a skill - one that needs careful training of a special kind, and one that cannot be acquired by just leaving it to take care of itself.I think even teachers of language, while recognizing the importance of a good accent, tend to neglect,in their practical teaching, the branch of study concerned with speaking the language.So the first point I want to make is that English pronunciation must be taught; the teacher should be prepared to devote some of the lesson time to this, and by his whole attitude to the subject should get the student to feel that here is a matter worthy of receiving his close attention.So,there should be occasions when other aspects of English, such as grammar or spelling, are allowed for the moment to take second place.
Apart form this question of the time given to pronunciation, there are two other requirements for the teacher: the first, knowledge; the second,technique.
It is important that the teacher should be in possession of the necessary information.This can generally be obtained from books.It is possible to get from books some idea of the mechanics (结构) of speech, and of what we call general phonetic (语音的) theory.It is also possible in this way to get a clear mental picture of the relationship between the sounds of different languages,between the speech habits of English people and those, say, of your students.
Unless the teacher has such a picture, any comments he may make on his students pronunciation are unlikely to be of much use, and lesson time spent on pronunciation may well be time-wasted.
1.What does the writer actually say about pronouncing foreign languages?A.Only a few people are really proficient.
B.No one is really an expert in the skill.
C.There aren t many people who are even fairly good.
D.There are even some people who are moderately proficient.
2.The writer argues that going about the problem of pronunciation in the wrong way is.
A.an obvious cause of not grasping the problem correctly.
B.a fundamental consequence of not speaking well.
C.a consequence of not grasping the problem correctly.
D.not an obvious cause of speaking poorly.
3.What is it that teachers are said to be inclined to forget?A.The practical teaching of languages.
B.The importance of a good accent.
C.The principle of phonetic theory.
D.The teaching of pronunciation in the classroom.
4.The value the student puts on correct speech habits depends upon.
A.how closely he attends to the matter.
B.whether it is English that is being taught.
C.his teacher s approach to pronunciation.
D.the importance normally given to grammar and spelling.
5.How might the teacher find himself wasting lesson time?A.By spending lesson time on pronunciation.
B.By making well-informed comments upon pronunciation.
C.By not using books on phonetics in the classroom.
D.By not giving students a clear mental picture of the difference between sounds.
