Tired of telling students to ask questions and to think about what they were doing, Damien Hynes, a high school geography teacher in Australia, decided to do an experiment to test what he had long been thinking.He wrote some well-organized nonsense (something untrue) on the blackboard.The students simply copied it but very few asked any questions.This shows that students are willing to believe anything given by teachers.The story is repeated in support of the Project for Enhancing Effective Learning (PEEL). PEEL was carried out by some teachers and researchers in Melbourne who had concluded that normal teaching methods seldom achieve their intended goals; what the teachers think they are teaching is one thing and what the students actually learn is something else.Students' lack of an over-all view of learning goals and their concentration on test scores make them see each lesson as a separate activity. Researchers realized that many students do not come into class empty-headed but have their own explanations of how the world works.Their own ideas can remain important to them even when they differ from scientific explanations that are learned later.In fact such ideas are hardly affected by traditional teaching.Students accept the teacher's scientific explanation, but do not drop their own.They simply keep both and use them practically: in a class test, they copy the teacher's idea, but in real life they use their own. Clearly what was needed was to make students understand their learning process , and this is what the PEEL teachers set out to deal with.On the surface, a class being taught by PEEL methods only differs from an ordinary class in being a little noisier, because more people are talking.But there are some meaningful changes.Students are given much more time to express their views, and teachers don't make immediate judgment.The students are allowed to guide what is done in class and their own ideas are always respected.This draws their attention to the actual learning process, and they become... An important difference between PEEL and non-PEEL classes is that in the PEEL classes _ . A) the teacher does not give the usual scientific explanations B) students always have their own knowledge of the subject C) more attention is paid to the students' own ideas D) the best explanations are given by the students
C
(Question)
Winston Churchill was born into a famous family.His father was a successful politician.However, as a boy, Churchill was considered a slow learner in school.Later he entered the Army and saw action in various countries. In October 1900, Churchill began his political career.For the next sixty years Churchill's work as a great politician was both brighter and more difficult than his father's had been.In 1939 German attacked Poland.Churchill prepared to fight.In 1940 he became the Prime Minister of English. France fell.The Germans fought their way through Western Europe.It looked as if Britain was about to lose the war.Was it now possible to ask for peace, and listen to Hitler? Churchill spoke: "I have nothing to offer but blood, hard work , tears and sweat... You ask what is our policy? I will tell you, it is to fight, by sea , by land and air, with all our force and with all the strength that God can give us.You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory." The Germans began moving their armies to the French coast and prepared to go to war with British.The British had not enough guns to go around.Churchill gave the answer: " We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.We shall fight on the coast ; we shall fight on the landing grounds; we shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills; we shall never give up." By his courage and hard work, Churchill _ his people and other nations fighting together against Hitler.Victory finally came when the Germans lost World War II. Churchill died in 1965 and was given a state funeral.This was a fitting payment to one of all the greatest men the world had ever seen. The Germans attacked British _ . A) after France was defeated B) before France fell C) soon after Poland was attacked D) before Churchill became the Prime Minister
(Answer)
A
Ques: When Pat Jones finished college, she decided to travel around the world and see as many foreign places as she could while she was young. Pat wanted to visit Latin America first, so she got a job as an English teacher in a school in Bolivia. Pat spoke a little Spanish, so she was able to communicate with her students even when they didn't know much English. Once, A sentence she had read somewhere struck her mind: if you dream in a foreign language, you have really mastered it. Pat repeated this sentence to her students and hoped that some day she would dream in Spanish and they would dream in English. One day, one of her worst students came up and explained in Spanish that he had not done his homework. He had gone to bed early and had slept badly. "What does this have to do with your homework?" Pat asked. "I dreamed all night, Miss Jones. And my dream was in English." "In English?" Pat was very surprised, since he was such a bad student. She was even secretly jealous . Her dream was still not in Spanish. But she encouraged her young student, "Well, tell me about your dream." "All the people in my dream spoke English. All the newspapers and magazines and all the TV programs were in English." "But that's wonderful," said Pat. "What did all the people say to you?" "I am sorry, Miss Jones. That's why I slept so badly. I didn't understand a word they said. It was a nightmare ". From the passage we can infer that _ . A) in Bolivia, people speak Spanish B) Pat's student who dreamed in English was actually good at English C) Pat has already learned much Spanish D) in Latin America, the newspapers and magazines are in English
Ans: A
Ques: As an effect of the high fuel prices spent on bus transportation, some American schools are changing to a four-day week. That means longer days instead of the traditional Monday through Friday schedule. Having been approved for three years and beginning in the fall, students in the Maccray school district in Minnesota will be in school from Tuesday to Friday. Each school day will be 65 minutes longer. Officials say the district expects to save about sixty-five thousand dollars a year in transportation costs. In new Mexico, the first school district changed to a four-day week in 1974 because of the Arab oil boycott . Now, 17 out of 89 districts use it. In Custer, South Dakota, students have been going to school four days a week since 1995. Superintendent Tim Creal says the change has saved about one million dollars over just the past eight years. He sees other benefits, too. Students get more instructional time, and activities that used to take up class time are now held on non-school days. He says that in the future, the growth of online classes could make it possible to require even fewer days in school. High fuel prices are driving college students to take more online classes. A four-day school week sounds like a great idea for students and teachers, but working parents may have to pay for child care for that fifth day. It can be learned from the passage that _ A) students will be in school from Monday to Tuesday. B) four-day week was first carried out in South Dakota. C) Maccray will save one million dollars every year. D) Minnesota state has approved the four-day week plan
Ans:
D