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 “_______” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct them 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 popular use of smartphones.

B.The absence of blackboard in classrooms.

C.The lack of practice in handwriting.

D.The use of new technologies in teaching.

2.Berninger’s study published in 2009 _________.

A.discussed the importance of writing speed

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

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

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

3.What does “mind’s eye” in Paragraph 5 mean?

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

4.What conclusion could be drawn from the passage?

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

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

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

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

Answer

1.D

2.D

3.A

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。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.

细节理解题。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），可知在教学中，新技术的使用让手写成为历史。故选D。

2.

细节理解题。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作任务的情况）”可知Berninger的研究发表于2009年，重点研究了手写和电脑书写的区别。故选D

3.

词义猜测题。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。故选A。

4.

推理判断题。根据第一段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.（然而，尽管今天的教育者在教学中使用越来越多的技术，但许多人认为，无论在学校还是在生活中，基本的书写技能仍然是学生成功的必要条件。）可知在今天的教室里，书写仍然占有一席之地。故选A。