So long as teachers fail to distinguish between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for which only children can do for themselves. Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them. It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading. Douglas insists that"reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible."
Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes. They differ in kind and function. The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read. Teaching is also public activity: It can be seen and observed.
Learning to read involves all that each individual does not make sense of the world of printed language. Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public scrutiny. If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching that will aid the child in knowledge. Smith has one principal rule for all teaching instructions. "Make learning to read easily, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children."
When the roles of teacher and learner are seen for what they are, and when both teacher and learner fulfill them appropriately, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is eliminated. Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the opportunity to solve the problem of learning to read by reading.
1. The problem with the reading course as mentioned in the first paragraph is that____.
A) it is one of the most difficult school courses
B) students spend endless hours in reading
C) reading tasks are assigned with little guidance
D) too much time is spent in teaching of reading
2. The teaching of reading will be successful if ____.
A) teachers can improve conditions at school for the students
B) teachers can enable students to develop their own way of reading
C) teachers can devise the most efficient system for reading
D) teachers can make their teaching activities observably
3. The word "scrutiny"(Para.3) most probably means____.
A) inquiry B) observation C) control D) suspicion
4. According to the passage, learning to read will no longer be a difficult task when ____.
A) children become highly motivated
B) teacher and learner roles are interchangeable
C) teaching helps children in the search for knowledge
D) reading enriches children’s experience
5. The main idea of the passage is that ____.
A) teachers should do as little as possible in helping students learn to read
B) teachers should encourage students to read as widely as possible
C) reading ability is something acquired rather than taught
D) reading is more complicated than generally believed
文章大意：
本文介绍了孩子如何学会阅读。虽然老师花了大量的时间教学生阅读，但显然这是徒劳无益的，因为阅读只有通过为学生创造合适的条件，让他们自己养成有效的阅读习惯，并通过阅读本身来解决有效阅读这一问题。
答案和解析：
1. D 细节题。通过题干回到第二段找相对应的地方可以得知答案。根据短文得知，第一段里提到的阅读课存在的问题是教学生阅读花的时间太多。见文章第一段里的第2-4句：Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them. It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading. Douglas insists that “reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible.” 根据endless hours spent in activities about reading可以判断，“大量的时间花在阅读这一活动上”，再结合Teaching children to read，可以看出阅读活动是指“教小孩阅读”而不是“小孩自己阅读”，所以答案为D。
2. B 细节题。通过题干回到文章里找相对应的地方可以得知答案。根据短文得知，如果老师能够让学生培养起自己的阅读方法，那么阅读教学就成功了。见文章第二段里的第三句： The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read. 根据该句子的意思，“教阅读是否成功”在于for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read，所以答案为B。
3. B 词义题。通过上下文可以得知答案。根据短文得知，scrutiny的意思是observation。见文章第二段里的Teaching is also public activity: It can be seen and observed.与teaching 相对应的是learning to read, 而Almost all of it(learning to read)is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that processis not open to public scrutiny.因而teaching: public, can be seen/observed,那么learning to read 则是private, not open to public scrutiny, scrutiny一定与seen/observed近义，所以答案为B。
4. A 细节题。通过题干回到文章里找相对应的地方可以得知答案。根据短文得知，当学生有强烈的学习动机时，学会阅读就不再是一件难事。见文章最后一句Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the opportunity to solve the problem of learning to read by reading。句中的when隐含条件，在when条件中，关键是孩子有机会“通过阅读来解决学会阅读这一问题(to solve the problem of learning to read by reading)，所以答案为A。
5. C 主旨大意题。通过文章的主题句可以得知答案。根据短文得知，阅读能力是后天习得，而不是老师教会的。见文章的主题句，即para.1第一句：So long as teachers fail to distinguish between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for children that which only children can do for themselves.根据句子的意思，老师教孩子阅读，而这种做法只不过是“为孩子们做了只有他们自己才能做的事(do that which only children can do for themselves)”，所以答案为C。
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