We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched.

We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming (把…按能力分班) pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade! Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual ability. This is only one aspect of their total personality. As teachers, we are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.

In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.

Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this is appropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can do advanced work: it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.

1. The author’s attitude towards ’mixed-ability teaching’ is         .

   A) critical        B) questioning         C) approving        D) objective

2. According to the passage, streaming students are not good in that ________.

   A) bright students develop faster than the not so bright students

B) bright students will look down upon the not so bright students

   C) the grades students get in intelligence test are not reliable

D) it ignores other aspects of a student’s personality

3. The author argues that a teacher’s concern should be the development of the student’s      .

   A) personal qualities and social skills        C) learning ability and communicative skills

   B) total personality                       D) intellectual ability

4. Which of the following is NOT MENTIONED as an advantage of group work?

A)   Group work gives pupils the opportunity to learn to work together with others.

B)   Pupils also learn to develop their reasoning abilities.

C)    Group work provides pupils with the opportunity to learn to be capable organizers.

D)   Pupils also learn how to participate in teaching activities.

5. The author’s purpose of writing this passage is to         .

A)   advocate teaching bright and not-so-bright pupils in the same class

B)   recommend pair work and group work for classroom activities

C)    offer advice on the proper use of the library

D)   emphasize the importance of appropriate formal classroom teaching

参考答案C D B D A

我们发现混合能力教学不会阻碍聪明学生的进步，相反其知识和阅历会得到极大的丰富。我们认为把学生按能力分班有诸多弊端。这样做没有考虑到儿童发育速度差异这一事实；

这样做对聪明的和不很聪明的孩子都有负面影响，毕竟在尖子班里当最后一名会让人气馁。
两外，仅仅按照智力把学生评定为不同等级是错误的做法，智力只是一个人人格的一个方面。我们关注的是培养学生全面能力，不仅仅是其学习能力。我们也看重学生的个人素养

和社交能力，我们发现混合能力教学有助于这些能力的学习。
在我们的课堂上，我们用各种不同的方法（组织教学活动）。学生们常常分组学习：这样他们便有机会去学会合作，学会分享，并有机会配有领导才能。他们还可以学会处理个人

问题，学会思考，学会决策，学会分析，学会评价，学会有效的交流。学生们既可以向老师学习，也可以相互学习。
有时，学生两人一组学习；有时他们可以按自己的速度完成各自的学习任务。合适的时候，我们也给学生安排一些正式的课堂教学。我们鼓励学生们利用图书馆，我们教会他们高

效利用图书馆的方法。超前的学生可以做一些超前的作业，就这点而言，年龄并不重要。我们期望学生们做到最好而不是最差，我们尽可能鼓励他们实现这一目标。