Testing has replaced teaching in most public schools. Pretests, drills, tests, and retests fill my own children’s school week. They know that the best way to read a textbook is to look at the questions at the end of the chapter and then skim the text for the answers. I believe that my daughter Erica, who gets excellent marks, has never read a chapter of any of her school textbooks all the way through. And teachers are often heard to state proudly and openly that they teach to the mandated state test.
Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon. Instead of deciding what skills students ought to learn, helping students learn them, and then using some sensible methods of assessment (评价) to discover whether students have mastered the skills, teachers are encouraged to reverse the process. First one looks at a test, which is intended for money. Then one chooses the skills needed not to master reading, but to do well in the test. Finally, the test skills are taught.
The ability to read or write or calculate might imply the ability to do reasonably well on standardized tests. However, neither reading nor writing develops simply through being taught to take tests. We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparation for a test of a skill with the acquisition(习得) of that skill. Too many discussions of basic skill make this misunderstanding because people are only interested in the test rather than concerned with the nature and quality of what is taught.
Recently, many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read. These students are quite good at test taking and filling in workbooks. However, they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read. They know the details but can’ t see or understand the whole. They are taught to be so concerned with grade that they have no time or ease of mind to think about meaning, and reread things if necessary.
1. The author gives an account of Erica’s performance in her study in order to show .
A. her cleverness in test- taking B. the incompetence of teachers
C. there is something wrong with the current practice in teaching D. the best way to read textbooks
2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The phenomenon of teaching to the test has aroused curiosity in many educators.
B. Skills in general are not only useless but often mislead students.
C. Ability to read and write is one thing, and ability to do well on standardized tests is quite another.
D. Preparation for test of a skill does not necessarily mean the acquisition of that skill.
3. The author insists that .
A. mandated state tests be replaced by some more sensible methods of assessment
B. teachers pay more attention to the nature and quality of what is taught
C. students not be concerned with grades but do more reading and thinking
D. main changes be brought about in the general teaching
4.We can safely conclude that ____my cause educational problems.
A. teaching to the test B. standardized tests
C. test-taking D. preparation for mandated state tests