Teaching Poetry
No poem should ever be discussed or "analyzed"， until it has been read aloud by someone， teacher or student． Better still， perhaps， is the practice of reading it twice， once at the beginning of the discussion and once at the end， so the sound of the poem is the last thing one hears of it．
All discussions of poetry are， in fact， preparations for reading it aloud， and the reading of the poem is， finally， the most telling "interpretation" of it， suggesting tone， rhythm， and meaning all at once． Hearing a poet read the work in his or her own voice， on records or on film， is obviously a special reward． But even those aids to teaching can not replace the student and teacher reading it or， best of all， reciting it．
I have come to think， in fact， that time spent reading a poem aloud is much more important than "analyzing" it， if there isn't time for both． I think one of our goals as teachers of English is to have students love poetry． Poetry is "a criticism of life"， and "a heightening of lief"． It is "an approach to the truth of feeling"， and it "can save your life"． It also deserves a place in the teaching of language and literature more central than it presently occupies．
I am not saying that every English teacher must teach poetry． Those who don't like it should not be forced to communicate this to anyone else． But those who do teach poetry must keep in mind a few thins about its essential nature， about its sound as well as its sense， and they must make room in the classroom for hearing poetry as well as thinking about it．
1. To have a better understanding of a poem， one should ．| A．analyze it by oneself |
| B．discuss it with others |
| C．practise reading it aloud |
| D．copy it down in a notebook |
| A．Extending your life |
| B．Saving your life |
| C．Criticizing life |
| D．Heightening life |
| A．The teaching of poetry is more important than any other subject． |
| B．More importance should be given to the teaching of poetry． |
| C．Poetry is the foundation of all language and literature courses． |
| D．One cannot enjoy life fully without an understanding of poetry． |
| A．provide equipment |
| B．build a school |
| C．set up a house |
| D．leave a certain amount of time |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Today, getting information is as easy as opening a browser on your computer/phone, typing in a question and waiting a second for a long list of links to load. These websites will promise to answer your question. But actually, they may not be all that trustworthy. Figuring out which site is believable and which is false takes work. It isn’t impossible, though. Actually, it is what every good journalist (新闻记者) does daily. And students and other non-journalists also can do it.
To check a new claim (声明), good reporters contact experts on the topic. In journalism, such experts are known as “sources”. This may be a scientist who discovered something new in the lab. Or it could be the witness to a crime.
However, not everything is easy. For instance, if there’s a forest fire, how do you know where it started, when and how? You can ask government officials, but they may not know. You can talk to people near the fire shortly after it started. But unless someone spotted the fire as it happened, people may never know for sure. They may simply offer speculation. Saying something “might have” or even “probably” started that fire isn’t a fact. So you’d have to qualify any statement about the fire’s origins.
I describe such words as “weasel words”. These words and phrases include “might” “could have” “was likely to have been”, etc. Whenever something isn’t known for sure, journalists will highlight their uncertainty by using weasel words. They never over-blow claims to the readers.
A good reporter should be paid for the work he does. Some blogs and even news sites are authored by unpaid writers. Many of these writers are untrained in reporting, and their reports may not provide the depth. Thus, if the news you’re reading is free to the world online, consider what that may mean. Overall, you should be skeptical (怀疑的). That’s acting like a journalist.
1. According to the first paragraph, we know that every day a good journalist tries to________ .| A．get information | B．check information |
| C．write information | D．analyze information |
| A．By listing some facts. | B．By giving an explanation. |
| C．By raising some questions. | D．By giving an example. |
| A．They are annoying to the readers. |
| B．They should be avoided in a report. |
| C．They are a sign of a good journalist. |
| D．They make a difference to a report. |
| A．Keep in Doubt like a Good Reporter |
| B．Learn from a Good Journalist |
| C．Check Facts You Can Trust |
| D．Gain Believable Information |
【推荐2】Have you ever noticed what happens to an idea once you express it？Just talking about it or writing it down causes you to make it clear in your own mind.How can you use this to increase your brain power？Start writing.
By putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic(逻辑) behind what you think, feel, or only partly understand.Often, explaining a thought is the process of understanding.In other words, you increase your brain power by exercising your “explain power”．
Another benefit of writing is that it helps you remember.Many, if not most, highly productive(多产的；生产的) people are always taking notes.You can try keeping it all in your head, but if you keep a journal of your ideas the next time you’re working on a big project, you’ll probably have more success.
Want to understand a topic？Write a book about it.That’s an extreme example, but if you are learning something new, write a letter to a friend about it, and you will understand it better.Want to invent something？Write an explanation of the problem—why you want to solve it, and why it is worth solving, and you’re halfway there.
Writers don’t always write because they clearly understand something beforehand.Often, they write about something because they want to understand it.You can do the same.Writing will help bring you to an understanding.Give it a try.
1. What would be the best title for the passage?| A．A Way on How to Write |
| B．Increase Your Brain Power Through Writing |
| C．Brain Power Helps Improve Your Writing |
| D．How to Start Your Writing |
| A．to increase your brain power |
| B．to improve the ability to remember |
| C．to develop your interest in study |
| D．to strengthen the understanding of a topic |
| A．has understood it very well |
| B．needs to understand it better |
| C．wants to remember it in his or her mind |
| D．is testing his or her new ideas |
| A．you are already successful |
| B．there’s a long way for you to go to reach your goal |
| C．you are left wondering what to do |
| D．you have been on the way to success |
【推荐3】Whenever we're introduced to strangers, we make snap decisions about them according to our first impressions. Are they attractive or how much do they earn?
For most Brits, simply asking someone how much they're worth' financially is considered very impolite. Thankfully, most people are kind enough to drop several hints (暗示)about their relative wealth or successful careers They always post on social media about flying to a meeting for work. They're always wearing clothes with labels big enough to silently scream about how rich they are and how well they're doing.
It's a worrying trend, and I'm not immune to it. I've felt the warm happiness of knowing I earned more than somebody, and the baseless grey irritation of knowing that I earn less than another. I've checked into places while I know full well that anybody reading it will get jealous.
It seems as though self-worth is increasingly being tied to the careers we choose and the money we earn. A study in 2013, for example found that nearly 17% of unemployed Americans were depressed compared to almost 6% of those who had a permanent job.
We need to stop placing so much value on what a person earns. Don't get me wrong-being ambitious is not a fault, and achievements should always be celebrated. But when a person uses their success to judge you negatively it becomes a problem.
If you want to know what you're really worth, here's a tip: It doesn't have anything to do with your bank account. It's about how many times you've been there for your friends. It's how many times you've been kind to a stranger It's every time you did something unselfish, or told your partner you loved him/her, or treated someone with respect no matter where they were in their own life.
1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?| A．Most Brits are polite. |
| B．Most Brits love asking others about wealth. |
| C．Most Brits like to show off their wealth and career. |
| D．Most Brits have lots of wealth and successful careers |
| A．Exposed. | B．Accustomed. |
| C．Addicted | D．Unaffected. |
| A．People think self-value isn't tied to wealth and career. |
| B．People tend to think wealth and career reflect self-value |
| C．People tend to feel depressed because of their unemployment. |
| D．People get to stop placing so much value on wealth and career. |
| A．To convince us what self-value lies in. |
| B．To explain why we show off our wealth. |
| C．To tell us how we deal with our wealth and career. |
| D．To help us how we choose the careers and earn more money. |
【推荐1】I’ve always disliked the term homework. Surely home is where we rest, refresh, recreate — in the truest sense, it’s where we don’t work. What sort of message have we sent our young people all these years by requiring them to work not only at school but at home? No wonder they don’t prefer homework.
At my school, we have kept the older name for homework: prep (or to use the full name and highlight its true purpose: preparation). Prep is designed to help children prepare for the next lesson. A number of short tasks can be part of prep these days: a YouTube clip, a short film made by a teacher, a map or picture to look at. Something visual often suits the child who, by the end of a busy school day, is mentally tired.
Prep can still consist of consolidation exercises but based on past experience, a practical method should be that these are not as many as to be demanding and should be adjusted to suit the child’s needs. Some written work maybe requested but I would hope that it would be a short piece or even a sample paragraph. “Write an essay...” comes with strings attached and usually takes rather longer than the prep time needed.
Ensure that a child’s workspace at home is tidy, quiet and uninterrupted by devices that are not being used for study. On tablets or PCs in use for homework, turn off the notifications or remove any apps you feel are a distraction. Keep an eye on, but not a physical presence in, the workspace until you know your child is truly self-sufficient in terms of focus and pace of work.
Finally, I advise parents to coach children in the Nike approach: “Just do it.” In truth this is generally more favoured by boys than girls, who love wasting time arranging the many coloured pens and crisp stationery. Help your daughter release her inner boy, grab a pen, get the work done, cross out errors with one straight line so that the teacher can see the thought process, finish, pack the bag for tomorrow, and go out to play!
1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?| A．To explain what home is. |
| B．To explain what homework is. |
| C．To explain why children don’t like homework. |
| D．To explain why the author doesn’t like the term homework. |
| A．Making a map. | B．Clipping a picture. |
| C．Watching a short video. | D．Shooting a short film. |
| A．Writing a long essay can be part of preparation. |
| B．Keep an eye on and stay with children until their work is done. |
| C．Preparation can be homework but consolidation exercises cannot. |
| D．Turn off the notifications when children do homework on tablets or PCs. |
| A．A principal. | B．A photographer. |
| C．A parent. | D．An official. |
【推荐2】A few weeks ago, I pulled an old road map out of my glove box and handed it to my kids. They’d never seen the province of Ontario laid out like this before. They stared at it, asking about all the towns, parks and other landmarks we’d visited, and I pointed them out on the map.
Digital maps and GPS are modern wonders that have gotten me out of many confusing places, but paper maps still have a role to play in our lives. Most of us adults learned to read them out of necessity, but it’s up to us to pass on that skill to children whose need may not be so obvious, but who still will benefit from it.
As Trevor Muir wrote in an article on this topic, “When kids learn how to create and use paper maps, they are doing more than just learning how to get around. They are actually developing a fundamental skill that they will use for the rest of their lives. Map reading skill still belongs in today’s classroom.”
As a child, I had National Geographic maps taped to my bedroom walls. This aroused my curiosity and imagination about those places and thus made me eager to remember my geography and history lessons because they were tied to places I’d “seen”. Even now as a mother of four, I’ve also spared time to travel to many of the countries whose maps I studied as a child.
Additionally, in this fast-changing world, unexpected events can rapidly influence one’s usual way of life. When GPS satellites or Internet connections are affected, this old-fashioned skill can get you out of a mess without requiring a smartphone. Last but not least, paper maps arouse big picture thinking, showing kids that there’s a much bigger world out there and helping to direct them within it.
So, now is a good time to pull out those dusty old maps and lay them on the kitchen table.
1. How did the children react when given the paper map?| A．They seemed totally confused. |
| B．They showed great curiosity. |
| C．They found it less convenient than GPS. |
| D．They recognized the landmarks themselves effortlessly. |
| A．They promote reliance on GPS technology. |
| B．They provide instant convenience and accuracy. |
| C．They enhance curiosity and imagination. |
| D．They get rid of the need for smartphones. |
| A．Paper maps are already out of date. |
| B．Internet connections are always reliable. |
| C．GPS will sooner or later replace paper maps. |
| D．Paper maps provide kids with a grand vision. |
| A．How to Teach Kids to Survive in the Wild |
| B．Time to Teach Kids to Read Paper Maps |
| C．How to Teach Kids to Recognize Strange Places |
| D．Time to Encourage Kids to Explore a Real World |
【推荐3】As the latest crop of students fill in their undergraduate application form and weigh up their options, it may be worth considering just how the point, purpose, and value of a degree have changed and what Generation Z (people born between 1997 and 2012) need to consider as hey start the third stage of their educational journey.
Millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) were told that if they did well in school, and got a decent degree, they would be set up for life. But it seems that this promise hasn’t been fulfilled. As degrees became universal, they became devalued. Education was no longer a secure route of social mobility (流动性). Today, 28% of graduates (大学毕业生) in the UK are in non-graduate roles, a percentage that is double the average among OECD (经济合作与发展组织) countries.
This is not to say that there is no point in getting a degree, but rather stress that a degree is not for everyone, that the switch from classroom to lecture hall is not an inevitable one and that other options are available.
Thankfully, there are signs that this is already happening, with Generation Z seeking to learn from their millennial predecessors, even if parents and teachers tend to be still set in the degree mindset. Employers have long seen the advantages of hiring school leavers who often prove themselves to be more committed and loyal employees than graduates. Many too are seeing the advantages of removing a degree requirement for certain roles.
For those for whom a degree is the desired route, consider that this may well be the first of many. In this age of generalists, it pays to have specific knowledge or skills. Post graduates now earn 40% more than graduates. When more and more of us have a degree, it makes sense to have two.
It is unlikely that Generation Z will be done with education at 18 or 21. They will need to be constantly upskilling throughout their career to stay employable. It has been estimated that this generation, due to the pressures of technology, the wish for personal fulfillment, and the desire for diversity will work for 17 different employers over the course of their working life and have five different careers. Education, and not just knowledge gained on campus, will be a core part of Generation Z’s career path.
Older generations often talk about their degree in the present and personal tense: “I am a geographer” or “I am a pianist”. Their sons or daughters would never say such a thing; it’s as if they already know that their degree won’t define them in the same way.
1. The author suggests that Generation Z should ________.| A．be careful in choosing a college |
| B．be diligent at each educational stage |
| C．reevaluate the necessity of college education |
| D．postpone their undergraduate application |
| A．Millennials’ opinions about work |
| B．the decreasing value of a degree |
| C．public dissatisfaction with education |
| D．the desired route of social mobility |
| A．generation Z are seeking to earn a decent degree |
| B．school leavers are willing to be skilled workers |
| C．employers are taking a realistic attitude to degrees |
| D．parents are changing their minds about education |
| A．make an early decision on their career |
| B．attend on-the-job training programs |
| C．team up with highly-paid postgraduates |
| D．further their studies in a specific field |
| A．They will become qualified educators. |
| B．Degrees will no longer appeal to them. |
| C．They will have a limited choice of career paths. |
| D．Lifelong learning will be a crucial part of their life. |
