1 . Students should be able to show what they know. Many folks take this as a self-evident truth. But I think it demands closer examination.
Possessing a skill or piece of knowledge is not the same thing as being able to show it. This is why many smart young people hate school. Understanding, figuring out, and getting a handle on a piece of knowledge is really exciting, but have to prove to somebody else that you understand is a big fat pain in the neck.
Finding proof of student learning is a huge part of the teacher's job, and whether it is done poorly or not makes all the difference in that teacher's effectiveness. There is a huge difference between "How do I figure out if this student understands" and "How do I make this student prove to me he gets it." The first is a valuable approach; the second is the first step on the road toward wasting everybody's time.
And there's the problem. If we start with the assumption（假定）that a student who knows must be able to show his knowledge to our satisfaction, we will be traveling down the wrong road The more we demand that students prove to us that they know the stuff, the more we will design artificial tasks that demand a set of skill and knowledge entirely different from the skills and knowledge we really want to measure.
As a classroom teacher, I have to remember that the burden is on me to find a way to see what my students know; the burden is not on them to put on whatever trained monkey show I design for my own case and convenience.
It may not be the worst thing ever to say "Students should be able to show what they know." But I think it's far more useful to say, "Teachers should be able to discover what students know."
1. What does the underlined phrase in the second paragraph mean?| A．Very dangerous. | B．Very difficult. |
| C．Very annoying. | D．Very frequent. |
| A．They should be limited in number. |
| B．They are a huge burden on teachers. |
| C．They slide away from their original purpose. |
| D．They should mainly focus on effectiveness. |
| A．Students should be able to show what they know. |
| B．Teachers should be able to discover what students know. |
| C．There are many ways to find proof of student learning. |
| D．There should be better understanding between teachers and students. |
2 . A nine-year-old child will become the youngest ever person to complete a university degree.
This December, Laurent Simons will gain his electrical engineering bachelor's degree (学士学位) from Eindhoven University of Technology, a challenging course even for 18-year-olds. It has taken Laurent only 9 months to complete what should be a four-year course. Laurent's teacher said, “He is three times smarter than the best student I have met in my long working experiences. He achieves what many adult students never reach.” The young gifted child finished easily the entire primary school courses in only 12 months and then took just 18 months to complete his secondary school studies. Laurent comes from a family of doctors, and his parents cannot offer any explanation as to why their son is so academically gifted. Every time he can pass every test effortlessly with flying colors.
While Laurent is clearly able to learn faster than most, his parents are being careful to let him enjoy himself too. His father said, “We don't want him to get too serious. He does whatever he likes. We need to find a balance between being a child and his talents.” Laurent enjoyed playing with his dog Sammy and playing on his phone, like many young people.
1. How many months did Laurent spend completing his courses in primary and secondary schools?| A．18. | B．12. | C．30. | D．9. |
| A．A little nervously. | B．Very hurriedly. | C．Very successfully. | D．A little satisfactorily. |
| A．Laurent always wants to get too serious in his study. |
| B．Laurent hardly balances between being a child and his talents. |
| C．Laurent's parents are careful to let him express himself. |
| D．Laurent's parents pay great attention to his growth as a child. |
