導讀：

　　There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has everI)ignored spelling or considered it unimportant ( No school…ever…considered it unimportant… 其中 I have taught in 作定語修飾 school “我教書的學校” ，“ it ” 指代的即為 spelling ， 可以看出作者要說的是學校沒有忽視 spelling ) as a basic skill. There are, however ( 句意轉折說明問題不在于學校是否重視拼寫而是 how to teach it… ) , vastly different ideas about how to teach it, or how much A)priority it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely and M)confidently in writing with out holding him back with the complexities of spelling?

　　If spelling become the only focal point of his teacher’s interest, clearly a N)bright childwill be likely to “play safe”( 這里的關鍵是理解 “ play safe” 的意思，從后句“只寫他會寫的單詞”可以看出他是怕拼錯，故 play safe 即為“為了保險” ) . He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid E)adventurous language. That’s why teachers often K)encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability ( = spelling ability ) .

　　I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience ：“ This work( 根據后面一句的解釋，可知 this work 指的是 your writing 故第7 題填的詞應和 illegible 感情色彩保持一致 ) is H)terrible !There are far too many spelling errors and your writing is illegible( 難以辨認的 ).” It may have been a sharp B) criticismof the pupil’s technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad reflection ( 表明了作者不贊同的態度，他看到的是文章中包含的好的表達，并且說明只有這樣才能激勵學生不斷進步 ) on the teacher who had omitted to read the essay, which C)contained some beautiful expressions of the child’s deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the errors, but if his priorities had centred on the child’s ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more G)motivation to seek improvement.

　　全文翻譯：

　　家長們普遍認為中學現在已不再關注單詞的正確拼寫了。但我所教過的學校從來沒有忽視過拼寫，或就一種基本技能來說從沒有認為它不重要。然而對于怎么來教拼寫或者是從提高整個語言的發展和寫作能力方面來說，把拼寫放在什么樣優先的地位存在著許多不同的看法。所存在的問題是，在寫作當中怎樣鼓勵孩子不要讓復雜的拼寫來影響他流暢地，自信地表達自己的思想。

　　如果字的拼寫成為老師關心的惟一焦點，很明顯，聰明的孩子很可能就會為“保險起見”，只寫一些他會寫的字，避免因冒險而出錯的語言。那就是為什么老師常常鼓勵學生很早就要使用字典，而且寫作時重視內容而非拼寫技能。

　　有一次我非常震驚，在一篇描寫個人經歷的感情細膩的文章后面讀到了這些話：“這篇糟透了!單詞拼寫錯誤太多。自己很難辨認!”這對于一個學生的寫作技能也許是一次尖銳的批評，但它同時也悲哀地反映出那位老師忽視了去閱讀一篇包含了表達孩子內心感情的文章。老師注意到了這些問題并沒有錯，但是如果他把重點放在關注孩子的思想上，只表示出他對孩子的拼寫錯誤有點失望，就會給學生更大的動力去進一步提高。

　　編輯推薦：

　　新東方名師指導：四級聽力四十天高分突破

　　2012年英語四級快速閱讀攻略：略讀和跳讀配合

　　2012下半年四六級備考：如何攻克英語六級閱讀

　　2012年12月英語四級考試趨勢及復習方法