雅思阅读Unit1VIP免费

UNIT1EducationEducationoverthepast100yearsATheeducationofouryoungpeopleisoneofthemostimportantaspects（方面）ofanycommunity,andideasaboutwhatandhowtoteachreflecttheacceptedattitudesandunspokenbeliefsofsociety.Theseideaschangeaslocalcustomsandattitudeschange,andthesechangesarereflectedinthecurriculum[kə´rikjələm](课程),teachingandassessment[ə´sesmənt]（评价）methodsandtheexpectationsofhowbothstudentsandteachersshouldbehave.BTeachinginthelate1800sandearly1900swasverydifferentfromtoday.RulesforteachersatthetimeintheUSAcoveredboththeteacher’sdutiesandtheirconduct[kən´dʌkt]（行为）outofclassaswell.Teacheratthattimewereexpectedtosetagoodexampletotheirpupilsandtobehaveinaveryvirtuous[´vʒtʃuəs]（有道德的）andpropermanner.Womenteachersshouldnotmarry,norshouldthey‘keepcompanywithmen.’Theyhadtowearlongdressesandnobrightcoloursandtheywerenotpermittedtodye（染色）theirhair.Theywerenotallowedtoloiter[´lɔitə]（闲荡）downtowninanicecreamstore,andwomenwerenotallowedtogooutintheeveningsunlesstoaschoolfunction,althoughmenwereallowedoneeveningaweektotaketheirgirlfriendsoutiftheywenttochurchregularly.Noteacherswereallowedtodrinkalcohol.TheywereallowedtoreadonlygoodbookssuchastheBible,andtheyweregivenapayincreaseof25c(25cents)aweekafterfiveyearsofworkforthelocalschool.CAswellasthislonglistof‘dos’and‘don’ts’(该做与不该做),teachershadcertaindutiestoperformeachday.Incountryschools,teacherswererequiredtokeepthecoalbucketfullfortheclassroomfire,andtobringabucketofwatereachdayforthechildrentodrink.Theyhadtomakethepensfortheirstudentstowritewithandtosweep（打扫）thefloorandkeeptheclassroomtidy.However,despitethislistofduties,littlewasstipulated[´stipjuletid]（规定）aboutthecontentoftheteaching,noraboutassessmentmethods.DTeacherswouldhavebeenexpectedtoteachthethree‘r’s-reading,writingandarithmetic[ə´riθməik]（算术）,andtoteachthechildrenaboutChristianity[,kristi´ænəti]（基督教精神）andreadfromtheBibleeveryday.Educationinthosedayswasmuchsimplerthanitistodayandcoveredbasicliteracy[´litərəsi]（读写能力）skillsandreligiouseducation.Theywouldalmostcertainlyhaveusedcorporal[´kɔrpərəl]punishment（体罚）suchasastickorthestrap[stræp]（皮条）onnaughtyorunrulychildren,andthechildrenwouldhavesattogetherinpairsinlongrowsintheclassroom.Theywouldhavebeenexpectedtositquietlyandtodotheirwork,copyinglongrowsoflettersordoingbasicmathssums（算术题）.Farmingchildrenincountryareaswouldhavehadonlyafewyearsofschoolingandwouldprobablyhaveleftschoolat12or14yearsofagetojointheirparentsinfarmwork.EComparethiswithacountryschoolintheUSAtoday!Ifyouvisitedtoday,youwouldseethechildrensittingingroupsroundlargetables,orevenonthefloor.Theywouldbeworkingtogetheronarangeofdifferentactivities,andtherewouldalmostcertainlybeoneormorecomputersintheclassroom.Childrennowadaysareallowedandevenexpectedtotalkquietlytoeachotherwhiletheywork,andtheyarealsoexpectedtoasktheirteachersquestionsandtoactivelyengagein（参加)findingoutinformationforthemselves,insteadofjustlisteningtotheteacher.FTherearenorulesofconductforteachersoutoftheclassroom,andtheyarenotexpectedtoperformcaretaking(照顾学生)dutiessuchascleaningtheclassroomormakingpens,butnevertheless(虽然如此)theirjobsaremuchharderthantheywereinthe1900s.Teacherstodayareexpectedtoworkhardonplanningtheirlessons,toteachcreativelyandtostimulate[´stimjə´let](...