专八模拟题—听力原文

Model Test

Section A Mini-Lecture

Teaching Methods for Effective Communication

Good evening, everyone. A few months later, you will start to teach international students. Today, we will talk about the teaching methods for effective communication, which are generally helpful for your future teaching career.

Teaching methods can help increase communication effectiveness. (1) Clearly organizing ideas and writing an outline on the chalkboard that lists the main points to be covered during the class helps students follow along with the organization of ideas. (2) It is also very helpful for students when teachers write technical terms or theoretical concepts on the board as they are mentioned. Students need and appreciate this effort.

When a teacher is unsure about the pronunciation of certain words, those words should also be written on the board. The importance of writing words on the board is illustrated in the following experience of an undergraduate student.

“I had a biology professor from Latin America. He gave a lecture on hung trees. I had never heard about that kind of tree before…After class a bunch of us students were talking about the hung trees. The American teacher heard us and asked us what we were talking about. It was really funny. He said the lecture was about young trees, not hung trees!”

(3) This example of miscommunication points out the necessity for student participation in the international teacher?s classroom. (4) By setting aside class time for students to explain and discuss their understanding of the course material and the teacher?s lecture or explanations, many communication errors can be corrected before they interfere with student learning.

Of course, some difficulties may be assumed to result from language problems when in fact the problem lies elsewhere.

“For the foreign teacher, we have a problem with the language. (5) When students don?t understand, it could be a language problem, but it also could be that the

teacher doesn?t have good teaching skills. So it?s important to communicate with students to find out what the problem is.”

Using effective teaching methods does facilitate classroom communication. (6) As teachers with teaching experience in their native countries already know, when lecturing, it is important to clearly state each point before speaking about it, make the point and then summarize what has been said. (7) Before beginning another idea or point, it?s necessary to inform students of this change or transition.

(8) Students are reluctant to continually ask teachers to repeat what they?ve said, even when they haven?t completely understood the teacher. Thus, it is important for teachers to frequently stop to ask if students have any questions. (9) An even better method is to ask questions of the students in order to check their understanding before going on to another topic. (10) Another method often uses by both international and American teachers is presenting the same idea in more than one way.

One teacher from France says “As a foreigner and since I don?t speak the language as well as an American, I repeat very often the same thing in different ways. So they may pick it up the way they want during the many times I say it in different ways. It?s a technique I am spontaneously using. I guess it helps them to understand me as a foreigner speaking. And certainly it?s useful for understanding certain things that are very hard to understand…If you say it one time, it?s not enough, so repeating it several ways from different aspects—even making some language mistakes—will help them to pick up the idea.”

When giving multiple explanations or examples of the same idea, the teacher should preface each explanation to indicate that the same idea is being explained, only in a different way. Common phrases used to indicate that a different explanation of the same idea is about to be given are:

1) “Stated another way…”

2) “A simpler explanation of the same idea is…” 3) “Said another way…”

4) “Let me present another way of understanding this…” 5) “The same idea can be explained in this way…”

6) “Another example of this is…” 7) “I?ll repeat that in a different way…”

Although teachers who have had extensive lecture experience in their home countries may already use the lecture techniques described here, it may be necessary to exaggerate these methods to ensure adequate communication.

Many effective teachers learn to elicit the help of their students. (11) If the teacher and students have a friendly relationship, students usually are more willing to help facilitate communication in the classroom. In the following statement a teacher from Iran described how he uses certain teaching methods to be sure his students understand him.

“I?ve been trying hard to be clear, to say the words separate so that students can understand. (12) Once in a while I stop and ask, ?Do you follow?? or ?Am I clear?? and pretty much make them feel that any time they can stop me. Anytime they want they can stop me and say, ?I didn?t get that point?. Then I explain. You have to encourage their questions, say, ?Good question?, ?Interesting?, or ?Who else has a question?? You have to make them feel comfortable in the class…”

(13) Getting students to participate in the class by being friendly and supportive of their comments, ideas, and questions can help both the teacher and the students feel more comfortable in the classroom. (14) When students feel comfortable enough to participate in class, they may be more tolerant of the teacher?s language difficulties and (15) be willing to cooperate with the teacher in solving communication problems.

Today, we?ve talked about ways for you, future international teachers, to enhance communication in the classroom. The suggestions are offered as a starting point. By endeavoring to understand communication problems that can occur in the international teacher?s classroom, you can take action to minimize these problems. I hope you would have a good time.

Section B Conversation

Miriam (W) Frank (M)

Now, listen to Part One of the conversation.

W: Hello, Frank.

M: Hello, Miriam. How nice to see you again. How?s everything going? W: Fine. Busy these days?

M: Yeah. With lots of things to do. Would you like to join me for a drink? W: OK, thanks. M: Any news recently?

W: Oh, well, yesterday I read the newspaper and got very shocking news. You know, (1/2-1) it?s not the federal government that sets the calendar for our public schools. Public school calendars are set by individual states and districts. (2-2) According to the news, instead of a long summer break, our local school decided to keep students in class year-round with shorter breaks throughout, offering about 20 additional school days.

M: (2-3) The students must feel very sad when hearing this news.

W: Yeah, I think so. (3) And this idea is gaining increasing popularity. It?s a strategy school districts across the country are experimenting with. Perhaps the most closely watched is in Massachusetts, which has extended class time for 26 of its low-performing schools. The idea has even won the endorsement of both President Obama and his education chief.

M: Mm…, (4) I heard that the education chief said in an interview that our current school calendar was based upon the agrarian economy and the vast majority of the students in our country weren?t working the fields in the summers. So he—he thought it was really an outdated, outmoded model. It needed to be changed.

W: I don?t agree with him. (5-1) Extending school year seems so completely short-sighted to me. More time is no silver bullet for reform. Take Miami-Dade County Schools in Florida for example, it used an extended day program for three years, but dropped it because they didn?t see improvement in test scores. (5-2) Besides, it—it disrupts family life.

This is the end of Part One of the conversation. Question 1to 5 are based on what you have just heard.

1. Who set(s) the public school calendars?

2. Which of the following statements is NOT the change made to public school calendars?

3. Which state experimented with the new public school calendars has gained the closest attention?

4. Why does the education chief support extending school year?

5. According to Miriam, which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

Now, listen to Part Two of the conversation.

M: Well, surely you must have to admit that we have a significantly shorter school year. I?m worried—er—our students are at a competitive disadvantage with their peers in India and China. Students in those other countries are going to school 210, 220, 230 days a year. Our students are going to school 180 days a year, generally. And I think our students are absolutely smart, absolutely committed, can do extraordinary things. But we have to level the playing field. And if in a sports contest, one team is practicing three days a week and one team is practicing five days a week, the team that is practicing more is going to do better.

W: (6) But simply extending school time in and of itself will not produce the desired results. Larry Cuban, a Stanford University professor of education, has argued that what matters most is not the quantity but the quality of time students and teachers spend together in the classroom.

M: Well, yes. Mm…, but, extending school time does bring some advantages. (7-1) It gives the students learning experiences that they might not be able to get over the summertime.

W: But you ask the teachers and students whether, whether they reckon that extending school time brings them advantages. I think goes without saying that no one wants to extend bad time. The teachers are fatigued at the end of the day, and the students are fatigued and unmotivated. The students need summer break to have a good rest. M: Yes, you are right. (7-2) But without those camps and other stimulating activities, something called summer learning loss occurs. (8) Researchers estimate that

low-income students can lose two months of math and reading achievement owing to a lack of reinforcement during the summer break. It?s particularly true for low-income kids who don?t have the opportunities that other kids have during those big breaks. W: But have you considered this? Extending the school day is very very expensive. (9) The Miami-Dade program cost more than $100 million.

M: Yes, you are right. Really it can result in increased cost because more teachers, specialists, paraprofessionals, and other staff are deployed. (10) But I think it can bring some—some benefits to students and teachers as well, for example, umm, it allows teachers to delve into subject matter in more depth; (7-3) it builds in time for more teacher-to-student interaction; and, it makes it possible for students to spend more time on task.

This is the end of Part Two of the conversation. Question 6 to 10 are based on what you have just heard.

6. What does Larry Cuban think of extending school year?

7. Which of the following has not been cited as the advantage for extending school year by Frank?

8. What effect may summer vacation have on poor students in researchers’ estimation?

9. How much does the Miami-Dade program cost? 10. What’s Frank’s attitude towards Miriam’s ideas?

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