Of all the areas of learning the most important is the development of attitudes.

Of all the areas of learning the most important is thedevelopment of attitudes. Emotional reactions as well as logical thoughtprocesses affect the behavior of most people. “The burnt child fears the fire”is one example. Another  is  the  rise  of despots(独裁者) like Hitler. Both these examplesalso point out the fact that attitudes come from experiences. In the one casethe experience was direct and impressive; in the other it was indirect  and  cumulative(累积的). The Nazis gotcertain ideas largely by the speeches they heard and the books they read.

　 The classroom teacher in the elementary school is in a key positionto influence(影响) attitudes. This is true partly becausechildren obtain attitudes from those adults who they respect.

　 Another reason is that pupils are often curious about a subject inschool that has only been touched upon at home or has possibly never occurred tothem before. To a child who has previously got little knowledge of Mexico, histeacher’s method of dealing with such a unit will greatly affect his attitudetoward Mexicans.

However, when children go to school with undesirable attitudes, itis unwise for the teacher to change their feelings by praising or scoldingthem. She can achieve the proper effect by helping them obtain goodexperiences.

For example, first-grade pupils afraid ofpolicemen will probably change their attitudes after a classroom chat with theneighborhood officer in which he explains how he protects them. In the same waya class of older children can develop attitudes through discussion, researchoutside reading and all-day trips.

Finally a teacher must not constantly show her own attitudes becauseher influence can be no good if she has personal prejudices(偏见). This is especially true in respect to controversial(引起争议的) questions  on  which  children should be encouragedto reach their own decision as a result of objective analysis(分析) of all the facts.

1.. The passage mainly tells us _____.

     A. attitudes affect our actions

     B. teachers play an importantrole in developing children’s attitudes

     C. attitudes can be changed bysome classroom experiences

     D. teachers gradually affectpupils’ attitudes by their attitudes

2.. In the first paragraph the writer gives us twoexamples to _____.

     A. show that attitudes comefrom experiences        B. compare with eachother

     C. show all experiences aredirect and impressive     D. tell experiences fromattitudes

3..When children in school have unpleasant attitudes,teachers should _____.

     A. change their feelings byscolding them         B. think highly oftheir good attitudes

     C. help them by giving them goodexperiences     D. take no notice of their feelings

4..The passage specially states in the last paragraphthat _____.

     A. direct experiences are morevaluable than indirect ones

     B. what a child learns inschool has already been introduced at home

     C. teachers can sometimes havea bad influence on children

     D. teachers should always coverup their own attitudes

试题答案

【答案】

1..B

2..A

3..C

4..C

【解析】 略