Schools in the U.S. generally do not have a specific teaching plan for teachers to follow, and they certainly don’t have a set of textbooks that are taught by all school districts throughout the country. That’s why textbooks vary greatly from school to school, and from teacher to teacher even though they are all teaching the same subject in the same grade. Some schools provide books to use, but teachers do not strictly follow them. They only use them as a reference, and enjoy pointing out mistakes and wrong information given in the books. They often share their own points of view with their students. Teaching like this has many advantages. Teachers can bring out their expertise, fully elaborating their most familiar areas. Students are more interested in what they are studying. Also this flexible teaching style. benefits students in the development of critical thinking skills and the ability to apply them. On the other hand teaching like this also has many drawbacks. It causes uneven study levels. It is even more so among different schools and districts. Students in the same grade do not usually have a thorough understanding of a subject taught in the same school year. The teacher for the following year would have to spend a lot of time finding out what the students already know or do not know in the subject before starting his/her own teaching plan. Some parts may be repeated, resulting in waste of time; and other parts may not be covered at all.
Exams in American schools are much less rigid than those in China. Teaching is flexible, so are exams. Even if you memorized the whole textbook, it might not be of much help in the exams. My Chinese friend envied me for nothaving to worry about the competition for attending the best schools by takingendless exams.
(1) What are advantages of the flexible teaching style?
A、It benefits students in the development of critical thinking skills.
B、Teachers can bring out their expertise.
C、Students may have freedom in study.
D、Both A and B.
(2) The flexible teaching style. ______.
A、may cause troubles to the teacher for the following year.
B、usually helps students to have a thorough understanding of a subject
C、makes the exam easy.
D、may save teachers’time
(3) The word drawbacks (paragraph 2) means______.
A、mistakes
B、difficulties
C、disadvantages
D、troubles
(4) From the passage we are told American teachers______.
A、have to follow a specific teaching plan.
B、dislike pointing out mistakes and wrong information given in the books.
C、teaching the same subject may use different textbooks.
D、strictly follow books provided by schools.
(5) This article is mainly about ______.
A、the advantages and disadvantages of the flexible teaching style
B、American schools
C、American teachers
D、teaching methods in American schools