However important we may regard school life to be, there is no denying the fact that children spend more time at home than in the classroom. Therefore, the great influence of parents cannot be ignored or discounted by the teacher. They can become strong allies of the school personnel or they can consciously or unconsciously hinder and obstruct curricular objectives.
Administrators have been aware of the need to keep parents informed of the newer method used in schools. Many principals have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness program, manuscript writing, and developmental mathematics.
Moreover, the classroom teacher, with the permission of the supervisors, can also play an important role in enlightening parents. The many interviews carried on during the year as well as new ways of reporting pupils' progress, can significantly aid in achieving a harmonious interplay between school and home.
To illustrate, suppose that a father has been drilling Junior in arithmetic processes night after night. In a friendly interview, the teacher can help the parent convert his natural paternal interest into productive channels. He might be persuaded to let Junior participate in discussing the family budget, buying the food, using a yardstick or measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating mileage on a trip, and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.
If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to assume that he will soon realize his son is making satisfactory progress in mathematics and, at the same time, enjoying the work.
Too often, however, teachers' conferences with parents are devoted to petty accounts of children' s offences, complaints about laziness and poor work habits, and suggestions for penalties and rewards at home
What is needed is a more creative approach in which the teacher, as a professional adviser,plants ideas in parents' minds for the best utilization of the many hours that the child spends out of the classroom.
In this way, the school and the home join forces in stimulating the fullest development of youngsters' capacities.
36. A method of parent-teacher communication NOT mentioned or referred to by the author is .
A. home training
B. demonstration lesson
C. parent-teacher interviews
D. new progress report forms
37. It can be reasonably inferred that the author .
A. thinks that teachers of this generation are inferior to those of the last generation
B. is satisfied with present relationships between home and school
C. feels that the traditional program in mathematics is slightly superior to the development program
D. feels that parent-teacher interviews can be made much more constructive than they are at present
38. The author' s primary purpose in writing this passage is to .
A. improve the teaching of mathematics
B. tell parents to pay more attention to the guidance of teachers in the matter
C. help ensure that every child' s capacities are fully developed when leaving school
D. urge the use of a much underused resource-the parent
39. The phrase "an important role in enlightening parents" in the third paragraph most probably means an,important role in .
A. causing parents to understand
B. persuading parents
C. understanding parents
D. discussing with parents
40. The attitude of the author towards the role of parents is .
A. positive
B. negative
C. doubtful
D. unclear
答案及解析
36.B
【命题目的】此题考查对文章信息的捕捉。
【解题要点】A项意为“家教”，在第四段中提到“父亲可以在家里帮 助训练孩子的计算能力”，这是“家教”的一种方式;C项意为“老师 家长见面会”，在第四段第二句中提到过;D项意为“学生进步报告”，文章第三段第二句提到“以新的方式报告学生进步”。8项意为“示范课(公共课)”，全文中未提到过。
37.D
【命题目的】此题考查推理能力。
【解题要点】A项“这一代老师不如上一代老师”，作者没有这方面的表述，此项是无关项。作者在文章中主要讲述的就是如何在未来通过增进学校和家庭的互动来促进学生的学习和发展，显然是对现状不满，所以B项是不正确的。C项文中未提及。D项“作者认为家长老师会面还可以做得更好”，在倒数第二段提到“老师应用一种更有创造性的方式与家长沟通，使得他们知道如何有效利用课堂外的时间”，第四段中也提到“在友好的会面中提醒家长利用一种有效的方式帮助孩子学数学”。
38.D
【命题目的】此题考查考生归纳中心思想的能力。
【解题要点】A项“改进数学教育”显然与中心无关，在第四段中提到“在家里培养孩子学习数学能力”只是举的一个例子，为了说明如何以一种更好的方式在家庭中教育孩子，所以不选A项。8、C两项都很牵强附会，没涉及文章中心。第一段和第四段都强调家长的重大影响，“他们是教育孩子的同盟军”，作者目的正是“呼吁学校充分开发潜在的人力资源——家长”。
39.A
【命题目的】此题考查根据上下文猜测短语含义的能力。
【解题要点】在解题过程中，最有可能遇到的问题是enlighten这个生词。即使不知道这个词的含义，也可通过上下文，推测出来其含义。在本句后面接着就具体讲了通过“和家长会面以及汇报学生进步的新方法来促进学校和家庭的和谐互动”，这是进一步阐释老师在推动 家长方面可以发挥的作用，因为是“互动”，就不可能是单方面的“说服”，故排除8项。而C项“理解家长”和D项“和家长讨论”，用在此处无法表示老师的积极作用，从而推断此处意为“在启发家长方面有重要作用”。
40.A
【命题目的】此题考查考生推断作者观点态度的能力。
【解题要点】通观全文，都贯彻着一种对更多发挥家长的作用的希望，所以推断作者对家长的作用持肯定的态度。
