Passage Three
Students should be allowed to study without worrying about grades. Fortunately, most educators are becoming aware of the fact that students have different interests and abilities. However, the discipline resulting from grades still exists. Grades often cut down creativity. Competing for better grades causes many students to turndown opportunities to pursue music, dramatics and sports. Grades impose a subjective standard of success on everyone. I do not demand as some extremists do, that grades be ended immediately. How- ever, I do believe that less emphasis should be placed on grades. I hope that someday grades will become optional at Village High School.
Magdalena Smith, President
Drama Club
Let’s face the facts about grades. Grades perform three basic functions. First, grades motivate students to work at their highest level of competence. Second, they act as a re- ward for hardworking students and as a scolding to stude
A. students to get good jobs
B. students to participate in music, dramatics, and sports
C. students to compete more for grades
D. educators to have more control over grades
There is no denying that students should learn something about how computers work, just as we expect them at least to understand that the internal-combustion engine (内燃机) has something to do with burning fuel, expanding gases and pistons (活塞) being driven. For people should have some basic idea of how the things that they use do what they do. Further, students might be helped by a course that considers the computer’s impact on society. But that is not what is meant by computer literacy. For computer literacy is not a form of literacy (读写能力) it is a trade skill that should not be taught as a liberal art.
Learning how to use a computer and learning how to program one are two distinct activities. A case might be made that the competent citizens of tomorrow should free themselves from their fear of computers. But this is quite different from saying that ail ought to know how to program one. Leave that to people who have chosen programming as a career. While programming
A. try to lay a solid foundation in computer science
B. be aware of how the things that they use do what they do
C. learn to use a computer by acquiring a certain set of skills
D. understand that programming a computer is more essential than repairing a car
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