Since, we are told, 80 to 90 percent of all instruction in the typical university is by the lecture method, we should give close attention to this form of education. There is, I think, much truth in Patricia Nelson Limerick’s observation that“lecturing is an unnatural act, an act for which God did not design humans. It is perfectly all right, now and then, for a human to be possessed by the urge to speak, and to speak while others remain silent. But to do this regularly, one hour and 15 minutes at a time ... for one person to drag on while others sit in silence? ... I do not believe that this is what the Creator ... designed humans to do.”
The strange, almost incomprehensible fact is that many professors, just as they feel obliged to write dully, believe that they should lecture dully. To show enthusiasm is to risk appearing unscientific, unobjective; it is to appeal to the students’ emotions rather than their intellect. Thus the ideal lecture is one filled with facts and read in an unchanged monotone.
The cult(推崇) of lecturing dully, like the cult of writing dully, goes back, of course, some years. Edward Shils, professor of sociology, recalls the professors he encountered at the University of Pennsylvania in his youth. They seemed“a priesthood, rather uneven in their merits but uniform in their bearing; they never referred to anything personal. Some read from old lecture notes and then haltingly explained the thumb-worn last lines. Others lectured from cards that had served for years, to judge by the worn edges... The teachers began on time, ended on time, and left the room without saying a word more to their students, very seldom being detained by questioners... The classes were not large, yet there was no discussion. No questions were raised in class, and there were no office hours.”
21. The author believes that a successful teacher should be able to .
[A] make study just as easy as play
[B] improve students’ learning performance
[C] make inspired play an integral part of the learning process
[D] make dramatization an important aspect of students’ learning
22. The majority of university professors prefer the traditional way of lecturing in the belief that .
[A] it draws the close attention of the students
[B] it conforms in a way to the design of the Creator
[C] it helps students to comprehend abstract theories more easily
[D] it presents course content in a scientific and objective manner
23. What the author recommends in this passage is that .
[A] interaction should be encouraged in the process of teaching
[B] college education should be improved through radical measures
[C] more freedom of choice should be given to students in their studies
[D] traditional college lectures should be replaced by dramatized performances
24. By saying “They seemed ‘a priesthood, rather uneven in their merits but uniform in their bearing...’”(Lines 2-3, Para. 4), the author means that .
[A] there is no fundamental difference between professors and priests though they differ in their merits |
