Tr−êng THPT Chuyªn Lμo Cai Tæ Ngo¹i ng÷ S¸ng kiÕn kinh nghiÖm n¨m häc 2010 -2011 D¹y c¸ch lμm bμi thi Toelf - reading Ng−êi viÕt : NguyÔn §øc ChÝnh Tr−êng THPT Chuyªn Lµo Cai Lµo Cai - 3/ 2011 1 A. Introduction Teaching Toelf - readings is not easy. All the readings are simply designed.Teachers sometimes use the readings, teach all the things that are represented in the tests , but still feel that there are something is missed. Why ? I have been using these kinds of reading for many years, teaching my students and asking myself to try my best to teach my students. Before each tim e I go to my classes , I always revise all the things I think I have to convey to my students. Day by day, year by year I realize one thing, all the Toelf - readings, even the most modern, the most well- prepared have something in com mon. Toelf – readings are only a sourse of many sourses teachers should use to teach their students. So teachers should gather knowlwdge from other text books, adapt text books, making them suitable to their students. Sometimes teachers should make them easier if their students are not good ones, som etimes they should add som ething to Toelf – readings if their students are good ones. In most cases teachers do not teach, they guide their students to study themselves. They only stand in class to supervise, to give instructions, to help their students to study themselves. In this writing I want to share with you , all of my dear colleagues the way to teach the Toelf – readings. I hope I can share with you, and our students som ething. Many thanks for any further com ments , please send your comments to Nguyen Duc Chinh , English teacher of Lao Cai Senior High Secondary School For Gifted Students. Tele: 0203854130 or mobile phone :0977 453 899. 2 Content 1. To answer the question about the topic ( the main idea) of the certain reading or the passage we have to comprehend all the reading, so do not pay attention to the details. After reading, ask ourselves “ What is the reading about? The author often repeat the topic during the course of the reading“. The answer is the main idea itself. E.g : Americans have in the past century assumed that their schools will be comprehensive, especially at the secondary, or high school, level. Stated another way, there has always been broad agreement in American society that public education will not follow a strictly defined 5 course of study, but instead will offer a variety of options from which students may choose. Comprehensiveness has been a corollary of the American decision to educate the mass of the nation's children and youth, without systematically 10 winnowing out the academically less qualified. Providing education for such a heterogeneous group of students has necessarily involved taking account of various levels of intelligence, various career aspirations, various interests, and various levels of social experiences. 15 Comprehensiveness in education has not implied fragmentation in the school's curriculum. Instead, it has affirmed that schools must provide options that reflect the diversity of interests and abilities of their students, while still concentrating on the fundamental learning skills." What is the main topic of the passage? (A) Secondary education. (B) Comprehensive education. (C) High school education. (D) Public education. 2. Read each of the question and scan the reading to find where we can take the information to answer certain questions. E.g : Thomas Jefferson disliked the deference in the early American buildings to the architecture of Georgian England, which served as a constant reminder of monarchial tyranny and the bloody years of the War of Independence. He aspired to a more timeless architecture, based at 5 first on his favored Renaissance styles, which in turn were based on the architecture of ancient Rome. What made Jefferson's buildings especially American was the way they were integrated into the landscape. His beloved home, Monticello, 10 was 3 pushed into a hilltop so that its spreading service wings would not obstruct the sweeping panorama of the Blue Ridge Mountains visible from the house. The building became a part of the hill and made possible views of tilled lowlands to the east and a rugged wilderness that stretched to the west. 15 All of Jefferson's buildings were created with a clear view to utility and with a special relationship to the landscape. He favored grassy terraces with views if possible to the mountains. But his buildings also showed his idealism, to serve as examples of good architecture, 20 which usually meant the architecture of classical antiquity, which was for him the architecture of a republic. In what way were Jefferson's buildings very American? (A) They were built on mountains. (B) They were a reminder of the War of Independence. (C) They blended with the natural environment. (D) They were loved by Americans as homes. 3.Do not worry about the words we do not know; go further; there often is the explantion of the new words. If you cannot find the explanation, try to think creatically, and guess the meaning of the new words. In the Toelf test, the words often do not have the meanings you find in the dictionary, so you have to guess the meaning of the words in the context. E.g : Martin Luther King, Jr., is well known for his work in civil rights and for his many famous speeches, among them is his moving "I Have A Dream" speech. But fewer people know much about King's childhood. M.L., as he was called, was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, at 5 the home of his maternal grandfather. M.L.'s grandfather, the ReverendA.D. Williams, purchased their home on Auburn Avenue in 1909, twenty years before M.L. was born. The Reverend Williams, an eloquent speaker, played an important role in the community since so many people's lives centered around the church. He allowed his church and his home 10 to be used as a meeting place for a number of organizations dedicated to the education and social advancement of blacks. M.L. grew up in this atmosphere, with his home being used as a community gathering place, and was no doubt influenced by it. 15 M.L.'s childhood was not especially eventful. His father was a minister and his mother was a musician. He was the second of three children, and he attended all- black schools in a black neighborhood. The neighborhood was not poor, however. Auburn Avenue was the main artery through a prosperous neighborhood that had come to symbolize achievement 20 for Atlanta's black people. It was an area of banks, insurance companies, builders, jewelers, tailors, doctors, lawyers, and other black-owner black-operated businesses and services. Even in the face of Atlanta's segregation, the district thrived. Dr. King never forgot the community spirit he had known as a child, nor did he forget the racial prejudice 25 that was a seemingly insurmountable barrier that kept black Atlantans from mingling with whites. 4 9. The word "thrived" in line 23 refers to which of the following? (A) achieved (B) surrendered (C) flourished (D) held 4.To answer the question concerned with the content of the next papagraph , we should get the content of the reading and guess what the author will discuss in the next paragraph. E.g : A pilot cannot fly a plane by sight alone. In many conditions, such as flying at night and landing in dense fog, a pilot must use radar, an alternative way of navigating. Since human eyes are not very good at determining speeds of approaching objects, radar can show a pilot 5 how fast nearby planes are moving. The basic principle of radar is exemplified by what happens when one shouts in a cave. The echo of the sounds against the walls helps a person determine the size of the cave. With radar, however, the 10 waves are radio waves instead of sound waves. Radio waves travel at the speed of light, about 300,000 kilometers in one second. A radar set sends out a short burst of radiation waves. Then it receives the echoes produced when the waves bounce off objects. By determining the time it takes for the echoes to return to the radar set, a trained 15 technician can determine the distance between the radar set and other objects. The word "radar," in fact, gets its name from the term "radio detection and ranging." "Ranging" is the term for detection of the distance between an object and the radar set. Besides being of critical importance to pilots, radar is essential for air traffic control, 20 tracking ships at sea, and for tracking weather systems and storms. Which of the following would most likely be the topic of the next paragraph? (A) other uses of radar (B) uses of sonar technology (C) other technology used by pilots (D) a history of flying 5.To answer the question about the tone of the reading, we should see if the author use serious words or light, humourous words… to know it is humourous, serious, scientific, … tone. E.g : A balanced diet contains proteins, which are composed of complex amino acids. There are 20 types of amino acids, comprising about 16 percent of the body weight in a lean individual. A body needs all 20 to be healthy. Amino acids can be divided into two groups: essential 5 and nonessential. There are 9 essential amino acids. These are the proteins that the body cannot produce by itself, so a healthy individual 5 must ingest them. The 11 nonessential amino acids, on the other hand, are produced by the body, so it is not necessary to ingest them. Proteins are described as being either high-quality or low-quality, 10 depending on how many of the 9 essential amino acids the food contains. High-quality proteins, typically found in animal meats, are proteins that have ample amounts of the essential amino acids. Low-quality proteins are mainly plant proteins and usually lack one or more of the essential amino acids. Since people who follow a strict vegetarian 15 diet are ingesting only low-quality proteins, they must make sure that their diets contain a variety of proteins, in order to ensure that what is lacking in one food is available in another. This process of selecting a variety of the essential proteins is called protein complementation. Since an insufficient amount of protein in the 20 diet can be crippling, and prolonged absence of proteins can cause death, it is imperative that a vegetarian diet contains an ample amount of the essential proteins. Which of the following best describes the author's tone in this passage? (A) forceful (B) light (C) casual (D) argumentative C. Feedback 1. The result I have been using the above ways for 6 years for all English classes : 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 , 2008-2009 , 2009- 2010 and 2010-2011. They have been proved suficient. In the school year 2004- 2005, we had 1 Fourth National Prize. In the school year 2005-2006, we had 5 National Prizes , included one Third National Prize, the school year 2006- 2007 , we had 4 Fourth National Prizes. In 2007-2008 we had one National fourth prize . In 2008-2009 we had 3 National prizes ( 2 fourth prizes and one Third). In 2009-2010 3 National prizes ( 2 fourth prizes and one Third). All my students are now not afraid of Toelf - reading because at least , they know how to read . 2. The application When giving students Toelf - reading, teacher should pause for a minute and ask them how to read. Let them discuss in group then report to the rest . After that , the teacher gives the instrucuctions as above. There are , of course, many other kinds of reading , teachers are advised to read first and then find the way to do them. At last, share their experience with his or her students. I hope all of you will be the best teachers to teach your students better. Lao Cai : 1/ 3/2011 Writer : NguyÔn §øc ChÝnh 6 7 . all the things I think I have to convey to my students. Day by day, year by year I realize one thing, all the Toelf - readings, even the most modern, the most well- prepared have something in. 200 6-2 007, 200 7-2 008 , 200 8-2 009 , 200 9- 2010 and 201 0-2 011. They have been proved suficient. In the school year 200 4- 2005, we had 1 Fourth National Prize. In the school year 200 5-2 006, we had. nghiÖm n¨m häc 2010 -2 011 D¹y c¸ch lμm bμi thi Toelf - reading Ng−êi viÕt : NguyÔn §øc ChÝnh Tr−êng THPT Chuyªn Lµo Cai Lµo Cai - 3/ 2011 1 A. Introduction