Unit Seven
Text One
Grouping the Gifted,Pro
Pre-Class Work
? Gifted Children,
? those who possess some quality or innate
ability which has been recognized and
identified by number of testing and
observation devices and who manifest
interest and success in either physical,
intellectual,or artistic pursuits.
IQ:
? The abbreviation of,Intelligence Quotient”,
which is a number used to express the
apparent relative intelligence of a person
determined by dividing his mental age as
reported on a standardized test by his
chronological age and multiplying the
result by 100.
IQ:
? IQ indicates a person's mental abilities
relative to others of approximately the
same age,Everyone has hundreds of
specific mental abilities--some can be
measured accurately and are reliable
predictors of academic and financial
success.
IQ Scores:
? Intelligence Interval
? 40 – 55
? 55 – 70
? 70 – 85
? 85 – 115
? 115 – 130
? 130 – 145
? 145 – 160
? 160+
? Cognitive Designation
? Mentally disabled (Less than
1% of test takers)
? Learning difficulty (2.3% of
test takers)
? Below average
? Average (68% of test takers)
? Gifted
? Genius (2.3% of test takers)
? Extraordinary genius (Less
than 1% of test takers)
? "Unmeasurable" genius
IQ Test:
? a great program for your consciousness
exploration is available at,
http://www.iqtest.com/exercises.html,
Comprehension Exercises
? The theme of the essay （ Students’ Book,P89）
? By applying such methods of persuasion as
refuting opposing views and citing results of
research and observations,the author argues for
replacing the traditional heterogeneous
classroom with grouping pupils according to
their interest and ability.
How is Mott’s definition of the gifted
different form the commonly held one?
? The notion of the gifted is normally
associated with a high level of intelligence,
but his definition emphasizes interest and
ability as well as intelligence.
What does Mott think is the greatest
advantage of grouping the gifted?
? The pupils are encouraged to develop
their latent capacities to the fullest extent
What difficulty does the author encounter
when it comes to the assessment of the
progress of gifted organized into groups?
? There seems to be no viable way to assess
their progress,Refer to paras,11 and 12.
Apart from the fear that grouping the gifted might
lead to the creation of a caste of intellectual snobs,
another kind of fear is hinted at in the passage,
What is it?
? It is the fear of pushing the gifted beyond
their endurance,Refer to para.15.
Methods of argumentation:
? Pointing out erroneous notions held by the
opposing party,para.5 and 6
? Mott points out that grouping the gifted
will not create a caste of intellectual snobs,
Such fears of the opposing party are
groundness.
Finding fault with the opposing
party’s supporting evidence,
? para,10 and 11
? Mott refutes the evidence given by the
other party that grouping the gifted yields
no significant achievement,He says that
in most of these cases,the grouping is
based on IQ scores,which are far from
reliable.
Personalized evidence:
? Factual information and statistics usually
make good evidence,But-------
?,To the extent of my observation…” (pa.7)
?,my opinion,which is based on…” (pa13)
?,several schools with which I am…”
（ pa.16)
Personalized evidence
? Will surely to some extent weaken the
argument because-----------
? A personal observation or opinion can
hardly represent a satisfactory proof,and
what is proved true in one case will not
always become a truth in a another.
Concluding paragraphs:
are they strong and supportive?
? Mott concludes his argument by citing the result
of a successful experiment in grouping pupils
according to their different reading ability.
? That is very close to the criterion of intelligence
used traditionally to distinguish between the
gifted and non-gifted.
? A compromise.
Language Points
? Para 1
? Identify,prove sth,Because of a particular
quality
? Eg,Can you identify whose handwriting
this is?
? The machine identifies the owner of the
credit card by his fingerprint pattern.
Manifest,show clearly (formal)
? What she did manifested her lack of
confidence in herself.
? The illness first manifests itself in splitting
headaches.
? ----他关于电脑软件功能的提问显示出他对
信息技术的浓厚兴趣。
? His questions about the functioning of the
software manifests his great interest in IT.
Line 1-2:
? In my opinion,gifted children are children
who are specially endowed with natural
abilities which rank high on testing scales.
? Line 3:
? See Note 2
Para,3:
? Extent----scale,range,degree
? To some extent,partly true
? To a large extent,quite true
? To a certain extent,true to a certain
degree
? Grow to the fullest extent,to grow as
much as their abilities and capacities allow
them
Para,4
? Heterogeneous,consisting of parts or
members that are very different from one
another;
? Not homogeneous
? ~ grouped,grouped according to different
levels of ability
Para 6
? Ground,a base for argument
? Don’t listen to him,His arguments are
groundless.
? He declined the invitation to a game of tennis on
the grounds of ill health.
? 我们没有证据可以证明有关, 过渡生物, (the
missing link) 的理论的正确性。
? We have no grounds to prove the validity of the
theory of the ~.
Para,9,Line 37
? Lie with,be the responsibility of
? The final decision lies with the committee.
? 结果的成败取决于应试者们所作的努力。
? Whether or not the outcome is successful
lies with the efforts made by the
candidates.
Line 38,
? Challenge,to test the abilities of
? The difficult situation ~d us to find a suitable
solution.
? He liked to be ~d by thought-provoking
questions.
? Spark,stimulate into greater activity; kindle;
animate:
? It is necessary to ~ some ambition in that
slothful young man.
Para 9,I have confidence that…,
? I am confident that if teachers are aware
of individual differences and motivate
young people in different ways,the
students will develop through cultivating
their own interests and abilities.
? Lines,areas,fields； especially on lines
which … had no ready answers
Para 9,associate
? Join in a relationship based on friendship,
business,or a shared purpose.
? John’s parents were in constant fear that
he might associate with some undesirable
companions.
Para,12,latent innate,endow(p20)
? Latent,existing but not yet visible or
active or fully developed;
? ~abilities,illness,qualities
? Innate,(of quality) which one was born
with;~ sense of humor,kindness,modesty
? Endow with,provide with (a good quality
or ability) from birth
? Her sister is endowed with talent in music.
Para,13
? Skyrocket:
? go up suddenly and steeply.
? Prices,sales,profits ~
? Yield,produce,bear,or provide,especially as a
result of work or effort
? First-rate management ~s huge profits for that
corporation.
? Measure,amount (formal use)
? He is not the top of the class,but he has
achieved some ~ of success.
Para,18:
? Overall progress:
? total/ general progress,(on the whole)
? ~ impression,effect,development…
? Paid dividends all around
? Produced good results in every way
? His hard work is paying dividends; he is
already the assistant manager of the
corporation at the age of 25.
Text Two Grouping the Gifted,Con
? Note:
? The essay was most likely written in the Cold
War period,when the U.S felt that it had
lagged behind the former Soviet Union in
education,and was losing in the competition
in science and technology,and thus urged
the need to train a large number of scientists
and technical personnel
Focusing on two aspects:
? The effect of grouping the gifted on the
gifted pupils
? The effect of grouping the gifted on
society
Effects on the gifted pupils:
? A gifted student who is bored by his
studies is an anxious child,Putting him in
a special class does not help him as
human being.
? A gifted child does not learn only when
pressed by the curriculum.
Effects on society:
? Grouping the gifted deprives the less-
gifted of stimulation;
? Speeding up the pace of education for the
gifted might deprive the society of some
men of broad vision it might need in the
future.
Text One
Grouping the Gifted,Pro
Pre-Class Work
? Gifted Children,
? those who possess some quality or innate
ability which has been recognized and
identified by number of testing and
observation devices and who manifest
interest and success in either physical,
intellectual,or artistic pursuits.
IQ:
? The abbreviation of,Intelligence Quotient”,
which is a number used to express the
apparent relative intelligence of a person
determined by dividing his mental age as
reported on a standardized test by his
chronological age and multiplying the
result by 100.
IQ:
? IQ indicates a person's mental abilities
relative to others of approximately the
same age,Everyone has hundreds of
specific mental abilities--some can be
measured accurately and are reliable
predictors of academic and financial
success.
IQ Scores:
? Intelligence Interval
? 40 – 55
? 55 – 70
? 70 – 85
? 85 – 115
? 115 – 130
? 130 – 145
? 145 – 160
? 160+
? Cognitive Designation
? Mentally disabled (Less than
1% of test takers)
? Learning difficulty (2.3% of
test takers)
? Below average
? Average (68% of test takers)
? Gifted
? Genius (2.3% of test takers)
? Extraordinary genius (Less
than 1% of test takers)
? "Unmeasurable" genius
IQ Test:
? a great program for your consciousness
exploration is available at,
http://www.iqtest.com/exercises.html,
Comprehension Exercises
? The theme of the essay （ Students’ Book,P89）
? By applying such methods of persuasion as
refuting opposing views and citing results of
research and observations,the author argues for
replacing the traditional heterogeneous
classroom with grouping pupils according to
their interest and ability.
How is Mott’s definition of the gifted
different form the commonly held one?
? The notion of the gifted is normally
associated with a high level of intelligence,
but his definition emphasizes interest and
ability as well as intelligence.
What does Mott think is the greatest
advantage of grouping the gifted?
? The pupils are encouraged to develop
their latent capacities to the fullest extent
What difficulty does the author encounter
when it comes to the assessment of the
progress of gifted organized into groups?
? There seems to be no viable way to assess
their progress,Refer to paras,11 and 12.
Apart from the fear that grouping the gifted might
lead to the creation of a caste of intellectual snobs,
another kind of fear is hinted at in the passage,
What is it?
? It is the fear of pushing the gifted beyond
their endurance,Refer to para.15.
Methods of argumentation:
? Pointing out erroneous notions held by the
opposing party,para.5 and 6
? Mott points out that grouping the gifted
will not create a caste of intellectual snobs,
Such fears of the opposing party are
groundness.
Finding fault with the opposing
party’s supporting evidence,
? para,10 and 11
? Mott refutes the evidence given by the
other party that grouping the gifted yields
no significant achievement,He says that
in most of these cases,the grouping is
based on IQ scores,which are far from
reliable.
Personalized evidence:
? Factual information and statistics usually
make good evidence,But-------
?,To the extent of my observation…” (pa.7)
?,my opinion,which is based on…” (pa13)
?,several schools with which I am…”
（ pa.16)
Personalized evidence
? Will surely to some extent weaken the
argument because-----------
? A personal observation or opinion can
hardly represent a satisfactory proof,and
what is proved true in one case will not
always become a truth in a another.
Concluding paragraphs:
are they strong and supportive?
? Mott concludes his argument by citing the result
of a successful experiment in grouping pupils
according to their different reading ability.
? That is very close to the criterion of intelligence
used traditionally to distinguish between the
gifted and non-gifted.
? A compromise.
Language Points
? Para 1
? Identify,prove sth,Because of a particular
quality
? Eg,Can you identify whose handwriting
this is?
? The machine identifies the owner of the
credit card by his fingerprint pattern.
Manifest,show clearly (formal)
? What she did manifested her lack of
confidence in herself.
? The illness first manifests itself in splitting
headaches.
? ----他关于电脑软件功能的提问显示出他对
信息技术的浓厚兴趣。
? His questions about the functioning of the
software manifests his great interest in IT.
Line 1-2:
? In my opinion,gifted children are children
who are specially endowed with natural
abilities which rank high on testing scales.
? Line 3:
? See Note 2
Para,3:
? Extent----scale,range,degree
? To some extent,partly true
? To a large extent,quite true
? To a certain extent,true to a certain
degree
? Grow to the fullest extent,to grow as
much as their abilities and capacities allow
them
Para,4
? Heterogeneous,consisting of parts or
members that are very different from one
another;
? Not homogeneous
? ~ grouped,grouped according to different
levels of ability
Para 6
? Ground,a base for argument
? Don’t listen to him,His arguments are
groundless.
? He declined the invitation to a game of tennis on
the grounds of ill health.
? 我们没有证据可以证明有关, 过渡生物, (the
missing link) 的理论的正确性。
? We have no grounds to prove the validity of the
theory of the ~.
Para,9,Line 37
? Lie with,be the responsibility of
? The final decision lies with the committee.
? 结果的成败取决于应试者们所作的努力。
? Whether or not the outcome is successful
lies with the efforts made by the
candidates.
Line 38,
? Challenge,to test the abilities of
? The difficult situation ~d us to find a suitable
solution.
? He liked to be ~d by thought-provoking
questions.
? Spark,stimulate into greater activity; kindle;
animate:
? It is necessary to ~ some ambition in that
slothful young man.
Para 9,I have confidence that…,
? I am confident that if teachers are aware
of individual differences and motivate
young people in different ways,the
students will develop through cultivating
their own interests and abilities.
? Lines,areas,fields； especially on lines
which … had no ready answers
Para 9,associate
? Join in a relationship based on friendship,
business,or a shared purpose.
? John’s parents were in constant fear that
he might associate with some undesirable
companions.
Para,12,latent innate,endow(p20)
? Latent,existing but not yet visible or
active or fully developed;
? ~abilities,illness,qualities
? Innate,(of quality) which one was born
with;~ sense of humor,kindness,modesty
? Endow with,provide with (a good quality
or ability) from birth
? Her sister is endowed with talent in music.
Para,13
? Skyrocket:
? go up suddenly and steeply.
? Prices,sales,profits ~
? Yield,produce,bear,or provide,especially as a
result of work or effort
? First-rate management ~s huge profits for that
corporation.
? Measure,amount (formal use)
? He is not the top of the class,but he has
achieved some ~ of success.
Para,18:
? Overall progress:
? total/ general progress,(on the whole)
? ~ impression,effect,development…
? Paid dividends all around
? Produced good results in every way
? His hard work is paying dividends; he is
already the assistant manager of the
corporation at the age of 25.
Text Two Grouping the Gifted,Con
? Note:
? The essay was most likely written in the Cold
War period,when the U.S felt that it had
lagged behind the former Soviet Union in
education,and was losing in the competition
in science and technology,and thus urged
the need to train a large number of scientists
and technical personnel
Focusing on two aspects:
? The effect of grouping the gifted on the
gifted pupils
? The effect of grouping the gifted on
society
Effects on the gifted pupils:
? A gifted student who is bored by his
studies is an anxious child,Putting him in
a special class does not help him as
human being.
? A gifted child does not learn only when
pressed by the curriculum.
Effects on society:
? Grouping the gifted deprives the less-
gifted of stimulation;
? Speeding up the pace of education for the
gifted might deprive the society of some
men of broad vision it might need in the
future.
