A
Do you remember the name of your kindergarten teacher? I do. Her name was Mrs. White. I don’t remember much about what we learned in her class, but my mother once told me we used to write a lot. And I would bring back what I wrote and she would see there were so many mistakes. But no red corrections. And always a star. Sometimes even a Good! That would make my heart soar with happiness. But it worried my mother, so when she went to meet Mrs. White for one of those Parent-Teacher meetings, she asked her why she never corrected my mistakes, why she never red-pencilled in the right spellings of words or pointed out grammatical errors.
Mrs. White explained the children were just beginning to get excited about using words, about forming sentences. She didn’t want to dampen that enthusiasm with red ink. Spelling and grammar could wait. The wonder of words wouldn’t ... And maybe she didn’t say it exactly like that, but I grew up learning to use words with loving confidence like that.
I look back now and think she must have been a rather extraordinary teacher—to allow the joy, wonder and excitement of expression to flower—however faultily like that.
I used to misspell “beautiful” a lot. Never could I quite remember that the “e” went before the “a”. Eventually the e’s and a’s settled into their right places of their own accord. I’m glad I didn’t wait on them though. Pretty is easier to spell but it doesn’t hold as much as you mean sometimes.
And thanks to Mrs. White, I had no qualms about writing what I meant even if I couldn’t quite spell it out. Because Life isn’t Pretty. It’s Beautiful.
21. How did the mother react to Mrs. White’s teaching method?
A. She paid no attention. B. She tried to correct it.
C. She quarreled with her. D. She went to consult her.
22. Why did the teacher never correct the mistakes?
A. She wanted parents to help the students.
B. She thought it was difficult to correct them.
C. She hoped to develop students’ confidence.
D. She wanted to strengthen teacher-student relationship.
23. What does the underlined word “qualm” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. Relaxation. B. Concern. C. Patience. D. Ambition.
24. What is the best title for the text?
A. Life Is Beautiful B. No Pains, No Gains
C. Practice Makes Perfect D. Spelling Is Important
