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Passage 1
There is a popular belief among parents that schools are no longer interested in spelling. No school I have taught in has ever ignored spelling or considered it unimportant as a basic skill. There are, however, vastly different ideas about how to teach it, or how much priority (优先）it must be given over general language development and writing ability. The problem is, how to encourage a child to express himself freely and confidently in writing without holding him back with the complexities of spelling?
If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher's interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to "play safe". He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That's why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.
I was once shocked to read on the bottom of a sensitive piece of writing about a personal experience； "This work is terrible! There are far too many spelling errors and your writing is illegible (难 以辨认的）o " It may have been a sharp criticism of the pupil's technical abilities in writing, but it was also a sad reflection on the teacher who had omitted to read the essay，which contained some beautiful expressions of the child deep feelings. The teacher was not wrong to draw attention to the errors, but if his priorities had centered on the child's ideas, an expression of his disappointment with the presentation would have given the pupil more motivation to seek improvement.

The expression "play safe" probably means "___"
A. to write carefully
B. to do as teachers say
C. to use dictionaries frequently
D. to avoid using words one is not sure of
参考答案
【讲解答案】
D短语理解题。play safe意为“求稳”，接下来的文字用于解释“play safe”，学生只写他能拼写的 字，避免用易出错的语言。