Unit 4. Special education

A. READING
Before you read
*Make a list of the activities you do every day. Then ask your partner
which ones he/she thinks would be difficult for blind and deaf people.
*Work with a partner. Look at the Braille Alphabet. Then work out the
message that follows.
SPECIAL EDUCATION






We are the world






































Read the passage and then do the tasks that follow.
A TEACHER IN A SPECIAL CLASS
Like other teachers, Pham Thu Thuy enjoys her teaching job. However, her class is different from other classes. The twenty-five children, who are learning how to read and write in her class, are disabled. Some are deaf, some dumb and others mentally retarded. Most of the children come from large and poor families, which prevents them from having proper schooling.
At first, there was a lot of opposition from the parents of the disabled children. They used to believe that their children could not learn anything at all. In the first week, only five children attended the class. Gradually more children arrived. Their parents realised that the young teacher was making great efforts to help their poor kids.
Watching Thuy taking a class, one can see how time-consuming the work is. During a maths lesson, she raised both arms and opened up her fingers one by one until all ten stood up. She then closed the fingers one by one. She continued the demonstration until the children realised they had just learned how to add and subtract. The children have every reason to be proud of their efforts. They know a new world is opening up for them.
New words
Disabled (ajd)
Deaf (ajd)
Dumb (ajd)
mentally retarded.
Opposition (n)
Gradually (adv)
Effort (n)
time-consuming
Demonstration (n)
Proud (adj)
Task 1. The words in A appear in the reading passage. Match them with their definitions in B.
The key for task 1
1. disable - c. unable to use a part of the body in the normal way
2. Mentally retarded - e. Less mentally developed than normal
3.time cosuming- a.taking or needing a lot of time
4.demonstration- b. an act of showing or explaining how to do something
5.Gradually - d.slowly, over a long period of time




Task 2. Read the passage again and complete the following sentences by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C, or D.
I. Thuy`s class is different from other classes because the children____________ .
A. are from large families
B. are less mentally developed
C. love Maths very much
D. are disabled

2. At first the parents were________ the idea of sending their children to the special class.
A. interested in C. satisfied with
B. opposed to D. worried about
3. It can be inferred from the second paragraph of the reading passage
that there has been __________ .
A. a change in the parents` attitude towards the class
B. a lot of protest from the parents against the class
C. a feeling of doubt in the teacher`s ability
D. a belief in the parents` opposition
4. The writer describes how Thuy teaches the children to add and subtract in order to prove that____________________ .
A. the children like Maths
B. the teacher is proud of her work
C. the teaching work takes time
D. adding and subtracting are important
5. The writer`s attitude towards Thuy`s work in the passage can be described as___ .
A. humorous B. angry C. suspicious D. admiring
New words
Inferred (adj)
Attitude (n)
Protest (n)
Doubt (n)
suspicious (adj)
Humorous (adj)
The key for task 2
1. D
2. B
3. A
4. C
5. D
After you read
Fill each of the blanks of the summary below with a suitable word from the reading passage.
Twenty-five (1)___________ children have the chance of learning
how to (2)__ ____and (3)______thanks
to the (4)_________ of a young teacher, Pham Thu Thuy.
Although her idea, at first, met with (5)___________ from the
parents of the disabled children, more children attended her class later.
The teaching work in the special class is (6)________ .
For example, in a (7)______ lesson, the teacher has to
use her (8)_______ and (9)_______
to teach the children how to add and subtract. The children are now
(10)_______ and happy.
The key for “after you read”
1. disabled
2. read
3. write
4. efforts
5. opposition
6. time - consuming
7. Maths
8. arms.
9 fingers
10. proud.