Unit 4. Special education

This girl is using her fingers to read. She is a blind girl.
-> blind : (a) mï
The people in this picture are using their hands to express what they mean.
They are deaf people.
-> dumb : (a) c©m
disabled :
(a) khuyÕt tËt, tµn tËt
-> deaf : (a) ®iÕc
This girl is not able to speak anything.
She is a dumb girl.
These are mentally retarded twin brothers.
They are less mentally developed than normal.
-> mentally retarded : (a) thiÓu n¨ng trÝ tuÖ
Unit 4: Special education
Lesson A: Reading

Make a list of the activities you do everyday. Then ask your partner which ones she/he thinks would be difficult for blind and deaf people.
Can the blind people watch TV?
Can the deaf people listen to music?
Can the dumb people sing?
Before you read
Work with a partner: Look at the Braille Alphabet. Then work out the message that follows:
While you read

Read the passage and then do the tasks that follow.
Task 1: The words in A appear in the reading passage. Match them with their definitions in B
I. disabled. – c. unable to use a part of the body in the normal way.
2. mentally retarded – e. less mentally developed than normal.
3. time-consuming – 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.
Thuy’s class if different from other classes because the children ....................
A. are from large families C. love Maths very much
B. are less mentally developed D. are disable
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 their 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 cab be decribed as ....................
A. Humorous C. suspicious
B. Angry D. admiring

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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.
disabled
read
write
efforts
opposition
time-consuming
maths
arms
fingers
proud
Consolidation

Revision: New words and phrases
Homework: Make a short talk about Thuy’s class