Choose the Appropriate Letter to Indicate the Conclusion That Can

question 8

Multiple Choice

Choose the appropriate letter to indicate the conclusion that can be drawn from each passage. Up until the 1960s, elementary school teachers believed that beginning reading instruction should include intensive focus on phonics; therefore, children were taught generalizations that would help them know how to sound out words.For example, they memorized rules like "When two vowels go walking, the first does the talking" in order to help them know how to say words like fear and boat, in which the first vowel is spoken and the second is not.However, in 1963, Dr.Theodore Clymer conducted a study of the methods used by elementary teachers to teach phonics.He looked at four popular reading programs for children and chose 45 commonly taught phonics generalizations.Then, he compared these generalizations to actual words appearing in the stories the children read as part of the program.Dr.Clymer found that only 18 of the generalizations were accurate more than 75 percent of the time.Of the 30 vowel generalizations he tested, only half of them worked at least 60 percent of the time.His study pointed out that there were many exceptions to the so-called rules; for example, bear and earn are just two of many words that do not conform to the rule about the pronunciation of two vowels.Therefore, Dr.Clymer concluded that "many of the generalizations that are commonly taught are of limited value." Following this study, which shattered several common myths about early reading education, Dr.Clymer spent the remainder of his career submitting the established theories of educators to rigorous scientific testing and then finding ways to improve teaching methods.
(Source of information: Lia Miller, "Theodore Clymer, 77, Expert on Early Reading Education, Dies," The New York Times , August 15, 2004, www.nytimes.com.)
From this passage, a reader might logically draw which conclusion?

• A) Theodore Clymer probably supported teaching even those generalizations that worked less than 60 percent of the time.
• B) Theodore Clymer would have challenged the notion that common sense is the only thing a teacher needs to be effective in the classroom.
• C) Dr.Clymer was thoroughly disgusted by the incompetent teaching methods once popular in reading classrooms.
• D) Dr.Clymer was also an excellent teacher.

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Definitions:

Mental Accounting

A concept in behavioral economics that refers to the different values people place on money, based on subjective criteria, affecting economic decision-making.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, often leading to statistical errors.

Affect Heuristic

A mental shortcut used in decision making and judgement that involves relying on emotions and feelings.

Regret Aversion

A theory in behavioral economics that describes the emotional reaction people experience after realizing they have made an error in judgment, leading them to avoid making decisions.