Ministers urge schools to bring back traditional textbooks to end a growing reliance on worksheets and the internet.

They say that an “anti-textbook ethos” has contributed to England’s fall in international rankings of pupils’ performance in key academic subjects.

In a speech to the Publishers Association, School Reform Minister Nick Gibb called on all schools – both primary and secondary – to reintroduce good quality textbooks in most subjects. He complained that teachers too often neglected textbooks in favor of producing worksheets or “endlessly searching the internet” for suitable material for their lessons.

Mr Gibb said new research shows that teachers in top-performing countries are significantly more likely to use textbooks than in England. The research “should rightly send shockwaves through the education system and the publishing industry,” Mr Gibb said.

In Finland, 95 per cent of maths teachers use a textbook as a basis for lessons and in Singapore, the figure is 70 per cent. In contrast, only 10 per cent of maths teachers in England use a textbook for their core teaching – and only four per cent in science.

‘Study of these nations shows good teaching and high academic standards are strongly associated with adequate provision and widespread use of high quality textbooks,’ said Mr Gibb, ‘Once again England has fallen behind.’ He suggested that teacher trainers and researchers, rather than teachers themselves, are responsible for the marginalization of textbooks. He also laid down a challenge to educational publishers to drive up the quality of textbooks in England.

“For teachers, well-structured textbooks reduce workload,” he said, “for students, knowledge-rich textbooks mean they can read beyond the confines of the exam syllabus and using textbooks helps to develop those all-important scholarship skills; and for parents, textbooks are a guide to what their children are being taught in school. I would like to see all schools, both primary and secondary, using high quality textbooks in most academic subjects, bringing us closer to the norm in high performing countries.”

1.What was it that led to England’s fall in international rankings of pupils performance in key subjects?

A Worksheets and materials from the internet.

B The negligence of high quality textbooks.

C The confines of the exam syllabus.

D The education system and publishing industry.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据文章第三段too often neglected textbooks可知，由于教师忽视对教材的使用，侧重使用活页材料和互联网材料，导致了教育质量（国际比赛中学生表现不尽如人意）的下滑。

2.What is implied in the passage?

A England will rethink the “anti-textbook ethos”.

B Teachers will be shocked at research.

C Pupils’ performance will be improved.

D More textbooks will be published in coming years.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据文章第四段The research “should rightly send shockwaves through the education system and the publishing industry,”可知，其他国家使用教材获得较好成绩的研究结果将对教育体制与出版业带来冲击，由此判断，教育系统将重新评估“去教材化”的可行性，从而重新回归课本教学。

3.How many maths teachers use textbooks in England?

A 95%.

B 70%.

C 10%.

D 4%.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据文章第五段only 10 per cent of maths teachers in England use a textbook for their core teaching可知，与芬兰95%的数学教师使用教材上课的比例相比，英格兰只有10%的人使用教材。

4.Who did Mr Gibb think were responsible for class teaching without textbooks?

A Teacher trainers and researchers.

B School teachers.

C Educational publishers.

D School reform ministers.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据文章第六段…suggested that teacher trainers and researchers, rather than teachers themselves, are responsible for the marginalization of textbooks可知，对教材边缘化负责的不是老师，而是师训机构和教育研究者。

5.What is the use of textbooks?

A They help reduce the workload of the pupils.

B They offer teachers a guide to what the pupils being taught in school.

C They help teachers produce worksheets and search the internet.

D They help pupils develop all-important scholarship skills.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据文章最后一段for students, knowledge-rich textbooks… develop those all-important scholarship skills可知，学生通过学习教材可以全面发展知识技能。