Passage Six
In order to learn a foreign language well, it is necessary to overcome the fear of making mistakes. If the primary goal of language use is communication, then mistakes are secondary considerations that may be dealt with gradually as awareness of those mistakes increases. On the other hand, students should not ignore their mistakes. The language learner may observe how native speakers express themselves, and how native expressions differ from the way the learner might say them. For example, a Spanish speaker who has been saying “I do it” to express willingness to do something in the immediate future, could, by interacting with native speakers of English, observe that native speakers actually say “I’ll do it”. The resulting difference can serve as a basis for the student to modify his way of using the present tense in English. But a student who is unwilling to interact in the first place would lose this opportunity to learn by trial of an error.
186. According to the passage, the present tense in English is ______.
A. not used to express a desire to do something in the immediate future
B. used with some verbs but not with others to express future intention
C. basically the same in English as it is in Spanish
D. speaking without regard for native speakers
187. According to the passage, language learners can reduce the number of their mistakes by______.
A. asking native speakers for explanations
B. reading good books in the foreign language
C. comparing their speech with that of native speakers
D. learning through trial of an error
188. According to the passage, foreign language students who do not interact with native speaker will NOT ______.
A. learn very much about the foreign culture
B. learn about the history of the foreign language
C. have to worry about making mistakes
D. take advantage of available language models
189. According to the passage, foreign language students should not worry too much about making mistakes because _______.
A. native speakers like foreign students who try to learn their language
B. communication is the primary goal of language learning
C. native speakers will ignore their mistakes
D. everyone makes mistakes when trying to communicate in a strange language
190. The author.s major conclusion about the function of mistakes in foreign language learning is that ______.
A. mistakes are not important in the process of learning a language
B. learners are often very afraid of making mistakes
C. making mistakes can help the learner discover the rules of the language
D. native speakers often do not tell foreign language learners about their mistakes
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