We send our children to school to prepare them for the time when they will be big and will have to work for themselves.They learn their own language so that they will be able to tell others clearly what they want and what they know,and understand what others tell them.They learn foreign languages in order to be able to understand the people from other countries and make themselves understood.They learn history to know something about human beings they meet every day.What they learn at school is,of course,quite useful,but is that the only reason（原因） why they go to school?
No.There is more in education than just learning facts.We go to school,above all,to learn how to learn,so that when we have left school,we can continue to learn.A man who really knows how to learn will always be successful,because whenever he has to do something new,he will quickly teach himself how to do it in the best way.The uneducated person,on the other hand,is either unable to do something new,or does it badly.So the purpose（目的）of school is not just to teach the students these useful subjects but teach the way to learn.
【小题1】Children are sent to school because & & & .A．they can grow fast at school
B．they have to work for themselves at the moment
C．the parents have to prepare them for their future
D．they are able to learn facts
【小题2】Why do they learn languages?Because they will & & & .A．make friends with others
B．be able to speak to and hear others clearly
C．be able to understand others
D．make themselves understood
【小题3】The sentence“There is more in education than just learning facts”means & & .A．learning facts isn’t the only thing in education
B．there are more facts to learn in education
C．education is just learning facts
D．learning facts is more important in education
【小题4】What does an educated person do when he meets something new?He will & & .A．try his best to do it
B．quickly find the best way out
C．be unable to do it well
D．know how to learn
【小题5】The main idea of the text is that & & & .A．children must go to school
B．the subjects at school are useful
C．parents should send their children to school
D．children should be taught not only to learn but how to learn
【小题1】C
【小题2】B
【小题3】A
【小题4】B
【小题5】DHe was asleep before I tucked him in.
If you tuck someone in, usually a child, you make them comfortable in bed by
straightening their sheets and blankets.
Sentence items can be used to learn both vocabulary and grammar.
In the question field, there is an example sentence.
The sentence has at least one “interesting” word or phrase (where “interesting” means “at least a little
difficult or challenging for you”).
It can be a sentence from a book, a dictionary, TV, etc.
In the answer field, you can put the definitions and pronunciations
of the difficult words. The answer field can also be empty.
Note: Many of the definitions in these items are from the
You're blocking the TV.
to block the TV = to obscure it from view
Four users complained of difficulty using the menus, and one was so stymied that I had to help him.
If you are stymied by something, you find it very difficult to take action or to
continue what you are doing. (INFORMAL)
stymied ['stai mi(:)d]
He said he'd be there, come hell or high water.
If you say that something will happen come hell or high water, you mean that
it will certainly happen, in spite of any difficulties that there might be.
Aside from that unfortunate business, everything is hunky-dory.
hunky-dory = fine (informal)
And then we're gonna kick back.
kick back = relax (slang)
I've got the hots for her.
the hots = sexual desire
The astronauts are preparing for touchdown tomorrow morning.
touchdown ['t^tS daun]
= the landing of an aircraft or spacecraft
She is an anchor for CNN International's World News.
an anchor ['@N k..(r)]
= the main broadcaster on a program of news, sports, etc.,
who often coordinates the reports of the program's other broadcasters
Those not attending the meeting may vote by proxy.
If you do something by proxy, you arrange for someone else to do it for you.
proxy ['prok si:]
Over time she internalized her parents' attitudes.
to internalize sth [in 'te:(r) n..l aiz]
If you internalize a belief or a set of values, it becomes part of your attitude or way of thinking.
I admire the way she can just shrug off all her problems.
to shrug sth off [Sr^g]
If you shrug something off, you ignore it or treat it as if it is not really important or serious.
My boss delegated me to approach the local press.
to delegate ['de l.. geit]
If you delegate someone to do something, you give them the duty of acting on your behalf by making decisions, voting, or doing some particular work.
There was a shift in the wind.
A shift is a slight change from one direction to another.
The mayor has the local police in his pocket.
If you have someone in your pocket, they are willing to do whatever you
tell them (possibly because you have bribed them).
You are correct that not every family is willing to make that kind of commitment.
You are correct that...
He is reasonably near to you -- in Prague.
near to you
The above two items teach two grammar structures — “You are correct that...” and “near to you”.
The author of these items already knew the vocabulary in these sentences, so the answer fields
contain no definitions. The phrases are only repeated in the answer field to make sure you don’t miss
More than one sentence
The question field may contain more than one sentence. Notice that:
Two short sentences are often simpler than one long sentence. For example, compare
“I am ugly, therefore she cannot possibly love me.” with “I am ugly. She cannot possibly love me.”
If you want to learn the word possibly, you don’t have to complicate this sentence with
the word therefore.
Sometimes a word or grammar structure appears only in a specific context. You may need an
additional sentence to show that context.
Look at the following items:
The restaurant serves only two meals: fish and steak. Most people take the steak.
The before steak is correct only if we know what steak we are talking about.
So we need to have the first sentence.
All right, I'll let you go in. However, you will have to behave well.
However is a word which connects two sentences. You cannot show its meaning with just
one sentence.
“What is he like?”
“He’s very nice.”
The conclusion is: Don’t always limit yourself to just one sentence in the question field. However,
pay attention to the total length of the sentences.
The text in the question field should be short. It cannot make you feel bored or tired!
Simplicity
The question field should not present many words or grammar structures.
When repeating an item, you don’t want to think about too many difficult things
at the same time. This means that you often have to simplify the sentence.
You can also use the sentence to make a few items (not just one).
Suppose you read this sentence in a book:
Days after the earthquake there were still survivors,
however it was not possible for the rescue workers to find them.
This sentence is hard if you are a beginner.
It has many difficult words and phrases. You can split it into three items like this:
Days after the earthquake there were still survivors.
earthquake ['e:rth kweik] = shaking of the ground
survivor [s..(r) 'vai v..(r)] = someone who continues to live after a disaster, accident,
It was not possible for the rescue workers to find the survivors.
rescue workers = workers helping people who suffered an accident, etc.
survivor [s..(r) 'vai v..(r)] = someone who continues to live after a disaster,
accident, etc.
There were still survivors, however it was not possible to find them.
survivor [s..(r) 'vai v..(r)] = someone who continues to live after a disaster,
accident, etc.
The first item is the first part of the sentence. It teaches the words
earthquake, survivors, and the phrase “Days after...”.
The second item is the part of the sentence after however.
The pronoun them at the end of the sentence was changed to the survivors
(to make the sentence clearer).
This item teaches the words get to someone, survivors, and rescue workers.
It also illustrates the phrase “It was not possible for someone to do something”.
The third item presents the word however. The parts of the sentence
before and after however have been simplified. The phrases
“Days after the earthquake” and “for the rescue workers” have been removed.
That way, the learner can concentrate on however when repeating this item.
It does not make sense to define however in the answer field, but there is a
definition of survivor in case the learner forgets it.
Of course, you should be very careful when changing the original sentence like this, because
you might make it incorrect.
Empty answer field
I find this book boring.
The answer field can also be empty. An empty answer field may be a good idea when
you think you will be able to understand the sentence even without the definition.
Here, the author thought that phrase “to find something boring” is quite easy to understand
without a dictionary definition. But even if you can understand this phrase easily, it may be
difficult to say or write this phrase yourself. So this item is useful even without a definition.
Also, remember that copying the definition and pronunciation (even from a software dictionary)
takes time. If you think a sentence is relatively “easy”, you can skip the definition.
That way, you can add your items much faster. And later, if you forget what a sentence means,
you can always look up the difficult word in a dictionary.
How to review
Read the sentence in the question field carefully.
Try to understand all parts of the sentence.
When reading, stop at interesting (not obvious) things: a new word,
how a word was used, a grammar structure, a preposition, an article (a/the), etc.
For example, spend a while to think about the fact that the sentence contains
the preposition at, and not on.
in our article about reading.
You can also practice saying the sentence aloud or in your mind without looking
at the screen. When you do, you can imagine you are in a situation where you say that sentence.
Make sure you get all the grammatical details right.
You should not try to say the definitions in the answer field! These definitions
only help you to check if you understood all parts of the sentence. If you forget
the sentence, they help you to re-learn it.
Read the answer field (if it is not empty). Quickly compare your understanding of the
words, phrases, and grammar structures with the explanations. If you are sure about
the meaning of the sentence, you don’t have to read the explanations.
Choose a grade. With sentence items, there is no concrete answer that you should give.
Instead, the “answer” is your understanding of the sentence. Therefore, the rules of
grading are a little different:
5 (Anki: Easy) — You understood the sentence very well. You feel that it’s easy for you.
4 (Anki: Good) — You understood the sentence, but you found it somewhat challenging.
Perhaps you understood it incorrectly at the beginning, and then you changed your mind.
Perhaps a tense or preposition in the sentence is a little surprising and you’re not sure
if you’d get it right if you were writing the sentence yourself. This should be the most common grade.
3 (Anki: Hard) — You understood the sentence, but it was hard and maybe your understanding
was a little incorrect.
2 (Anki: Again) — You “almost” understood the sentence. When you saw the explanations in the
answer field, you thought “I knew it!”.
1 (Anki: Again) — You didn’t understand the sentence.
0 (Anki: Again) — You didn’t understand the sentence and you don’t even recognize it.
Back in high school, when we were learning English intensively, we did not use sentence items
— we used mostly
with lots of example sentences in the answer field.
Michal invented sentence items when we were already fluent in English.
However, Tom used sentence items to learn German for a few months, with good results.
Khatzumoto, the author of
used sentence items to learn fluent Japanese in 18 months.
Make sure you read more about the
Can you pronounce basic English words?}