Section BDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by som

Section B

Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.

Pronouncing a language is a skill. Every person is expert in the skill of pronouncing his own language; but few are even moderately proficient at pronouncing foreign languages. The fundamental reason why people do not speak foreign languages very well is that they fail to grasp the true nature of the problem of learning to pronounce, and consequently never set about tackling it in the right way. Many people just fail to realize pronouncing a foreign language is a skill one that needs careful training and one that can't be acquired by just leaving it to take care of itself. Even teachers tend to neglect the branch of study concerned with speaking the language. So the first point to make here is that English pronunciation must be taught; the teacher must be prepared to devote some lessen time to this. And by his whole attitude to the subject the teacher should get students to feel that here is a matter worthy of receiving close attention. So there should be occasions when other aspects of English such as grammar or spelling are allowed for the moment to take second place.

Apart from the time given to pronunciation, there are two more requirements for the teacher: knowledge and technique.

The teacher should be in possession of the necessary information. It is possible to get from books some idea of speech mechanics, to get a clear mental picture of the relationship between the sounds of different languages, between the speech habits of English people and those of the students. Unless the teacher has such a picture, any comments he may make on his students' pronunciation are unlikely to be of much use, and lesson time spent on pronunciation may well be wasted.

But it does not follow that the teacher can teach pronunciation successfully as soon as he has read the necessary books. It depends after that what he makes of his knowledge; and this is a matter of technique. Now the first and most important part of a language teacher's technique is his own performance, his ability to demonstrate the spoken language, in every detail of articulation as well as in fluent speaking, so that the students' latent capacity for imitation is given the fullest scope and encouragement. The teacher, then, should be as perfect a model in this respect as he can make himself. And to supplement his own performance, however satisfactory this may be, the modern teacher has at his disposal recordings and radio, to supply the authentic voices of native speakers.

What does the author actually say about pronouncing foreign languages？

A．There are not many people who are even fairly good.

B．Nobody is really an expert in the skill.

C．There are even some people who are moderately proficient.

D．Only a few people are really proficient.