To Teach for Test, to Train for skills or to Educate
             Good teachers are like conductors of orchestras, who lead their whole orchestras to work on the same piece of music, and at the same time attend to the individuality of players of different instruments. In face of a large size of class and rigid College English Test (CET), it is by no means an easy task to attune the learning interests of students to the general teaching aims and bring about independent study on the part of the students.
             The school where I teach as an English It offers a vast array of subjects for students after three years of study in junior high school. The underlying philosophy is that anyone who wants an education and is qualified would have the opportunity to continue his education. However, since in recent years there has been a surging nationwide enthusiasm for higher diploma, the school with a long history of eighty years, established as a polytechnic school, has lost it original appeal among students. In this crucial period of time, the general teaching aim is firmly held to be ¡° equipping students with specific skills that enable them to secure a footing among the severe competition from the graduate students and above ¡±.
             The subject I teach now is extensive reading, which is required for the group of students majoring in ¡°English for Foreign Trade¡±. And I am held responsible for two classes of the same grade, three hours per week each. The average age of the students is eighteen. Investigation reveals that their previous English learning is characterized as three-centered: classroom-centered, teacher-centered, and textbook-centered. Opportunities for practicing the authentic use of English are few and far between. The students have to direct their efforts mainly to CET, which has been regarded by most working units as the criterion to determine one¡¯s English proficiency. The textbook accordingly has been proposed to pre
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