One topic is rarely mentioned in all the talk of improving standards in our schools: the almost complete failure of foreign-language teaching. As a French graduate who has taught for more than twenty-five years, I believe I have some idea of why the failure is so total.  21  the faults already found out in the education system as a whole — such as child-centred learning, the “discovery” method, and the low expectations by teachers of pupils — there have been several serious  22  which have a direct effect on language teaching.
The first is the removal from the curriculum (课程) of the thorough teaching of English  23 . Pupils now do not know a verb from a noun, the subject of a sentence from its object, or the difference between the past, present, or future.
Another important error is mixed-ability teaching, or teaching in ability groups so  24  that the most able groups are  25  and are bored while the least able are lost and  26  bored. Strangely enough, few head teachers seem to be in favour of mixed-ability school football teams.
Progress depends on memory, and pupils start to forget immediately they stop having 27  lessons. This is why many people who attended French lessons at school, even those who got good grades, have  28  it a few years later. Because they never need it, they do not practice it.
Most American schools have accepted what is inevitable and  29  modern languages, even Spanish, from the curriculum. Perhaps it is time for Britain to do the same, and stop  30  resources on a subject which few pupils want or need.
21. A. Due to                 B. In addition to       C. Instead of            D. In spite of
22. A. errors                  B. situations             C. systems               D. methods
23. A. vocabulary           B. culture                C. grammar             D. literature
24. A. wide                    B. similar                C. separate               D. unique
25. A. kept out               B. turned down        C. held back            D. left behind
26. A. surprisingly          B. individually         C. equally                D. hardly
27. A. extra                   B. traditional           C. basic                   D. regular
28. A. needed                 B. forgotten             C. practised             D. left
29. A. restored               B. absorbed             C. prohibited           D. withdrawn
30. A. wasting                B. focusing              C. exploiting            D. sharing