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Proper arrangement of classroom space is important to encouraging interaction. Most of us have noticed

how important physical setting is to efficiency and comfort in our work. College classroom space should be

designed to encourage the activity of critical thinking.

We are in the twenty-first century now, but step into almost any college classroom and you step back in

time at least a hundred years. Desks are normally in straight rows, so students can clearly see the teacher but

not all their classmates. The message behind such an arrangement is obvious. Everything of importance comes

from the teacher.

With a little imagination and effort, unless desks are fixed to the floor, the teacher can correct this situation

and create space that encourages interchange among students. In small or standard-sized classes, chairs,

desks, and tables can be arranged in a variety of ways. The primary goal should be for everyone to be able to

see everyone else. Large classes, particularly those held in lecture halls, unfortunately, allow much less

flexibility.

Arrangement of the classroom should also make it easy to divide students into small groups for discussion

or problem-solving exercises. Small classes with movable desks and tables present no problem. Even in large

lecture halls, it is possible for students to turn around and form groups of four to six. Breaking a class into

small groups provides more opportunities for students to interact with each other, think out loud, and see how

other students' thinking processes operate all essential elements in developing new modes of critical thinking.

In courses that regularly use a small group format, students might be asked to stay in the same small

groups throughout the course. A colleague of mine, John, allows students to move around during the first two

weeks, until they find a group they are comfortable with. John then asks them to stay in the same seat, with

the same group, from that time on. This not only creates a comfortable setting for interaction but helps him

learn students' names and faces.

1. The primary purpose of desk rearrangement is _____.

A. for the teacher to divide students into small groups

B. to make it possible for students to interact with each other

C. for the teacher to find out how students think

D. to give students more opportunities to practice speaking

2. Which of the following can best explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?

A. There is not much change in educational idea over the past hundred years.

B. Critical thinking was encouraged even a century ago.

C. College classrooms often remind people of their college life.

D. A hundred years ago, desk arrangement in a classroom was quite different.

3. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. Students are allowed to change groups throughout the course in John's class

B. It's impossible for students to make up small groups in large lecture halls

C. A comfortable environment leads to higher working efficiency

D. New kinds of desks and chairs should be made

4. The author mentioned John in the last paragraph in order to _____.

A. create a comfortable setting for interaction

B. introduce an approach of learning students' names and faces easily

C. give an example that students stay in the same seat throughout the course

D. describe a good seat-arrangement mode in courses with small group format