He says the problem with teachers is, “What will a kid learn from someone who chose to become a teacher?” He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of biting his and stop myself from reminding the other dinner guests that it’s also true what they say about lawyers－that they make money from the misfortune of others.

“I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor,” he says to me.” Be honest. What do you make?”

I wish he hadn’t asked me to be honest, because now I have to teach him a lesson.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I can make a C+feel like a great achievement and an A-feel like a failure.

How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best?

I make parents tremble in fear when I call them:

I hope I haven’t called at a bad time.

I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.

Billy said, “Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don’t you?”

And it was the bravest act I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them criticise.

I make them think.

I make them apologise and mean it.

I make them write, write, write.

And then I make them read.

I teach them to solve math problems that they once thought impossible.

I make them understand that if you have brains then you follow your heart and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you teach them a lesson.

Let me make this simple for you, so you know what I say is true:

I make a great difference! What about you?

1.What is the tone of the passage?

A．Upset and disappointed.                  B．Cheerful and positive.

C．Angry and proud.                       D．Humorous and light-hearted.

2.What do we know about the man that the author is speaking to?

A．He dislikes lawyers.                      B．He is actually a lawyer.

C．He is respectful to teachers.               D．He is in the author’s home.

3.What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Requirements of a Good Teacher           B．An Argument Between Two Guests.

C．A Dinner Conversation                   D．What Teachers Make

4.The underlined phrase “bite my tongue” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to       .

A．stop myself saying what I really think         B．say something that is wrong

C．speak out honestly but carelessly           D．keep silent about myself

 

 

Many people believe the glare from snow causes snowblindness. Yet, dark glasses or not, they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snowblindness, when exposed to several hours of “snow light”. The United States Army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snowblindness in troops in a snow-covered country. A man's eyes frequently find nothing to focus on in a broad expanse of barren snow-covered terrain(地域). So his long look continually moves and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding nothing, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and eyeballs become sore and the eye muscles ache. Nature offers this discomfort by producing more and more liquid which covers the eyeball. The liquid covers the eyeball in increasing quantity until vision became not clear, and then is not easily seen and the result is total, even though not very long, snowblindness.

Experiments led the Army to a simple method of solving this problem. Scouts, ahead of a main body of troops, are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark colored objects ahead on which they too can focus. The men following can then see something. Their eyes focus on a bush and have something to see. By focusing their attention on one object at a time, the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snowblind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a solid white terrain is solved.

1. The first paragraph is mainly concerned with ________.

A. need for dark glasses      

B the whiteness from snow

C. headaches, watering eyes and snowblindness 

D. snow glare and snowblindness

2. According to the author, recent work on snowblindness shows that it is caused by ________.

A. exposure to bright light

B. failure to focus on an object

C. a loss of vision which doesn't last long

D. focusing on dark colored objects for a very long time

3. Suppose you walk across a completely snow-covered area, what should you do to solve the problem of snowblindness?

A. By wearing dark sun glasses.

B. By throwing an extra pair of black shoes ahead.

C. By asking the Army for help.

D. By walking backwards.

4. A suitable title for this passage would be ________.

A. Snowblindness and How to avoid it     B. Soldiers in Snow　　

C. Nature's Cure for Snowblindness       D. Snow Vision

 

With the popularity of Harry Potter novels, the number of children applying to boarding schools has risen, many of them hoping to find their own version of Hogwarts. However, others have interpreted this trend as a reaction to longer working hours and the break up of more marriages. The boarding schools of fiction are presented as one long midnight feast with pillow fights making firm friendships. However, some people say the reality is children having more homesickness and a lack of individual attention. Modern boarding schools have done much to get rid of the image of the mass dormitories with 40 or more beds in one room, some going as far as providing private rooms with bathrooms. Similarly, they make great announcements for their academic advantage, particularly in light of the increase in exams, homework and university entrance requirements facing children wishing to succeed in the modern world.

Alongside these more conventional schools, two types of boarding schools have also become more popular recently. Sports academies and stage schools seek to cater for children with particular interests and talents, while so-called troubled-teens have been able to turn to a range of religious or wilderness schools to solve their problematic behavior.

Boarding schools allow children a safe space in which to accomplish greater control and independence over their daily lives. Teachers and staff can look after and support but they are unlikely to be over-protective. This can be a great preparation for university or for working away from home in later life as it provides an intermediate step between childhood and full independence.

However, parents are a child’s most natural support and best role models to learn from. If they are separated from them for long periods of time, this may damage their relationship and leave the child feeling anxious or alone. Schools are unlikely to be able to copy the detailed knowledge of each individual child that a parent has and therefore cannot be as effective in supporting the child.

To sum up, boarding schools have both their advantages and disadvantages, so it is up to you to decide whether to send your children to boarding schools or not.

1.What do we know from the passage? 

A．More and more children go and visit Hogwarts on their own.

B．Pillow fights in boarding schools make firm friendships in reality.

C．More children want to go to boarding schools because of Harry Potter novels.

D．There aren’t special schools for the particularly talented children.

2.What kind of schools may be the most suitable for the so-called troubled-teens?

A．sports academies                       B．Wilderness schools

C．Conventional schools                    D．Stage schools

3.We learn from Paragraph 4 that __________. 

A．teachers of boarding schools are the best examples for children to learn from

B．children can be more independent if they are separated from their parents

C．parents know their children better than teachers of boarding schools

D．schools are much more effective than parents in supporting children

4.What is the author’s opinion of boarding schools?  

A．Neutral （中立的） B．Negative          C．Positive           D．Critical

 

Books which give instructions on how to do things are very popular in the United States today. Thousands of these "How to" books are available; in fact, there are about four thousand books with titles that begin with the words "How to" One book may tell you how to earn more money, another may tell you how to save or spend it, and another may explain how to give your money away.  Many "How to" books give advice on careers (职业). They tell you how to choose a career and how to succeed at it. If you fail, however, you can buy a book called “How to Turn Failure into Success”. If you would like to become very rich, you can buy the book “How to Make a Million”. If you never make any money at all, you may need a book called "How to" Live on Nothing? One of the most popular types of books is one that helps you with personal problems. If you want to have a better love of life, you can read "How to" Succeed at Love Every Minute of Your Life.? If you are tired of books on happiness, you may prefer a book called "How to". Make Yourself miserable?

Many of these books help people use their time better. Some people want books which will give them useful information about sports, hobbies, and travel. Other people use their free time to make repairs and improvements on their homes. They prefer books which give step by step instruction on how to repair things like plumbing (卫生管道工程) and electrical wiring, or on how to redecorate (重新装饰) or enlarge a house.

Why have "How to" books become so popular? Probably because life has become so complex. Today people have far more free time to use, more choices to make, and more problems to solve. "How to" books help people deal with modern life. 

1.These "How to" books are written to______.

A．tell people to love their life

B．earn money

C．give people some good advice on how to do something they want to do

D．say something about America

2.Before someone wants to find a good job. He had better______.

A．buy a book on "How to" Make a Million?

B．read a book on how to choose a career and how to succeed at it

C．beg bosses or managers for it

D．use his free time to look for it

3.If people will not succeed in what he is doing a book called________ can give help.

A．＂How to" Turn Failure into Success？

B．"How to" Make a Million?

C．"How to" Succeed at Love Every Minute of Your Life?

D．"How to" Make Yourself Miserable?

4.Which headline of the following is the best for this passage?

A．“How to" Books in America

B．"How to" Books Are Ordinary in America

C．Thousands of "How to" Books

D．Books with Title That Begin with the Words "How to"

 

The government has taken some measures to solve the shortage of electricity , but it may be some time _________the situation improves.

A．since

B．when

C．before

D．unless