If you wanted to know what it’s like to walk on the moon, you’d interview an astronaut. If you wanted insights(深刻的见解) on playing Hamlet, you’d study the performance of a Shakespearean actor. And if you wanted to know what the first year of teaching school is like, well... you’d ask teachers who just completed their first year on the job. We wanted to know and we asked.

This book attempts to capture the fascinating and inspiring answers we received. It is based largely on a series of discussions held among winners of the First Class Teacher Award sponsored(赞助) every year by Sallie Mae, a corporation devoted to education. As in the past years, first-year teachers who won the award came to Washington, DC in the fall for a weekend of awards and related events.

One activity that grew out of the awards is a series of focus group discussions. These discussions allow us to ask first-year teachers some key questions: What was it like the first year What were your hardest challenges and your greatest rewards? Did you get the right preparation? Do you have any insights you could offer new teachers?

The teachers talked in frank terms about what it’s like to feel rebuffed by experienced teachers, to struggle with budget cutbacks, to see children in pain. But the difficulties they related are only half the story. They also told us how they dealt with challenges, what they would want new teachers to know, and why being a teacher is so important to their sense of self. All together, their words paint a picture of an inspired and inspiring group of up-and-coming leaders in their profession. We believe their reflections will prove helpful to principals, administrators, university professors in education departments, and particularly, new teachers who are speeding up to face the first day of school. This book is built on the words and recollections(回忆) of award-winning, first-year teachers. We have used direct quotations(引用语) from teachers (with their permission), both from the focus group discussions and from a set of essays they wrote. We felt their voices needed to be heard as directly as possible. Our job was to present their insights in a way that would be useful for readers. What follows is our effort to do so.

Thank you for your interest, and we welcome your response.

Sincerely,

Sharon A. Bobbitt, Ph.D.

Director, Knowledge Applications Division

U.S. Department of Education

65.Sharon A. Bobbitt writes the passage mainly to ________.

A. inspire would-be teachers               B. praise the award winners

C. share his teaching experience            D. introduce a valuable book

66.What purpose does Paragraph 1 serve in the passage?

A. To provide background information of the topic.

B. To attract readers’ attention to the topic.

C. To use the examples to support the topic.

D. To offer basic knowledge of the topic.

67.Which of the following is TRUE about the First Class Teacher Award?

A. It is sponsored by Sallie Mae every year.

B. It is held sometimes in Washington, DC.

C. It focuses on discussions and contests.

D. The participants are invited to write books.

68.What does the underlined word “rebuffed” in the Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A. Impressed deeply.                     B. Taught sincerely.

C. Refused rudely.                       D. Helped warm-heartedly.

 

People need to relax and enjoy themse1ves．One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event．Even thousands of years ago，groups of people gathered to watch skilled athletes（运动员）．

　　Over 2000 years ago in Greece，certain days in the year were festival days．These were holidays when people stopped work and enjoyed themselves．They liked to watch athletes take part in  races and other games of skill．

　　The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia．It was held in honor of the Greek  god Zeus（Zus）．For five days，athletes from all parts of the  Greek  world took part in the Olympic Games．At the Olympic Games，people could watch them box，run，jump and so on．There was a relay race between two teams of men in which a lighted torch（火矩）was passed from runner to runner．The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities which were at war with one another had to stop fighting．People were allowed to travel to the games safely．Thousands of people came to Olympia from cities in Greece and from her colonies（殖民地）in Africa，Asia and Italy．They met as friends to cheer their favorite athletes and to enjoy themselves．

　1.What happened in Greece over 2000 years ago？

A．People stopped work and enjoyed themselves．

B．The cities there were often against one another．

C．People watched baseball games．

D．People didn’t go to any games at all．

　2.What were those countries in Africa？

A．Friends．	B．Enemies．
C．Colonies．	D．Other cities．

　3.What did people do at the games？

A．They fought．	B．They just talked to friends．
C．They cheered for good athletes．	D．They tried to find friends．

　4.Greek cities then were fighting so they_____．

A．were weak	B．were strong
C．couldn’t go to other cities freely	D．could see each other

　5.The best title for the story is“_____”．

A．Greece at War	B．Together for the Games
C．Stop Fighting	D．Sport

 

People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions--and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why．

    Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly(均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes．

   “We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions,” Jack said．“Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect (忽略) the mouth．”

    According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed．As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations．

    The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral．They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies．

    It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did．“The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions,” Jack said．“Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and the mouth less．”

    In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion．From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion．Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation．

The discovery shows that Westerners ________.

    A．consider facial expressions universally reliable

    B．pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth

    C．have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions

    D． observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways

What were the people asked to do in the study?

A．To get their faces impressive．             B． To make a face at each other．

C．To observe the researchers' faces．        D． To classify some face pictures．

What does the underlined word "they" in Paragraph 6 refer to?

A．The researchers of the study．            B． The participants in the study．

C．The data collected from the study．              D． The errors made during the study．

In comparison with Westerners, Easterners are likely to ______.

A． read facial expressions more correctly         B． examine the eyes more attentively

C．study the mouth more frequently           D．do translation more successfully

Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries may speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.

    The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.

    The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check this in a dictionary.

61. The writer thinks that        .

   A. choose a good dictionary, and you’ll be successful in learning English

   B. dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English

   C. it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly

   D. using dictionaries very often can’t help to improve writing

62. According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?

   A. Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English.

   B. Whatever new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries.

   C. Small two-language dictionaries have serious shortcomings.

   D. Reading something for the first time, you’d better not use dictionaries.

63. When in the reading does the writer advise students to use a good dictionary?

   A. At the beginning of the reading          B. At the end of the reading

   C. During the first reading                D. After the first reading

64. This passage mainly tells us        .

   A. that students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries

   B. what were the shortcomings of small two-language dictionaries

   C. why students should use large college edition dictionaries

   D. what dictionary students should choose and how to use it

65. Which is NOT mentioned in this passage?

   A. How to make good use of a dictionary.    B. When to use a dictionary.

   C. How to improve spoken English.         D. How to practice reading fast.

 

The USA is a land of immigrants. Between 1815 and 1914, the world witnessed the greatest peaceful migration in its history: 35 million people, mostly Europeans, left their homelands to start new lives in America. Why did these people risk everything by leaving their homes and families?

First, what forced emigrants to make the decision to leave? One major cause for European farmers to leave was the rise in population which in turn led to land hunger. Another was politics. There was an increased taxation（税收） and the growth of armies, and many young men fled eastern Europe to avoid being forced to join the army.

Physical hunger provided another pressing reason. Following the collapse （衰退）of the economy of southern Italy in the 1860s, hundreds of thousands decided to start a new life in America. Religion also encouraged millions to leave the Old World.

In short, people chose to leave their homes for social, economic and religious reasons. As a result, by 1890 among a total population of 63 million, there were more than nine million foreign-born Americans.

But what were the attractions? First of all, there was the promise of land which was so scarce in Europe. Next, factories were calling for workers, and pay conditions were much better than back home. Men were needed to open up the West and build the long railroads, and new towns needed settlers to live in and to develop business. There was the space for religious people to practice their faith in peace.

This immigration meant that by around the 1850s Americans of non-English had started to be more than those of English. As we know, there were losers. To start with, there were those unwilling immigrants, the slaves who had been used as a source of cheap labour. Nor should we forget the equally unlucky American Indians. By 1860 there were 27 million free whites, four million slaves and a mere 488,000 free blacks.

Nowadays, the USA is still seen by millions as the Promised Land. As always, it remains an attractive place to those who think it will offer them a second chance.

41．What is not the cause for people to leave their homeland?

A. The search for religious freedom.

B. The search for adventure.

C. Unwillingness to join the army.

D. Economics.

42．Why was life of the 19th Century European farmers difficult?

A. There was no land.

B. There was no peace.

C. The population had gone down.

D. There were too many of them.

43． Which of the following was not an attraction of the USA?

A. Employment                                              B. A healthy life

C. freedom of religion                                     D. Business opportunities

44．What is the topic of this passage?

A. The USA is still seen by millions as the Promised Land.

B. The USA is a land of immigrants.

C. Religion encouraged millions to leave the Old World.

D. About one-eighth of non-native born Americans live in the USA in 1890.

45． The American Indians __________.

A. were as fortunate as the slaves

B. were more unfortunate than the slaves

C. were the most unfortunate      

D. were as unfortunate as the slaves