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.
As one comes to some crossroads, he or she sees a sign which says that drivers have to stop when they come to the main road ahead. At other crossroads, drivers have to go slow, but they do not actually have to stop unless, of course, there is something coming along the main road; and at still others, they do not have either to stop or to go slow, because they are themselves on the main road.
Mr. Williams, who was always a very careful driver, was driving home from work one evening when he came to a crossroad. It had a “SLOW” sign. He slowed down when he came to the main road, looked both ways to see that nothing was coming, and then drove across without stopping completely.
At once he heard a police whistle, so he pulled into the side of the road and stopped. A policeman walked over to him with a notebook and a pen in his hand and said, “You didn’t stop at that crossing.”
“But the sign there doesn't say ‘STOP’.” answered Mr. Williams, “It just says ‘SLOW’, and I did go slow.”
The policeman looked around him, and a look of surprise came over his face. Then he put his notebook and pen away, scratched his head and said, “Well, I’m in the wrong street!”When he was stopped by a policeman, he ____.
| A．was driving at a high speed | B．was driving onto the main road |
| C．was going to stop his car | D．was pulled into the crossroad |
Though slowly, Mr. Williams continued driving at the crossing because________ .
A．he saw  a “STOP” sign in the opposite street |
| B．he paid no attention to the traffic rules |
| C．he didn't have to stop |
| D．he was eager to get home |
Looking round Mr. Williams, the policeman was surprised because__________ .
| A．he met a mad man |
| B．he realized that he himself was mistaken |
| C．Mr. Williams dared to speak to him like that |
| D．Mr. Williams would not apologize to him |
What does “scratch” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．to rub the skin of (the head) for uncertainty |
| B．to strike (the head ) for regret |
| C．to nodded for sure |
| D．to look back to search for something |
How can you find out what is going on inside a person’s body without opening the patient’s body up? Regular X rays can show a lot. CAT scans can show even more. They can give a complete view of body organs.
What is a CAT scan? CAT stands for a kind of machine. It is a special X-ray machine that gets a 360-degree picture of a small area of a patient’s body.
Doctors use X rays to study and determine diseases and injuries within the body, X rays can find a foreign object inside the body or take pictures of some inside organs to be X-rayed.
A CAT scanner, however, uses a group of X rays to give a cross-sectional（横截面）view of a specific part of the body. A fine group of X rays is scanned across the body and around the patient from many different directions. A computer studies the information from each direction and produces a clear cross-sectional picture on a screen. This picture is then photographed for later use. Several cross sections, taken one after another, can give clear “photos” of the entire body or of any body organs. The latest CAT scanners can even give clear pictures of active, moving organs, just as a fast-action camera can “stop the action”, giving clear pictures of what appears unclear to the eye. And because of the 360-degree pictures, CAT scans show clear and complete views of organs in a manner that was once only shown during operation or examination of a dead patient.
Frequent appearance before X rays can cause skin burns, cancer or other damage to the body. Yet CAT scans actually don’t cause the patient to more radiation than regular X rays do. CAT scans can also be done without getting something harmful into the patient, so they are less risky than regular X rays.
CAT scans provide exact, detailed information. They can quickly find such a thing as bleeding inside the brain. They are helping to save lives.What is NOT true of a CAT scan?
| A．It is safer than regular X rays. |
| B．It makes use of computer techniques. |
| C．It can stop the action of an organ for a short time. |
| D．It gives clear pictures of active, moving body parts. |
The underlined words “a foreign object”（Para 3）most probably refer to.
| A．a badly injured part inside the body |
| B．a new thing that is unknown to the doctor |
| C．a strange organ that has grown in the body |
| D．an object that gets inside the body by chance |
What is the special use of the latest CAT scanners?
| A．It provides clear photos of moving organs. |
| B．It can take 3-dimension（三维）pictures of inside organs. |
| C．It won’t cause serious skin burns, cancer or other damage to the body. |
| D．It helps to find out what is going on inside a person’s body without opening it up. |
We can infer from this passage that.
| A．patients in front of CAT may suffer from a bit of radiation |
| B．doctors need no opening-up of the body with CAT scanners |
| C．CAT scanners are more expensive than regular X-ray machines |
| D．CAT scanners can take photos of either the whole body or a part of it |
The best title of this passage might be .
| A．the Newest Medical Invention |
| B．New X-ray Machine to Save Lives |
| C．How to Avoid the Damage of X Rays |
| D．Advantages and Disadvantages of CAT Scanners |
Most people hate change, which is sad since we often go through intense changes in life. And for some of us, even the smallest changes can upset our day. So the question is: Why do most of us find making adjustments to our lives so hard?
Fear of change is nothing new. Over a century ago, the Parisians were unhappy over a particular addition to their city: the Eiffel Tower. In fact, the citizens were so angry about the plans for the tower that they protested its construction. As strange as it may seem, their anger was completely natural. They were given no choice about the huge change that was going to be made, so they became angry.
But we get upset over changes even when we do have a say in the matter and think about them carefully. Changes are brought about every day by the decisions we make: which school to attend, which job to take, whom to marry. Voluntary changes also make most of us uneasy because we don’t know how those changes will affect our future.
People have discovered that the key to overcoming the fear and anger associated with change is to be flexible. When they are flexible, people can adapt to new situations more easily. Being flexible is especially important in the 21st century as technology makes change occur faster than ever before. Those who oppose change, especially with technology in the workplace, may find themselves out of a job.
When change comes, and you have no choice but to face it, embrace it. A positive attitude helps a lot. In fact, the change may turn out to be the best thing for you. That new job you got may end up being much better than your old one. You may make the best friends of your life in the new city you moved to. Don’t merely focus on how you feel about change; instead decide to accept the change. The change is the reality, and it’s up to you whether the change will be a success or a failure. You never know – your next change may be your life’s Eiffel Tower!Why did the building of the Eiffel Tower make the Parisians unhappy?
| A．Because they didn’t like the design of the Eiffel Tower. |
| B．Because they couldn’t avoid accepting the Eiffel Tower. |
| C．Because it was no use building the Eiffel Tower. |
| D．Because the Eiffel Tower seemed strange. |
According to the passage, it can be inferred that what won’t disturb us are _____________.
| A．the changes that have agreement with one’s will |
| B．the small changes we meet in our daily life |
| C．the changes whose effect we can predict and control |
| D．the changes that we discuss or consider thoroughly |
How should we overcome negative emotions that the changes bring?
| A．We are not supposed to face the changes and let them alone. |
| B．We should actively accustom ourselves to the new circumstance. |
| C．We should not take the changes seriously and avoid them as much as possible. |
| D．We should know that the changes merely bring us bad influence. |
What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
A．The change will probably make you fail like the Eiffel Tower. |
| B．The change is like the Eiffel Tower which is not good for our future life. |
| C．Your future life is never known just like the Eiffel Tower unknown to the Parisians. |
| D．Your future life is likely to be a great achievement due to the change. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．The Psychology of Change | B．The ways to Overcome the Fear |
| C．Changes That Disturb Us | D．The Bad Effect of Changes |
The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives.
The most widespread fallacy(谬误) of all is that colds caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter？Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms(症状). The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．3 |
Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?
| A．The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time. |
| B．Colds are not caused by cold. |
| C．People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors. |
| D．A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one. |
Arctic explorers may catch colds when _______.
| A．they are working in the isolated arctic regions |
| B．they are writing reports in terribly cold weather |
| C．they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions |
| D．they are coming into touch again with the outside world |
Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit ______.
| A．suffered a lot | B．never caught colds |
| C．often caught colds | D．became very strong |
The passage mainly discusses _______.
| A．the experiments on the common cold |
| B．the cures about the common cold |
| C．the reason and the way people catch colds |
| D．the continued spread of common colds |
What if you could fly like a bird just by thinking happy thoughts? Or you could disappear to a faraway land, never grow old and fight pirates every day? For Peter Pan and his friends, the Lost Boys, these dreams come true.
More than 100 years after this playful boy was “born”, Peter Pan and his friends are to continue their adventure in a sequel(续集)to J.M. Barrie’s original novel. “Peter Pan in Scarlet”(重返梦幻岛),written by British author Geraldine McCaughrean, was published earlier this month.
The sequel brings all the original characters back. Peter Pan’s friends, the Lost Boys, are now grown up and live in the real world. What’s more, at the end of the first book, Peter Pan thinks he has killed his enemy, Captain Hook. But ,new readers discover he is not so dead at all.
For those who are unfamiliar with the original story, Peter Pan lives in faraway Neverland with a group of orphans. But they are eager for a real mother and Peter Pan flies to London with a fairy(仙女), Tinkerbell, to find one. They visit a young girl, Wendy, who loves to read stories, and bring her and her two brothers back to Neverland to live with them. In Neverland, children never have to grow up, and there are no parents to tell them what to do.
Many teenagers dream of a world where they don’t have to grow old and take responsibility. But, the author explains such a world is not the paradise(乐园)when it first appears: adventures can be scary and often dangerous, and, though we all sometimes dream of running away, we all need someone to love and look after us too.The passage is written to ________.
| A．tell you about an unrealistic dream |
| B．introduce novels about Peter Pan |
| C．analyze the difficulties of growing up |
| D．explain why Peter Pan can’t grow old |
“Peter Pan in Scarlet” is about _________.
| A．how some children fought against the pirate–Captain Hook |
| B．the care–free life the children led in Neverland |
| C．how peter Pan looked for a real mother for the Lost Boys |
| D．how the Lost Boys return to Neverland for more adventures |
The stories of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys reflect that those at their age ________.
| A．are ready to shoulder responsibility |
| B．choose adventures in faraway places |
| C．long for independence but also need someone to love them |
| D．can’t wait to grow up |
The place Peter Pan and his friend stay is named Neverland probably because.
| A．they never have to grow up |
| B．they don’t have parents |
| C．they never have troubles |
| D．they never need to worry |
Peter Pan flies to London _________.
| A．to find a fairy | B．to visit a young girl |
| C．to find a real mother | D．to earn money |