A year after graduation, I was offered a position teaching a writing class. Teaching was a profession I had never seriously considered, though several of my stories had been published. I accepted the job without hesitation, as it would allow me to wear a tie and go by the name of Mr. Davis. My father went by the same name, and I liked to imagine people getting the two of us confused. “Wait a minute,” someone might say, “are talking about Mr. Davis the retired man, or Mr. Davis the respectable scholar?”
The position was offered at the last minute, and I was given two week to prepare, a period I spent searching for a briefcase and standing before my full-length mirror, repeating the words, “Hello, class, I’m Mr. Davis.” Sometimes I would give myself an aggressive voice. Sometimes I would sound experienced. But when the day eventually came, my nerves kicked in and the true Mr. Davis was there. I sounded not like a thoughtful professor, but rather a 12-year-old boy.
I arrived in the classroom with paper cards designed in the shape of maple leaves. I had cut them myself out of orange construction paper. I saw nine students along a long table. I handed out the cards, and the students wrote down their names and fastened them to their breast pockets as I required.
“All right then,” I said. “Okay, here we go.” Then I opened my briefcase and realized that I had never thought beyond this moment. I had been thinking that the students would be the first to talk, offering their thoughts and opinions on the events of the day. I had imagined that I would sit on the edge of the desk, overlooking a forest of raised hands. Every student would shout to be heard, and I would knock on something in order to silence them. I would yell, “Calm down, you’ll all get your turn. One at a time, one at a time!”
A terrible silence ruled the room, and seeing no other opinions, I instructed the students to pull out their notebooks and write a brief essay related to the theme of deep disappointment.The author took the job to teach writing because______________.
A.he wanted to be respected | B.he had written some stories |
C.he wanted to please his father | D.he had dreamed of being a teacher |
What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 2?
A.He would be aggressive in his first class. | B.He was well-prepared for his first class. |
C.He got nervous upon the arrival of his first class. | D.He waited long for the arrival of his first class. |
Before he started his class, the author asked the students to_______.
A.write down their suggestions on the paper cards |
B.cut maple leaves out of the construction paper |
C.cut some cards out the construction paper |
D.write down their names on the paper cards |
What did the students do when the author started his class?
A.They began to talk. | B.They stayed silent. |
C.They raised their hands. | D.They shouted to be heard. |
The author chose the composition topic probably because________.
A.he got disappointed with his first class |
B.he had prepared the topic before class. |
C.he wanted to calm down the students |
D.he thought it was an easy topic |
A lot of coal miners died on the job last year, _______ the local government to shut nearly 500 small mines in Shanxi Province alone.
A.forcing | B.to force |
C.forced | D.has forced |
Thinking about the fact that I was not prepared well enough,and _______ to lose my face,I gave up this year’s civil service exam.
A.didnt want | B.not wanted |
C.not wanting | D.not to want |
_______ the programme, they have to stay there for another two weeks.
A.Not completing |
B.Not completed |
C.Not having completed |
D.Having not completed |
—Is there any news about my promotion?
—I regret _______ you that we’ve chosen someone else for the job.
A.telling | B.to have told |
C.to tell | D.to be telling |
The old man, _______ abroad for twenty years, is on the way back to his motherland.
A.to work | B.working |
C.to have worked | D.having worked |