When Andrea Peterson landed her first teaching job, she faced the daunting task of creating a music program with almost no money for equipment or supplies in a climate where standards based learning was the focus and music just provided a break for students and teachers．
For her drive and creativity in overcoming those challenges, she’s been named national teacher of the year．
Principal Waynes Kettler said he’s worked with many outstanding teachers in his 22 years as an educator, but Peterson is “just that one step above anybody I’ve ever worked with before．”
Kettler and others at Monte Cristo Elementary School talk about the ways she has introduced the learning from other classrooms into her music program and her creativity in working around things such as the lack of money for new music．
When students were reading S．E．Hinton’s novel The Outsiders in their regular classroom, Peterson helped them write a 30 minute play with scenes from the book．Then they chose three Broadway tunes that focused no race, equality and social justice, the themes of the book．Peterson composed two other songs herself after classroom discussions about the play and the book．
The honor means a lot to residents of Granite Foils．It’s inspiring to know that people from small towns own even win national honors．
As national teacher of the year, Peterson will spend the more year outside the classroom, as a national and international spokes woman for education．Not surpassingly．She is a big believe in the white of acts education．She said it’s essential for schools to offer classes such as act or music and physical education because for some kids one of those subjects is the only thing that notiusters them to come back to school day after day．
(1)
The underlined word “daunting” in Paragraph 1 most probably means ________．
[ ]
A．
discouraging
B．
interesting
C．
creative
D．
unbearable
(2)
When Peterson began her teaching career, ________．
[ ]
A．
music was a focus of learning in most schools
B．
the environment was favorable to music teaching
C．
the school backed teaching facilities for music
D．
immemorial support for music programs was unavailable
(3)
What is the most important reason that Peterson won the award?
[ ]
A．
She concerned herself with current social problems．
B．
She motivated students to learn music with her creativity．
C．
She has aught music at the elementary school for 22 years．
D．
She make great efforts to amuse students’interest in literature．
(4)
Which of the following is an example of Peterson’s way of teaching music?
[ ]
A．
She wrote plays on themes of race, equality and social justice．
B．
She made use of the contents of other classes in her teaching．
C．
She organized classroom discussions of Broadway tunes．
D．
She helped students compose songs by themselves．
(5)
In Peterson’s opinion, ________．
[ ]
A．
art music and PE classes are all important
B．
more subjects should be offered to students
C．
students should benativated to attend art classes
D．
arts education is more important than other subjects
(6)
It can be inferred from the text that ________．
[ ]
A．
Peterson’s honor was a surprise for the local people
B．
Peterson’s art classes attracted students back to school
C．
Peterson aroused the local residents’passion for music
She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121st birthday．
Whe n it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world’s recordholder．She lived to the ripe old age of 122．So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span(寿命)?If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150－or beyond?
Researchers don’t entirely agree on the answers．“Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135,”says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas．
Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees．“People can live much longer than we think,”he says．“Experts used to say that humans couldn’t live past 110．When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120．So why can’t we go higher?”
The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it’s all just guessing．“Anyone can make up a number,”says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan．“Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine．”
Won’t new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries?Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120．Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most．So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller,“adding another 50 percent would get you to 120．”
So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers?That life span is flexible(有弹性的)，but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington．“We can get flies to live 50 percent longer,”he says．“But a fly’s never going to live 150 years．”
“Of course, if you became a new species(物种)，one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story,”he adds．
Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve(进化)their way to longer life?“It’s pretty cool to think about it,”he says with a smile．
(1)
What does the story of Jeanne Calment prove to us?
[ ]
A．
People can live to 122．
B．
Old people are creative．
C．
Women are sporty at 85．
D．
Women live longer than men．
(2)
According to Steve Austad at the University of Texas, ________．
[ ]
A．
the average human life span could be 110
B．
scientists cannot find ways to slow aging
C．
few people can expect to live to over 150
D．
researchers are not sure how long people can live
(3)
Who would agree that a scientist will become famous if he makes the wildest guess at longevity?
[ ]
A．
Jerry Shay．
B．
Steve Austad
C．
Rich Miller
D．
George Martin
(4)
What can we infer from the last three paragraphs?
[ ]
A．
Most of us could be good at sports even at 120．
B．
The average human life span cannot be doubled．
C．
Scientists believe mice are aging at a slower speed than before．
D．
New techniques could be used to change flies into a new species．
