On the first day of class, a graduate student from Xi’an Jiaotong University reminded me that, especially in China, “There are always two sides of a coin.” Experiencing China’s May 12 earthquake while living in Xi’an, Shanxi Province just north of the earthquake’s epicenter (地震的震中) in Sichuan with our two daughters, we have indeed seen both sides of what is beginning to be called China’s 5·12 disaster coin.
On television, in newspapers and through the Internet, we learned about the extent (巨大，重要性) of the destruction, and the statistics were horrific – over 69,000 confirmed (确认) dead, some 18,000 missing and more than 374,000 injured.
When we turn off the television and discuss what we as a family have learned from the events of the last several weeks, we find ourselves marveling (觉得惊奇) at how the Chinese are confidently but quietly dealing with this unprecedented tragedy – a disaster that continues with every aftershocks, mudslide and potential flood.
It seems like every school, organization and business is raising money for Sichuan, and young people all over the country are out in the streets looking for donations or giving blood at the many mobile blood vans that are out in full force.
Those who cannot give, like the 75-year-old woman from Sichuan, are volunteering or giving in other ways. An impressive example is the Sichuan policewoman with a newborn child who was nursing many infants whose mothers were killed in the quake.
The national concern over the fate of affected children has been moving. On May 22, there were 1697 orphans, but on June 24, the number dropped to 558; and rest assured, there are more people willing to adopt than there are orphans from Sichuan.
So, while no country or person ever welcomes tragedy, especially something of this magnitude (程度), the earthquake has taught us a great deal about China’s true character and its people’s resilience (韧性). It has also reminded us that the other side of even a dark coin may hold the promise of a brighter future,
(The author is an American Professor of International Relations at Xi’an Jiaotong University.)
【小题1】
When the 5·12 earthquake happened, the author and his family were ________.
  

Things of Value
Our area was just a few miles from the largest wildfire in Colorado’s history. We were on “evacuation alert (疏散警报)”. If we got the   1  to evacuate, we would have to leave immediately.
We   2  suitcases with some clothes and set them by the door. We didn’t  3 these things were valuable, but time was. We moved the computers, with which I wrote for newspapers and made a   4 . We took family pictures off the   5  and packed them in boxes. These were truly valuable and could not be replaced.
Then we took a hard look at all that   6 . There was a lamp that belonged to my great grandmother. It was a   7  to my family. And there was the piano my wife   8  to play when she was a little girl. Not of great   9  in itself, but another family connection. It was impractical to move everything from our home and store them for an indefinite (无限的) time. Some important items would have to stay behind.
The thought of   10  something passed down from our families saddened me deeply,   11  I’d never been much attached to things. It’s about what they   12  —family and love. They each had a(n)   13  to tell, and some of them spoke in the   14  of our parents and grandparents.
The fire   15  reached our home. We were lucky. And though I felt grateful that all was   16 , I also realized just how fortunate I had been   17 . I saw just how rich my life had been.
Someone  18 said, “There are people so poor that the only thing they have is money.” And now I  19  I was indeed rich. I was rich in family, rich in memories, rich in everything that really  20 to me. I am wealthier than I ever believed possible.
It took a fire to teach me, I wonder if there is any other kind of wealth worth seeking.

完型填空

　　To be a good teacher, you need some of the gifts of a good actor, you must be able to 1 the attention and interest of your students, you must be a 2 speaker, with a good, strong, 3 voice which is fully under your control; and you must be able to 4 what you are teaching, in order to make its meaning clear.

　　 5 a good teacher, and you will see that he does not sit still 6 his class: he stands the whole time he is teaching; he walks about, using his 7 , hands and fingers to help him in his explanation, and his face to express feeling. Listen to him, and you will 8 the loudness, the quality and the musical note of his voice always changing according to what he is 9 about. The fact that a good teacher has some of the gifts of a good actor doesn’t 10 that he will indeed be able to act 11 on the stage, for there are very important 12 between the teacher’s work and the actor’s. The actor has to speak words which he has learnt by heart; he has to repeat exactly the 13 words each time he plays a certain part, 14 his movements and the way in which he uses his voice are usually 15 before hand. What he has to do is to make all these carefully learnt words and actions seem 16 on the stage.

　　A good teacher 17 in quite a different way. His students take an active part in his 18 :they ask and answer questions, they obey orders, and if they don’t obey something, they will say no. The teacher therefore has to suit his act to the needs of the students. He cannot learn his part by heart, but must 19 it as he goes along.

　　I have known many teachers who were fine 20 in class but unable to take part in a stage play because their brains wouldn’t keep discipline（规定）: they could not keep strictly to what another had written.