A TV grab shows anchorman Bai Yansong wearing a green tie on Oct 19, 2011.

       "I just want the students to know that I'm also wearing a green one. And we are all great people and are as good as those wearing red scarves." Bai Yansong, a famous anchor of China Central Television, voiced his support to students wearing green scarves at a primary school in Xi'an by wearing a green tie on a TV program, Oct 19, 2011.

       The program focused on a recent controversial issue, triggered by First Experimental Primary School in Northwestern China's Xi'an that made children whose schoolwork and general behavior were not yet good enough to wear green scarves instead of the red scarf of the Chinese Young Pioneers.

       "The original idea for designing the green scarf was to strengthen education and to encourage the pupils to work harder," said Chen Hong, the school's principal.

       The practice that divided students into "good" and "bad" has aroused a lot of discussions on Sina Weibo, a Chinese twitter-like microblogging website.

       The color of green in Chinese culture carries an annoying implication particularly because "green hats" are the Chinese symbol of a cuckold. Many Weibo users thought it was inappropriate to make pupils wear green scarves.

       "It is a violation of dignity to make bad students wear green scarves," said a blogger with the username Suosez.

       "If bad students have to wear green scarves, then bad teachers should wear green hats," another blogger said.

       "The Chinese version of Steve Jobs has died in primary school because his pride has been hurt by the green scarf," said another blogger.

       "It is an absolute discrimination against children," said yet another.

       "Seeing the students in Xi'an wearing green scarves reminds me of some miserable memories. I cannot forget that I was the second group to wear a red scarf in my class. I cannot forget the scar on my hand left by my Chinese teacher. And I cannot forget that my math teacher threw my test paper on the ground and insisted that it was copied," a blogger with the username Kivalailai recalled.

       "The green scarves will cast a shadow over the students and bring them inferiority or jealousy, which are quite bad for their mental health," said a blogger.

       The school has halted the use of green scarves as on Wednesday, parent-teacher meetings were held to explain the situation, according to teachers at the school.

60. What does the underlined word “halted” in the last paragraph mean?

A. continued                 B. stopped                    C. supported          D. doubted

61. What is the purpose of using the green scarf according to the school’s principal?

A. To divide students into good and bad.

B. To cast a shadow over the students and bring them inferiority or jealousy.

C. To strengthen education and to encourage the pupils to work harder.

D. To make bad pupils drop out of school.

62. What is Bai Yansong’s attitude towards the practice of students’ wearing green scarves?

A. Positive.                   B. Negative.                  C. Neutral.             D. Indifferent.

63. Why did Bai Yansong wear a green tie on a TV program, Oct 19, 2011?

A. He wanted to show his support to the school’s new practice.

B. He liked wearing green ties, which matches his suit that day.

C. He did so to meet the special need of the program.

D. He did so to support the students wearing green scarves.

64. What can we learn from the remarks of many Weibo users discussing this issue?

A. Most of them are reminded of their miserable memories in the primary school.

B. Some of them think that green is a color standing for youth and energy.

C. Few of them can regard this practice as appropriate.

D. Some of Weibo users also decide to copy Bai Yansong’s example to wear green ties.

D
THE situation seemed hopeless．
From the day he started at my junior-high，Willard P.Franklin lived in his own world，shutting out his classmates and me, his teacher．My attempts at establishing a friendly relationship with him were met with complete indifference(冷淡)．Even a “Good Morning Willard” received only a very low grunt(咕哝)．I could see that his classmates got on no better Willard was completely a loner who seemed to have no desire or need to break his barrier(障碍)of silence．
Shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday，we received word of the annual Christmas collection of money for the less fortunate people in our school district．
“Christmas is a season of giving,” I told my students．“There are a few students in the school who might not have a happy holiday season．By contributing to our Christmas collection，you will help buy food，clothing and toys for these needy people．We start the collection tomorrow．”
When I called for the contributions the next day，I discovered that almost everyone had forgotten，except for Willard P. Franklin．The boy dug deep into his pants pockets as he walked up to my desk．Carefully, he dropped two quarters into the small container.
“I don’t need any milk for lunch,” he said very quietly. For a moment，just a moment, he smiled．Then he turned and walked back to his desk．
That night，after school．I took our meager contributions to the school principal(校长)．I couldn’t help sharing the incident that had taken place．
“I may be wrong，but I believe Willard might be getting ready to become a part of the world around him，”I told the principal．
“Yes, I believe it sounds hopeful．”he nodded．“And I think we might do well to have him share a bit of his world with us．I just received a list of the poor families in our school who most need help through the Christmas collection．Here, take a look at it．”
As I gazed down to read．I discovered Willard P. Franklin and his family were the top names on the list．
72. From the second paragraph, we can see that the teacher___________
A. established a friendly relationship with Willard
B. tried hard to pull Willard out of his own world
C. found Willard got on better with his classmates
D. was positive that Willard would gradually open his heart
73. What do we learn about the collection of money at Christmas?
A. It is intended for the poor families in their school district.
B. Everyone except Willard was willing to contribute to the Christmas collection.
C. Students were encouraged to buy food, clothing and toys for needy people.
D. It is collected every year to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
74. What does the underlined word 'meager' in Paragraph 7 mean?
A. Great.     B. Generous.      C. Huge.      D. Small
75. Which of the following can best describe Willard?
A. Poor but proud.        B. Lonely but loving.
C. Indifferent and sad.     D. Bright and hopeful.

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 name 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 on race, equality and social justice, the themes of the book. Peterson composed two other sons herself after classroom discussions about the play and the book.

The honor means a lot to residents of Granie Falls. It’s inspiring to know that people from small towns can even win national honors.

As national teacher of the year, Peterson will spend the next year outside classroom, as a national and international spokeswoman for education.

Not surprisingly, she is a big believer in the value of arts education. She said it’s essential for schools to offer classes such as art or music and physical education because for some kids one of those subjects is the only thing that motivates them to come back to school day after day.

The underlined word “daunting” in Paragraph 1 most probably means ___ .

A. discouraging   B. interesting   C. creative   D. unbearable

When Peterson began her teaching career, _____.

A. music was focus of learning in most schools.

B. the environment was favorable to music teaching.

C. the school lacked teaching facilities for music.

D. financial support for music programs was unavailable.

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 taught music at the elementary school for 22 years.

D. She made great efforts to arouse students’ interest in literature.

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.

In Peterson’s opinion, ____.

A. art, music and PE classes are all important.

B. more subjects should be offered to students.

C. students should be motivated to attend art classes.

D. arts education is more important than other subjects.

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.

D. Peterson will change her profession next year.

Dine with General St. Amour
General St. Amour was famous for his bravery, but he was born into the family of a poor peasant. Even when he became a general, he never   【小题1】  his humble origin（卑微的出身）. 
While his   【小题2】  was stationed in his hometown, he invited some of his principal officers to a dinner party at a   【小题3】 . They had just sat down at the table when his father   【小题4】  to drop in on him. When the guard   【小题5】  it to the general, he   【小题6】  rose and told his guests that his father had   【小题7】 .
He said that he knew the   【小题8】  he owed to them, but at the same time he hoped they would  excuse him   【小题9】  he withdrew (退出) because he would like to   【小题10】  with his father in another room.
Hearing what he said, all the guests present   【小题11】  that the father should be introduced to them, 【小题12】  that they would be very pleased to see one who was so closely   【小题13】  to him. But to their 【小题14】 , General St. Amour replied, “Ah, no, gentleman. You are   【小题15】  wrong. I mean my father would find himself so   【小题16】  in company with so many people who are unsuited to his rank.   【小题17】 , it would deprive(剥夺) us both of the only pleasure of the   【小题18】  ——the natural intercourse(交流) of a parent and his son.”
He then   【小题19】  himself from the table and spent the evening dining with his father.
The moral of the story is: you can’t give people   【小题20】 , but you can provide the kind of understanding that makes people keep their pride.