My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, Addison’s essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o’clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own, some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions(典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.

My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six-week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make a joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage.” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.

So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating.

1.The passage mainly discusses ________.

A. teaching           B. literature           C. humor       D. knowledge

2.The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.

A. funny      B. tiring                 C. inspiring              D. brilliant

3.The English teacher the writer disliked most ________.

A. was not able to make students laugh    

B. hurt his student’s feelings

C. didn’t let his students do the grading

D. had no sense of humor

My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, Addison’s essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o’clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own, some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions(典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.

My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six-week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make a joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage.” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.

So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating.

1.The passage mainly discusses ________.

A. teaching                     B. literature                    C. humor                D. knowledge

2.The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.

A. funny                B. tiring                          C. inspiring                       D. brilliant

3.The English teacher the writer disliked most ________.

A. was not able to make students laugh                   B. hurt his student’s feelings

C. didn’t let his students do the grading                  D. had no sense of humor

My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn't forced on us either.  He took Samuel Johnson's dictionary, Addison's essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o'clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions (典故) and irony (反讽) and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.

My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other's journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make joke of and said, " This writing isn't fit to line (衬垫) the bottom of a birdcage. " Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.

So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating.

1.The passage mainly discusses ________.

A. teaching         B. literature

C. humor            D. knowledge

2.The underlined word "hilarious" in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.

A. funny             B. tiring

C. inspiring         D. brilliant

3.The English teacher the writer disliked most ________.

A. was not able to make students laugh

B. hurt his students' feelings

C. didn't let his students do the grading

D. had no sense of humor

My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn't forced on us either.  He took Samuel Johnson's dictionary, Addison's essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o'clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions (典故) and irony (反讽) and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.
My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other's journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make joke of and said, " This writing isn't fit to line (衬垫) the bottom of a birdcage. " Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.
So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating

1. 1.

   The passage mainly discusses ________

   1. A.
      teaching
   2. B.
      literature
   3. C.
      humor
   4. D.
      knowledge
2. 2.

   The underlined word "hilarious" in Paragraph 1 probably means ________

   1. A.
      funny
   2. B.
      tiring
   3. C.
      inspiring
   4. D.
      brilliant
3. 3.

   The English teacher the writer disliked most ________

   1. A.
      was not able to make students laugh
   2. B.
      hurt his students' feelings
   3. C.
      didn't let his students do the grading
   4. D.
      had no sense of humor

       My father met my mother in a poker (扑克牌) game. He couldn't   21   his eyes off her. It was her company's annual   22   , and he walked her home that night. The next week, from his home in Chicago, he   23  her a postcard:" Remember me? Please   24   , because I'll be calling you one of these days. David".

      She still has that postcard. I'm not sure what made her   25   it. Though he already had his heart  26  her, she hadn't chosen him yet,  27   not consciously.

      As my father often told us   28   we were growing up, it was   29   luck that he was at the picnic that day. As a salesman for a big electronics company, he was in town to   30   customers and happened to stop by the branch office that Saturday morning to   31   some calls. The telephone rang ; it was the   32   of a local radio station with whom my father had done some business. So the manager   33   my father to come right over to their annual picnic.

       My mother was a writer at that radio station. If my father hadn't   34   by the office that morning ,he told us,  35   if he'd gotten there two minutes later, the life--our lives-- would have been   36  .

       A few months after the wedding, my father was transferred East. They   37 in New York, in the house where I grew up.

       Sometimes I think about that, how time sweeps us   38   and puts us in a certain place where we're faced with one choice or another. By chance or by the   39   we make, we leave behind other lives we could have lived, full of  40  passions and joys, different problems and disappointments.