A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess（女家庭教师）Julia to come into my study. “Be seated, Julia, ”I said, “Let’s settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you’re too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”

　　“Forty.”

　　“No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, um, you’ve been here two months, so...”

　　“Two months and five days.”

　　“Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... you know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays, you only took walks. And three holidays... ”Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but - not a word.

　　“Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven - nineteen. Take nineteen off ... that leaves. hmm.... forty one dollars. Correct？”

　　Julia’s left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled; she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but - still not a word.

　　“Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer; take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but- forget it. When didn’t I take a loss! Then, due to your neglect （疏忽）, Tom climbed a tree and tore his jacket; take away ten. Also due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick’s shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave ten dollars.”

　　“You didn’t. ”sobbed Julia.

　　“But I made a note of it.”

　　“Well... if you say so.”

　　“Take twenty seven from forty one -that leaves fourteen.”

　　Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl!

　　“Only once was I given any money,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more.”

　　“Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen.. leaves eleven. Here’s your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is !”

　　I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.

　　“Merci （法语: 谢谢）,”she whispered.

　　I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger. “For what, this - ‘merci’?” I asked.

　　“For the money. ”

　　“But you know I’ve cheated you - robbed you ! I have actually stolen from you ! Why this‘merci’？”

　　“In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all.”

　　“They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you... I m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you... Is it really possible to be so spineless （懦弱）?Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws（爪）—to be such a fool?”

　　Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression,“It is possible.”

　　I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little“merci”several times and went out. I looked after her and thought,“How easy it is to crush the weak in this world !”

　　While talking to Julia, the wrier expected from her ________.

　　A. a protest　　　　　　　　　　　B. gratitude

　　C. obedience　　　　　　　　　　 D. an explanation

　　What shocked the writer was Julia’s ________.

　　A. nervousness in front of her boss

　　B. acceptance of injustice

　　C. shyness when talking about money

　　D. reluctance to express herself

　　The writer said, “Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws?” He was actually telling the governess ________.

　　A. to be more aggressive

　　B. to be more careful in her work

　　C. to protect her right

　　D. to live independently

　　At the end of the story, the writer said,“ How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”to show ________.

　　A. his understanding of Julia’s anxiety

　　B. his worry about Julia’s future

　　C. his concern on the living condition of working - class people

　　D. his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited

. _____in a science competition, the three students were awarded scholarships totaling

$ 21, 000.

A. To be judged the best         B. Judged the best  

C. Having judged the best　      D. Judging the best

______in a science competition, the three students were awarded scholarships totaling $ 21, 000.

    A. To be judged the best               B. Judged the best

    C. Having judged the best　             D. Judging the best

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming（把…按能力分班）pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!

　　Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual (智力的) abilities. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.

　　In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.

　　Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this effectively. And expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.

1. Group work provides pupils with the opportunity_________.

　　A. to develop academic abilities                 　　 B. to learn to teach.

　　C. to do some experiments                        　　 D. to learn to be capable organizers.

2. By "held back" in the first paragraph the author means _________.

　　A. drawn to their studies                           　　     B. prevented from advancing

　　C. made to remain in the same classes         　　 D. forced to study in the lower classes

3. In the passage the author's attitude towards " mixed-ability teaching" is ________.

　　A.questioning               B. approving  　　     C. objective 　　 D. critical

4. The author's purpose of writing this passage is to _________.

　　A. offer advice on the proper use of the library

　　B. emphasize the importance of appropriate formal classroom teaching

　　C. argue for teaching bright and not -so-bright pupils in the same class

　　D. recommend pair work and group-work for classroom activities

5. The author argues that a teacher's chief concern should be the development of the student's _____.

　　A. total personality              　　                   B. intellectual ability

　　C. learning ability and communicative skills        D. personal qualities and social skills