The 2008National Teacher of the Year gave its prize to Michael Geisen, an American science teacher, who is thirty-five years old and a forester（护林员）．But he decided he would rather work with growing minds than with growing trees．

Seven years ago, Michael Geisen got master’s degree in teaching and a job at a middle school．He brought new energy to the science department there．He created school projects, and got parents’ support in their children’s work．He always tried to be creative with each activity, and he didn’t like using textbooks much．One girl in his class said he could probably make it interesting to watch grass grow．During lunch, his students come to his room to talk; get help, visit his turtle（海龟）and sometimes join him in playing the guitar．He writes songs and develops games about science．He says one of his goals as a teacher is to create people who will continue to learn throughout their lives．

The National Teacher of the Year is a professional award（奖）in the United States．The program began in 1952．Each state chooses one teacher as the winner of the state teachers of the year．President George Bush honored top teachers at the White House．He said that in Michael Geisen’s first two years as head of the school science department, students of his school got high scores on a state science test, and they were still improving．

At the White House, Michael Geisen said that students are born to be creative, curious and alive, so we need to really encourage students’ creativity and their desire to learn useful skills to face the future world．Our job is to educate the entire child．

1．From the text, we learn that Michael Geisen              ．

       A．is an American writer．

       B．has won the National Teacher of the Year twice．

       C．wins support from the parents of his students．

       D．got a master’s degree when he was35．

2．The students of Michael Grisen think that their teacher is              ．

       A．serious．            B．friendly．            C．strict．               D．polite．

3．Which of the following is TRUE about the National Teacher of the Year program?

       A．President George Bush started this program．

       B．Each US state will decide one teacher every year．

       C．It has been held worldwide each year since 2001．

       D．The winners will have a chance to work at the White House．

4．From the passage we know that              ．

       A．Michael Geisen won high scores in a state science test．

       B．Michael Geisen is a famous scientist．

       C．George Bush met Michael Geisen’s students at the White House．

       D．Michael Grisen is the head of the science department at his school．

Our teacher,Miss Chua,is nearing retirement.However, she still commands our great  1   for being an excellent teacher. ?

     She has short hair that is gradually   2 white,an indication that age is creeping on her.The wrinkles (皱纹) that line her face   3  of years of hard work and selfless devotion to her students.She wears a pair of glasses through which her kind eyes are always   4   fixed upon us with affection and consideration.She looks

splendid in her   5  clothes which she will not throw away for something more   6  ,reflecting a thrifty (节俭的) nature.Through her,we have learned to be more careful with    7  .Not only that,she has also taught us the   8   of filial duty (孝道) by setting us a good   9  of looking after her eighty-five years old mother.

    All her life,she has never  10  her duty towards her family and her students.For much

of her life,she has been working hard,displaying a    11   of discipline and an attitude of industry which she is presently   12   to fix in our mind. As her parents could not afford to  13  her to university,she saved hard and managed to graduate   14  a master degree from a British university.This is an inspiration to us—that absolute   15   leads to eventual fulfillment of dreams.??

Miss Chua is totally committed to the  16   of her students.Armed with a keen insight into the teaching process,she never fails to   17   our minds and most important,her gift to us has been the development of a good   18   of English.?   The day when Miss Chua   19  school and retires,I will send her a thousand flowers with the message “You’ve  20  us well.” I will never forget her.She has made a great impact on my life and on my English.?

1. A.support                  B.attention    C.respect              D.view?

2. A.changing            B.turning?   C.appearing         D.showing?

3. A.tell                     B.speak      C.talk                   D.think?

4. A.sharply                  B.suddenly     C.generally        D.gently?

5. A.matching            B.expensive?C.dry                   D.new?

6. A.valuable            B.fashionable?C.comfortable      D.available?

7. A.friends                  B.studies      C.time                D.money?

8. A.virtue                    B.lesson?    C.method            D.technique?

9. A.goal                   B.example     C.pattern            D.standard?

10. A.performed            B.done       C.ignored             D.had?

11. A.process            B.need        C.series                D.sense?

12. A.trying                  B.willing     C.learning            D.getting?

13.A.send                     B.accompany?C.take                D.bring?

14.A.upon                    B.to          C.for                  D.with?

15. A.development        B.determination?C.decoration          D.distinction?

16. A.talent                   B.success?  C.experience          D.entertainment?

17.A.charge                  B.concentrate?C.challenge        D.change?

18.A.appreciation          B.writing?   C.command         D.skill?

19. A.leaves                  B.enters        C.quits                     D.attends?

20. A.protected             B.showed      C.guarded          D.guided?

On the whole, it's not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it．Hiring private tutors(指老师)for our children is now widespread．And this year, as always，the Easter holidays will be peak time(高峰期) for tutor demand．

“My husband and I tried to tutor her at home，but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen．We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting exams for different boards(入学考试)． On the whole we think one-two-one tuition works best and it is worth the money．In our case，Preeta is a bit like an elder sister to Zarreen and that's the most important，”says Ashan Sabri from London， whose daughter Zarreen，18，is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer．

In fact，Preeta Datta is only six years older than her pupil and she is happy to provide extra tuition through mobile phone．“Maybe Zarreen will call me two or three times a week with a question about biology or chemistry, and that's fine to me，”says Datta．

The real question is：does tutoring do any good?

“It's not the magic bullet，”says Professor Judith Ireson．‘It's still up to the child to do the learning．If he or she isn't interested，then sending them to a private tutor won't do any good．”

In which case，surely it's time to break open the Champagne(香槟酒)?Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell，head of the Rowans School．

“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn't English，we don't encourage it for the others，”says Tyrrell．“With the level of education they get here，children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching． Besides， our biggest worry is that they might just get in with the help of last-minute tutoring，but，once they actually get to that school，they won't be able to manage．”

It's a point worth considering．After all，who would want their child to stay at the bottom of the class?

56．The passage is most probably written by          ．

        A．a parent    B．a famous professor

C．a student   D．a famous headmaster

57．In Ashan Sabri's opinion，which method is most suitable for her daughter?       ．

       A．Taking different kinds of exams     B．Teaching her at home by herself

C．Finding a private tutor to help her   D．Taking part in group revision courses

55．Elaine Tyrrell doesn't encourage parents to hire private tutors for their children mainly because          ．

      A．children may be misled by private tutors

      B．the quality of private tutoring may be poor

      C．the education that children receive in class is enough for them

       D．children may not have the real ability to deal with their further studies

59．What attitude does the author hold towards home tutoring?         ．

A．Critical    B．Uncertain    C．Supportive  D．Uninterested

60．From the passage we know that        ．

    A．Preeta Datta is only twenty four years old．

    B．Preeta Datta is head of the Rowans school

    C．Judith Ireson is a teacher of the Rowans School

    D．A shan Sabri has a daughter named Zarreen，who is over 18

A 33-year-old financial analyst in California recently quit his job to devote himself to an unpaid job teaching math on the Internet, and his lessons are reaching almost 100,000 people a month. Salman Khan’s voice is heard every day on the net --- by tens of thousands of students around the world who are hungry for help learning math. He has posted 1,200 lessons on YouTube ... lessons that appear on an electronic blackboard, which range from basic addition to advanced mathematics for science and finance. And they are free.

Khan lives in Silicon Valley, with his wife, a doctor, and their new baby. He got the idea for his “Khan Academy” four years ago, when he taught a young cousin how to convert kilograms to grams. With Khan’s help, the cousin got good at math, and Khan began a new career.

Now, Khan records his lessons himself, but he never goes on camera. “It feels like my voice in their head. You’re looking at it and it feels like someone’s over your shoulder talking in your ear, as opposed to someone at the blackboard, which is distant from you,” he said.

When Springfield High School in Palo Alto, California invited Khan to speak in person --- he immediately connected to the students there.

The idea of short lessons that can be played over and over again attracted high school senior Bridget Meaney. She says she had trouble with math in the seventh grade. “I think the teachers are good, but they can’t teach at a speed that’s perfect for everyone,” she said. “I like the idea of learning something in class but then going back and pressing pause or rewind and actually getting a deeper understanding of it.”

Originally, Khan kept his lessons short because of YouTube restrictions. Now, he thinks short is better. “Education researchers now tell me that 10 minutes is how long someone can have a high level of concentration. And anything beyond that and your brain switches off,” he said.

For Khan, teaching math, science, and finance is just the beginning. He says he’s ready to expand his YouTube site to include other subjects as well.

What gave Khan the idea of teaching math online?

A. His success in helping his cousin learn math.

B. His discovery that many students found learning math difficult.

C. A suggestion made to him at a local high school.

D. His interest in Internet teaching.

Why does Khan never go on camera?

A. He’s too shy to show his face on camera.

B. It’s restricted by YouTube for education videos.

C. He wants to keep distance from the viewers.

D. He wants to create a more relaxed learning atmosphere.

From the passage, we know that ________.

A. Khan travels to many schools to promote his lessons

B. Khan plans to include more subjects in the future

C. Khan gives live math lessons every day for free

D. Khan set up the Khan Academy with his wife

Why does Bridget Meaney like Khan’s lessons?

   A. Khan teaches seventh grade math better than her teacher.

   B. The lessons can be watched repeatedly until fully understood.

   C. She can perfectly follow the pace of Khan’s teaching.

   D. She cannot concentrate when learning in class.

What does Khan mean by “short is better” in the 6^th paragraph?

   A. Keeping the lessons short can ensure better concentration.

   B. YouTube recommends short lessons for its site.

   C. Short lessons encourage students to return to the website.

   D. Students enjoy short mathematics lessons more.

A 33-year-old financial analyst in California recently quit his job to devote himself to an unpaid job teaching math on the Internet, and his lessons are reaching almost 100,000 people a month. Salman Khan’s voice is heard every day on the net --- by tens of thousands of students around the world who are hungry for help learning math. He has posted 1,200 lessons on YouTube ... lessons that appear on an electronic blackboard, which range from basic addition to advanced mathematics for science and finance. And they are free.
Khan lives in Silicon Valley, with his wife, a doctor, and their new baby. He got the idea for his “Khan Academy” four years ago, when he taught a young cousin how to convert kilograms to grams. With Khan’s help, the cousin got good at math, and Khan began a new career.
Now, Khan records his lessons himself, but he never goes on camera. “It feels like my voice in their head. You’re looking at it and it feels like someone’s over your shoulder talking in your ear, as opposed to someone at the blackboard, which is distant from you,” he said.
When Springfield High School in Palo Alto, California invited Khan to speak in person --- he immediately connected to the students there.
The idea of short lessons that can be played over and over again attracted high school senior Bridget Meaney. She says she had trouble with math in the seventh grade. “I think the teachers are good, but they can’t teach at a speed that’s perfect for everyone,” she said. “I like the idea of learning something in class but then going back and pressing pause or rewind and actually getting a deeper understanding of it.”
Originally, Khan kept his lessons short because of YouTube restrictions. Now, he thinks short is better. “Education researchers now tell me that 10 minutes is how long someone can have a high level of concentration. And anything beyond that and your brain switches off,” he said.
For Khan, teaching math, science, and finance is just the beginning. He says he’s ready to expand his YouTube site to include other subjects as well.
【小题1】What gave Khan the idea of teaching math online?