It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no address. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. He didn’t hate the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it; overspending, running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and powder for Grandma…
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, at 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended and before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black.
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear to protect a wrestler’s ears. They obviously could not afford.
Mike shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”
Mike loved kids—all kids—and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came.
That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
【小题1】Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no address. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. He didn’t hate the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it; overspending, running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and powder for Grandma…

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, at 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended and before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black.

As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear to protect a wrestler’s ears. They obviously could not afford.

Mike shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”

Mike loved kids—all kids—and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came.

That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.

The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

1.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Precious Present                       B．Christmas Gift

C．The Small White Envelope                 D．The Good Old Tradition

2.Why did Mike hate Christmas according to the passage?

A．He didn’t like the true meaning of Christmas

B．He didn’t like people spending too much money on presents

C．He hated buying presents for Uncle Harry and Grandma

D．He didn’t want to receive gifts like shirts, sweaters or ties.

3.Which is the closest meaning to the underlined phrase “take the heart right out of them”?

A．make them excited

B．make them inspired

C．make them lose confidence

D．make them kill themselves

4.Why was his smile the brightest thing about Christmas that year? ( paragraph 9)

A．He received some sporting goods

B．He found a potential wrestling team

C．His son won the wrestling match

D．His wife sent presents to those poor kids

5.What can we infer from the passage?

A．The tradition of sending presents will pass from generation to generation.

B．The children were eager to get their new toys ignoring the envelope.

C．With the presents, the poor kids will surely win the match one day.

D．Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no address. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. He didn’t hate the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it; overspending, running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and powder for Grandma…
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, at 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended and before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black.
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear to protect a wrestler’s ears. They obviously could not afford.
Mike shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”
Mike loved kids—all kids—and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came.
That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us

1. 1.

   Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      Precious Present
   2. B.
      Christmas Gift
   3. C.
      The Small White Envelope
   4. D.
      The Good Old Tradition
2. 2.

   Why did Mike hate Christmas according to the passage?

   1. A.
      He didn’t like the true meaning of Christmas
   2. B.
      He didn’t like people spending too much money on presents
   3. C.
      He hated buying presents for Uncle Harry and Grandma
   4. D.
      He didn’t want to receive gifts like shirts, sweaters or ties
3. 3.

   Which is the closest meaning to the underlined phrase “take the heart right out of them”?

   1. A.
      make them excited
   2. B.
      make them inspired
   3. C.
      make them lose confidence
   4. D.
      make them kill themselves
4. 4.

   Why was his smile the brightest thing about Christmas that year? ( paragraph 9)

   1. A.
      He received some sporting goods
   2. B.
      He found a potential wrestling team
   3. C.
      His son won the wrestling match
   4. D.
      His wife sent presents to those poor kids
5. 5.

   What can we infer from the passage?

   1. A.
      The tradition of sending presents will pass from generation to generation
   2. B.
      The children were eager to get their new toys ignoring the envelope
   3. C.
      With the presents, the poor kids will surely win the match one day
   4. D.
      Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us

           Learning inside the museum

        Museums have an important role in providing learning services to users，especially school

    children．Some learning services will provide a range of formal teaching opportunities in the

    museum；others will work closely with school teachers so that these teachers can make better use

    of the learning resources available through displays and exhibitions，databases，handling

      collections and museum staff.

        In an ideal world，every museum would have at least one learning or education specialist．He

    or she would be a trained teacher who also had a good understanding of museums and museum

    collections，and a strong feeling to help people-especially children-use and learn from them.

        A museum education specialist is of great value. For most museums the establishment of

    such a post should be high priority. He or she is the only member of staff with training in the

    psychology of learning，and has considerable experience of analyzing complex concepts and－

    presenting them in a simple way to a non-specialist audience. The education. specialist is，indeed，

    the only professional interpreter in the museum.

          It is clearly reasonable，therefore，for the museum to make full use of the education

    specialist's skills，and to involve him or her in all aspects of interpretation and the planning of

    new displays and exhibitions．Museum learning is not just about teaching children，though

    children may be its principal audience.

        Many small museums tray not be able to employ an education specialist of their own．For

    them，there are other possibilities. One is that the local Schools Service may be able to lend a

    teacher to the museum，perhaps for two or three years，ivho could be trained to apply teaching

    skills to the museum context: Another is that suitable volunteers may be available in the

    community-perhaps retired teacher:，or teachers not presently working-who may be willing to

    give some of their time to the museum. Another possibility is sponsorship：a large company

    might be willing to finance tl-to appointawnt 4 an education、pecialist for a few. years．

        An important part of thu= work for the edUcatiOri specialist in a museum is to establish strong

    links with its local schools．He or she is a communicator who has responsibility for keeping

      contact with the teachers at local schools. He of she should make sure that the schools know

    what is going on at th：nusezim arid how they can make use of it，and that the museum staff

    know about developnww：in the school。‘Above 4.11，it is their responsibility to find out what

    schools want，and to en、ure that the museum does its best to meet those requirements．There

    needs to be a continuing dialogue between teachers and museum：the museum needs to know

what the teachers are teaching；teachers need to learn how the museum could help，and what

resources they could use．

    The look of wonder on a child's face can be the reward for a lifetime's work in museums．

The aims of museum learning are to establish contact between people-whether children or

adults-and objects；and not to teach facts，but to sow（播）a seed of interest，a spark（火花）of

inspiration.