Question

In 1974, after filling out fifty applications, going through four interviews, and winning one offer, I look what I could get — a teaching job at what I considered a distant wild area: western New Jersey. My characteristic optimism was alive only when I reminded myself that I would be doing what I had wanted to do since I was fourteen 一 teaching English.

School started, but I felt more and more as if I were in a foreign country. Waa this rural area really New Jersey? My students a week off when hunting season began. I was told they were also frequently absent in late October to help their fathers make hay on the farms. I was a young woman from New York City, who thought that “Make hay while the sun shines” just meant to have a good time.

But, still, I was teaching English. I worked hard, taking lime off only to eat and sleep. And then there was my sixth-grade class 一 seventeen boys and five girls who were only six yean younger than me. I had a problem long before I knew it. I was struggling in my work as a young idealistic teacher. I wanted to make literature come alive and lo promote a love of the written word. The students wanted to throw spitballs and whisper dirty words in the back of the room.

In college I had been taught that a successful educator should ignore bad behavior. So I did, confident that, as the textbook had said, the bad behavior would disappear as I gave ray students positive attention. It sounds reasonable, but the text evidently ignored the fact that humans, particularly teenagers, rarely seem reasonable. By the time ray boss, who was also ray taskmaster known to be the strictest, most demanding, most quick to fire inexperienced teachers, came into the classroom to observe me, the students exhibited very little good behavior to praise.

My boss sat in the back of the room. The boys in the class were making animal noises, hitting each other while the girls filed their nails or read magazines. I just pretended it all wasn’t happening, and went on lecturing and tried to ask some inspiring questions. My boss, sitting in the back of the room, seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. After twenty minutes he left, silently. Visions of unemployment marched before my eyes.

I felt mildly victorious that I got through the rest of class without crying, but at my next free period I had to face him. I wondered if he would let me finish out the day. I walked to his office, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

He was sitting in his chair, and he looked at me long and hard. I said nothing. All I could think of was that I was not an English teacher; I had been lying to myself, pretending that everything was fine.

When he spoke, he said simply, without accusation, “You had nothing to say to them.”

“You had nothing to say to them," he repeated. “No wonder they’re bored. Why not get to the meal of the literature and stop talking about symbolism. Talk with them, not at them. And more important, why do you ignore their bad behavior?” We talked. He named ray problems and offered solutions. We role-played. He was the bad student, and I was the forceful, yet, warm, teacher.

As the year progressed, we spent many hours discussing literature and ideas about human beings and their motivations. He helped me identify my weaknesses and my strengths. In short, he made a teacher of me by teaching me the reality of Emerson's words: “The secret to education lies in respecting the pupil.”

Fifteen years later I still drive that same winding road to the same school. Thanks to the help I received that difficult first year, the school is my home now.

55. It can be inferred from the story that in 1974 ______.

A. the writer became an optimistic person

B. the writer was very happy about her new job

C. it was rather difficult to get a job in the USA

D. it was easy to get a teaching job in New Jersey

56. According to the passage, which of the following is most probably the writer’s problem as a new teacher?

A. She had blind trust in what she learnt at college.

B. She didn’t ask experienced teachers for advice.

C. She took too much time off to eat and sleep.

D. She didn’t like teaching English literature.

57. What is the writer’s biggest worry after her taskmaster's observation of her class?

A. She might lose her teaching job.

B. She might lose her students’ respect.

C. She couldn’t teach the same class any more.

D. She couldn’t ignore her students’ bad behavior any more.

58. Which of the following gives the writer a sense of mild victory?

A. Her talk about symbolism sounded convincing.

B. Her students behaved a little better than usual.

C. She managed to finish the class without crying.

D. She was invited for a talk by her boss after class.

59. The students behaved badly in the writer's classes because ______.

A. they were eager to embarrass her

B. she didn't really understand them

C. they didn't regard her as a good teacher

D. she didn’t have a good command of English

60. The taskmaster’s attitude towards the writer after his observation of her class can be best described as ______.

A. cruel but encouraging                        B. fierce but forgiving

C. sincere and supportive                       D. angry and aggressive

Answer 1

【語篇解讀】本文是一篇記敘文，題材是作者從教第一年的經歷。文章描述的是作者工作第一年到偏遠山區的一所學校執教的經歷，當作者個人的執教理念和現實脫節時得到了上司的指點，對自己以后文學的教學起到了很大的影響。

段落	關鍵詞、句	大意推測
第一部分（Para. 1-2）	In 1974；a teaching job；distant wild aera；optimism; teaching English; in a foreign country; were also frequently absent	故事緣由：通過層層選拔，我得到了一份偏遠地區的教學工作，具體的教學狀況令我有些迷茫。
第二部分（Para. 3-5）	had a problem; idealistic teacher; make literature come alive; ignore bad behavior; positive attention; my boss; pretended; unemployment	問題的暴露：我以大學的經驗實施我的理想教學，忽視孩子們的不良舉動，被老板發現炒魷魚。
第三部分（Para. 6-9）	Face him；finish out；looked at me long and hard；without accusation；no wonder；why not；bad behavior	與老板的對話：我教學中的弊端在與老板的對話中得以發現，使我恍然大悟。
第三部分（Para. 10-11）	The year progressed；spent many hours；helped me identify； in short；fifteen years later；thanks to	對我教學的影響：市場的介入給我們的生活帶來的巨大變化。

【解析】

55A。推理判斷題。難度：中等。題干關鍵詞為in 1974，定位第一段。根據第一段第一句的描述可知，作者是經過投了50份簡歷，經歷了四次面試才得到這份工作的，由此可知當時的美國就業是相當困難的。

56. C。細節理解題。難度：中等。題干關鍵詞為the writer’s problem as a new teacher，定位于第三第四段。第三段后半部分說我有個問題很久沒意識到，我的教學理念和教學實際脫節，第四段又說大學里受到的教育對我影響很大，可知對大學知識的盲目自信正是她的問題所在，A項正確。 B項的內容在文中沒有涉及，沒有提到其他老師的存在，可排除；C項描述與第三段第一句I worked hard，taking time off only to eat and sleep相矛盾；D項說作者不喜歡文學教學也與文中說作者對工作的執著和熱心相背。

四、A。細節理解題。難度：中等。題干關鍵詞為biggest worry，定位于第五段和第六段。第五段最后兩句說負責人只聽了20分鐘就悄悄地離開了，我似乎看到了自己被解雇的情形以及下一段第二句話我不知道他是否讓我上完那天的課，由此可知作者怕丟掉來之不易的工作。

五、C。細節理解題。難度：中等。題干關鍵詞為a sense of wild victory，定位于第六段。第一句I felt wildly victorious that I got through the rest of the class without crying, 可知作者能堅持平靜地上完剩下的課程就已經是使她感到不容易的事情了。所以答案為C。

六、B。推理判斷題。難度：中等。題干關鍵詞為the students behaved badly，定位于全篇文章。尤其從第四段中的描述可知，作者就是按照教科書中傳授的理論教育學生，但效果甚微，而且教科書忽略了一個事實就是人尤其是青少年很少是理智的，可知學生在她的課堂上表現不佳的原因就是她并不真正了解學生。

七、C。推理判斷題。難度：中等。題干關鍵詞為the taskmaster’s attitude towards the writer，定位于第八第九段，他沒有指責我，而是向我提出了許多建議并交換角色實地體驗（他當壞學生我當老師）等內容都體現出負責人的態度是真誠的和支持的。

【難句學習】

1. In 1974, after filling out fifty applications, going through four interviews, and winning one offer, I took what I could get--a teaching job at what I considered a distant wild area: western New Jersey.

翻譯：1974年，在我填寫了50份申請表格，參加了四次工作面試，得到了一份邀請函之后，我終于獲得了一份工作——一份在新澤西州西部的一個遙遠的蕭山區的教學工作。

分析：本句是一個主從復合句。其主干是I took what I could get。In 1974, after filling out fifty applications, going through four interviews, and winning one offer, 都是屬于介詞短語做時間狀語的用法，主句中包含一個what引導的賓語從句做動詞took的賓語；a teaching job是what i could get的同位語，后面還有一個介詞短語at what I considered a distant wild area: western New Jersey.作定語修飾a teaching job。

2. It sounds reasonable, but the text evidently ignored the fact that humans, particularly teenagers, rarely seemed reasonable.

翻譯：這聽起來是合理的，但是教科書明顯地忽略了一個事實：人類，尤其是青少年很少顯得那么理智。

分析：本句是一個主從復合句。But前面是一個簡單句，后面句中含有一個名詞性從句，即that引導的同位語從句，其中particularly teenagers又是同位語從句中主語humans的同位語。

16. All I could think of was that I was not an English teacher; I had been lying to myself,pretending that everything was fine.

翻譯：我所能想到的全部就是我不是一個英語老師；我一直在對自己撒謊，假裝事情一切都正常。

分析：本句是由分號連接的兩個主從復合句。第一個句子主語是all，后面包含了一個that引導的定語從句I could think of，先行詞為all時關系詞只能選擇that，又因為that在從句中做介詞of的賓語，所以可以省略，而was后面還有一個that引導的名詞性從句即表語從句；后面的句子中只有一個that引導的賓語從句，做動詞pretend的賓語。