Not all classrooms are in school buildings. As we have learned, classrooms can be created almost anywhere that teachers and learners are able to connect, in person or virtually.
For Danielle Zelin, who teaches on the island of Mauritius, the classroom is in her home, and all around it. Danielle runs her own school the Language Mood English Club and as a result as freedom to take the curriculum（课程）in many directions, and sometimes that means looking right outside. Danielle’s school started as a club on Saturday mornings, with a focus on storytelling, but she now teaches classes to individuals and groups, mainly in the afternoons and evenings after school.
“I always know I want to teach,” she said, but it wasn’t always clear that English would be her area of expertise（专业知识）. As a teenager growing up in Mauritius, she struggled to see the point of reading Shakespeare in her English classes. “That English is old,” she told her mother; “I will not use it in my daily life.” At the time, she much preferred reading French literature.
Years later, though, Danielle saw a performance of The Merchant of Venice, which she had studied in secondary school, and its power became clear to her. She didn’t have to memorize lines, answer questions, or analyze for a test; she just enjoyed the play and the performance.
In a sense, that is the spirit that she carries into her current teaching. Her students arrive after a day of school, often tired, “So my place is more like a fun place to do like an English Adventure - I like to call it that. We do so many different things together,” she said. She and the students sometimes brainstorm things they want to study or discuss, and often her students tell her, “We want to connect to the world.” As a result, they frequently study current events and local issues.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To lead in the story |
| B．To arouse reader’s interest |
| C．To show the author’s attitude |
| D．To indicate the background of the story |
| A．She once taught students for free |
| B．She used to have classes on weekdays |
| C．She set her classroom only at home years ago |
| D．She focused on storytelling in her class before |
| A．Shakespeare’s books. |
| B．Her mother’s influence |
| C．A show of The Merchant of Venice |
| D．Her inner eager to read literature |
| A．Her students want to brainstorm |
| B．Her students want to contact the world. |
| C．Danielle wants to make her class adventurous |
| D．Danielle wants to carry out her teaching spirits. |
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【推荐1】At the start of the 20th century, an American engineer named John Elfreth Watkins made predictions about life today. His predictions about slowing population growth, mobile phones and increasing height were close to the mark. But he was wrong in one prediction: that everybody would walk 10 miles a day.
Today, in Australia, most children on average fall 2, 000 steps short of the physical activity they need to avoid being overweight. In the early 1970s, 40 per cent of children walked to school, while in 2010, it was as low as 15 percent.
The decline is not because we have all become lazy. Families are pressed for time, many with both parents working to pay for their house, often working hours not of their choosing, living in car-dependent neighborhoods with limited public transport.
The other side of the coin is equally a deprivation: for health and well-being, as well as lost opportunities (机会) for children to get to know their local surroundings. And for parents there are lost opportunities to walk and talk with their young scholar about their day.
Most parents will have eagerly asked their child about their day, only to meet with a “good”, quickly followed by “I’m hungry”. This is also my experience as a mother. But somewhere over the daily walk more about my son’s day comes out. I hear him making sense of friendship and its limits. This is the unexpected and rare parental opportunity to hear more.
Many primary schools support walking school-bus routes (路线), with days of regular, parent-accompanied walks. Doing just one of these a few times a week is better than nothing. It can be tough to begin and takes a little planning-running shoes by the front door, lunches made the night before, umbrellas on rainy days and hats on hot ones-but it's certainly worth trying.
1. What has caused the decrease in Australian children’s physical activity?| A．Plain laziness. |
| B．Health problems. |
| C．Lack of time. |
| D．Security concerns. |
| A．She can get relaxed after work. |
| B．She can keep physically fit. |
| C．She can help with her son's study. |
| D．She can know her son better. |
【推荐2】A Lesson from the Elder
Grandfather was an elder Cherokee Native American who had a wrinkled, nut brown face and kind dark eyes. His grandson often came in the evening to sit on his knee and ask the many questions that children ask.
One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger on his face and the following story. “Father and I went to the store today and because I helped him, he bought me a present — a jack-knife. I went outside to wait for father and to admire my new knife in the sunlight. Some town boys came by and saw me. They surrounded me and started saying bad things. They called me dirty and stupid and said that I should not have such a fine knife. The largest of these boys pushed me back and I fell over one of the other boys. I dropped my knife and one of them picked it up and they all ran away laughing. I hate them. I hate them all.”
The elder Cherokee, with eyes that had seen too much, lifted his grandson’s face so his eyes looked into the boy’s face. Grandfather said, “Let me tell you a story. I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy. It is like drinking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times. It is as if two wolves are inside me...
It is a terrible fight.
One wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense is intended. It will only fight when it is right to do so and in the right way. This wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, modesty, kindness, friendship, sympathy, generosity, truth, and faith.
The other wolf is full of anger. The littlest thing will set off his fiercest temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so much.
It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. This wolf represents fear, envy, greed, self-pity, guilt, lies, false pride and superiority.
Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me for both of them try to control my spirit. This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person too.”
The boy looked into his grandfather’s eyes and asked, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied ...
“The one you feed.”
1. The boy was angry because ________.| A．he was not satisfied with his present | B．his back was badly injured in a fight |
| C．he had waited for his father for too long | D．his jack-knife had been taken away by some boys |
| A．“hate” is healthy | B．“hate” hurts oneself |
| C．“hate” is complicated | D．“hate” harms one’s enemies |
| A．We should feed the two wolves equally. |
| B．Living in harmony with others is important. |
| C．Our feelings should be expressed at the right time. |
| D．The choices we make determine who we will become. |
【推荐3】Five-year-old Willard Wigan couldn’t tell the difference between an M and a W or a 6 and a 9 because of dyslexia, a learning disability. Usually, his mind drifted — to playing outside, to his dog, or to the ants. Willard was especially curious about those ants. He felt like them, small and insignificant. He noticed the ants were coming and going from a hole in the dirt. Gathering pieces of wood, Willard constructed a little building for ants.
At school, Willard still had problems, but he knew he could do something special. Willard created tiny furniture for the ant houses. His artistic skill increased, and a love for little things began to grow. At age nine, Willard began carving (雕刻) faces on toothpicks. When he showed his mother the carved faces, she said, “This is what you do well. You must work hard to be the best.” Years later, Willard carves the tiniest artwork in the world! His sculptures are so small that several can fit on a full stop at the end of a sentence.
Willard works best at night when there are few disturbances. He often works for months to complete a sculpture. Willard’s favorite paintbrush is one hair from the back of a dead fly! To move his sculptures, Willard uses an eyelash. But even that can be tough. Once, while moving a microscopic Alice in Wonderland, his cell phone rang. Terrified, Willard took in a quick breath. When he looked back, Alice was gone. After working for weeks to carve her, he’d accidentally breathed her in!
Willard sculpts everything from famous people to fictional characters. Because of their beauty and rarity, his sculptures have made Willard a wealthy man. But he says, “Success isn’t about material things like an expensive watch or a costly ring; it’s about persevering and achieving your dreams.” Willard Wigan who felt small as a boy has shown something small can really be big.
1. What can we know about Willard from paragraph 1?| A．He was interested in math. |
| B．He had a physical problem. |
| C．He was crazy about building. |
| D．He thought himself unimportant. |
| A．Playing word puzzles. | B．Observing animals. |
| C．Creating tiny artworks. | D．Making furniture. |
| A．Willard is nervous when working at night. |
| B．Willard uses traditional tools in carving. |
| C．Alice in Wonderland is a huge success. |
| D．Carving takes a lot of time and effort. |
| A．The Big Little Artwork. | B．House Building for Ants. |
| C．The True Meaning of Success. | D．A Boy with a Disability. |
【推荐1】When my students ask me how to improve themselves, I always recommend personality imitation (模仿). I believe imitation is one of the fastest forms of learning.
For example, before writing my first scientific paper, I made a small pile of published articles that were especially attractive and understandable. Then I reread them. And I made notes on the side: A quote at the beginning. Short sentence at the end of paragraph. Big idea in the end. And then, without delay, I sat down to imitate what I’d observed.
It may seem that copying what other people do is cheating. Many of my students assume that they had better figure everything out on their own. But it turns out that a great deal of human learning is imitation. We were all born to copy-paste (复制粘贴).
A few years ago, I had a conversation with Toby Cosgrove, the former chief executive of Cleveland Clinic. I asked him how someone who at the beginning of his career was told he lacked talent later became the most famous cardiothoracic surgeon in the world. This was his response:
“I worked and worked and worked at first. And then I changed the way I did things over time I went and watched other people do things. In fact, I used to call them my ‘innovation trips.’ I would go all over the world, take my notebook and watch other surgeons and various techniques, and I would pick up things from them and put them in my practice. It was a constant quest and I was always looking for ways to do something better.”
These stories are supported by science. Some experiments confirm that copy-pasting the successful strategies of others can help you reach your own goals. Therefore, don’t think that copy-pasting what you admire is by definition cheating. Without question, it’s wrong to take someone else’s work and pass it off as your own. But it’s right to find inspiration in the way other people live their lives.
1. How does the author support his opinion in the first two paragraphs?| A．By making comparisons. | B．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| C．By sharing his own experience. | D．By listing helpful ways. |
| A．Turning to teachers for help. |
| B．Copying what other people do. |
| C．Conducting experiments with others. |
| D．Working out problems by themselves. |
| A．Exploration. | B．Competition. | C．Attention. | D．Entertainment. |
| A．Imitating equals cheating | B．Imitation provides inspiration. |
| C．Imitation is a natural ability | D．Imitation is a personal choice. |
【推荐2】A new family moved in next door and I got to meet the mother of the family, Lydia. Lydia is Korean, and her family moved to our city so her husband could go to graduate school. We started talking, and she was apologetic about how bad her English was, but I didn’t care. I knew how hard it was to learn a second language. I enjoyed chatting with Lydia as we watched our kids play.
It was what came next that challenged me: Lydia asked if I’d be willing to help her with her English.
Now, I am not a teacher. I admire teachers, and I’m grateful for teachers, and it’s because I admire what they do so much that I was very, very sure that I couldn’t do it myself.
But Lydia was sure that she wanted my help. I was doubtful. I wasn’t sure my “help” was even worth being called by that name.
But because she asked me, I said “yes.”
And that was the beginning of a friendship. Lydia and I spent afternoons sitting together and reading the newspaper, and as we did, she asked me questions when she had them — questions about language, yes, but also questions about the new culture she found herself in.
In turn, I asked my own questions, growing curious about her home country and culture. We bonded over our shared faith and our struggles as mothers of kids with special needs. When I complimented (恭维) her cooking, she began to teach me about Korean food, eventually leading to a shared trip to explore the Korean grocery stores in our city.
Because of Lydia, I learned more about my own hometown than I ever could have learned by myself.
I’m still not sure that I’m any good as a teacher. But I’m grateful I said “yes” when my neighbor asked me to help her with her English. That meant spending extra time with my neighbor, and that extra time meant she didn’t remain just my neighbor. She became my friend.
1. What was Lydia sorry about?| A．Her bad English. | B．Her carelessness. |
| C．Nobody teaching her English. | D．Her poor life in a new place. |
| A．The author admired teachers. |
| B．The author wanted to be a teacher. |
| C．The author didn’t want to help Lydia. |
| D．The author was not confident in helping Lydia. |
| A．She managed to learn English well. |
| B．She made friends with her neighbor. |
| C．She learned how to cook Korean food. |
| D．She realized her dream of being a teacher. |
| A．No pains, no gains. |
| B．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| C．To help others is to help ourselves. |
| D．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
【推荐3】One weekend I went to Buffalo to talk at a writers' conference organized by a group of women writers. The women were serious about their writing skills, and the articles they had written were solid and useful. They asked me to take part in a radio talk show earlier in the week to publicize the conference-they would be with the host in the studio and I would be on a telephone linking from my apartment in New York.
The appointed evening arrived, and my phone rang, and the host came on and greeted me. He said he had three lovely ladies in the studio with him and he was eager to find out what we all thought of the present state of literature and what advice we had for all his listeners who were members of the literati and had literary ambitions themselves. This hearty introduction dropped like a stone among us, and none of the three lovely ladies said anything, which I thought was the proper response.
The silence lengthened, and finally I said, “I think we should stop mentioning the words literature and literary and literati. We're here to talk about the skills of writing.” I knew that the host had been given information about what kind of writers we were and what we wanted to discuss. But he had no other preparation. "Tell me what insights do you have about the literary experience in America today?” Silence also greeted this question.
He didn’t know what to do with that, and he began to mention the names of authors like Ernest Hemingway and Saul Bellow and William Styron, whom we surely regarded as literary giants. We said those writers didn't happen to be our models, and we mentioned people like Lewis Thomas and Joan Didion and Gary Wills, whom he hadn't heard of. We explained that these were writers we admired. “But don't you want to write anything literary?” our host said We were speechless.
It was one of the all-time upset radio talk shows.
1. What do we know about the talk show?| A．It was organized by women writers. | B．It was publicized at the conference. |
| C．The author went to Buffalo to take part in it. | D．The author participated in it in New York. |
| A．The introduction struck us heavily with a stone. |
| B．The introduction received embarrassing response. |
| C．The introduction increased the listeners' interest. |
| D．The introduction carried the host's praise for us. |
| A．Excited. | B．Inspired. | C．Uninterested. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．Joan Didion. | B．Ernest Hemingway. | C．Saul Bellow. | D．William Styron. |
