1 . Zhang Guimei, a rural teacher in Huaping county, Lijiang, Yunnan province, breaking cycle of poverty in mountain areas realizes potential of students.
It was a chance meeting that revealed the reality of one life as it changed another. About 20 years ago, while on the way to visit a student’s house, Zhang Guimei noticed a girl sitting on the hillside. She was staring blankly into space. She was completely preoccupied. The girl, 13, told Zhang she was about to get married. It was arranged by her parents. “But I want to go to school,” the girl says. Zhang went to her house and tried to persuade her parents to let the girl return, to school and promised to pay for her tuition herself. However, they didn’t agree.
Zhang says she feels sorry not being able to help “We always say, each child should stand on the same starting line, but these girls didn’t even have a chance to get on the track,” she tells Xinhua News Agency.
That fateful encounter persuaded Zhang to build a free big school for girls, aiming to help break the cycle that saw women drop out of education, marry early and spend their whole life in the remote mountain. The priority of less well-off families was to spend whatever scarce resources they had on educating their sons.
After years trying to raise funds, in 2008, Huaping High School for Girls, a free public high school, was founded at the foot of the Shizi Mountain in Huaping, where Zhang is the principal.
Over the decades, the principal walked thousands of kilometers, visiting students’ families in the deep mountain, talking to villagers, persuading girls to go back to school. She donated her wages and bonus to support rural education and poor people. It has been worth it. More than 1. 800 graduates have been admitted to college, which is regarded a “miracle” in the remote area, as most students didn’t perform well in academic study before the school was established.
In early December. she was named a national outstanding member of the Communist Party of China for her dedication to education in rural China. She was also given the honor of the country’s “role model for teachers”, advanced worker “and” outstanding woman”. Her moving stories inspire thousands of people.
1. What does the underlined word “preoccupied” probably mean in paragraph 2？| A．Cautious. | B．Regretful. | C．Worried. | D．Merciful. |
| A．Women are poor in academic fields. | B．There are few women schools in China. |
| C．Few girls are admitted to universities. | D．Girls in rural areas receive little education. |
| A．Independent and tough. | B．Faithful and honest. |
| C．Inspirational and generous. | D．Determined and conventional. |
| A．Zhang Guimei helps change the life of girls from poor families. |
| B．Zhang Guimei creates a miracle in advanced technology. |
| C．Zhang Guimei is awarded as an international heroine. |
| D．Zhang Guimei devotes her life to fighting poverty. |
