1 . That summer, I went to a small and rather remote village of Manitoba’s as a substitute for a sick teacher. It was a very poor village with a few humble wooden houses. There was nothing but the spruce around me. Could I leave a deep impression on the children in just a month? Is a month really worth the effort? I was really doubtful about these two questions.

Maybe the children had the same ideas, because I had never seen so depressing, sad, and even bitter facial expressions. I had little experience in teaching, and my age was like that of those children.

Most of them had thin eyes, dark skin, and shiny black hair, which indicated they were mixed blood children of French and Indian.

At nine o’ clock, the classroom was already as hot as a stove. I didn’t know where I should start. Then I called from a list of names, expecting the response. They stood up, and gave me the reply. However, when Yolanda was called, there was no response …Still no response …About 15 seconds later, a voice came from the back of the classroom with the buzzing of flies. “She’s dead. She died last night.”

The tone of the child’ s voice was astonishing but plain, and perhaps nothing could be more painful than to narrate in that tone. “Ah!” I cried out, not knowing what to say. The children and I looked at each other for a long time and we were silent. I understood that what I had seen from the children’s eyes and faces, which I had thought was the expression of indifference, turned out to be a great pain.

“Since Yolanda was your classmate, would you like to see her at four o’ clock after school?” There was a smile on the children’s serious little faces. It was a smile, though formal and sad.

After four o'clock, I saw that many children were waiting for me at the school gate. There were more than 20 children in total. Some of them walked in front to guide me. The others held me tightly, which almost made me unable to walk. Five or six younger children took my hand and gently led me forward, just like leading a blind guy. I unconsciously remembered those names, and they are still fresh in my memory, including Yolanda.

1. The author went to a small remote village to________.

A．have a summer trip

B．teach for a short time

C．have a good time with children

D．achieve more teaching experience

2. What does the underlined word “indifference” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?

A．Unconcern.

B．Dissatisfaction.

C．Disagreement.

D．Friendliness.

3. What can we infer from the story?

A．The children were unwilling to see Yolanda after school.

B．The children were upset about their mixed blood identity.

C．The author was moved by the love of the poor children.

D．The author was confident about his teaching at first.