1 . Over 40 students with low vision study at a school in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. It was designed by Anand Sonecha, founder of an architecture company. Featuring a bright yellow entrance door, which stands out against the white walls, the school is decorated with a variety of sweet-smelling plants everywhere. Inside the classrooms, the walls feel smooth in contrast to the rough outside of the building. These all help students familiarize themselves with the area straightforwardly, without any trouble.
The school provides an open space serving as a platform for the visually-challenged students to play, perform, or celebrate festivals and the students are easy to orient themselves according to the sound, smell, sight and touch. “The idea behind the design was to make the school more accessible to the students,” Sonecha says, “They come from remote villages and towns in Gujarat, and I am eager to help them.”
During the construction, Sonecha used contrasting colors so that students could easily distinguish between the elements. Blue was used for all classroom doors, yellow for the entrance gate, black for switch buttons, and yellow and green for the furniture. All these colors contrasted with the white walls of the school, helping the students locate different elements. Different areas are of different height and width, which makes the sounds and noises change according to the echo (回音) produced in these spaces. Furthermore, he cooperated with fellow landscape architect Lokendra Balasaria to plant more than 1,000 plants of 37 species. These sweet plants have been grown not only to lead the children to move in the school through smell but also to attract butterflies and birds, and provide shade.
“The structure of the building is designed similarly to any other school building, only with a few clever elements. My intention was to avoid making it look distinct from other schools,” Sonecha explains, “I hope that there are no different schools for such students. Instead, all these elements should be added to public spaces for them. And my follow-up efforts may be there.”
1. Why did Sonecha design the school in Gandhinagar?| A．To explore architecture styles. | B．To raise funds for his company. |
| C．To offer convenience to the students. | D．To improve students’ learning ability. |
| A．Relax. | B．Waken. | C．Cheer. | D．Direct. |
| A．By expanding activity areas. | B．By stimulating multiple senses. |
| C．By offering behavioral guidelines. | D．By strengthening safety measures. |
| A．Promote accessibility in the public regions. | B．Modernize architecture with smart devices. |
| C．Build special schools for disabled students. | D．Decorate schools with traditional elements. |
2 . Do you recall your beloved school teachers? Did they awaken a passion for a once-unappealing subject or offer valuable guidance?
Mr Moriarty was the one. When he became a science teacher, 22-year-old Patrick Moriarty was hoping to make a difference in his students’ lives. After all, the natural world has so many fascinating secrets that he was willing to teach and he would devote long years to preparing his “kids” for adulthood. In 1978, he was teaching kids about the sky events and passed out worksheets, showing the paths of the upcoming eclipses (日食). Sadly, a lot of them would not be visible in New York. All but one on April 8, 2024.
“Circle that one,” Mr Moriarty told his students. “We’re going to get together on that one.”
The youngsters laughed — the eclipse wouldn’t occur for nearly five decades and everyone would’ve forgotten the promise by then. But they severely underestimated their teacher.
Years flew by and Mr Moriarty made the same promise to all of his classes about the plan in the distant future. As the popularity of printed press declined, he created a Facebook group in 2022, detailing the event and trying to find former students who would want to attend it.
Mr Moriarty never expected there would be such a massive turnout, but the word was spreading like wildfire among his former classmates. On Monday, the 8th of April, about 100 former students gathered in their teacher’s driveway. As the students started arriving at his house, he had trouble recognizing them. However, he remembered most of their names and some amusing stories that happened during his teaching years.
“It was so interesting to see them walking up with thinning or gray hair, and looking at me like, ‘You’re still my teacher,’” he laughed. “This has got to be the longest homework assignment in history.” Lastly, Mr Moriarty suggested marking the 22nd of August, 2044, the day when the next visible total solar eclipse will occur. Once again, everyone laughed, but this time with a little less doubt.
1. Why did Mr Moriarty create a Facebook group?| A．To popularize astronomical knowledge. |
| B．To seek out former students who wanted to take class. |
| C．To share some funny stories from. his teaching career. |
| D．To remind his former students of the previous assignment. |
| A．Passionate and committed. | B．Honest and wise. |
| C．Respectable and humble. | D．Generous and energetic. |
| A．He suffered from a poor memory. |
| B．He had little influence on his former students. |
| C．He took great pride in his students’ achievements. |
| D．He was astonished to see so many of his former students. |
| A．They ignored the special promise. |
| B．They put more trust in their teacher. |
| C．They thought of their teacher being amusing. |
| D．They doubted the possibility of the proposal. |
3 . When Rony Rolando Herrera was a young boy, he was abandoned by his father, and his mother gave everything she had to raise Rony and his three brothers. Thankfully, Rony’s support did not end with his mother. Through a nonprofit, Rony was enrolled in a child protection program that redetermined his life path. Now, Rony is dedicated to doing the same for the children in his school.
Rony is a science teacher and director of a primary school in San Jose del Cacao, a rural community where hardship, tradition and poverty prevent education from being a priority. “The customs of these communities are from past civilizations and focus on working the land,not developing psychologically or intellectually,” Rony explained.
The barriers to education are most harmful to the most vulnerable, including young girls. As a teacher, it was not uncommon to see his female students, as young as 13 years old, drop out of school. “They are not empowered to know their rights or to continue with their education. They don’t know that they can change the failed system in their communities that believe women’s only purpose is to reproduce, do laundry and cook,” Rony said.
By joining the program PREVENIR, students at Rony’s school are given the opportunity to receive a more comprehensive education that aims to reduce the risks outside of the classroom. Rony elaborates that, “the educational process must be comprehensive. In addition to learning about things like science or biology, children need to know their rights and basic life skills.”
Rony calls himself a “dreamer” and now carries the love he received from both his mother and the humanitarian workers who supported him. He stated, “This type of support changes lives,” and added that even if out of 140 students, only one is impacted, he knows this impact will carry over to future generations, just as it did for him.
1. What really changed Rony’s life?| A．His miserable childhood. | B．His joining in a program. |
| C．His living circumstances. | D．His mother’s expectations. |
| A．The people are intelligent. |
| B．Traditions are not well-received. |
| C．Education there is a priority. |
| D．People there live a conservative life. |
| A．Reliable and determined. | B．Humble and supportive. |
| C．Sympathetic and grateful. | D．Generous and responsible. |
| A．Education Provide Chances for Girls |
| B．A Teacher’s Big Dream Changes Lives |
| C．Nonprofits Play a Vital Role in Education |
| D．Protecting Children Requires Intervention |
4 . College professors these days face an ever-higher bar to grab the attention of their students, forced to compete with the stimuli of smartphones and laptops in large lecture halls. But when your professor is a social media star, it’s a little bit easier.
Tatiana Erukhimova, who teaches physics at Texas A&M University, has managed to get her students, as well as future generations, excited about the science. Known as “Dr. Tatiana” to her students and online fan base, the professor performs physics tricks with boundless energy and enthusiasm. Videos of her theatrical demonstrations have racked up hundreds of millions of views across TikTok and other social media platforms.
In the kid-friendly videos, Erukhimova uses a range of everyday objects in her experiments, from pingpong balls and toilet paper to marshmallows, bicycle wheels and hair dryers. She credits the university marketing team’s videos of her lessons for her social media success. “This is just one of our ways to connect with people to make physics accessible to people,” she tells NPR. As part of the physics department’s extensive outreach program, she also puts on shows almost every week teaching physics to K-12 students. “The sooner kids are taught physics and taught it well, the better,” she says.
It’s clear she knows what it takes to get young people excited about a hard science. But it wasn’t always that way. When she first started teaching college freshman classes almost two decades ago, she says she struggled to grab the attention of her younger students. She was used to teaching juniors, as she had for a few years prior to that. But when it comes to teaching a large lecture hall of 100-plus first-year students, first impressions are make or break.
“I did not grab their attention on the first day — that was my mistake,” she says. “I missed this opportunity to bond with them from the very beginning, and then it took me a while to find my voice.”
By the second semester, she found her footing, tweaking her approach to make her lecture halls feel smaller, and get her students engaged. The key, she says, has been to make herself approachable and her instruction personal.
1. What is the main challenge faced by college professors in large lecture halls?| A．Competition with smartphones and laptops. |
| B．Limited resources for·teaching materials. |
| C．Inadequate support from the university. |
| D．Lack of interest from students. |
| A．Encouraging students to use social media. |
| B．Creating TikTok accounts for professors. |
| C．Producing videos of her physics lessons. |
| D．Promoting weekly teaching program. |
| A．To review her teaching plans. |
| B．To show an application of her idea. |
| C．To highlight the differences of teaching. |
| D．To erase doubts about her approaches. |
| A．The importance of establishing a personal connection with students. |
| B．The significance of focusing on junior-level students. |
| C．The effectiveness of traditional teaching methods. |
| D．The need for advanced teaching materials. |
5 . Last weekend I made my first visit to a remote village, home to one of our students, Tombe. Another teacher and I walked for two and a half hours to get there—first, up a mountain from where we had fantastic views, and then down a shaded path to the valley below. When we arrived at the village, Tombe’s mother, Kiak, saw us coming and started crying “ieee ieee”. We shook hands with all the villagers. Everyone seemed to be related to Tombe.
Tombe’s father, Mukap, a man with a strong jaw and a wrinkled forehead, led us to his house, a low, round bamboo hut with no windows, with a door just big enough to get through, and with grass sticking out of the roof—this shows it is a man’s house. Such housing is dark inside so it took time for our eyes to adjust. Fresh grass had been laid on the floor and there was a platform for Jenny and me to sleep on. There was a fireplace in the centre of the hut. The only possessions I could see were one broom, a few saucers, a kettle, cups, pans, and a couple of jars.
Mukap built a fire outside and laid stones on it to heat. He then placed the hot stones in an empty oil drum with kau kau(sweet potato), ripe corn, and greens. He then covered the vegetables with banana leaves and left them to steam. It smelled delicious. We ate inside the hut sitting round the fire. I loved listening to the family talking softly to each other in their language, even though I could not participate much in the conversation. Luckily, Tombe interpreted for us.
Later, I noticed a can standing upside down on the grill (烤架) over the fire. After a while. Tombe threw it out of the doorway. Tombe told me that the can was heated to dry out the leftover food. His family believes that leftovers attract bad spirits in the night, so any leftover food is dried up in a can and the can is then thrown out of the hut.
We left the village the next morning after many goodbyes and firm handshakes. My muscles were aching and my knees shaking as we dragged ourselves down the mountain towards home. That evening I fell happily into bed. It was such a privilege to have spent a day with Tombe’s family.
1. Why did Tombe’s mother start crying “ieee ieee”?| A．Because she was excited to see her son home | B．Because she saw someone who scared he |
| C．Because she was welcoming the teachers. | D．Because that was her daily routine. |
| A．He’s not a considerate one. | B．He has a luxury house. |
| C．He had a good talk with the author. | D．He is good at cooking |
| A．amazed | B．puzzled | C．frightened | D．happy |
| A．drive bad spirits | B．protect the hut | C．hold the leftovers | D．be thrown out of the hut |
| A．She hated the long and tiring visit |
| B．She was pleased to visit the Tombe family. |
| C．She thought Tombe’s family was too poor. |
| D．She thought some of the Tombe family’s actions were stupid. |
6 . Tatiana Erukhimova, a physics professor at Texas A&M University, performs physics tricks with endless energy and enthusiasm. Videos of her theatrical demonstrations have received hundreds of millions of views across TikTok and other social media platforms.
In those videos, Erukhimova uses everyday objects in her experiments, from pingpong balls and toilet paper to bicycle wheels and hair dryers. Her YouTube page has about 2.5 million subscribers, a huge following overshadowing even the famous Aggie athletics program.
Erukhimova knows how to get young people excited about a hard science. But it wasn’t always that easy. When she first started teaching college freshmen two decades ago, she struggled to grab their attention. It took her a while to find her strong Russian accent, which was once regarded as a barrier to connecting with her students, but has now endeared (使受欢迎) her to both students and fans online.
“The key is to make myself approachable and my instruction personal,” she says, “Walk up and down the stairs while teaching rather than stay on the stage. Don’t just lecture, talk to them—make it interactive. And, of course, add showy demonstrations.” she says, “These demonstrations often help students to connect these abstract concepts with real life.”
Growing up surrounded by physics, Erukhimova went on to get her Ph. D. in applied physics at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Two years after joining Texas A&M as a postdoctoral researcher in 2001, she jumped at the first opportunity to teach. As a leader in a STEM field where women are underrepresented, Erukhimova’s become a role model for some. She led a 2021 study that broke the stereotype (刻板印象) that men outperform women in physics courses.
Grigory Rogachev, head of Physics department, says: “Erukhimova’s outreach work has helped bring visibility to the department, which has translated to a boost in donations and physics major applicants. She’s a performer in addition to being a scientist. And that is rare in the community.”
1. Why did the author mention Aggie athletics program?| A．To show the variety of Erukhimova’s classes. |
| B．To prove the success of Erukhimova’s videos. |
| C．To reveal the sudden increase of Erukhimova’s following. |
| D．To display the rich contents of Erukhimova’s YoutTube page. |
| A．Everything got along well. | B．They were inspired by her classes. |
| C．She failed to draw their attention. | D．She enjoyed their affection for her accent. |
| A．Energetic and strict. | B．Serious and enthusiastic. |
| C．Honest and attractive. | D．Creative and easy-going. |
| A．It has led to a decrease in donation. |
| B．It has inspired many girls to major in physics. |
| C．It has helped people break the stereotype of women scientists. |
| D．It has made a positive influence on improving physics community. |
7 . Teachers at an Atlanta elementary school hold a mirror up while students shout positive affirmations (肯定) to themselves. “We live in a tough neighborhood in Atlanta. It’s good to plant those seeds (种子) here,” a teacher said.
In a video that recently went viral (迅速传开), fourth-graders at Gideons Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia lined up to shout positive affirmations to themselves in a mirror while their teachers cheered them on. “I am smart!” “I am a good person!”
“The idea came from something I practice with my 5-year-old daughter,” said Neffiteria Acker, the teacher seen in the video holding the mirror.“ When we’re on our way to school, I have her repeat affirmations to me, starting with, ‘I am.’ Usually, I just ask her to tell me something good about herself. She’ll say, ‘I’m a fast eater,’ or, ‘I’m a fast runner.’ Then I’ll add to it, ‘You’re also really brave.’”
“It lifts her confidence. So I thought, ‘Why not bring that to the classroom? ’ ” she added.
Cierra Levay Broadway, the teacher who filmed the video, said she was moved while watching the students shout their affirmations. “It was an amazing moment,” she said. “I was really astonished when I saw the kids and heard what they were saying. For a lot of them, it was the first time they’d ever done that.”
The teachers understand the importance of building self-confidence at a young age, especially for students who do not have such an opportunity at home.
“In our neighborhood the kids hear a lot of negative things about themselves. So a seed of self-love is the best seed to plant, and all Broadway and I have to do is water it,” Acker said.
1. Why did the teachers try to help their students?| A．The students dislike studying. |
| B．The students laugh at the gardeners. |
| C．The students are affected by their environment. |
| D．The students have difficulty getting on with each other. |
| A．Plan for their futures. | B．Cheer up their schoolmates. |
| C．Find other students’ strengths. | D．Say positive words about themselves. |
| A．Her daughter’s suggestions to her. | B．Her conversations with her daughter. |
| C．A video of a small girl. | D．A mirror in her school. |
8 . Types Of Students You Will Meet In College
There are thousands of universities around the world, and each school boasts its own traditions and slogans. Some schools pride themselves on sports, while others emphasize their research facilities. While there are a myriad of differences among each and every school, there will always be these three types of students in class.
The one who sits in the front row
There’s at least one of these people in every single class,whether it’s a required General Education class or an upper division major course. These students always sit in the front row and ask at least five questions every lecture.
They attend all the discussions and office hours, and try to turn in homework at least a week in advance. These are also the people who remind professors about assigned homework and upcoming exams. Nothing bad about being studious, but are they even human?
The one who never studies (but still aces the class)
Standing as probably the most frustrating category of people in this list, these students won’t know about a midterm until two days before. They go to class every once in a while when the class time doesn’t clash with one of their many elaborate social plans, but never pay attention. Somehow, they still ace all their exams and end up with the top grade in the class.
The one who always falls asleep
This person comes to class every day, but somehow never stays awake for more than 20 minutes. You can sometimes hear the occasional snore from a corner of a large lecture hall, or catch their heads nodding like a pendulum near the front of the class if they’re the studious type. But let’s be real here: we’ve all been one of those students at some point.
1. Who always sit in the front row?| A．The studious students. |
| B．The sleepy students. |
| C．The smart students. |
| D．The frustrated students. |
| A．Some students never go to classes but still get top grades. |
| B．Some students never go to classes and get bad grades. |
| C．Some students go to lectures occasionally but still ace the class. |
| D．Some students go to lectures everyday and still ace the class. |
| A．The one who always falls asleep |
| B．The one who sits in the front row |
| C．The one who never falls asleep |
| D．The one who never studies (but still aces the class) |
9 . Do you feel stressed? Research on the mental health condition of senior high school students from China, US, South Korea and Japan has recently been released. The research was carried out jointly by China Youth and Children Research Center, National Institution for Youth Education of Japan and National Youth Policy Institute of Korea.
The results showed that senior high students are at the lowest point of mental health level among all adolescent (青春期的) stages. Compared to students from the US, South Korea and Japan, Chinese students show a low level of emotional health, self evaluation and interpersonal support. Life habits (sleep, phone dependence, etc), stress and social support (parental, peer and teacher support) are important factors affecting the mental health of senior high students in China.
However, the confidence level of Chinese high school students is the highest among those of all four countries. For example, when it comes to statements like “I believe I can reach my goals”, over 80 percent of Chinese students chose “agree”. In spite of this, some Chinese students lack a sense of self-worth and willpower, leading to difficulties in forming their identity in the process of becoming adults.
Chen Yue, a mental counselor from a foreign languages school in Beijing, said that he has seen behavior in class that reflects the research results. “The reasons behind that can be linked to parents who may take too much control in junior high period and now feel kind of lost in their children’s transitional stage to adulthood,” Chen said. “Also, students tend to attach greater importance to interpersonal relationships in senior high and even link it to their self-evaluation.”
Chen also pointed out that students’ relationship with phones is delicate. “Many teachers and parents simply ban students from using phones without realizing that phones are more than a tool of entertainment, but rather a territory of personal space and connection to the social world,” said Chen, “therefore, an appropriate amount of freedom is crucial.”
Meanwhile, some students have their own way to deal with interpersonal relationships. Chen Yeliang, a 17-year-old senior high student, said that if she doesn’t get along with someone. she wouldn’t attribute (归因于) it to herself. “It just means that we are from different worlds and the time spent on each other is not worth it,” she said.
1. What did the research find about Chinese senior high students?| A．They are the most confident. |
| B．They have the most social support. |
| C．They have the most mental problems. |
| D．They have the highest level of self-evaluation. |
| A．By comparing respondents’ backgrounds. |
| B．By doing interviews and mental tests. |
| C．By conducting a questionnaire. |
| D．By studying the findings of previous research. |
| A．They value friends over parents. | B．They want to behave like adults. |
| C．They desire their parents’ attention. | D．They focus more on relationships. |
| A．Just let it be. | B．Reflect on herself. |
| C．Communicate openly. | D．Spend more time together. |
| A．To show the reason for feeling stressed. |
| B．To get the young people know the result of feeling stressed. |
| C．To find out how senior high school students get along with others. |
| D．To show the research on the mental health condition of senior high school students. |
10 . Noelia Garella, Latin America’s first teacher with Down syndrome (唐氏综合征), is revolutionizing her community’s education system.
Today, Garella, 31, is in charge of an Argentinian preschool class designed to teach 2- and 3-year-olds how to read. “I love this,” Garella told Agence France-Presse. “Ever since I was little, I have always wanted to be a teacher.”
Her own experience as a child was marked with misfortune—in her youth, she was rejected from a preschool and called horrible names, even by adults. One school director told Garella’s mother, Mercedes Cabrera, “No monsters here,” according to The National.
But Garella has found an approach to turning her negative experiences into something constructive. “That teacher is like a story that I read to the children,” she said. “She is a sad monster, who knows nothing and gets things wrong.”
The director responsible for employing Garella, Alejandra Senestrari, didn’t make that same mistake. “We very quickly realized that she had a strong sense of duty,” she told AFP. “She gave what the children in nursery classes most appreciate, which is love.”
When Garella was employed to take on her own class in January, she still faced controversy (争议). But, with the help of her parents and other educators and supporters, she fought for her dream. “With time, even those who had been opposed joined in the initiative to employ Noelia as a teacher,” Senestrari said. Her students, however, never had to get used to the idea of a teacher with Down syndrome—they loved her from the beginning.
Garella has been an assistant in the school’s reading classes since 2012—and was more than deserving of a promotion. Garella’s dreams are big, but her mission for her pupils is simple: “I want them to read and listen, because in society, people have to listen to one another.”
1. What is the school director’s attitude towards Noelia Garella according to paragraph 3?| A．Noelia Garella was fairly treated by the school director. |
| B．Noelia Garella was given sympathy by the school director. |
| C．Noelia Garella was treated badly. |
| D．Noelia Garella was not rejected directly by the school director. |
| A．The teacher in Noelia Carella’s heart. |
| B．One peer Noelia Garella met. |
| C．The school director who turned a deaf ear to Noelia Garella. |
| D．The schoolmaster of Noelia Garella’s school. |
| A．smart and lovely |
| B．gifted and strict |
| C．proud and grateful |
| D．responsible and caring |
| A．She quit her occupation. |
| B．She was well received by her students. |
| C．She was doubted by other educators. |
| D．She began to teach listening in school. |
