1 . 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. |
2 . As a student, you must have met all kinds of teachers. Do you love and respect them a lot? Is there a complete understanding between you and them?
Miss Li is very good at teaching English. She can explain the English grammar so clearly that even I, who hate English more than any other subject, can understand it well!
Miss Li is very strict and serious.
Actually, Miss Li is deeply loved by all of my classmates. Any reason? We simply feel and know that she really enjoys teaching us. As soon as she enters our classroom, she just changes then and there. When she thinks we’re getting bored, she is always ready to tell us jokes and make us concentrate again
| A．How we couldn’t miss her |
| B．We really enjoy her grammar classes |
| C．Miss Li never makes me feel awkward |
| D．What a luck to have such a good teacher |
| E．For many, the answer is usually not positive |
| F．In her class, I don’t dare to make any trouble |
| G．And her lecture is easy to follow |
3 . Many instructors believe that an informal, relaxing classroom environment is good for learning and innovation. It is not uncommon for students to have easygoing and friendly relationships with their professors. The casual professor is not necessarily a poor one and is still respected by students. Although students may be in a subordinate (从属的) position, some professors treat them as equals. However, no matter how equal professors would like to be, they still are in a position of authority.
Professors may establish social relationships with students outside of the classroom, but in the classroom they maintain the instructor’s role. A professor may have coffee one day with students but the next day expect them to meet a deadline for the submission (提交) of a paper or to be prepared for a discussion or an exam. The professor may give extra attention outside of class to a student in need of help but probably will not treat him or her differently when it comes to evaluating school work. Professors have several roles in relation to students; they may be counselors and friends as well as teachers. Students must realize that when a teacher’s role changes, they must appropriately adapt their behaviour and attitudes.
1. Generally speaking, relationships between students and their professors are ________.| A．common | B．friendly | C．poor | D．equal |
| A．In the classroom, professors should be in a position of authority. |
| B．Professors can set up good social relationships with students outside classroom. |
| C．Professors may treat their students differently in evaluating school work. |
| D．If a student has good relationship with a professor, he will still have to take an exam. |
| A．he is in need of help |
| B．the professor invites him to have coffee together |
| C．the professor gives him extra attention |
| D．the professor changes his role |
| A．the teacher-student relationship | B．students’ positions |
| C．professors’ authority | D．changing relationship |
4 . My entry into teaching wasn’t really typical. It was a meandering (曲折的) journey, I guess.
Even when I went to secondary school I still came back to my primary school. My grandma, who had been a reception teacher, could see the potential in me to teach.
I know it’s a cliché (陈词滥调), but I really wanted to make a rally significant difference and I just love watching the change in the pupils over the year.
We’ve got a gardening club at school which I started — all the classes have raised beds and we grow lettuces, onions, sprouts and broccoli.
| A．She recognized the signs. |
| B．I doubt whether my choice is right. |
| C．I want to bring out the best in them. |
| D．She persuaded me to work as a teacher. |
| E．I loved primary school and I had a lovely time there. |
| F．But in many ways that’s how I see teaching — like a garden. |
| G．Going into teaching was the best decision I have ever made. |
5 . Recently, we had an English speaking class taught by Mary Ann, an experienced and kind teacher. She gave her lesson with dialogues and communicated with encouragement and passion, which enabled us to practice our oral English skills. With her help, we noticed our mistakes so that we would avoid making them again.
What impressed me most was that Mary gave an example of her own English learning experience in Australia. It was the first time she had traveled in a large plane typical of international flights. She was curious about the trip and asked the flight attendant if she could take a tour of the plane. The attendant agreed to her request. During this short, special trip, she not only chatted with the captain and the co-pilot, but also learned how to operate a plane. She said it was an unforgettable journey.
After telling us about this unusual experience, she gave us a few minutes to retell her story in small groups and then let everyone retell it in front of the class. It’s such a good way to help us think about what is important in a specific story. Mary said the best storyteller would receive a book co-written by her and Carol Griffiths, a famous expert in language learning strategies. The reward was attracting. Everyone worked hard for it.
One girl retold the story with all relevant details including the characters, the settings and the important events. She also used different tones and expressions like a performer. She ended up being the best storyteller.
The girl overflowed with happiness. “This class has greatly improved my oral English, and it has also built my confidence in speaking English,” she said.
This class was a great success and made a good impression on students. Just as Mary said, “Language is best learned when used in meaningful communication.” To learn English well, we shouldn’t only stick to grammar or homework. Interactive teaching methods like talks and games are also very useful.
1. Why did the teacher organize the retelling activity?| A．To attract students’ attention. |
| B．To make the class passionate. |
| C．To practice students’ oral English skills. |
| D．To help students avoid grammar mistakes. |
| A．The flight attendant did nothing for her. |
| B．She only talked with the captain in the plane. |
| C．She met her friends and had a happy chat with them. |
| D．She learned something about how to operate a plane. |
| A．By finding some details. | B．By keeping the same tone. |
| C．By acting like a teacher. | D．By controlling the speaking ways well. |
| A．Being delighted in English class. |
| B．Doing something interactive with others. |
| C．Sticking to grammar and finishing homework well. |
| D．Doing some retelling practices without others’ help. |
6 . When I first met professor Dalecki, I respected him greatly. He walked in the class in formal business suits as if he was prepared for a conference. He greeted everyone with a loud and clear “Good morning” like Jon Stewart from Daily Show. Then he started introducing himself and told everyone his name is Jacek, atypical Polish name that no one knows how to pronounce. He shared his frustration with the class and said, “People have already invented more than ten odd ways of calling my name in the past decade, and most Americans prefer to call me Jay-cek, but it is really ya-cek.” From that moment, I knew there was something about him that made him stand out among all the professors I’d known before.
Professor Dalecki never believed in exams. He understood the huge workload that students have and never intended to make the exam questions hard for us to memorize. I once told him that I almost felt like the hell gate opened for me if I got a C. But he laughed and said, “If it were not for my loving girl friend giving me the exam questions, I can tell you I’d still be in high school somewhere in Warsaw.”
What impressed me most was the extent he would go to avoid bias (偏见) in the classroom. He could turn an entire class into a battleground where everybody gets excited for a heated debate while staying objective as a mediator (调解人) who refused to force his own opinions on any side.
I visited him during his office hours once after class, eager to find out what his stances are on some of the issues we’ve covered in the class, so I asked, “In China, people really aren’t that serious with when it is okay for teenagers to drink. What do you think of the minimum drinking age in America being set at 21?”
“I’m not supposed to answer that question,” he said.
“But why? You don’t seem to take any side during the class and I’m just curious to hear how you really feel!”
“I choose not to share it because I don’t want it to cloud your own judgments about how you think about certain things.”
At that moment, I finally understood how much effort it really took for Dalecki to let us do our thinking on our own. His incredible mindset (观念模式) still has a huge influence on me till this day. So I will end this article with his quote: “It is at this stage in the class that I must ask myself, ‘Did I lie to you?’”
1. Why did professor Dalecki share his frustration with the class?| A．Because he wanted to be comforted. |
| B．Because he was really sad as his name was odd. |
| C．Because he cared much about the pronunciation. |
| D．Because he tried to introduce himself in a unique way. |
| A．To laugh at the author. |
| B．To make himself stand out. |
| C．To tell the author not to be nervous about the exams. |
| D．To encourage the author to look for a girlfriend to help him. |
| A．Circumstances. | B．Altitudes. |
| C．Attitudes. | D．Performances. |
| A．Professor Dalecki is humorous and expert at education. |
| B．Professor Dalecki is objective when dealing with our quarrels. |
| C．Professor Dalecki once scolded the author in his office. |
| D．Professor Dalecki always refuses to communicate with his students. |
7 . One of the reasons I became a teacher was how much I loved the reading and writing process, and how excited I was to help young children develop as readers and writers. I had visions of a class full of busy writers, all with the same sense of excitement I’ve always had about writing and sharing stories.
One day, I discovered the work of Vivian Paley, who developed a storytelling curriculum for young children that involves writing down the contents of students’ drawings and having their classmates act out these stories. I was immediately drawn to Paley’s focus on dramatization(编剧).
One morning, as my students gathered in our classroom for our writing lesson, I told them that they could draw anything they’d like, imaginary or real that day. They discussed with one another what they liked to draw and shared some of these ideas out loud, which helped inspire those who weren’t ready with their own ideas. For the next half-hour or so, I was busy writing down their stories. I observed some of my most hesitant and unwilling students drawing with a sense of focus and purpose.
At the end of the session, we sat in a circle and I explained that we would act out some of their stories. The“playwright(剧作家)”would choose classmates to be the characters in the story, and I would tell the story. Then the first playwright stood up to announce which char- acters she’d need. I watched as one student became a rabbit, another became a fairy, and another became a rain bow cloud. When the play was over, the actors and playwright bowed, and the class clapped for them. The next playwright jumped to her feet, shouting, “My story is next!”
1. What do we know about the author from paragraph 1?| A．She hoped her students would inspire her writing. |
| B．She didn’t really expect to be a teacher when young. |
| C．She wanted to help her students fall in love with writing. |
| D．She became a teacher mainly because she loved children. |
| A．She decided to try drawing pictures herself. |
| B．She wanted to encourage her students to act. |
| C．She became interested in trying dramatization. |
| D．She wanted to let her students act out her stories. |
| A．Reveal their creative ideas through drawing. |
| B．Write down their stories in simple words. |
| C．Draw pictures of stories they’d read. |
| D．Observe others’ drawings. |
| A．She was really good at making up stories. |
| B．Her students really had a gift for acting. |
| C．She should read stories aloud every day. |
| D．Her students really loved that method. |
8 . Professor Smith was teaching his class. All the students in the class were listening to the lecture with great interest. But among those students, there was Nick, who was sitting quietly and in a bad mood.
The professor took notice of Nick on the first day but did not say anything. But when this went on for a week, he called Nick in his office after the class and asked, “You are depressed all the time. What is the matter?” Nick said with some hesitation, “Sir, something has happened in my past, due to which I remain troubled. I don’t know what to do.”
Professor called Nick at his house in the evening. When Nick arrived, the professor went to the kitchen and started making lemonade. He deliberately put more salt in the lemonade. Then he gave a glass of lemonade to Nick. As soon as Nick took a sip, due to the taste of excess salt, his mouth became sour. Seeing this, the professor asked, “What happened? Did you not like the Lemonade?” “No sir, this is not the case. Just a little excess salt in the drink.” Nick said, “Hey, now give me the glass. I will throw it away.” The professor reached out to get the drink from Nick. But Nick refused, saying, “No sir, just salt is more. If you add more sugar, the taste will be fine.” Upon hearing this, the professor became serious and said, “You are right. Now see, this lemonade is like your life. Just as salt cannot be taken out of the lemonade, similarly those bad experiences also cannot be separated from life. But by adding more sugar it can change the taste of lemonade.” Nick nodded and smiled in relief.
1. Why did Nick fail to focus on the class?| A．He was disturbed by the past. | B．He was too nervous to concentrate. |
| C．Professor Smith was too demanding. | D．The lecture was boring and hard to understand. |
| A．Rare. | B．Too much. | C．Poisonous. | D．Smelly. |
| A．Determined and inspiring. | B．Clever and brave. |
| C．Wise and caring. | D．Generous and lovely. |
| A．Let it go and live in the present. | B．Life without aim is like drink without salt. |
| C．Nothing is more pleasant than a warming word. | D．All the good and bad experiences are unavoidable. |
9 . Li Jianguo, a 49-year-old teacher at the Tianjin Vocational Institute, is set to be named as one of the “2022 most beautiful teachers” — an annual public award sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Ministry of Education.
Li has stood out by taking the lead in the training of students in vocational skills, gaining a number of honors including being named a national role model teacher. He has mentored seven national-level technique experts and a team of 14 technique “masters”. One of his students, Guo Jinpeng, who graduated from the institute in 2007, became a college teacher at the Chengdu Auto Vocational and Technical School and was named a national role model teacher in 2019.
Li’s nomination as one of the “most beautiful teachers” reflects that China is focusing on the importance of vocational education and aims to foster more leading personnel with the spirit of craftsmanship in the manufacturing industry.
At an international vocational and technical education conference in Tianjin last month, Li noted that there is no difference between vocational education and ordinary education, and “vocational education is not “secondary” nor should it ever be treated as less than ordinary education”. “Vocational education has the mission of fostering a quality workforce and technical experts for the country. The hardworking spirit is the key to building any ordinary people into leading personnel,” he said.
Li joined the institute in 1993 and later founded a machinery engineering practice center, providing free training to 7,500 people a week. In 2015, he led a team of teachers to work for 40 days to renovate 124 machine tools in the center. Li has devoted himself to building the country’s first additive manufacturing technique and application center at the institute to satisfy the thirst for the country’s human resources in 3D printing.
1. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?| A．China Sponsoring Annual Award for Teachers |
| B．China Aiming to Develop More Leading Personnel |
| C．Vocational Teacher to Be Awarded as “Most Beautiful Teachers” |
| D．Different Education Training Different Kinds of Students |
| A．To make a comparison with Li Jianguo. | B．To show the achievements of Li Jianguo. |
| C．To praise national-level technique experts. | D．To publicize national role model teachers. |
| A．It is a good way of winning awards. | B．It is not as good as ordinary education. |
| C．It should develop qualified and skilled talent. | D．It has nothing to do with hardworking spirit. |
| A．Boring. | B．Well-paid. | C．Difficult. | D．Creative. |
10 . Humanities Mentors
Humanities Mentors (导师) are student volunteers. They build community for current students in Humanities Series and connect them with other humanists on campus. Main duties for mentors
● Help undergraduates with the humanities on campus, including the Humanistic Studies certificate. Offer advice about reading, writing, course selection, and international experiences.
● Participate in Humanities forum, where students improve their papers with the help of Mentors.
● Involve students in discussing literature, philosophy, history, and art.
● Write brief blogs about humanities experiences on campus and beyond.
● May serve as chairman, who leads Humanities forum. Become a Humanities Mentor
Please fill out the Google Form if you would like to become a Humanities Mentor. Meet with a Humanities Mentor
Are you interested in the humanities? Have you taken a Humanities Sequence, and don’t know what to do next? Want to learn about humanities opportunities at and beyond Princeton? We encourage you to email one of our Humanities Mentors for advice about course selection, the Humanistic Studies certificate, internships, and more.
During the academic year, the Coffee Conference program enables students interested in the humanities to ask Humanities Mentors for advice over an informal cup of coffee. To participate, students can contact anyone in the Mentor directory to schedule a coffee conference (coffee’s on us. ).
1. Who is this passage intended for?| A．Professors. | B．Undergraduates. | C．High school students. | D．Parents. |
| A．To build communities beyond campus. |
| B．To provide certificates for students. |
| C．To help improve the students’ papers. |
| D．To write blogs about life experiences. |
| A．Fill out the Google Form. | B．Show interest in the humanities. |
| C．E-mail a Humanities Mentor. | D．Schedule a coffee conference. |
