Many of us have heard stories about teachers who can “see” into a student’s future. Even if a student is not performing well, they can predict success. We are convinced that this ability, this gift, is evidence that they were “called to teach.” If the gift of sight is evidence, how greater must be the gift of touch. I have a story.

I grew up in the fifties in a poor African American neighborhood in Stockton, California, that had neither sidewalks nor an elementary school. Each day, always in groups at our parents’ insistence, my friends and I would leave home early enough to walk eight blocks to school and be in our seats when the bell rang. For four blocks, we walked on dusty roads. By the fifth block, we walked on sidewalks that led to lovely homes and to Fair Oaks Elementary School. It was at Fair Oaks, in a sixth grade English class, that I met Ms. Victoria Hunter, a teacher who had a huge influence on my life.

During reading periods, she would walk around the room, stop at our desks, stand over us for a second or two, and then touch us. Without saying anything to us (nothing could break the silence of reading periods), she would place two fingers lightly on our throats and hold them there for seconds. I learned many years later when I was a student at Stanford University that teachers touch the throat of students to check for sub-vocalization (默读), which slows down the reading speed. I did not know at the time why Ms. Hunter was touching our throats, but I was a serious and respectful student and so, during silent reading period, I did what Ms. Hunter told us to do. I kept my eyes on the material I was reading and waited for her to place her fingers lightly on my throat.

One day, out of curiosity, I raised my head from my book — though not high — so that I could see Ms. Hunter, a white woman from Canada, moving up and down the rows, stopping at the desks of my classmates. I wanted to see how they reacted when she touched their throats. She walked past them. I was confused. Did she pass them by because they were model students? What did we, the students who were touched, not do right? I sat up straighter in my chair, thinking that my way of sitting might be the problem. I was confused. Several days later, I watched again, this time raising my head a little higher. Nothing changed. Ms. Hunter touched the same students. Always, she touched me.

She touched me with her hands. She also touched me with her belief in my ability to achieve. She motivated me by demanding the best from me and by letting teachers I would meet in junior high school know that I should be challenged, that I would be serious about my work. I am convinced that she touched me because she could “see” me in the future. That was true of all of us at Fair Oaks who sat still and silent as Ms. Hunter placed her fingers lightly on our throats. We left Fair Oaks as “best students,” entered John Marshall Junior High School, finished at the top of our high school class, and went on to earn graduate degrees in various subjects. Ms. Hunter saw us achieving and she touched us to make certain that we would.

I was not surprised that she came to my graduation ceremony at Edison High School in Stockton or that she talked to me about finishing college and earning a Ph. D. She expected that of me. She gave me a beautifully wrapped box. Inside was a gift, the beauty of which multiplies even as it touches me: a necklace to which I can add charms for each stage of my life.

1.According to the writer, what is a special ability many good teachers possess?

A. The ability to make all students behave well.

B. The ability to treat different students in the same way.

C. The ability to discover a student’s potential to succeed.

D. The ability to predict the near future of a poor student.

2.When she saw Ms. Hunter walk past some students without touching their throats, the writer felt ______.

A. disturbed????????????? B. puzzled????????????? C. ashamed????????????? D. annoyed

3.What does the writer mean by “a necklace to which I can add charms for each stage of my life” (paragraph 6)?

A. A gift which encourages me to do well on the journey of my life.

B. A gift which becomes more and more valuable as time goes by.

C. A necklace which I wear on all important occasions in my life.

D. A necklace which suits me and adds to my charm.

4.Which of the following serves as the best title for the story?

A. Ms. Hunter’s Surprise????????????? B. Ms. Hunter’s Challenge

C. A Teacher’s Touch? ????????????? D. A Teacher’s Memory

Public schools are supposed to remove barriers so people can succeed. For some, the system does remove barriers and provide a solid base for achievement. For others, the system replaces one set of barriers with another. For example, creativity is killed by pressuring students to accept the current situation, by establishing a fear to be different and a fear of failure. Independent thinking is replaced by dependency. In some cases, pressure to succeed academically kills morality, faithfulness motivation, and skills needed for success in the real world. People who have a dream, motivating them can overcome all barriers on the whole.

My story begins in Summit, NJ, at the age of sixteen, where I am sitting in a classroom staring out of the window. Out of the first window I could see myself exploring the jungles of South America searching for gold, I could see myself going down the Amazon River on a boat, I could see monkeys swinging through the trees, I could see myself as Tarzan swinging on a climbing plant. Through the next window, I could see…

    Then BANG! The teacher's yardstick hitting my desk brought me back to the real world where subjects did not relate to my interest. In a loud voice the teacher said, "You are a failure! If you don't pay attention, you will continue to be a failure!"

    When the bell rang, instead of going to the next class I walked out of school never to return. I was tired of being called a failure. Right or wrong, I took charge of my future. When I left school, I carried the single most important basic factor for success---A DREAM. During the next twenty years, every one of my teenage dreams came true.

    You may be asking, "How does one make their dreams come true?" There are three basic factors:

    First, we must have a dream that motivates us. No one has ever achieved anything without a dream attached to a burning desire.

    Second, we must learn how-to-learn. In school, we learn how to memorize or be taught. Learning how to learn frees our dependency on others for knowledge.

    Third, we must learn from failure and learn how to bounce back from failure. No one has ever succeeded without failure. In the classroom, failure is a no-no.

26. What is the main idea of Paragraph 1?

A. Public schools should make it easier for students to succeed.

B. Some public schools have no barriers at all.

C. There are a lot of barriers in all public schools.

D. Barriers have been replaced by new ones in most public schools.

27. Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 2?

A. The author left school because of his dream.

B. The author slept and had a dream.

C. The author didn’t listen carefully to the teacher.

D. The author made a plan for the future

28. The author intended to show that ___________.

A. he was bored in class

B. it is not necessary to receive an education

C. he was considered to be a failure at school

D. people sticking to their dreams can succeed

29. According to the passage, _________ is the most important factor of success.

A. having a dream                      B. knowing how-to-learn

C. overcoming failure                   D. having a good education

30. On the whole, the author’s attitude towards America’s public schools is ___________.

A. agreeable          B. unsatisfied        C. arbitrary       D. unknown

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　　My husband had just bought a new washing machine for me. I decided to use it the 1 day and I washed a lot of things. Everything worked well, but I couldn’t find 2 of my husband’s socks though I had looked everywhere for it.

　　The next morning. I 3 for school as usual. When the bell rang, the students came in. I greeted them and 4 them 5 we were going to do that day. When I turned around 6 on the black board, the class 7 a roar(大笑). They laughed and laughed. They laughed 8 much 9 I was afraid the headmaster would be in 10 all this.

　　I asked the class to stop, but 11 I talked, the more they laughed. So I thought I’d better 12 any attention and I continued to write on the blackboard. When I did this, they 13 even more. Before long the teacher 14 in the classroom next 15 came to see 16 all the laughter(大笑)was about. When he came in, he started laughing too.

　　“Good heavens!”I said,“Will someone please tell me what is so funny?”“Oh, Good,”said the teacher.“You have a green sock sticking to (粘住)the back of your 17 .”So that’s 18 I found my husband’s 19 sock.“Oh, well,”I said to 20 .“Let’s just say you have had an unforgetable(不易忘记 的)lesson about static electricity(静电).”

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