If there was a subject at school that made me anxious, it was science. Maybe that’s because in my tenth grade, I couldn't understand my physics teacher's instructions, causing me to accidentally set fire to the classroom. So, when my husband and I decided to home-school our daughters, we made a deal: he would teach science, while I would handle everything else. But that’s not how things have been going these past few weeks, since my husband has been too busy to teach the girls.
Recently, while out on my morning hike before starting lessons, I noticed that the sky was a beautiful blue, and the air was filled with the sweet smell of flowers. That s why I decided that the day’s lessons would be taught outside, although I remembered that my daughters hadn't had any science classes from my husband for a while.
I returned to the house to get the girls ready. We headed up into the forest, settling ourselves by a pond that rarely has any visitors. My daughter Saoirse started to pick up pond weeds and catch frogs, while my other daughter Ula looked at me, waiting to be instructed. I handed her a drawing board and colored pencils. "We wait, "I told her, " and see if something comes along. In the meantime, just draw what's around you.”
We worked for more than an hour, hardly speaking. A bird flew across the water, and then settled in a front of a fallen tree. I quickly told Ula, worried that she’d not seen the creature. But she had, and she started drawing it. An hour later, she’d not finished her picture and I stared down at it. She drew the bird on her paper with amazing accuracy. But there was one other interesting fact about this drawing: she also drew me, sitting beside her.
I realized, as I stared at this child's drawing of us watching a bird, how I'd lived for 40 years, gathered 10 years of higher education, and never understood the foundation of science before this moment. The foundation of science is a sense of wonder; it isn't about accurately reciting words from a textbook. It is first and foremost about stepping outside our busy lives and amazing at the world around us.
1.How did the author feel about science when in school?
A.She was nervous about it. B.She was fond of it.
C.She was confused about it. D.She was eager for it.
2.The underlined word“it” in Paragraph4 refers to“ ”
A.the fallen tree B.the forest
C.the bird D.the picture
3.Which of the following best describes Ula?
A.She's very outgoing. B.She's good at observing.
C.She's very hard-working. D.She shares interests with her sister.
4.What is the foundation of science in the author's opinion?
A.Attention to accuracy.
B.Curiosity about the outside world.
C.Determination to find out the truth.
D.Ability to understand teachers' instructions.
Looking for work?
Tutors Wanted: Math / Science / Humanities + Test Preparation
Job Posted: 2 days ago
Wage: $27 – 30 per hour
Job Type: Part-time
Schedule: Afternoons, evenings, weekdays, weekends
Job description:
We're looking for tutors to join us before the next school year starts.
Our suitable candidate will be able to assist middle and high school students with test preparation and academic work in Math, Science and / or Humanities.
We'll pay for your training before this fall and can also offer flexible summer tutoring chances, including teaching group classes.
Once our fall semester starts on August 21, we’ll have even higher demand for tutoring sessions on Sundays from 1 p. m. to 8 p.m. as well as from3 p. m. to 9 p. m. Monday-Thursday.
What we offer:
※ Flexible scheduling. Tutors work from 15 to 30 hours per week depending on availability and student demand.
※ Free Sunday dinners during the academic year.
※ Fun staff gatherings
※ Health insurance reimbursement (补偿) for staff working over 30 hours per week.
※ We are 5 minutes’ walking distance from the Menlo Park Caltrain Station.
Applicants must：
※ Have a good command of the subjects they tutor.
※ Be willing to tutor students through the full academic year.
Application instructions:
※ Email us your resume (简历)
※ Tell us why you want to join Academic Trainers and describe your experience of tutoring students if you have any.
※ Let us know your scheduling preferences and potential start date.
※ Tell us which of the subjects you are able to tutor-Math, Science and / or Humanities.
1.Which period of time needs the most tutors during the academic year?
A.Saturday and Sunday mornings.
B.Friday afternoons and evenings.
C.Monday and Thursday mornings.
D.Sunday afternoons and evenings.
2.What can a tutor enjoy who works more than 30 hours per week?
A.Comfortable accommodation.
B.Free job training every month.
C.Health insurance reimbursement.
D.Free meals during the academic year.
3.What qualification should a suitable candidate have?
A.He / She must tutor all the subjects part-time.
B.He / She must be good at the subjects they tutor.
C.He / She must have a previous tutoring experience.
D.He / She must work every evening through the academic year.
请阅读下面内容，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
P= professor; S=students (In a philosophy class)
P: We all have this one life to live. A fleeting shadow amongst all that exists in this vast universe. We have the ability to accomplish anything, truly anything, if we use our time wisely.
P: (putting some golf balls into the jar) Is this jar full?
S: Yes.
P: (after add some pebbles into the jar) Is it full now?
S: Yes.
P: (after inserting some sand into the jar) How about now, is the jar full now?
S: Yes.
P: Good… (pouring some beer into the jar)
S: … (laughing, smiling, thinking, …)
P: Now I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things, your family, your friends, your health and your passions. The pebbles are the other important things, your car, your job, your home. The sand is everything else, the small stuff.
P: Now if you put the sand in the jar first you won’t have room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same is true in life. If you spend all your energy and your time on the small stuff, you won’t have time for all the really important things that matter to you.
P: Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Take care of the golf balls first. The really important things. Set your priorities. Because everything else is just sand.
S: Professor, what does the beer represent?
P: I’m glad you asked. It goes to show that no matter how full your life may seem to be, there is always room for a couple of beers with a friend.
1. 用约30个词概括上述文中的内容；
2. 谈谈你对文中教授观点的看法，用适当理由或论据支撑你的看法。
3. 就文中所述哲理，谈谈在学习中该怎样践行教授的观点（或你的观点）。
（写作要求）
1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
（评分标准）：内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
请阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
“Hey! So, this Lin Daiyu in A Dream of Red Mansions -” The boy elbowed his deskmate, “Why would she hold a funeral for the flowers, and cry while doing so? What was it that made her so sad?”
“You’d wonder, wouldn’t you?” the girl said. And she explained confidently: “What Lin Daiyu did exhibits the qualities and characteristics of literati (文人学士) in ancient China. This was called ‘grieving over spring’s passing and saddened at the arrival of autumn’. That is to say, they tended to express their sentimentality (伤感) in the description of things amidst seasonal changes. This poem you just read, A Sad Song for the Flowers, is a typical work mourning the spring.”
“But spring and autumn are the best seasons. So beautiful! Why would they trigger（引发） these feelings in poets?”
Exactly they do trigger them! The turn of the seasons, at the end of spring or the beginning of autumn often triggered the realization of the elapse of time and the shortness of life. Poets, particularly the lonely, troubled and unfulfilled ones, would describe habitual scenes, such as fallen flowers and running water in spring, or cold wind and cold drizzle in autumn, as symbols of the unavoidable fading of all things vigorous and beautiful. They put into their poems not only the imageries but also their epiphanies（领悟）.”
Seeing the boy was impressed by her eloquence, the girl beamed proudly.
He said, “Well put! I get it now. There are plenty of poems with similar subjects that I have read. Maybe it is common in Chinese classical poetry. But, wait, why is it so? Why were the Chinese poets affected with such a sentiment? Is it limited to Chinese poets?”
“Uh... I wouldn’t say that it is entirely absent from foreign literature, but it is definitely more noticeable in Chinese literature...” flummoxed by the question, the girl was speechless now.
As the two were engaged in their discussion, their Chinese teacher came in. They turned to him for help immediately.
The teacher said, “Behind the strong emotions about spring and autumn is the general sensitivity of the Chinese people to the changes of Nature. I’m sure you both have learned in history class that ancient China was an advanced agricultural civilization, which largely depended on Nature to grow crops and reap the harvest. This in the long run gave the Chinese people a deep sense of awe in the face of Nature, and great sensitivity to the changes of the weather, which triggered their emotions at the turn of seasons.”
“In the case of Daiyu and the ‘flower funeral’, it’s easy to understand in the context of the traditional Chinese concept of the Unity of ‘Man and Nature’, which regards Man as an essential part of Nature. What Daiyu was doing was relating herself to the flowers, and sympathizing with them, which was philosophically and cognitively pre-programmed in the Chinese cultural DNA.”
Title: Grieving Over Spring’s Passing and Saddened at the Arrival of Autumn
Why did Daiyu 1. flowers in a sad mood? | |
1. She related herself to the flowers and 2. with them. | 2. What she did was 3. of literati in ancient China, expressing their sentimentality by 4. things amidst seasonal changes. |
Why would spring and autumn trigger 5. in poets? | |
1. The turn of seasons often 6. ancient people of the passing of time and shortness of life. | 2. Habitual scenes would be used by poets to 7. the disappearing of the past vigor and beauty. |
Why was such a sentiment noticeable in the Chinese poets but8.in foreign literature? | ||
1. Chinese people were generally 9. to the changes of Nature. | 2. Traditional Chinese concept believed Man and Nature were 10., Man as an essential part of Nature. | 3. It was philosophically and cognitively pre-programmed in the Chinese cultural DNA. |
What do people in the outside world do when they want to learn something? They go to somebody who knows about it, and ask him. They do not go to somebody who is supposed to know about everything ---except, when they are very young, to their parents: and they speedily become dissatisfied with that variety of knowledge. They go to somebody who might reasonably expected to know about the particular thing they are interested in, When a man buys a motor-car, he does not say to himself: “Where can I find somebody who can teach me how to run a motor car?" He does not look in the telephone directory under T. He just gets an experienced driver to teach him. He just pays attention and asks questions and tries to do the thing himself, until he learns.
But this case, of course, assumes an interest of the pupil in the subject, a willingness and even a desire to learn about it, a feeling that the matter is of some importance to himself. And come to think of it, these motives are generally present in the learning that goes on in the outside world. It is only in school that the pupil is expected to be unwilling to learn.
When you were a child, and passed the door of the village blacksmith(铁匠) shop, and looked in, day after day, you admired his skill, and stood in awe of his strength; and if he had offered to let you blow the bellows for him and shown you how to make a red-hot penny, that would have been a proud moment. It would also have been an educational one. But suppose there had been a new shop set up in the town, and when you looked in at the open door you saw a man at work painting a picture; and suppose a bell rang just then, and the man stopped painting right in the middle of a brush-stroke, and started to read aloud “How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix"; and suppose when he was halfway through, the bell rang again, and he said, "We will go on with that tomorrow," and started to chisel the surface of a piece of marble; and then, after a little, somewhat exhaustedly, started in to play "The Rock of Ages" on a flute, interrupting the tune to order you to stand up straight and not whisper to the little boy beside you. There's no doubt what you would think of him; you would know perfectly well that he was crazy; people don't do things in that way anywhere in the world, except in school.
And even if he had assured you that what were taught were later in your life going to be matters of the deepest importance and interest, and that you should start in now with the determination of becoming proficient in them, it would not have helped much. Not very much. It's nonsense that children do not want to learn. Everybody wants to learn. And everybody wants to teach. And the process is going on all the time. All that is necessary is to put a person who
knows something---really knows it---within the curiosity-range of someone who doesn't know it: the process begins at once, It is almost irresistible
If there were no teachers---no hastily and superficially trained Vestals who were supposed to know everything---but just ordinary human beings who knew passionately and thoroughly one thing and who had the patience to show little boys and girls how to do that thing---we might get along with our learning pretty well, Of course, we'd have to pay them more, because they could get other jobs out in the larger world; and besides, you couldn't expect to get somebody who knows how to do something, for the price you are accustomed to pay those who only know how to
teach everything,
1.What does the author mainly want to say with this article?
A.An education without teachers is unimaginable,
B.A teacher who knows everything is more welcome,
C.School teachers are far from satisfactory and necessary,
D.We have paid too much for teachers for school education.
2.What does the underlined "somebody" in the first paragraph refer to?
A.A teacher. B.A parent.
C.A man in the outside world. D.A man like the blacksmith,
3.What happened in the "new shop" mentioned in paragraph 3?
A.Useless subjects like painting and poetry, sculpture and music were taught.
B.The man at work became crazy with so many subjects to deal with.
C.One man teaching everything influenced the efficiency of learning.
D.Children listened carefully and often discussed about what is taught with others.
4.According to the author, which of the following can we infer?
A.Teachers are not as useful as parents in helping a child to learn,
B.Schools are the places killing students' interest and willingness to learn,
C.Learning life related skills like blacksmithing is more important than arts.
D.Teachers are ordinary human beings who know thoroughly everything.
5.Which of the following figures of speech(修辞手法) are used in the article?
a. exemplification(举例)
b. exaggeration(夸张)
c. personification(拟人)
d. irony(讽刺)
e. analogy (类比)
A.abc B.ade
C.bcd D.cde
6.In the last paragraph, the author mainly _______.
A.introduces a new idea B.raises a new question
C.gives some new evidence D.stresses his viewpoint
Buck did not know that there was trouble ahead, Trouble for every dog with strong muscles and warm long hair, from Seattle to southern California. Some men had found a yellow metal in the Arctic darkness, and thousands of other men were rushing there. These men wanted dogs that were heavy, with strong muscles for working hard and furry coats to protect them from the cold.
Buck lived at a big house in a sunny valley in California which was owned by Judge Miller. He was neither a house dog nor a kennel (狗窝) dog. The whole of Judge Miller's land was his. Buck was king---king over all the crawling, flying things of Judge Miller's lands, humans included.
His father, Elmo, had been the Judge's inseparable companion. And when he died, Buck took his father’s place. He was not so large---he weighed only sixty kilogram---for his mother, Shep, had been a Scottish sheepdog. Hunting and other outdoor activities had hardened his muscle, and swimming had made him healthy.
This was Buck in the autumn of 1897, when the discovery of gold in the Klondike brought Men from everywhere to the frozen north. But Buck did not read the newspapers. And he did not know that Manuel one of the gardeners helper, was not a good man. Manuel gambled (赌博) and wasted the little money he had. No one saw him and Buck go off on what Buck thought was a walk. No one saw them arrive at the railway station where Manuel sold Buck to a man who was waiting for him,
After two days ho was cried off the train in Seattle into a small, high-walled yard. There a fat man in a red sweater broke open the cage with a small axe (斧头)，while holding a club (棍棒) in the other hand. When there was a big enough opening, Buck jumped out like a red-eyed devil, straight at the fat man. But in mid-air, just as his teeth were going to close on the man, he received a shock that he had never felt before, It turned him over and onto the ground. He had never been struck by a club in his life, and he did not understand. He was smashed down a dozen times.
Buck saw that he stood no chance against the man with the club. He had learned the lesson, and for the rest of his life he never forgot it. It was his introduction into the world of primitive law.
In the end a small man called Perrault paid three hundred dollars for him, and he was led away with Curly, a good-natured Newfoundland dog.
1.What kind of dogs did the gold-seekers want?
A.Heavy house dogs with yellow hair. B.Strong long-haired dogs.
C.Diligent dogs with yellow hair D.Muscular kennel dogs.
2.Buck was proud of himself for the following reasons, EXCEPT that ______.
A.he was king over all living things of Judge Miller's lands
B.he became the Judge's inseparable companion after his father's death
C.he had a good life with many outdoor activities to get strong and healthy
D.he was wanted by gold-seekers thanks to his strong muscles and long hair
3.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.Judge Miller owned a big house and a large piece of land in the Klondike.
B.Manuel bought and sold Buck because he needed money to support his life.
C.The fat man cruelly beat Buck with a club to teach him how to fight back.
D.Buck's introduction into the word of primitive law was obeying the fat man.
4.What can be the suitable title for the excerpt?
A.Fall into Trouble B.Fight against a Man
C.Escape from Trouble D.Believe in a Man
