Question

I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.

I had seen Mikey himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my students. If I were to deal with them, I’d be busy 24 hours a day. The forged excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The writers of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull: “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.”

Isn’t it remarkable, I thought, how the students complained and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they produced excuse notes, they were brilliant.

So one day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and gave them to my classes. I said, “They’re supposed to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Mikey?” The students looked at me nervously.

“Now, this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note --- the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study. ”

Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your imaginations. So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God’.” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. For the first time ever I saw students so careful in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.

The next day everyone had excuse notes. Heated discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked up and down, looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.”

When I stepped into his office, he came to shake my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you. ”

1.What did the author do with the students found dishonest?

A．He reported them to the headmaster.        B．He lectured them hard on honesty.

C．He had them take notes before lunch.        D．He helped improve their writing skills.

2.The author found that compared with the true excuse notes, the produced ones by the students were usually ________.

A．less impressive     B．less convincing     C．worse written      D．more imaginative

3.The author had the students practice writing excuse notes so that the students could learn_________.

A．the importance of being honest            B．how to be creative in writing

C．the pleasure of creative writing             D．how to write excuse notes skillfully

4. The underlined word “forged” in the second paragraph means “________”.

A．false             B．copied            C．former           D．honest

5.What did the headmaster think of the author’s way of teaching?

A．Misleading.        B．Difficult           C．Effective.          D．Reasonable.

Answer

1.D

2.D

3.B

4.A

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：文章讲述作者发现很多学生伪造假条，而且这些假条是富有想象力的，所以作者利用这些假条来提高学生的写作能力。

1.细节题;从第五段的句子：“Now, this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note --- the first class, ever, to practice writing them. 可知作者利用这些假条来提高学生的写作能力。选D

2.细节题;从第五段的句子：The forged excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. 可知作者发现这些伪造的假条是富有想象力的。选D

3.推理题：从倒数第三段的句子：Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God’.”可知作者是想要教孩子怎样写有创造力的文章。选B

4.猜词题：从前面的句子：Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my students.可知这些假条是假的。选A

5.细节题;从最后一段校长的话：“I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you. ”可知作者的教学方法是很有效的。选C 。

考点：考查教育类短文