Question

D. R. Gaul Middle School is in Union, Maine, a blueberry-farming town where the summer fair finds kids competing in pig scrambles(争夺) and pie-eating contests.

Gaul, with about 170 seventh- and eighth-graders, has its own history of lower level academic achievement. One likely reason: Education beyond the basic requirements hasn't always been a top priority(优先) for families who've worked the same land for generations. Here, few adults have college degrees, and outsiders(局外人) (teachers included) are often kept at a respectful distance.

Since 2002, Gaul's students have been divided into four classes, each of them taught almost every subject by two teachers. The goal: To find common threads across disciplines to help students create a big picture that gives fresh meaning and context to their class work -- and sparks(激发) motivation for learning.

Working within state guidelines, each team makes its individual schedules and lesson plans, incorporating non-textbook literature, hands-on lab work and field trips. If students are covering the Civil War in social studies, they're reading The Red Badge of Courage or some other period literature in English class. In science, they study the viruses and bacteria that caused many deaths in the war.

Team teaching isn't unusual. About 77 percent of middle schools now employ some form of it, says John Lounsbury, consulting editor for the National Middle School Association. But most schools use four- or five-person teams, which Gaul tried before considering two-person teams more effective. Gaul supports the team concept by "looping" classes (跟班) so that the same two teachers stick with the same teens through seventh and eighth grades. Combining teams and looping creates an extremely strong bond between teacher and student. It also, says teacher Beth Ahlholm, "allows us to build an excellent relationship with parents."

Ahlholm and teammate Madelon Kelly are fully aware how many glazed looks they see in the classroom, but they know 72 percent of their eighth-graders met Maine's reading standard last year -- double the statewide average. Only 31 percent met the math standard, still better than the state average (21 percent). Their students also beat the state average in writing and science. And in2006, Gaul was one of 47 schools in the state to see testing gains of at least 20 percent in four of the previous five years, coinciding roughly with team teaching's arrival.

A Classroom With Context
1.      of the school	◆Being a farming town, Gaul achieved little in 2.        before. ◆Further education is considered less important there. ◆The community is relatively 3.         rather than open to the outsiders.
Ways of solving the problems	●dividing the students into different classes and creating ways to make the students well 4.         to learn. ●conducting5.       and lesson plans for each team ●establishing a strong 6.        between teacher and students through combining teams and looping
7.       of success	■72 percent of the eighth-graders8.       Maine's reading standard ■the school beating the state average in 9.         ■students’ math average being 10.       higher than the state average ■four of the previous five years  witnessing at least 20 percent test gains

Answer

1.Problems

2.education/academic achievement

3.closed

4.motivated

5.individual schedules

6.tie/connection/bond/ relationship

7.Signs/ Examples

8.reaching/meeting

9.writing and science

10.10 percent

【解析】

试题分析：全文叙述了在缅因州的蓝莓种植小镇上的D. R. Gaul中学里，人们不重视教育。一个很可能的原因是：在这个祖祖辈辈在土地上耕作的人们，接受基础教育以上的教育不是家庭的最好选择。在这里没有几个成年人有大学学历，而局外人（也包括老师）经常被敬而远之。后来学校改变了教学方法，把学生分成四个班，每个班有两个老师讲课以激发学生学习的动力。每个学生都要有个人计划和课程计划，老师和家长相互建立良好的关系等等。通过努力使该校学生的成绩有了很多的进步。

1.根据第二段讲到问题所在：Problems of the school。

2.根据第二段第一句话：Gaul, with about 170 seventh- and eighth-graders, has its own history of lower level academic achievement. （Gaul中学有170名其年级和八年级的学生，都有着较低的学术成就。）选择 academic 或者education。

3.社区对外界是相对封闭而不是开放的，对老师也是敬而远之。closed

4.第三段讲到问题的解决：教学改革。学生被分成四个班。每个班有两个老师教课，找到不同学科共同的教学思路，来激发学生学习的动力。motivated

5.根据第四段的Working within state guidelines, each team makes its individual schedules and lesson plans,（在州的指导方针指引下每个人创造了个人计划 和小组计划。）判断填individual schedules。

6. 根据第五段的It also, says teacher Beth Ahlholm, "allows us to build an excellent relationship with parents."（Beth老师说，它还允许我们和家长建立很好的关系。）判断是tie/connection/bond/ relationship。

7.根据最后一段讲述改革的成功案例判断填：Signs/ Examples

8. 根据最后一段第一句话后半部分：but they know 72 percent of their eighth-graders met Maine's reading standard last year（但是他们知道72%的八年级的学生去年达到缅因州的阅读标准。）判断填reaching/meeting 。

9.根据最后一段：Their students also beat the state average in writing and science. （他们的学生在写作和自然学科中击败州平均分。）判断选择：writing and science

10.  Only 31 percent met the math standard, still better than the state average (21 percent)（仅仅31%的达到数学的标准，比数学的州平均分还高。

考点：任务型阅读。