“Mom, I have cancer.” These four words catapulted my son and me on a journey that lasted two years. On that day I felt a wave of paralyzing fear.
Scott was the oldest of my four children. He was 33 years old and a successful assistant principal at SamRayburn Hifht School in Pasadena, Texas. He and his wife Carolyn were busy raising four active children. Scott was 6’2’’, weighed 200 pounds and had never been sick a day in his life.
A few month earlier a mole（痣）on his neck had changed color. “Dr.Warner called,” Scott said that spring morning. “It’s melanoma.（黑素瘤）” I tried to comfort him, naming all the people I knew who had survived skin cancer. Yet, I felt small tentacles of fear begin to wrap around my chest.
Our next stop was MDAnderson, the famous cancer hospital in Houston. Scott had surgery at the end of May and was scheduled for radiation treatments over the summer recess. “There is an 80 percent chance it won’t reoccur,” the doctors said. At the end of summer, all his tests came back negative and Scott was back at school in the fall. However, in December, Scott discovered a lump on his neck. It was examined and the result came back “malignant.（恶性的）” We now realized that Scott fell into the 20 percent category. I could feel the tentacles tightening around my chest. He entered the hospital for an aggressive treatment, a combination of interferon and interleukin.
After five months of treatment, he had radical surgery on his neck. The test results were encouraging, only three of the 33 lymph nodes（淋巴结） removed were malignant. We were very hopeful.
For the next six months, Scott’s follow-up visits went well. Then in October, X-ray revealed a spot on his lung. The spot was removed during surgery and the doctors tried to be optimistic. It was a daily battle to control the fear and panic each setback brought.
In January, he was diagnosed as having had a “disease explosion.” The cancer had spread to his lungs, spine and liver and he was given three to six months to live. There were times during this period when I felt like I was having a heart attack. The bands constricting my chest made breathing difficult.
When you watch your child battle cancer, you experience a roller coaster of emotions. There are moments of hope and optimism but a bad test result or even an unusual pain can bring on dread and panic.
Scott was readmitted to the hospital for one last try with chemotherapy. He died, quite suddenly, just six weeks after his last diagnosis. I was completely destroyed. I had counted on those last few months.
The next morning I was busy notifying people and making funeral arrangements. I remember having this nagging feeling that something was physically wrong with me. It took a moment to realize that the crushing sensation in my chest was gone. The thing every parent fears the most had happened. My son was gone. Of course, the fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow.
After you lose a child, it is so difficult to go on. The most minimal tasks, combing your hair or taking a shower, becoming monumental. For months I just sat and stared into space. That spring, the trees began to bloom; flowers began to pop up in my garden. Friendswood was coming back to life but I was dead inside.
During those last weeks, Scott and I often spoke about life and death. Fragments of those conversations kept playing over and over in my mind.
“Don’t let this ruin your life, Mom.”
“Make sure Dad re models his workshop.”
“Please, take care of my family.”
I remember wishing I could have just one more conversation with him. I knew what I would say, but what would Scott say? “I know how much you love me, Mom. So just sit on the couch and cry.” No, I knew him better than that. Scott loved life and knew how precious it is. I could almost hear his voice saying, “Get up Mom, Get on with your life. It’s too valuable to waste.”
That was the day I began to move forward. I signed up for a cake decorating class. Soon I was making cakes for holidays and birthdays. My daughter-in-law told me about a writing class in Houston. I hadn’t written in years, but since I was retired I decided it be time to start again. The local college advertised a Life Story Writing class that I joined. There I met women who had also lost their children. The Poet Laureate of Texas was scheduled to speak at our local Barnes and Noble. I attended and joined our local poetry society. I never dreamed that writing essays and poems about Scott could be so therapeutic. Several of those poems have ever been published. In addition, each group brought more and more people into my life..
I don’t believe you ever recover from the loss of a child. Scott is in my heart and mind every day. However, I do believe you can survive.
Scott fought so bravery to live and he never gave up. He taught me that life is a gift that should be cherished, not wasted. It has taken years to become the person I am today. The journey has been a difficult, painful process but certainly worth the effort and I know that my son would be proud.
1.How old was Scott probably when he died?
A．33 B．35 C．37 D．40
2.What does the underlined sentence “ The bands constricting my chest made breathing difficult” probably imply?
A．It implies that Scott’s mother was likely to have a heart attack.
B．It implies that there was something wrong with Scott’s mother’s chest.
C．It implies that Scott’s mother was very upset and panic because of Scott’s severe illness.
D．It implies that the cancer had spread to her chest just like her son.
3.Which of the following statements best shows the author’s feeling about Scott’s death?
A．It was a daily battle to control the fear and panic each setback brought.
B．She felt a wave of fear.
C．She felt a feeling of fear begin to wrap around her chest.
D．The fear had been replaced by unbearable sorrow.
4.From Scott and his mother’s conversation, we can know that Scott is ________.
A．considerable B．humorous C．determined D．sensitive
5.The author intends to tell us that___________.
A．it takes a long time to make a person recover from the shock of losing a child
B．Scott is proud of his mother
C．life is full of happiness and sorrow.
D．We’d better make our life count instead of counting your days.
6.What might be the best title of the passage ?
A．Life is valuable B．Grieving and Recovery
C．Love and sorrow D．Alive or dead
But what is teacher quality? How can one measure it reliably?
An analysis is issued on a sample of data from a Texas school district. Experts argue convincingly that teacher effectiveness should be measured by students’ gains on standardized tests: Mr. Smith is probably a better teacher than Ms. Brown if his students consistently improve their test scores more than hers do.
Though this approach is appealing, there are tricky issues. For example, what if Ms. Brown teaches in a school where students score so high there is little room for improvement?
The authors try to correct for this problem, as well as other sorts of measurement issues, to generate a measurement of teacher effectiveness. The paper is primarily concerned with how this measure is related to other observable characteristics.
The first finding is that there is a large variation in teacher effectiveness: some teachers consistently have a larger impact on their students’ achievement than others.
Second, easily observable characteristics like having a master’s degree or a passing score on the teacher certification exam are not correlated关联 with teacher effectiveness.
Then what does matter? The most important single influence is experience: first-year teachers are much less effective than others. The second year is significantly better, and by the fourth year, most teachers hit their stride.
It is not entirely clear whether this experience effect is learning by doing (the more you teach, the more effective you become) or survival of the fittest (those who are not good at teaching tend to drop out early.)
From my reading of the paper, both effects appear important and there is no simple answer. The data do suggest, however, that teacher effectiveness is pretty clear by the end of the second year, so the information to make an informed decision is available at that time.
The authors also investigate the contentious 有争议的issue of racial matching of students and teachers. Here they find strong evidence that minority teachers tend to be more effective with minority students. Again, it is unclear whether this is because of a role model effect (students respond better to a teacher of their own race) or an empathy effect 移情效应(teachers empathize better with students of their own race) or something else entirely.
The authors also look at teacher mobility. There is some evidence that teachers who quit teaching or switch schools tend to be below average in effectiveness. This is consistent with the survival-of-the-fittest model.
1.The schoolmaster could decide wisely whether to further employ the teacher by the end of the ______.
A. the first year B. the second year C. the third year D. the fourth year
2.The phrase “hit their stride” most probably means “______”.
A. reach their normal level B. become confident
C. walk with long steps D. get bored
3.The author of this passage holds the view that ______.
A. teachers will perform better with time passing
B. ineffective teachers should leave earlier rather than later
C. teacher’s effectiveness is apparent after a couple of years
D. a master’s degree will improve teacher’s effectiveness
4.Why do black teachers tend to be more effective with black students?
A. Students fell secure, so they respond better.
B. Teachers sympathize with students of their own race.
C. There are entirely some other identified reasons.
D. The reasons are far from clear and definite.
5.Which of the following may serve as the best title?
A. The Quality of Teaching
B. Impact of Teacher Quality on Student Learning
C. Different Sorts of Measurement Issues
D. Survival-of-the-fittest Model vs. Learning-by-doing Model
Sagrada Familia ( 2,056,448 visits/year)
Opening hours: 09:00—18:00 (October—March); 09:00—20:00 (April—September)
Admission: $ 11, or $ 10 with the Barcelona Card.
Disabled Access: Yes.
The temple have been under construction since 1882 and they’ve still got another 30 to 80 years to go before it will be finished. The project’s vast scale and its special design have made it one of Barcelona’s top tourist attractions for many years.
La Pedrera (1,133,220 visits/year)
Opening hours: November—February: 09:00—18:30; March—October: 09:00—20:00
Admission: $ 9.50. Save 20% with the Barcelona Card.
Disabled Access: No.
This building used to be called Casa Mila but nowadays it’s more commonly known as La Pedrera. It is a unique modernist building in Barcelona and was made of bricks and had colorful tiles (瓦). It was built between 1906 and 1912 by famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi (1852—1926) and in 1984 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site with other Gaudi buildings in Barcelona. Visitors to La Pedrera can see the amazing 800 square meters attic with 270 brick arches that give you a feeling that you are walking inside the skeleton (骨架) of a whale. The roof is equally impressive and is preserved exactly the way that it was built in 1912 with six staircases and seven chimneys each made in a unique style.
Barcelona FC Museum (1,032,763 visits/year)
Opening hours: 6th April—4th October: (Monday to Saturday) 10:00—20:00; the rest of the year: 10:00—18:30
Admission: $ 8.50 for entry to the museum and $ 17 for a guided tour.
Disabled Access: Yes.
When you buy your ticket you have two options. You can buy a ticket for the museum to see the football stadium or you can buy a dual (双的) ticket for $ 15 where you get to see the museum and the scenes at the club.
Miro Museum (518,869 visits/year)
Opening hours: Check the web site for details as they vary depending on the time of the year.
Admission: $ 8. Save 20% with the Barcelona Card.
Disabled Access: Yes.
This museum has a wide range of Miro’s work dating back as far as 1914. This artwork collection not only includes his paintings but also a good selection of sculptures (雕塑).
L’Aquarium de Barcelona (1,375,271 visits/year)
Opening hours: 09:00—19:00 (October—March); 09:00—20:00 (April—September)
Admission: $ 7. Save 10 % on the entrance fee to the aquarium with the Barcelona Card.
Barcelona Aquarium is a popular Barcelona attraction to take the kids and young ones. I have to admit I love the aquarium.
Picasso Museum (887,958 visits/year)
Opening hours: Check the website for details as they vary depending on the time of the year.
Admission: $ 9 for main exhibition—extra for special showings. Save 50% with the Barcelona Card.
Disabled Access: Yes. The museum has arranged Picasso’s paintings in chronological order from his early days to his final works. Arranging the paintings in this way gives you a fascinating insight into the development of Picasso thinking over time and shows how he developed the distinctive designs that he is famous for today. Very popular art gallery.
1.Which of the following attractions is the most popular with people?
A. Sagrada Familia B. La Pedrera
C. Barcelona FC Museum D.Picasso Museum
2.What do we know about the tourist attractions mentioned in the above passage?
A. Sagrada Familia is the largest building in Barcelona.
B. La Pedrera is well-known for its colorful material.
C. Barcelona FC Museum may attract football fans.
D. Miro Museum was built in 1914.
3.If you visit the stadium and the club with a tour guide in Barcelona FC Museum, you should pay ________.
A. $ 25.5 B. $ 32 C. $ 42.5 D. $ 34
4.What do the attractions have in common?
A. They are all famous for their architectural style.
B. They are available for the disabled people.
C. Their opening hours are changeable in different seasons.
D. Tourists can have a discount of 20% with the Barcelona Card.
On a number of drives throughout my childhood, my mother would suddenly pull over the car to examine a flower by the side of the road or rescue a beetle from tragedy while I, in my late teens and early twenties, sat impatiently in the car.
Though Mother’s Day follows Earth Day, for me, they have always been related to each other. My mom has been “green” since she became concerned about the environment. Part of this habit was born of thrift (节俭). Like her mother and her grandmother before her, mom saves glass jars, empty cheese containers and reuses her plastic bags.
Mom creates a kind of harmonious relationship with wildlife in her yard. She knows to pick the apples on her trees a little early to avoid the bears and that if she leaves the bird feeders(给食器) out at night, it is likely that they will be knocked down by a family of raccoons (浣熊). Spiders that make their way into the house and are caught in juice glasses will be set loose in the garden.
I try to teach my children that looking out for the environment starts with being aware of the environment. On busy streets, we look for dandelions (蒲公英) to fly in the wind; we say hello to neighborhood cats and pick up plastic cups and paper bags. This teaching comes easily, I realize, because I was taught so well by example. Mom didn’t need to lecture; she didn’t need to beat a drum to change the world. She simply slowed down enough to enjoy living in it and with that joy came mercy and an instinct for protection.
I am slowing down and it isn’t because of the weight of my nearly forty years on the planet, it is out of my concern for the planet itself. I’ve begun to save glass jars and reuse packing envelopes. I pause in my daily tasks to watch the squirrels race each other in the trees above my house.
Last summer, in the company of my son and daughter, I planted tomatoes in my yard. With the heat of August around me, I ate the first while sitting on my low wall with dirt on my hands. Warm from the sun, it burst on my tongue with a sweetness I immediately wanted to share with my mom.
1.. Why does the author say Earth Day is connected with Mother’s Day?
A. Because Mother’s Day falls shortly after Earth Day.
B. To stress that all the older women in her family are environmentalists.
C. To stress how much her mother cares about the environment.
D. Because her mother shows her how to be friendly to nature on Mother’s Day.
2.. Which of the following is NOT related to Mom’s “green life”?
A. Rescuing a beetle from a certain tragedy.
B. Saving glass jars, empty cheese containers.
C. Setting a caught spider free in the garden
D. Picking dandelions on busy streets.
3.. We can infer from the article that ______.
A. the author realizes that she should teach her children by example as well
B. the author’s mother knows how to get rid of the wildlife in her yard
C. the author believes that only by learning to slow down can we enjoy life
D. the author’s mother used to lecture her to protect the environment.
4.. What can be learned from the last paragraph?
A. Tomatoes make the author think of her mother.
B. The author likes eating tomatoes planted by herself.
C. Planting tomatoes is a way of protecting environment.
D. The author really appreciates her mother’s teaching.
5.. The writer’s attitude towards her mom’s behavior changed in the order of ______.
A. understanding — critical — approving
B. approving — doubtful — negative
C. negative — understanding — approving
D. doubtful— critical— positive
Many people look fondly at their school days. a lot of these memories are often attached to events that have little to do learning, many people are surprised by how much they miss being in the and actually learning something new.
Although most people feel that their lives would be by going back to school for further study, some people find that their busy schedules would make this . However, with the rise of technology like the , it is now easier than ever to continue feeding your mind without obligations like family and work. This is due to the rise of online education options.
Online education is a subset of what is known as electronic learning or e-learning. All that you need to successfully use online education is to a computer that has an internet . There are so many online education options, it is quite common for colleges to online education courses to assist people who are in distance education.
The main of online education is that it allows you to at your own pace and on your own time. Depending on the nature of the courses, online education will provide you with a certain time for you to compete it .
One of the biggest of online education is that it does not provide you with the face-to-face interaction with a teacher. But you can with other students through the use of discussion boards, messaging programs, and web-conferencing programs.
As people become busier, online education has in popularity. It has greatly improved the number of services it provides and is considered a great education option. So if you are busy but your mind is still more of a challenge, you may find that online education is the perfect food for your mind!
1.A．When B．While C．As D．Since
2.A．in B．by C．with D．for
3.A．classroom B．office C．dormitory D．workshop
4.A．controlled B．adjusted C．damaged D．enriched
5.A．out of question B．out of the question C．likely D．easy
6.A．walkman B．radio C．TV D．Internet
7.A．sacrificing B．satisfying C．possessing D．sticking
8.A．approach B．administration C．access D．permission
9.A．system B．connection C．program D．instrument
10.A．however B．but C．and D．yet
11.A．offer B．sell C．choose D．decide
12.A．failing B．lacking C．avoiding D．participating
13.A．benefit B．function C．disadvantage D．shortcoming
14.A．work B．learn C．read D．chat
15.A．span B．facility C．limit D．lag
16.A．points B．views C．ideas D．criticisms
17.A．chat B．communicate C．cooperate D．concentrate
18.A．e-mails B．letters C．messages D．speeches
19.A．evolved B．improved C．boomed D．abandoned
20.A．hunting for B．searching for C．calling for D．longing for
----- I must go now, thanks again for your hospitality.
------ _________.
A. My pleasure! So long! B. With pleasure! Goodbye!
C. You are welcome! Go slowly! D. Have a nice day! Good luck!
