Today, in many high schools, teaching is now a technical miracle of computer labs, digital cameras.  DVD players and laptops. Teachers can e-mail parents, post messages for students on online bulletin(公告，告示) boards, and take attendance with a quick movement of a mouse.

Even though we are now living in the digital age, the basic and most important element of education has not changed. Most students still need that one-on-one, teacher-student relationship to learn and to succeed. Teenagers need instruction in English, math or history, but they also want personal advice and encouragement. Kids talk with me about their families, their weekend plans, their favorite TV shows and their relationship problems. In my English and journalism class, we talk about Shakespeare and persuasive(富有哲理的) essays, but we also discuss college basketball, the war in Iraq and career choices. Students show me pictures of their rebuilt cars, their family vacations, and their newborn baby brothers. This personal connection is the necessary link between teachers and students that no amount of technology can improve upon or replace.

A few years ago I had a student in sophomore English who was struggling with my class and with school in general. Although he was a humorous young man who liked to joke around, I knew his family life was far from ideal. Whenever I approached him about missing homework or low test grades, he always had the same reply: “It doesn’t matter because I’m quitting school anyway.” Even though he always said this in a half-teasing way, I knew he needed to hear my different opinion and my “value of a high school education” lecture. He needed to hear this speech from me. After he left my class, he struggled through the next two years of school. But, he did finally graduate because we kept telling him to hang in there. We’d cared about him finishing school.

Recently, I saw this former student working at a local Italian restaurant. I told him again how proud I was of him. He said that he was hoping to go back to school to become a certified electrician. I encouraged him to get that training.

Students rely on compassionate teachers to guide, to tutor, to listen, to laugh and to cry with them. Teachers provide the most important link in the educational process — the human one.

The first paragraph mainly discusses _______.

    A．the variety of modern teaching methods

    B．the wide use of modern technology in education

    C．the importance of teacher-parent relationship

    D．the importance of using modern technology

The underlined word “compassionate” in Para 5 means          .

    A．ambitious    B．knowledgeable    C．sympathetic  D．generous

According to the text, the most important element in education is         .

    A．teacher’s good instruction  B．advanced technology

    C．teachers’ encouragement D．personal connection

The author states his view of education by         .

    A．example  B．description  C．figure   D．comparison

She had prepared carefully for her English examination so that she could be sure of passing it on her first ________. 

A. try              B. attempt           C. purpose     D. hope

　 The first textbooks _____ for teaching English as a foreign language came out in　the 16th century.

　　A. being heard　　B. to be written  C. being written　D. written

Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.

1. 汤姆的学习方法与他弟弟的不同。（different）

2. 不吃三餐，用点心代替不是好习惯。（replace）

3. 他没有辜负帮助过他的人，在比赛中获得了一等奖。（let down）

4. 那个小男孩太调皮，他的奶奶对他束手无策。（So）

5. 到上个月为止，这位女作家已经出版了300多本儿童书籍，她的书籍畅销的原因是她了解孩子怎么想，想要什么。（reason）

开放作文

In the English class, your English teacher shows you a picture. Please tell us how you understand this picture.