My Teacher in the School of Life

I spent the opening day of school this year at DeMatha Catholic High School in much the same way I spent the first day of classes ___1___ 30 years ago; I sat in Dr Charles E. Offutt's British literature class, listening to him __2___ what his seniors would learn and get them excited about the journey they would __3__.I'm the principal(校长) of the school now, but for a few minutes I was back in 1975, __4__ what the future held.

I have been learning from Dr Offutt for 30 of the 51 years he has been teaching at DeMatha.He not only taught me to think, he __5__ me, as much by example as___6__， that it was my moral duty to do so and to serve __7__.

Neither of us could know how our __8__ would develop over the years. When I first came back to DeMatha to teach English, I worked for Dr Offutt, then the department chair. After several years, I was __9__ department chair, and our relationship changed __10__. I thought that it might be __11__chairing the department, since all of my former English teachers were still there, but Dr Offutt __12__ me throughout. He knew when to give me __13__ about curriculum, texts and personnel, and when to let me design my own course.

In 1997, I needed his advice about leaving DeMatha to become principal at another school. If he had asked me to stay at DeMatha, I might have. __14__， he encouraged me to seize the new __15__.

Five years ago, I became the __16__ of DeMatha.Once again, Dr Offutt was there for me, letting me know that I could__17__ on him as I tried to fill such big shoes, I've learned from him that great teachers have a(n) __18__ wealth of lessons to teach. __19__ his students don't know it yet, I know how __20__ they are; I'm still one of them.

1．A.mostly　　　B．exactly　　　C．only　　　D．simply

2．A.explain     B．predict       C．speak     D．teach

3．A.keep       B．achieve       C．choose   D．take

4．A.preparing   B．discovering   C．wondering  D．realizing

5．A.assisted    B．reminded      C．advised   D．convinced

6．A.words     B．action        C．explanation  D．models

7．A.the others  B．everyone       C．others   D．anyone

8．A.relationship  B．position      C．situation  D．condition

9．A.pointed    B．named         C．given    D．taken

10．A.already      B．yet       C．still  D．again

11．A.foolish      B．surprising  C．uncertain  D．challenging

12．A.promoted    B．accepted  C．supported  D．welcomed

13．A.advice      B．information  C．notice   D．thought

14．A.Otherwise  B．Therefore  C．Furthermore  D．Instead

15．A.choice     B．opportunity  C．occupation  D．possibility

16．A.teacher     B．principal  C．officer      D．clerk

17．A.live       B．look     C．depend       D．take

18．A.rich      B．little     C．valuable       D．endless

19．A.Once     B．Even if  C．Unless       D．Until

20．A.fortunate  B．curious  C．innocent      D．satisfied

A person named Bernard Jackson today is a free man, but he has many bitter memories. He spent five years in prison after a jury (陪审团)wrongly convicted (判处…有罪) him of raping two women. At Jackson’s trial, although two witnesses testified that Jackson was with them in another location at the time of the crime, he was convicted  anyway. Why? The jury believed the testimony(证词)of the two victims, who positively identified Jackson as the man who had attacked them. The court eventually freed Jackson after the police found the real criminal.

Many factors influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. For instance, witnesses sometimes see photographs of several suspects before they try to identify the person they saw in a group of people. They can become confused by seeing many photographs of similar faces. The number of people in the group, and whether it is a person or a photograph, may also affect a witness’s decision. People sometimes have difficulty identifying people of other races. The questions the police ask witnesses also have an effect on them.

Many people believe that police officers are more reliable than ordinary people. Psychologists decided to test this idea, and they discovered that it is not true. Two psychologists showed a film of crimes to both police officers and civilians. The psychologists found no difference between the police and the civilians in correctly remembering the details of the crimes.

Despite all the possibilities for inaccuracy, courts cannot omit eyewitness testimony from a trial. American courts depend almost completely on eyewitness testimony to resolve(决定)court cases. Sometimes it is the only evidence to a crime, such as rape. Furthermore, eyewitness testimony is often correct. Although people do sometimes make mistakes, and convict innocent people, more importantly, eyewitness testimony has rightly convicted a larger number of guilty people.

American courts depend on the ability of the twelve jurors, and not the judges, to determine the accuracy of the witness’s testimony. It is their responsibility to decide if a certain witness could actually see, hear and remember what happened.

1.Bernard Jackson was found guilty and sentenced 5 years’ prison because________.

A. the victims insisted that he was the attacker

B. he admitted the crime of raping two women

C. the police discovered evidence leading to his guilt

D. the eyewitness proved the victims’ testimony

2.The following statements may be the reasons for why sometimes the eyewitness’ testimony is not accurate EXCEPT ________.

　A. the eyewitness is confused by the police’s questions

　B. the eyewitness is shown photos of many similar faces

　C. the eyewitness lacks the professional help from police

D. the eyewitness can’t identify people of other races clearly.

3.An inaccurate eyewitness testimony may lead to________.

A. the misunderstanding of the case      

B. the disbelief in the court

C. the disrespect for the eyewitness      

D. the conviction of an innocent person

4.Eyewitness testimony is important because ___________.

  A. it can be relied on to detect criminals in all cases.

  B. it is sometimes the only way to resolve court cases.

  C. it is sometimes the only clue for police investigation.

  D. it is more reliable than physical evidences to a crime.

5. According to the text, we can infer that ________.

A. eyewitness testimony is valuable, though sometimes incorrect.

B. police identification is more reliable than that of the ordinary people

C. crime victims often fail to give positive identification of the suspects

D. the jury relies on the judge than the eyewitness for a decision

 

A few days ago I got a call from my old college friend whom I haven’t seen for a very long time. The topic, which was about all the good old times that we had changed to a touching story when he started talking about his father.　　
His father’s declining health made him stay at the hospital. Because of his illness, his father suffered from insomnia (失眠) and often talked to himself. My friend, who had not been able to sleep for a few days as he had to keep watching his father’s condition, became irritated and told his father to keep silent and try to get some sleep. His father said that he really wanted to sleep well because he was very tired and told my friend to leave him alone in the hospital if he did not want to keep him company.　　
After his father finished talking, he fell unconscious (失去知觉). My friend was very sorry for speaking the ill words towards his father. My friend, whom I knew as a tough person, cried as a baby on the other end of the telephone. He said that from that moment on, he prayed every day, asking God to let his father wake up from his coma. He promised himself that whatever words came out from his father’s mouth after he regained his consciousness, he would gladly take them. His only hope for God was to give him a chance to rectify his past mistake.　　
Often, we complain when we have to accompany or watch over our parents for years, months, days, hours or even minutes. But do we realize that our parents keep us company and watch over us for as long as we (or they) live? From the day we were born to our adulthood, and even when deaths come to us, they are always at our side.
Imagine how sad our parents will be when they hear a seemingly innocent word of “no” come out from our mouths. We can make promises to ourselves that from now on there will be no more complaints that come out from our mouths when we have to watch over or accompany our parents. No more complaints come out from our mouths when we feel that our parents have treated us like little children. There are so many unlucky ones who have neither fathers nor mothers. They long to have the things that we most complain about, but never have them.
Actually, it takes only a second to think and light the lamp that will bring us to a place where peace is dwelling.
【小题1】Which of the following word can be used to describe the writer’s friend?

A．Sad

B．Sorry

C．Regretful

D．Pitiful

【小题2】What does the underlined word “rectify” mean in Para. 3?

A．put…right

B．recite…by heart

C．realize

D．recognize

【小题3】What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?

A．Your parents will keep talking to themselves when they are old.

B．Be good to your parents when you still have the chance.

C．You will regret in your life if you don’t show your kindness to your parents.

D．It is not easy to take good care of sick old parents.

A few days ago I got a call from my old college friend whom I haven’t seen for a very long time. The topic, which was about all the good old times that we had changed to a touching story when he started talking about his father.　　

His father’s declining health made him stay at the hospital. Because of his illness, his father suffered from insomnia (失眠) and often talked to himself. My friend, who had not been able to sleep for a few days as he had to keep watching his father’s condition, became irritated and told his father to keep silent and try to get some sleep. His father said that he really wanted to sleep well because he was very tired and told my friend to leave him alone in the hospital if he did not want to keep him company.　　

After his father finished talking, he fell unconscious (失去知觉). My friend was very sorry for speaking the ill words towards his father. My friend, whom I knew as a tough person, cried as a baby on the other end of the telephone. He said that from that moment on, he prayed every day, asking God to let his father wake up from his coma. He promised himself that whatever words came out from his father’s mouth after he regained his consciousness, he would gladly take them. His only hope for God was to give him a chance to rectify his past mistake.　　

Often, we complain when we have to accompany or watch over our parents for years, months, days, hours or even minutes. But do we realize that our parents keep us company and watch over us for as long as we (or they) live? From the day we were born to our adulthood, and even when deaths come to us, they are always at our side.

    Imagine how sad our parents will be when they hear a seemingly innocent word of “no” come out from our mouths. We can make promises to ourselves that from now on there will be no more complaints that come out from our mouths when we have to watch over or accompany our parents. No more complaints come out from our mouths when we feel that our parents have treated us like little children. There are so many unlucky ones who have neither fathers nor mothers. They long to have the things that we most complain about, but never have them.

    Actually, it takes only a second to think and light the lamp that will bring us to a place where peace is dwelling.

1.Which of the following word can be used to describe the writer’s friend?

A. Sad      B. Sorry      C. Regretful        D. Pitiful

2.What does the underlined word “rectify” mean in Para. 3?

A. put…right    B. recite…by heart   C. realize    D. recognize

3.What does the writer want to tell us in the passage?

A. Your parents will keep talking to themselves when they are old.

B. Be good to your parents when you still have the chance.

C. You will regret in your life if you don’t show your kindness to your parents.

D. It is not easy to take good care of sick old parents.