66．Harriet Beecher Stowe is a book that describes mainly________.

　　 A．the effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

　　 B．the family of Mrs. Stowe

　　 C．the reason for the popularity of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

　　 D．the life and works of Mrs. Stowe

65．Which of the following best summarizes the passage?

　 A．Open education is a really complex idea.

　　　 B．Open education is better than traditional education.

　　　 C．Teachers dislike open education.

　　　 D．The writer thinks that open education is a good idea in practice.

C

Harriet Beecher Stowe

By Noel B Gerson

218 pages. Praeger $8.95

“So this is the little lady who made this big war,”said Abraham Lincoln. The president was meeting the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin for the first time, more than a decade after the book’s publication in 1852.“It was not simply a patronizing(傲慢的)remark”. Harriet Beecher Stowe really was small：“I am a little bit of a woman,”she described herself,“about as thin and dry as a pinch of snuff.”

If Uncle Tom’s Cabin did not quite start a war, it ignited the minds of people North and South, both for and against abolition. Tens of thousands of Americans who had not read the book already knew Simon Legree as the classic slave driver and Uncle Tome the black victim.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was a well-known writer well before Uncle Tom’s Cabin made her rich and famous. For a time, she and her preacher husband Calvin Stowe were too poor to afford a servant. Mrs. Stowe ran her house, cared for her twin daughters(the first two of seven children),churned out genteel, folksy stories and religious essays to help make ends meet.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin changed all that. It was the first great American best-seller. In the initial year in print, it sold 300,000 copies, and eventually more than 3 million American readers bought the book. Worldwide, sales ran to something like 10 million in 40 languages.

In this plain but informative portrait, biographer Gerson notes that author Stowe never visited the deep South before the Civil War. Most of the knowledge of slavery was gained from former slaves whom she met while living in Cincinnati(one of the busiest stops on the Underground Railway), though she did visit a working plantation in Kentucky briefly in 1833.

In spite of the impact on the world of her celebrated novel it turns out that except for the issue of slavery, she had a scant interest in politics.

64．Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

　 A．Some traditional teachers do not like it．　

　 B．Many teachers do not believe in open education.

　　　 C．Teachers may have problems in open classrooms.

　　　 D．The teacher’s feelings and attitudes are important to the students.

63．Some students will do little in an open classroom because　　　 .

　 A．there are too few rules　　

　 B．they hate activities

　　　 C．open education is similar to the traditional education

　 D．they worry about the rules

62．Open education may be a good idea for the students who　　　 .

　 A．enjoy learning　　　　 B．worry about grades

　　　 C．do well in a traditional classroom D．are responsible for what they do in life.

61．Open education allows the students to　　　 .

　 A．grow as the educated　 B．be responsible for their future

　　　 C．develop their own interests　　 D．discover subjects outside class

60．When the writer "cried his eyes out", he felt _____.

　 A．both anxious and terrified　　　 B．both anxious and delighted

　 C．both delighted and surprised　　　 D．both terrified and surprised

B

There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to grow as people, and to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible for their own education, as they are responsible for what they do in life. Some students do badly in a traditional classroom. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules. For students who worry about these things a lot, it is a good idea to be in an open classroom.

　　　 But many students will not do well in an open classroom. For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not make good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is that some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their schools.

　　　 You now know what open education is. Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory. In actual fact, it may not work very well in a real class or school. The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Many students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.

59．Which of the following statements is NOT right about the writer?

　 A．He believes in Christianity．

　 B．He will arrange a secret trip every two months.

　 C．His child was born on Thanksgiving Day.

　 D．His friends will help with educating his son.

58．"Over this year we will do many things together" is a sentence from the letter and should be put at the beginning of _____.

　 A．Paragraph 1　　 B．Paragraph 2　 C．Paragraph 3　　 D．Paragraph 4

57．The child of the writer will probably become a teenager in _____.

　 A．2006　 B.2007 C．2008　 D.2009