The Pillow

At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer (拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.

We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house—something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.

On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, “What do you want for your new room?” Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were astonished when Josh responded, “I just want a bed.”

The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.

When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.

That afternoon, as we fitted the frames of the beds together, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the doorway.

As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, “What is that?”

“A pillow,” he replied.

“What do you do with it?” Eric continued to ask.

“When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to my eyes as my father handed Eric the pillow.

“Oh…that’s soft,” he said, hugging it tightly.

Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my dad gently asks, “Do you have a pillow?”

We know exactly what he means.

The writer’s first volunteer project was ______.

A. working on a poor trailer                             B. helping a poor family

C. donating beds and bedding                           D. dealing with a housing problem

On hearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because ______. 

   A. the family lived in a trailer                         B. he expected to get some toys

   C. he didn’t know what a bed was                   D. the boys had no bed to sleep in

From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen ______ before.

A. a trailer            B. a truck                    C. a pillow                   D. a house

By saying “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that ______.  

A. what they want to get may be unnecessary 

B. they should not waste money on small things

C. they should do more volunteer work for the poor

D. what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow

The trip to that city was eye-opening for everyone, and near its end, all the young people in our group began to reflect on what it had meant． We   41  the first night we had arrived． We had all gone into the markets of the city   42  the young people could experience its energy． But what we actually saw simply   43  us all --- the rundown houses, the children in rags, the people begging for money… Walking home,   44  under a low bridge, we came across   45  families of homeless people seeking a bit of dry ground to sleep on   46  the night． We had to step over bodies as we found our way through the darkness．

The poverty was   47  than anything my young companions had ever imagined． Back in the hotel, an air of sadness settled over the group． Many   48  and cried． Spending time in this   49  moves a person to care about humanity．

That evening, our group spent hours talking about what we had   50 ． Gently, I encouraged everyone to talk about the difficult   51  that day’s discoveries had inspired． Sitting together   52  a circle as everyone had a chance to speak, we all began to realize that  53  of us was alone in our struggle to cope with our reactions．

Based on my   54  in poverty-stricken areas, I suggested that   55  the emotions we had were painful, they could also be important in helping us to move forward． We all   56  that we had seen things that should never be allowed to happen．   57  , what could we do about it? Together, we began to brainstorm ways we could help to ease the   58  we had seen． As I encouraged group members to focus on   59  they could do, a sense of determination  60  the previous sadness． Instead of despair, these young people began to feel a call to action．

At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer(拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.

We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house – something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.

On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, "What do you want for your new room?" Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were surprised when Josh responded, "I just want a bed."

The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.

When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.

That afternoon, as we fitted the frames of the beds tog tether, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the doorway.

As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, "What is that?"

    "A pillow," she replied.

    "What do you do with it?" Eric continued to ask.

    "When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to our eyes as she handed Eric the pillow.

    "Oh . . . that's soft," he said, hugging it tightly.

Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my Dad gently asks, "Do you have a pillow?"

We know exactly what he means.

The writer’s first volunteer project was         .

      A．working on a poor trailer       B．helping a poor family

       C．donating beds and bedding      D．dealing with a housing problem

On bearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because         .

       A．the family lived in a trailer     B．he expected to get some toys

       C．he didn’t know what a bed was      D．the boys had no bed to sleep in

From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen       before.

       A．a trailer    B．a truck      C．a pillow    D．a house

By saying “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that        .

      A．what they want to get may be unnecessary

       B．they should not waste money on small things

       C．they should do more volunteer work for the poor

       D．what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow

需要添加小标题。请从以下选项（A、B、C、D、E、F）中选出符合各段意思的小标题，并在答题纸上将相应选项的标号涂黑。选项中有多余选项。

A. How to deal with listening practice

B. Class atmosphere matters a lot in learning

C. Monitoring activities is one of the main tasks of teachers

D. How to evaluate student performance

E. Group work needs organizing properly

F. Communication skills play a big role in language learning

????????????? Both instructors and learners can get benefits from the following learning strategies as long as they are properly made use of in language learning．

1.???????

The information presented in this section focuses on specific conversation, discussion, or presentation skills. The activities arc generally self-explanatory, with students expressing opinions, making decisions, solving problems, planning presentations, and so on. Engaged in these activities, students have the possibility of communicating with each other in class. This section also includes lists of expressions used to illustrate different language functions, such as agreeing, disagreeing, and asking for clarity in order to help students expand their knowledge of English.

2.???????

In a speaking or listening course, students’ anxieties can affect their learning. For this reason, it is important to establish a friendly, relaxed classroom environment. It may help students 10 think of the classroom as a laboratory where they can experiment and take risks with the language. In such circumstances, students should realize that errors are a natural and expected part of learning a language. In addition, one of the goals of this pan is to encourage students to examine their awn opinions and values while at the same time showing respect for the opinions and values of others.

3.________

Many of the activities in this section involve the students’ cooperating work in class. Generally, such an activity taken up by four members seem to work the best. Groups of three or five members may also be effective, depending on the activity. The first unit includes guidelines for organizing group work, with students taking on the following roles: leader, reader, summarizer, reporter, and observer(if necessary). Organizing all activities in this way makes the course truly learner-centered since students must take fall responsibility for carrying out each activity. As for seating, group members should arrange their seats or chairs in a small circle to encourage interaction.

4.________

Being a teacher, in the course of group activities, you should circulate from group to group, which helps ensure that students are on task and are using English. While you should not participate in pair or group activities, you need to stay involved in what the students are doing. One important reason to circulate during activities is to keep track of the kinds of problems students have, such as grammatical accuracy, fluency, word choice, pronunciation and intonation discussion strategies, etc. However, it is generally not effective to correct students’ errors when they are involved in an activity. The most practical way to deal with communication problems is to make notes of what you observe as you arc circulating. You can then use this information to provide feedback after the activity or to develop future lessons.

5.________

At the beginning of the course, when they need to build up their confidence, students benefit most from encouragement and positive comment. If possible, you’d rather not grade the students fust few efforts at speaking in a group or to the class. Many students suffer such anxiety in speaking situations that any criticism at this stage can have the opposite effects. Commenting on students’ work does not necessarily mean grading them on the scene Even if the programs requires formal grades, you should try to put off assigning grades until later in the term.