If you wanted to know what it’s like to walk on the moon, you’d interview an astronaut. If you wanted insights(深刻的见解) on playing Hamlet, you’d study the performance of a Shakespearean actor. And if you wanted to know what the first year of teaching school is like, well... you’d ask teachers who just completed their first year on the job. We wanted to know and we asked.
This book attempts to capture the fascinating and inspiring answers we received. It is based largely on a series of discussions held among winners of the First Class Teacher Award sponsored(赞助) every year by Sallie Mae, a corporation devoted to education. As in the past years, first-year teachers who won the award came to Washington, DC in the fall for a weekend of awards and related events.
One activity that grew out of the awards is a series of focus group discussions. These discussions allow us to ask first-year teachers some key questions: What was it like the first year What were your hardest challenges and your greatest rewards? Did you get the right preparation? Do you have any insights you could offer new teachers?
The teachers talked in frank terms about what it’s like to feel rebuffed by experienced teachers, to struggle with budget cutbacks, to see children in pain. But the difficulties they related are only half the story. They also told us how they dealt with challenges, what they would want new teachers to know, and why being a teacher is so important to their sense of self. All together, their words paint a picture of an inspired and inspiring group of up-and-coming leaders in their profession. We believe their reflections will prove helpful to principals, administrators, university professors in education departments, and particularly, new teachers who are speeding up to face the first day of school. This book is built on the words and recollections(回忆) of award-winning, first-year teachers. We have used direct quotations(引用语) from teachers (with their permission), both from the focus group discussions and from a set of essays they wrote. We felt their voices needed to be heard as directly as possible. Our job was to present their insights in a way that would be useful for readers. What follows is our effort to do so.
Thank you for your interest, and we welcome your response.
Sincerely,
Sharon A. Bobbitt, Ph.D.
Director, Knowledge Applications Division
U.S. Department of Education
65.Sharon A. Bobbitt writes the passage mainly to ________.
A. inspire would-be teachers B. praise the award winners
C. share his teaching experience D. introduce a valuable book
66.What purpose does Paragraph 1 serve in the passage?
A. To provide background information of the topic.
B. To attract readers’ attention to the topic.
C. To use the examples to support the topic.
D. To offer basic knowledge of the topic.
67.Which of the following is TRUE about the First Class Teacher Award?
A. It is sponsored by Sallie Mae every year.
B. It is held sometimes in Washington, DC.
C. It focuses on discussions and contests.
D. The participants are invited to write books.
68.What does the underlined word “rebuffed” in the Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. Impressed deeply. B. Taught sincerely.
C. Refused rudely. D. Helped warm-heartedly.
