Some teachers are unforgettable. They lead by example and never lose their smile. They change lives. Eileen Madden is one of them. Her students must think she was born with an eraser and a piece of chalk in her hand.
“It’s a joy to get up early every morning to be the first one here,” say the 55-year-old Holy Ghost School third grade teacher. Madden arrives shortly after 6 am to prepare her classroom and work on the school breakfast program.
“My family all went to St. Teresa’s School,” she says. “I always said, ‘One day, I’m going to come back and get one of those big desks.’”
With a watchful eye always on the lookout for “one of those big desks”, Madden returned to St. Teresa after graduating from college and taught second grade at the Olneyville neighborhood elementary school until it was burnt in a fire in 1990 and had to be closed. Madden then went to Holy Ghost School where she started as a second-grade teacher and then moved up one grade level.
“I take care of setting up and serving breakfast,” she says. “In winter it is still dark when I arrive here.” Madden praises Holy Ghost School Principal Carol Soltys and the school’s workers for their continued support. “It’s a family,” she said.
Her class is small this year with 15 students, including some from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Haiti, Guatemala, Nigeria and Ghana. Madden admits that she’s encouraged by her former students, now grown-ups, who want their own children to enjoy a similar experience in a safe, good environment. “They tell others, ‘I send my child to Eileen Madden’s School, ’” she adds.
小题1:What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 suggest?
A．Eileen Madden was very smart as a child.
B．Eileen Madden is a very good teacher.
C．Eileen Madden has done a lot for her students
D．Eileen Madden always has an eraser in her hand.小题2:We can learn from paragraph 2 that Eileen Madden __________.
A．is in her late fifties now.
B．always teaches Grade 3
C．often arrives at school very early.
D．cooks breakfast for all her students by herself.小题3:What does Eileen Madden most probably think of the workers of Holy Ghost School?
A．Lazy but kind
B．Careful but helpless
C．Hard to get along with
D．Kind and helpful.小题4:The last paragraph suggests that ______________.
A．Eileen Madden often gives lessons to small classes.
B．Eileen Madden is remembered by all her former students.
C．Eileen Madden thinks her former students think too highly of her.
D．Eileen Madden’s former students are very happy to let her teach their children.小题5:What is implied in the passage?
A．Holy Ghost School is a very small school.
B．St. Teresa’s School will be open again soon.
C．Eileen Madden decided to be a teacher when she was young.
D．Eileen Madden was very happy to leave St. Teresa’s School.
