Why I Love My Job

Ross is a public school teacher. She teaches a group of, mostly, seniors and she loves what she does.

“My job is great,” she said. “That is the only way to describe it. As teachers, we have the opportunity to completely change someone’s life by providing him or her with a good education.”

Ross moved to Austin in 1981 to attend the University of Texas. She earned a degree in math. Since her graduation, she has enjoyed teaching high school students in Texas for nearly 30 years. Over the years, she has taught every level of high school math.

“I’ve always taught high school students,” she said. “I like their energy, and I enjoy teaching seniors because they are getting ready to move on.”

Ross also believes teaching helps her keep a balance between work and life. It has allowed her to have the same work schedule as her children’s school schedule. When her sons were younger, she worked during the day while her musician husband worked at night. So daycare was never a problem. Today her two boys share the same daily schedule and the same winter, spring and summer vacations with her.

Teaching brings other benefits, too. Entry-level salaries of teachers are competitive with other fields. Teachers are also offered good retirement benefits and insurance.“Due to bad economy, very few places offer a pension now and teaching is one of them,” she said.

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Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a famous scientist. He created many theories that completely changed the way people saw our world and the universe. At first, very few scientists could understand his theories. As time passed, other scientists came to accept them.

Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879 and grew up in Munich. He was not a good student at school. He only did things he was interested in, like science and math.

After school, Einstein went to Switzerland and worked at the Swiss patent（专利）office in Bern. He studied what other people had invented. Later he moved to Berlin, Germany. He lived there for a long time and developed many of his scientific theories. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.

In 1933, Hitler and the Nazis came to power in Germany. Einstein was against the Nazis and their ideas. He decided to leave Germany and go to America. When World War Ⅱ broke out in 1939, Einstein discovered that German scientists were working on a bomb. The bomb could kill thousands of people. He wrote a letter to the American president to warn him. He also suggested that the Americans start building one, too.

In 1942, the American government started a project to build the atomic bomb. Two of these bombs were dropped to end the war against Japan. Einstein was shocked when he heard the news. He wanted atomic energy to bring peace to the world.

For the last twenty years of his life, Einstein lived in Princeton. He continued his scientific work there. He died on April 18, 1955.

A.He was born in Munich, Germany

B.He was a straight-A student at school

C.He was asked to leave school

D.He was interested in science subjects

A.Switzerland

B.America

C.Germany

D.Japan

A.was opposed to the Nazis

B.could find a better job there

C.wanted to get away from wars

D.was invited by the US government

A.excited

B.surprised

C.satisfied

D.confused

A.He had many followers when he was in Switzerland

B.He earned a Nobel Prize after World War II

C.He spent his late days in Germany

D.He was a peace-loving person

Jungle Highway

①Central Brazil has been invaded（入侵）by engineers and construction workers. They have cut through the Amazon jungle to build a new road across Brazil.

②The new road is called the Trans-Amazon Highway. It links the cities of Brazil’s east coast with another highway that stretches to the Pacific. The highway connects cities all over Brazil with new settlements in central Brazil.

③Brazilians are both hopeful and anxious about the highway project. The land of northeastern Brazil is dry. It is difficult for the people to grow enough food or make enough money. They expect the new highway to provide new farmland and many jobs. They also expect new towns and cities to develop along the highway. They believe people will move from the coastal cities and help develop central Brazil.

④The highway is a great challenge to Brazilian engineering. Huge cutting machines are used to clear away thick jungle growth. There are other challenges, too. Workers have to deal with heavy rains, biting insects, diseases and loneliness. They do not bring their families with them. They often miss their families and friends at home.

⑤Ecologists（生态学家）are worried about problems the new highway has brought. The rainforest has only a thin layer （层）of rich soil. This layer has been protected by tall trees and fed by dead leaves and plants. But construction is destroying the forest. The trees have been cleared away to make room for the road and new settlements. Ecologists believe there will be no good farmland. Already, some areas of the jungle have turned into dry and dusty deserts.

A. Description of the highway

B. Difficulties of the project

C. Invasion of the Amazon jungle

D.Life in the jungle

E. Ecologists’ worries

F. Brazilians’ expectations

A. Description of the highway

B. Difficulties of the project

C. Invasion of the Amazon jungle

D.Life in the jungle

E. Ecologists’ worries

F. Brazilians’ expectations

A. Description of the highway

B. Difficulties of the project

C. Invasion of the Amazon jungle

D.Life in the jungle

E. Ecologists’ worries

F. Brazilians’ expectations

A. Description of the highway

B. Difficulties of the project

C. Invasion of the Amazon jungle

D.Life in the jungle

E. Ecologists’ worries

F. Brazilians’ expectations

A. Description of the highway

B. Difficulties of the project

C. Invasion of the Amazon jungle

D.Life in the jungle

E. Ecologists’ worries

F. Brazilians’ expectations

A. to make room for a highway project

B. central Brazil will be developed

C. they leave their families behind

D. the forest is destroyed

E. people will suffer from more diseases

F. to bring them more money

A. to make room for a highway project

B. central Brazil will be developed

C. they leave their families behind

D. the forest is destroyed

E. people will suffer from more diseases

F. to bring them more money

A. to make room for a highway project

B. central Brazil will be developed

C. they leave their families behind

D. the forest is destroyed

E. people will suffer from more diseases

F. to bring them more money

A. to make room for a highway project

B. central Brazil will be developed

C. they leave their families behind

D. the forest is destroyed

E. people will suffer from more diseases

F. to bring them more money

A. to make room for a highway project

B. central Brazil will be developed

C. they leave their families behind

D. the forest is destroyed

E. people will suffer from more diseases

F. to bring them more money

First-born Children

How do first-born children differ from later-born children? Hundreds of experiments have shown that the eldest child tends to be more careful, more eager for success, and more anxious.（1）He avoids dangerous sports like football and soccer.

One thing seems certain: first-borns have a good start in life. They are no more intelligent. But they are better readers as children. They do better in high school. They get better grades on school tests. More first-borns go to colleges and graduate schools.（2） They dominate（占优势）in graduate schools. They account for more than a third of doctors, lawyers and college professors. More first-borns become famous people in the world.

One reason for differences between older and younger children is that parents treat them differently. Many parents usually favor the eldest because everything he does is a novelty（新奇）. First-borns tend to be breast-fed longer.They are photographed endlessly. （3）First-borns are also given more responsibility because the mother needs them to help with the younger ones.

（4）Sometimes it is simply because families cannot afford to send more than one child to college.

（5）The first-born child provides the first vehicle by which parents can continue their own identities and realize their hopes and dreams. All in all, it seems that first-borns are not only teachers’ pets, but parents’ pets as well.

A. He is also more sensitive to pain

B. Many parents simply expect more of the first child

C. They account for 66% of the students in top US universities

D.Later-borns have valuable qualities that many first-borns lack

E. But later-borns are lucky to appear in group pictures

F. In certain cultures, the eldest should enjoy special educational advantages

A. He is also more sensitive to pain

B. Many parents simply expect more of the first child

C. They account for 66% of the students in top US universities

D.Later-borns have valuable qualities that many first-borns lack

E. But later-borns are lucky to appear in group pictures

F. In certain cultures, the eldest should enjoy special educational advantages

A. He is also more sensitive to pain

B. Many parents simply expect more of the first child

C. They account for 66% of the students in top US universities

D.Later-borns have valuable qualities that many first-borns lack

E. But later-borns are lucky to appear in group pictures

F. In certain cultures, the eldest should enjoy special educational advantages

A. He is also more sensitive to pain

B. Many parents simply expect more of the first child

C. They account for 66% of the students in top US universities

D.Later-borns have valuable qualities that many first-borns lack

E. But later-borns are lucky to appear in group pictures

F. In certain cultures, the eldest should enjoy special educational advantages

A. He is also more sensitive to pain

B. Many parents simply expect more of the first child

C. They account for 66% of the students in top US universities

D.Later-borns have valuable qualities that many first-borns lack

E. But later-borns are lucky to appear in group pictures

F. In certain cultures, the eldest should enjoy special educational advantages

Building Trust in Teamwork
Trust is important for teamwork. Teens must learn to trust each other to work towards a common （1）.
For one activity，put the teens into （2）.One is blindfolded（蒙住眼睛）.Use rings to （3） mines（地雷）in a certain area. The seeing partner stands on the （4） side of the field. He must direct his partner across the mine field safely. The point is to see how （5） their chosen form of communication is.
For another activity, （6） the whole group an un-assembled（未组装的）tent. Tell them they are in Antarctica and （7）survived a snowstorm. The team leader has his hands hurt and cannot （8）. Half the team have been blinded by （9） and the other half have lost their voices.They must work （10）,listen to their leader and trust each other to quickly put the tent together for survival.