北京市西城区 2014 2015 学年度第二学期期末试卷高二英语口试文章1A TEACHER in New York decided to do a class project on recognition. She gave each student three blue ribbons with gold letters reading: “Who I Am Makes a Difference.” The students went out to find somebody to honor. The person would get a ribbon and give the extra ones to a third person to keep it going.One boy went to a junior manager in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. Later that day the junior manager went in to see his boss. He told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative talent. He gave the surprised boss the last extra ribbon and asked him to find somebody else to honor.That night the boss went home to his 14-year-old son. He told the boy what had happened and said: “I want to honor you, son. My days are really busy and when I come home I dont pay a lot of attention to you. Sometimes I shout at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just want to let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. Youre a great kid and I love you!”Hearing this, the boy started to cry and couldnt stop. He looked up at his father and said through his tears: “I was planning on leaving home tomorrow, Dad, because I didnt think you loved me. Now I dont need to.”Questions:1. What did the teacher give to each student in the class project?2. What kind of people did the student go to find?3. Why did the boy honor the junior manager?4. How did the junior manger think of his boss?5. Why did the son of the boss cry?Possible answers:1. The teacher gave each students three blue ribbons in the project.2. They need to find someone to honor.3. Because the manager helped the boy with the career planning.4. In the managers eye, the boss was a creative talent.5. The son of the boss cried because he thought his father didnt love him. Now he knew that his father loved him very much, so he was moved to tears.2A TEACHER began his class by holding up a glass of water. He asked the students: “How much do you think this glass weighs?”“Fifty grams (克)!” “One hundred grams!” “One hundred and fifty grams!” the students answered.“I dont know either,” said the teacher. “What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?”“Nothing,” the students said.“OK. What would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?”“Your arm would ache (疼痛),” said a student.“Youre right. Now what would happen if I held it for a day?”“Your arm would go numb (麻木的). You may have to go to hospital!” said another student, and all the students laughed.“Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” asked the teacher.“No.”“Then what caused the pain and numbness?”The students were puzzled (困惑的 ).“What should I do now to get rid of the pain?” asked the teacher again.“Put the glass down!” said a student.“Exactly!” said the teacher. “Lifes problems are something like this. Hold them for a few minutes in your head and they seem OK. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold them even longer and they begin to make you numb. You will not be able to do anything.”Its important to think of the challenges or problems in your life. But whats even more important is to “put them down” at the end of every day.Questions:1. What did the teacher hold in his class?2. What would happen if the teacher held it for a long time?3. How to get the pain and numbness?4. What did something that you held stand for?5. What can you learn from the teachers lesson?Possible answers:1. He held a glass of water.2. He would feel pain and numbness.3. Put down the glass of water.4. They stood for the problems in your life.5. It is important to think of problems and challenges in life, and it is more important to put “put them down” at the end of each day.