08 记叙文练习-备战高考英语阅读理解专项训练.pdfVIP

1 For Canaan Elementary’s second grade in Patchogue, N.Y., today is speech day, and right now it’s Chris Palaez’s turn. The 8-year-old is thejoker of the class. With shining dark eyes, he seems like the kid who would enjoypublic speaking. But he’s, nervous. “I’m here to tell you today why you should … should…”Chris trips on the“-ld,” a pronunciation difficulty for many non-native English speakers. His teacher, Thomas Whaley, is next to him, whispering support.“…Vote for …me …”. Except for some stumbles, Chris is doing amazingly well. When he bringshis speechto aniceconclusion,Whaley invitestherest oftheclasstopraisehim. A son ofimmigrants,Chris startedlearningEnglish alittle overthreeyearsago.Whaleyrecalls（回想起）how atthebeginningoftheyear,when calledupontoread,Chriswould excusehimselftogotothebathroom. LearningEnglish asa secondlanguage canbeapainfulexperience.Whatyou needisa great teacherwholets you make mistakes. “It takes a lot for any student, ” Whaley explains, “especially for a student who is learning English astheirnew language,to feelconfident enough to say, ‘I don’tknow，butIwanttoknow.’” Whaley got the idea of this second-grade presidential campaign project when he asked the children one day to raise their hands if they thought they could never be a president. The answer broke his heart. Whaley says the project is about morethanjust learning toread and speak in public.Hewantsthesekidsto learn toboast （夸耀） aboutthemselves. “Boasting aboutyourself，andyourbest qualities,” Whaley says,“isvery difficult for a childwho came into theclassroomnot feeling confident.” 24.WhatmadeChrisnervous？ A.Telling a story. B.Making a speech. C.Taking atest. D.Answeringaquestion. 25.What doestheunderlinedword“stumbles”inparagraph 2referto? A.Improperpauses. B.Badmanners. C.Spellingmistakes.