II. Grammar and Vocabulary
Section A
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Developing Competent Teaching
Nations that have greatly improved their students’ achievements, such as Finland, Korea, Singapore, and others, attribute much of their success to their focused investments in teacher preparation and development. 21 (Create) a system that can routinely hire and prepare teachers effectively and can support successful teaching is the arena (竞技场) in which the United States 22 (fall) behind the most. Although there are some great teachers in every community, the landscape of the supports for quality teaching looks like Swiss cheese. In some states, the holes are smaller, and in others they are bigger. Nor in no case is there a fully 23 (develop) system of instructional support even remotely comparable to that in high-achieving nations. And of course, as we have seen, the system is the weakest in communities 24 students’ needs are greatest.
Some have argued that the answer to weak teaching in the United States id to eliminate “barriers” to teaching, such as teacher education and certification requirements, allow anyone who wants to teach into the classroom, and fire those who prove not to be effective. Although the interest in teaching effectiveness is important, this approach does not offer strategy 25 (ensure) that teachers will have opportunities to gain the knowledge and skills they need in order to be effective, or that all schools will have the resources to attract and hire the best teachers. 26 does it protect the students in low-income schools, who will be the victims of unprepared and inexperienced teachers in the years until these teachers have demonstrated their incapability and left the field.
A regulation 27 (focus) on easy access and easy firing ignores the question of how to develop widespread teaching skills and ensure a strong supply of highly able teachers for schools. 28 such supply, principals will be unable to hire strong teachers even if they are free to hire whomever they are pleased with, and, evidence shows that schools are likely to fire weak teachers, 29 they feel they won’t be able to replace them. Even if they do, there is little guarantee that the quality of teaching 30 (improve). although there are good reasons to argue for stringer evaluation practices for removing incapable teachers and for recognizing excellent ones, a theory that the major problems with teaching can be solved by carrots and sticks alone leaves the development of teaching abilities to chance.
Section B
Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
What is leadership? Its qualities are difficult to define，but they are not so difficult to identify. Leaders don’t force other people to go along with them. They bring them along. Leaders get trust from others by giving it themselves, by building an environment that __31___ creativity, and by operating with honesty and fairness.
Good leaders don’t work alone. They recognize that an organization’s strategies for success require the __32___ talents and efforts of members. Leadership is the catalyst(催化剂) for transforming those talents into __33___.
Successful leaders are emotionally and intellectually looking into the future not stuck in the past. They have a(an)__34___to take responsibility and to innovate. They are not __35___with merely taking care of what has already been there. They want to move forward to create something new.
Leaders provide answers as well as direction, offer strength as well as devotion, and speak from experience as well as __36___ of the problems they face and the people they work with.
Leaders are __37___ rather than absolute. They believe in unity rather than yielding. And they strive to achieve agreements out of conflict.
Leadership is all about getting people __38___ to give their best, helping them to grow to their fullest potential, and motivating them to work toward a common good. Leaders make the right things happen when they’re __39___ to.
A good leader, an effective leader, is one who has respect. Respect is something you have to have in order to receive. A leader who has respect for other people at all levels of an organization, for the work they do, and for their abilities, desires and needs, will find that respect is ___40___. And all concerned will be motivated to work together.
