Ⅰ.阅读理解
Five years ago, when I taught art at a school in Seattle, I used Tinkertoys as a test at the beginning of a term to find out something about my students. I put a small set of Tinkertoys in front of each student, and said：“Make something out of the Tinkertoys. You have 45 minutes today—and 45 minutes each day for the rest of the week.”
A few students hesitated to start. They waited to see what the rest of the class would do. Several others checked the instructions and made something according to one of the model plans provided. Another group built something out of their own imaginations.
Once I had a boy who worked experimentally with Tinkertoys in his free time. His constructions filled a shelf in the art classroom and a good part of his bedroom at home. I was delighted at the presence of such a student. Here was an exceptionally creative mind at work. His presence meant that I had an unexpected teaching assistant in class whose creativity would infect (感染) other students.
Encouraging this kind of thinking has a downside. I ran the risk of losing those students who had a different style of thinking. Without fail one would declare, “But I'm just not creative.”
“Do you dream at night when you're asleep？”
“Oh，sure.”
“So tell me one of your most interesting dreams.” The student would tell something wildly imaginative. Flying in the sky or in a time machine or growing three heads. “That's pretty creative. Who does that for you？”
“Nobody. I do it.”
“Really—at night, when you're asleep？”
“Sure.”
“Try doing it in the daytime, in class, okay？”
1．The teacher used Tinkertoys in class in order to ________.
A．know more about the students
B．make the lessons more exciting
C．raise the students' interest in art
D．teach the students about toy design
答案：A
解析：细节理解题。根据文章第一段第一句“...I used Tinkertoys as a test at the beginning of a term to find out something about my students.”可知，这位老师在学期开始时给学生布置这个任务目的是了解这些学生。故选A项。
2．What do we know about the boy mentioned in Paragraph 3?
A．He liked to help his teacher.
B．He preferred to study alone.
C．He was active in class.
D．He was imaginative.
答案：D
解析：推理判断题。根据文章第三段可以得知，这个男孩组装好的玩具堆满了美术教室的一个架子，家里的卧室也被占了相当大的地方。“我”为能有这样一位有创造力的学生而倍感欣慰。他的存在意味着“我”的课堂上有了一位意想不到的教学助手，他的创造力会感染其他学生，让他们也参与进来。由此可以看出这个男孩是有创造力、有想象力的。故选择D项。
3．What does the underlined word “downside” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A．Mistake. B．Drawback.
C．Difficulty. D．Burden.
答案：B
解析：词义猜测题。根据文章第四段可知，鼓励孩子有这种想象力也会有不利的一面。要冒一定的风险，可能会失去那些有不同思维方式的学生。必定有人会说“我就是没有创造力”。因此可以看出此段重在介绍上述这种做法存在的弊端。因此B项正确。
4．Why did the teacher ask the students to talk about their dreams?
A．To help them to see their creativity.
B．To find out about their sleeping habits.
C．To help them to improve their memory.
D．To find out about their ways of thinking.
答案：A
解析：推理判断题。文章第四段最后一句中的“But I'm just not creative.”引出下文师生间的对话，根据文章最后一句“Try doing it in the daytime, in class, okay？”可以看出，老师以孩子晚上做的梦引出白天课堂上要勇于尝试，大胆想象。因此A项正确。
