1990/02（追試）
1990/02（追試）
On his first day of elementary school, Johnny came home, banged the front door open, threw his cap on the floor, and shouted. “Isn’t anybody here?” At dinner he spoke rudely to his father and spilled his baby sister’s milk.
“How was school today?” I asked casually.
“All right,” Johnny said.
“Did you learn anything?” his father asked.
“I didn’t learn nothing,” he said.
“Anything,” I said. “Didn’t learn anything.”
“The teacher punished a boy, though, for being bad.”
“Who was it?” his father asked. Johnny thought. “It was George,” he said. “The teacher shouted at him and made him stand in the corner. He was awfully bad.”
“What did he do?” I asked, but Johnny slid off his chair, took a cookie, and left.
The next day Johnny remarked at dinner, “Well, George was bad again today. He hit the teacher and was taken to the principal.”
On Wednesday George hit a little girl on the head with a blackboard eraser and made her cry. Thursday, George had to stand in the corner during story hour because he kept jumping up and down. On Saturday I asked my husband. “Do you think school is too upsetting for Johnny? This George boy sounds like such a bad influence. Johnny has been so different since he started school All this toughness and bad language is not like him.”
“It’ll be all right,” my husband said.
Almost every day during the second week, Johnny came home late, full of news about George. George shouted during story hour, hit a boy in the stomach and made him cry, and so on and so forth. By the end of the week George had become an institution in our family; the baby was being a George when she cried all afternoon; Johnny did a George when he filled his wagon full of mud and pulled it through the kitchen; even my husband, when he caught his elbow in the telephone cord and pulled the telephone off the table, said, “Looks like George.”
During the third week, it seemed George had changed. Johnny reported on Wednesday. “George was so good today. He erased the blackboard and carried some books for the teacher, and she said he was her helper. She even gave him an apple.”
“Can this be true, about George?” I asked my husband that night,
“Wait and see,” was his reply.
“The P.T.A. meeting is on Monday evening next week,” I told my husband the following night. ‘Tm going to find George’s mother and speak to her.”
“Ask her what happened to George,” my husband said.
On Friday of that week things were back to normal. George shouted a dirty word three or four times. The teacher called the principal.
At the P.T.A. meeting I sat restlessly, looking at each comfortable, motherly face, trying to determine which one hid the secret of George. None of them, however, stood up in the meeting and apologized for the way her son had been acting. No one mentioned George.
After meeting I talked to Johnny’s teacher. “I’ve been so anxious to meet you,” I said smilingly. “I’m Johnny’s mother.”
“Were all so interested in Johnny,” she said. “He had a little trouble adjusting, the first week or so, but now he’s a fine little helper. With occasional problems, of course.”
“Johnny usually adjusts very quickly,” I said. “I suppose this time it’s George’s influence.”
“George?”
“Yes,” I said, laughing. “you must have your hands full in this school, with George.”
“George?” she said. “We don’t have any George in the school.”
- What was reported about George in the first week?
① He disturbed story hour and had to stand in the corner.
② He made a boy cry by hitting him in the stomach.
③ He shouted some dirty words at the teacher.
④ He spilled his baby sister’s milk twice. - Why did the writer begin to think school was too upsetting for Johnny?
① Because he did not eat his dinner.
② Because he had become tough and rude at home.
③ Because he was afraid to go to school.
④ Because his teacher said he was awfully bad. - In this story, institution means
① a person who causes trouble at school.
② a regular and familiar topic of conversation.
③ a school for disciplining bad children.
④ an organization devoted to a particular purpose. - When was the P.T.A. meeting held?
① On Monday evening of the third week.
② On Monday evening of the fifth week
③ On Monday evening of the fourth week.
④ On Monday evening of the sixth week. - By saying things were back to normal, the writer means
① George had adjusted to the environment.
② George had become a bad boy again.
③ George had started helping his teacher.
④ George’s teacher was pleased with him. - Why did the writer feel restless at the P.T.A. meeting?
① Because she had no friends at the meeting.
② Because she thought she would have to apologize.
③ Because she wanted to talk about Johnny with his teacher.
④ Because she was anxious to find George’s mother. - What did the teacher think of Johnny?
① He had serious trouble and needed help.
② He was always tough and rude to her.
③ He was being influenced by George.
④ He was good though he sometimes caused problems.
