A
My First Day of School
Fear started taking over, I was walking into my first school in America. I had traveled a long distance from India in order to join my parents, who had been for three years, hoping America would help my future. My father decided that I would be better off going to school here, so I enrolled(登记)in the local high school in my new town.
I was afraid how I would do. On the first day, I went to my second period class after I had missed my first. With anxiety, I reached for the door, opening it slowly. Without paying attention to my classmates, I went straight to the teacher and asked if this was the right class. With a soft voice he answered. “Yes.” His voice comforted me a little. He gave me a sheet called Course Requirements, which I would never get in India because we didn’t have anything like that. Then he asked me to choose where I would sit. I didn’t actually want to pick a seat. In India we had fixed seats, so I never needed to worry about that. I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the image produced by the overhead projector. In Indian schools, we didn’t use the technology we had. We had to take notes as the teacher spoke.
It was noon. I was very confused about when I would have lunch. I went to my next class and the bell rang as I entered. I went through the regular process of asking the teacher if I was in the right class. She said, “It’s still fourth period.”
“But the bell just rang,” I said.
Changing from a gentle tone to a harsher(刺耳的)one, she said, “That is the lunch bell, young man.”
I apologized. Without another word I headed for the cafeteria. I felt lucky because we didn’t have this in India. Every confusion seemed like a barrier I had to get through to reach my goal. At the end of the day, I was on my way to the bus which we didn’t have in India either. I spotted my bus and sat down inside happily. I was thinking, today wasn’t o bad.
这是一篇记叙文。作者从印度来到美国，在美国上高中。作者记叙了第一天上学的经历和感受。
1. The author attended an American high school because _______.
A. his father preferred American schools
B. his family wanted him to have a bright future
C. his mother had worked in it for 3 years
D. he had been longing to leave his homeland
【答案】B
【解析】细节理解题。由第一段中的“I had traveled… join my parents…, hoping America would help my future. My father decided that I would be better off going to school here”可知，作者的父母希望美国会对作者的未来有好处，在美国上学作者会更好。故B选项“父亲希望作者有个光明的未来。”正确。
2. What do we know about the author's first day of school?
A. He went to the wrong class for the second period
B. He met some enthusiastic teachers and classmates
C. He got the Course Requirements sheet from his classmate
D. He experienced differences from the Indian schools in many ways
【答案】D
【解析】推理判断题。由第二段和第三段中的“He gave me a sheet called Course Requirements, which I would never get in India，I didn’t actually want to pick a seat. In India we had fixed seats，I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the image produced by the overhead projector. In Indian schools, we didn’t use the technology we had…I felt lucky because we didn’t have this in India”可知，作者在美国上学的第一天，遇到了很多和印度不一样的地方。例如：自己选择座位，课程安排等。故结合选项，D选项正确。
3. How did the author feel at the end of the day?
A. Worried B. Puzzled
C. Relieved D. Excited
【答案】C
【解析】细节理解题。由第二段中的“I was afraid how I would do. On the first day, I went to my second period class after I had missed my first. With anxiety…”和最后一段中的“I spotted my bus and sat down inside happily. I was thinking, today wasn’t so bad”可知，作者一开始非常害怕，非常焦虑，但是到了这一天结束的时候，他感觉这一天不是那么糟糕。由此可以推知，作者的焦虑最终得以缓解。C选项正确。
【点睛】细节理解题主要的答题策略：细心审题，直接就题找答案。解答此类试题时，不必通篇细看原文，而应采取“带着问题找答案”的方法，先从问题中抓住关键性词语（题眼），然后以此为线索，运用略读及查读的技巧快速在文章中寻找与此问题相关的：段落、语句，仔细品味，对照比较，确定答案。在第一题中，考生直接可以根据题干中的“American high school”确定信息在第一段。再由第一段“I had traveled… join my parents…, hoping America would help my future. My father decided that I would be better off going to school here”可直接确定答案。
