A man in his 60s working towards his master's

湖南江华县第一中学 何高伦

题材人物 新闻报道体裁 篇幅 建议用时342词 7分钟

难词探意

1.tuition /tju'ɪʃn/ n.学费

2.plant /plɑːnt/ n.工厂

3.dedicated /'dedɪkeɪtɪd/ adj.专注的；投入的

4.irrational /ɪ'ræʃənl/ adj.不合理的

5.transcript /'trænskrɪpt/ n.学生成绩报告单

At 63, Jerry Valencia was determined to get his college degree—and his master's too.

The student arrived early and stood out in my classroom in many ways.He is 40 years older than his classmates in my undergraduate communications class at California State University, Los Angeles.He eagerly jumps into class discussions, with his humor and wisdom of experience.And he is alwaysrespectful of the other students'perspectives, as if each of them were a teacher.“These students gave me the confidence that I didn't need to feel bad about my age,” Valencia said.

A lot of Valencia's classmates apparently knew he couldn't afford that term'stuitionbut he was still doing the homework.“Here he is, willingly taking a class for the joy of it and benefit of learning,” said Jessica Espinosa, a 25-year-old junior.“You don't see that in our generation.” Valencia wanted to stay in school until he earned a master's degree, but he had a long way to go.Valencia lives, for the time being, in a mobile home park.He greeted me when I arrived and poured me a cup of coffee.He told me that his dad had worked at a brick-manufacturingplant.His mother worked at home.Most of his seven brothers and sisters didn't go to college, and none finished.Valencia is determined to be the first, despite his late start.He was not the youngest student, but he was the most motivated and the mostdedicatedstudent.

There is somethingirrationalabout Valencia's determination to get a four-year degree and then a master's.At his current pace, he'll be 90 when he finally hangs all the papers on the wall.But that doesn't seem especially relevant.He's found all the youthful energy and seized all academic opportunities.Valencia's grade in my class this semester will not show up on histranscripts.But I'm giving him an A because it counts in the most important ways.

Reading Check

1.What can we learn from paragraph 2?

A.Valencia cared much about his age.

B.Valencia was very active in the class.

C.Valencia got along badly with his classmates.

D.Valencia regarded his classmates as teachers.

2.Who's the author probably?

A.Valencia's sister.

B.Valencia's father.

C.Valencia's classmate.

D.Valencia's teacher.

3.What message is conveyed in the text?

A.Seeing is believing.

B.Bad news travels fast.

C.It is never too old to learn.

D.Experience is the mother of wisdom.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

And he is always respectful of the other students' perspectives, as if each of them were a teacher.

【翻译】_____________________________________________________________________________

【点石成金】当说话人认为句子所述的事情是不真实的或不太可能发生或存在的情况时，as if从句用虚拟语气。 从句虚拟语气动词时态的形式如下：

①如果从句表示与现在事实相反，谓语动词用一般过去时，其中be动词只用were；

②如果从句表示与过去事实相反，谓语动词用过去完成时；

③如果从句表示与将来事实相反，谓语动词用“would/could/might＋动词原形”。