文章来自于SSP上海学生英文报上的staff Writer: Larry White之作。我一直很喜欢这位外国老师地道的语言表达，这篇文章的立意也好，就想分享给我的学生去阅读，去激励他们的学习斗志。
但是我的学生，如果没有课堂里老师带着读，他们的完读率是不高的。如何让我的这些普通班的学生能够认真读完它？一个方法就是设计一个任务性阅读。我还是用了最便捷的挖空首字母的方式，也正好和今年上海市中考题型一致，学生又多了一次练习首字母的机会。
挖空单词，很考验老师们的教学经验。我挖空的依据是这几年中考中的中高频单词，以实词为主。还要考虑这个词的所在句子的上下文即neighboring sentences有没有hints(暗示）信息提供，这就像有一把隐形的“梯子”在那里, 学生发现后可以爬上“梯子”去找到这个词，就像寻宝一样。当然，挖空的难度也要根据学情，难度要匹配学生的学习水平,让学生有“跳一跳，抓到果子”的感觉，他们做完了才会获得小小的成就感。
作为一名陪着学生走过很多次中考的英文老师，我很喜欢挖空单词这个过程，也经常研究一些模卷上的挖空词，发现并不是所有的挖空都很合适。倒是每一年中考真卷的挖空，对学生很友好，也能考查到学生的语言能力。
在这里，老师建议明年6月要参加中考的同学：如果觉得模卷首字母难，可以去做做近10年的真卷。两者结合着做做，有难有易，开拓视野，也会提升信心。中考首字母真的没有那么难！
挖空首字母后的文章：
Are you familiar with the name Liu Jingyang （刘景扬）？I guess many people have never heard of her. She was the surprise 1.w______ of the women’s 100-meter hurdles(跨栏赛）at the National Games last November, finishing ahead of all the favorites, including the better-known Wu Yanni and Xia Sining. With her short, practical haircut and no makeup （化妆），the 28-year-old from Guangdong looked rather modest. When she stood on the podium (领奖台）to 2.r________ her gold medal, she was even wearing an old pair of running shoes.
Liu is what I would call a "hard-working swan." Swans have a natural beauty. With their long necks and smooth, silky feathers, they sail across the water with ease. Few people 3.n_____ what's going on underwater. Beneath the surface, the swans' webbed feet are paddling (游水）with as much effort as a Dragon Boat racer.
There is an ancient Chinese saying that goes, "The sky doesn't say how high it is, and the ground doesn't say how deep it is." It 4.r_______ people to be modest. Just as great things never need to advertise their own greatness, we don't have to tell everyone how smart or talented we are. People will 5.r_______ our ability through our actions.
I once had a student named Helen. She was very shy, and at first, I thought her English was poor. However, her written English was 6.e_______ . One day, I invited her to my office for a chat. It took her a few minutes to relax, but then she began answering my questions, and I 7. d_________ that her spoken English was surprisingly good as well. She told me that she liked to read English books and watch English movies. When I asked her why she was so 8.q_______ in class, she replied, "I don't want the other students to think I'm showing off. Besides, I think I learn more from you just by listening."
There are many students like Helen and many athletes like Liu Jingyang. They are modest, but they should 9.n_______be underestimated(低估）. Beneath the surface, they are paddling furiously, just like swans.
答案：
1.winner
2.receive
3.notice
4.reminds
5.recognize
6.excellent
7.discovered
8.quiet
9.never
这样的挖空，最好有备课组老师一起讨论，挖出来的词一定会更妙。有兴趣的老师，可以在留言区分享，自己会挖哪些词？
参考译文：做一只勤奋的天鹅
你熟悉叶静阳这个名字吗？我猜很多人都没听说过她。她是去年11月全国运动会女子100米跨栏的意外获胜者，力压包括知名选手吴艳妮、夏思凝在内的热门选手，拔得头筹。这位28岁的姑娘来自广西，素面朝天，打扮朴素。站在领奖台上领取金牌时，她甚至穿着一双旧跑鞋。
这就是我所说的“勤奋的天鹅”。天鹅天生丽质，没人会称它们“笨拙”——它们轻松地在水面游弋，很少有人注意到水下的动静：天鹅带蹼的脚正像龙舟选手那样奋力划水。
中国有句古谚：“天不言其高，地不言其厚。”它提醒人们要保持谦逊：伟大的事物无需自夸，我们不必逢人便说自己多聪明、多有天赋，人们会通过我们的行动，首先认可我们的能力。
我曾有个叫海伦的学生，她非常害羞，上课从不发言。我原以为她的英语很差，然而，她的书面英语很棒。有一天我请她来办公室聊天。她花了几分钟放松下来，然后开始流畅地回答我的问题。我还发现她喜欢读英文书和看英文电影。我问她为什么在课堂上这么安静，她回答：“我不想像其他学生那样炫耀。而且我觉得只是倾听也能学到很多。”
像海伦这样的学生还有很多，像叶静阳这样的运动员也不少——他们默默无闻，却不应被低估。水面之下，他们正像天鹅一样奋力划水。
Word Bank
• surprise winner：意外获胜者，爆冷夺胜者
• modest：adj. 低调的，谦虚的
• hard-working：adj. 勤奋努力的
• effort：n. 努力
• The sky doesn’t say how high it is. The ground doesn’t say how deep it is.
天不言其高，地不言其厚。
• familiar：/fəˈmɪliə(r)/ adj. 熟悉的
• practical：/ˈpræktɪkl/ adj. 务实的
• beneath：/bɪˈniːθ/ prep. 在……下面
• effort：/ˈefət/ n. 努力
• remind：/rɪˈmaɪnd/ v. 提醒
• advertise：/ˈædvətaɪz/ v. 宣扬
• recognize：/ˈrekəɡnaɪz/ v. 意识到，认可
• show off：炫耀
❤️文末金句分享
With flowers blooming in your heart, why fear the length of the road? Those persistences that seem unremarkable will eventually converge into a light that illuminates the path ahead.
心有繁花，何惧路长，那些看似不起波澜的坚持，终将汇成照亮前路的光。
今日的碎碎念念就分享到这里了🥰
期待明天！
