Whenthenarratorreturnstohisoldhighschoolasateacherheexperiencesasurprisingreminderofhislifethereasastudent.Readtheselectionandanswerthequestionsthatfollow.
IConfess...
byWeiWenjuan
voice.
“MayIcomein?” rangoutaclear
“Comein.” Iknewitwas the boywho
authorityatfirstinordertoletthenaughtierchildrenknow whowas incharge;ifyougave themaninch, theywould takea
monitoreddisciplineinmyclass. “Whatis
it?”
“Mr.Wei,Wang Weihas carvedcharactersinhisdesk top.”
“What? Send him tomeatonce!
Whatnonsenseisthis?”
Iquicklystoodup,pacedupand downand consideredhowIshouldhandlethis. Itwas acase ofseveredamagetopublicproperty.
6Ihad onlyrecentlygraduatedfromteachertrainingcollege and had beenassignedtowork atthe samehigh school
thatImyselfhad attended–LinhuJuniorHigh.Theschoolhad showngreatfaithinmeand had put meinchargeoftheeighthgraders.Ihad drawnonallmyreservesofstrengthand had vowedtomyselfnottoletmysuperiorsdown. Ihad set myself strictstandardsand,asIhad hoped,myhardworkhad beguntopayoff. After onlyhalf a
term,the school’ssplendidred flagofcitationhad been broughtintodecoratethe wall ofmyclassroom. Ihad feltthesamesenseofhappysatisfactionthatIgotwheneatinganicecreamonahotsummer’sday. Content,Ineverthelessworkedeven harder.ThelastthingIexpectedwas an incidentlikethis.
“MayIcomein?” Wang Weiaskedshyly,standingawkwardlyinthe doorway.
“Yes. Comein!” Iroaredfiercely.InallthetimeIhad been thereIhad neverusedsuch aharshvoicetochastiseastudent.“Wang Wei...standupstraight!”
9Othermore experiencedteachershadtoldmethatitwas importanttoexertone’s
yard.Wang Weiwasobviouslyterrified. He
was tremblingfromheadtofoot,whileawkwardlystandingatattention. Acombinationofterrorand guiltflashedinhiseyes.
“Iwantan explanation!Whydidyoufeelitnecessarytocarvecharactersinthedesk top?” Iwas tooangrytoemploytheinvestigativemethodIhad originallyintendedtouse. InsteadIcame straighttothe point.
“I...Ididn’tdoit.” Heraisedhishead.“Ifyoudon’tbelieveme,sir, youcangoand ...”
“Goand what?” Iinterruptedabruptly.Morethantwomonthsofteachingexperiencehad taughtmethatIshouldnotlethim argue.Ifthe atmosphererelaxed,itwould beeven hardertosorthim out. “Whywould anyoneaccuseyoufornoreason?Outofaclass ofmore thanfifty,whywould theypickonyououtofthe blue?”
Wang Wei’slipstrembledand heclearlywas unabletoarticulatewhathewantedtosay. Instead,hedroppedhis eyes,and withgreateffortstammered,“I...I...”But before hecould finishhis sentencetearswere rollingdown his cheeks.
“Admittingone’smistakesandchangingone’sways isthe sign ofagoodstudent.” ThenIsaid,inaslightlysoftenedtone, “Iwantyoutoconsiderforyourselfhowthismattershouldberesolved. Theschoolrulesstatethatyoumustconfesstoalltheteachersand students,and reimbursethe
costofthe damagedone. Prepareyourselffor
this.”
“Sir,I...Ireallydidnot doit.”Sincehewas still tryingtodeny it,I
triedanotherangle.Inanattempttotraphim, Isuddenlyasked,“Whatiscarvedintothe desk?”
“Idon’tknow. The charactersareall
twisted.Ican’treadthem.”
“Whatdoyoumean‘twisted’? Doyoumeanthe sortofcharactersyoufindonaseal?” Iwantedtolaugh;atthe sametimeIthoughtitratherodd. Normally,eighthgradersdon’tknow howtowritesealcharacters. Amore thoroughinvestigationinto the matterseemednecessary.
Betweenclasses,ItookWang Wei,puffy-faced,back tohis ownclassroom.Tensionimmediatelysettledoverthe wholeclass.Thepupilslooked atmesteadilyandtheairintheclassroomwas still.
IwentdirectlytoWang Wei’sdesk
and looked atitcarefully.Indistinctcarvingswere justvisibleinthe left-handcorner.They had obviouslybeen inscribedtherealongtimeago.
“These areancientcharacters,aren’tthey,sir?”onepupilaskedcuriously.
Ibentoverand triedtoidentifythem.Ireadthemaloud,withoutregisteringtheir
meaning: “Wei...”Suddenly,Ifeltthebloodrushtomyhead! Wasn’tthatmyownnamecarvedinthoseelongatedsealcharacters?The stylewas sofamiliar;thecharactershad tohavebeen carvedbymyownhand. Beneaththemwas anotherlineofcharacterswritteninthe Song-dynastystyle:“Inmemoryofmygraduation.” Thedatefollowed. Ohno,howdreadful! NowIremembered.
“Thesamelastnameasyou,sir?”“Whatare the lasttwocharacters?”
Ifeltquitedizzy, and atalossforwords. I
was ashamedtoshow myface.“Eh...um...They’re...”
“What’s the matter,sir?”
“Mr.Weiisill.”
“Mr.Wei,letmetakeyoutorest.”“No,no! I’mnotill.Children,I...”I
could notgoon. Iturnedand wentuptothe
blackboard.Ipickedupapieceofchalkandcopied the charactersfromthe desk ontotheblackboard,thenturnedand lookedanxiouslyatthe pupils. “Class,Iwanttoconfess.”
“Confess? Ourteacherisgoingto
makeaconfession?
“Yes,Iconfess...”
"IConfess..."byWeiWenjuanfromOne-MinuteStories.Copyright©1992, publishedbytheChineseLiterature
Press.
1.Atthebeginningofthe selection,whatisthenarrator’ssolutiontotheproblemofdiscipliningstudents?
AAlwayskeep control.
BKeep calm indifficultsituations.
CListentowhatthe studenthas tosay.
DTrytounderstandwhythestudentmisbehaved.
2.Inparagraph6,the narratordescribesconflictingemotionsaboutreturning
tohis formerschooltobeateacher.Whatwere thoseemotions?
Anostalgiaatreturningtotheschooland anticipationofthefuture
Bresponsibilityatbeing ateacherand the desiretobefriendswithstudents
Chappinessatthe school’sconfidenceinhim and fearthathewilllettheschool down
Dprideinhisclass’saccomplishmentsanddisappointmentatWang Wei’sactions
3.Thenarratorstatesthathe“had neverusedsuch aharshvoicetochastiseastudent.” Whatdoeschastisemean?
Atoscold
Btopenalize
Ctogetaconfessionfrom
Dtobecruel and unfairto
4.Inparagraph9,the narratorsays ofWang Wei,“Acombinationofterrorandguiltflashedinhiseyes.” Whatdoesthisstatementindicateaboutthenarrator’sbeliefs?
AHewas angryand feltsatisfactionthatWang Weifeltterrifiedofhim.
BHewas asympatheticpersonandfeltguiltyathavingtopunishWang Wei.
CHeknewthatWang Weiwashonestand was confusedbyWang Wei’sguiltyreaction.
DHeassumedthatWang Weiwas guiltyand interpreted
Wang Wei’sactionstosupporthisbelief.
5.Howdothe narrator’sfeelingschangefromthe beginningofthe selectiontothe end?
Afromcompassionatetounsympathetic
Bfromencouragedtoconfused
Cfromangrytoashamed
Dfromsad tohappy
6.Whatwould bedifferentaboutthisselectionifthe narratorhad beenassignedtoteachsomewhereotherthanLinhuJuniorHigh?
AThenarratorwould nothavehadsomanyproblemstudents.
BThenarratorwould feelasifhehad more authority.
CThenarratorwould nothaveworkedsohardathis job.
DThenarratorwould nothavehadtoconfess tohis students.
EndofSet
Incompliancewithfederallaw, includingtheprovisionsofTitleIXoftheEducationAmendmentsof
1972, theDepartmentofPublicInstructiondoesnot
discriminateonthebasis ofrace,sex,religion,color,nationalorethnicorigin,age,disability,ormilitaryservice initspolicies,programs,activities,admissionsoremployment.
Answersto
Grade8ReadingComprehensionSampleItems
QuestionCorrectObjective
PassageTitle / Number / Answer / Category / ThinkingSkill / NumberIConfess / 1 / A / Interpretation / Analyzing / 5.01
IConfess / 2 / C / Interpretation / Analyzing / 5.01
IConfess / 3 / A / Cognition / Analyzing / 6.01
IConfess / 4 / D / Interpretation / Analyzing / 5.01
IConfess / 5 / C / CriticalStance / Analyzing / 5.01
IConfess / 6 / D / CriticalStance / Analyzing / 5.01
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