If you had been in my classes in the early McKee days , you would have seen a skinny young man in his late twenties with messy black hair , eyes that looked with a sign of infection , bad teeth and the hangdog look you see on immigrants in Ellis Island photographs or on pickpockets being arrested .
There were reasons for the hangdog look .
I was born in New York and taken to Ireland before I was four . I had three brothers . My father , an alcoholic , wild man , great patriot , always ready to die for Ireland , abandoned us when I was ten . A baby sister died , twin boys died , two boys were born . My mother begged for food , clothing , and coal to boil water for the tea . Neighbors told her to place us in an orphanage , a place for homeless kids . No , no , never . The shame of it . She hung on . We grew . My brothers and I left school at fourteen , worked , dreamed of America and , one by one , sailed away . my mother followed with the youngest , expecting to live happily ever after . That’s what you are supposed to do in America , but she never had a moment of happy-ever-after .
In New York I worked at laboring jobs till I was put into the United States Army . After two years in Germany I went to college on the GI Bill program to become a teacher . In college there were courses on literature and composition . There were courses on how to teach by professors who did not know how to teach . After college I went to McKee , where I put what I had learnt to trial and embarrassed myself when the students considered me a fool .
. What is a hangdog look ?
A.happy | B.disappointed | C.discouraged | D.angry |
. It can be inferred from this passage that __________ .
A.before the author went to Ireland , he lived in New York . |
B.the mother is living a joyful life in America with her little son |
C.there are four sons in this Irish family living in America |
D.the author is now a young teacher in his twenties teaching in a high school |
. Which of the following statements is TRUE ?
A.Someone recommended the mother give the children away to kind people . |
B.The author’s father sacrificed himself for his beloved homeland . |
C.The author got into college because he was hard-working . |
D.The author didn’t know much about how to teach when he first started . |
. In what way is the passage mainly developed ?
A.Presenting effects and analyzing the causes . |
B.Giving typical examples . |
C.Describing things in space order . |
D.Presenting an idea and arguing in favor of it . |