1 / 47 句0 词已学
【阅读理解】Reading: The Last Bell
Zhou Lan had been a head teacher at Jiangwan Road Primary for twenty-four years, but the school itself had stood since 1962.
Its bell tower was cracked, and the playground was no larger than four parking spaces.
Every morning at 6:40 she stood at the gate with a paper handout, calling out names as forty-three children lined up.
She had memorised every name, and she would not let anyone be late.
The school had been told it would close within two years; the land was worth 410 million yuan.
That autumn, a twelve-year-old boy named He Wei could not sit still.
He spun his pen, tapped the desk, and whispered during maths.
Standard tests labelled him a probable failure, but Zhou Lan suspected he was simply bored.
There was no running track, only a treadmill in a damp gym.
So she gave him a mission: map every tree on the street, noting its bark, span, and moisture.
By mid-October he had recorded 208 trees with rough accuracy that impressed her.
"You have a gift," she told him. "Do not let a test disqualify you."
Meanwhile, enrolment fell; that year 96 pupils left for private schools, and the district's budget shrank by 11 per cent.
In March came the official notice: the campus was to be sold, and the children sent to a school three miles away.
A committee of eleven mothers collected 2,300 signatures, but the paperwork had a missing stamp.
Zhou Lan advised them to fight with data.
She spent six weeks compiling a report: 208 trees, 40 years of records, 1,200 former pupils, and air quality readings 18 per cent better than the district average.
Investors wanted a shopping complex worth 410 million yuan.
On 9 June the council held a hearing where He Wei, now thirteen, spoke for four minutes.
His voice shook as he said, "The trees are alive."
The sale was approved; compensation of 28 million yuan was set aside for a new school block, but the playground would shrink by 60 per cent.
"You can't fight a ratio," an official said.
Zhou Lan signed the paper with a steady hand, feeling no triumph, only a quiet dignity in finishing the job.
Work began on 3 September; the 208 trees came down in nineteen days.
He Wei watched from a bus, vomited once, then sat silent.
"I'm sorry," Zhou Lan said. "Don't be," he replied. "You taught us to count."
The new school opened in 2021 with a small yard 12 metres by 30.
Zhou Lan retired in 2022 after 31 years and now lives near the old site, where a commercial tower stands.
She keeps a folder of 208 pressed leaves.
Last month she met He Wei again, now twenty and studying botany.
They stood on the pavement where the gate used to be.
He pointed to a thin sapling, half a metre tall, growing from a crack in the concrete.
"A survivor," he said.
Zhou Lan knelt down, unsure if it would live, and brushed the small leaf without speaking.
Questions
1. What was He Wei's task given by Zhou Lan?
A. To collect signatures from parents. B. To compile a report on air quality. C. To map every tree on the street. D. To speak at the council hearing.
2. How many trees did He Wei record by mid-October?
A. 96 B. 1200 C. 208 D. 2300
3. What does the word "cohesion" in paragraph 4 most likely mean?
A. The state of being united or connected. B. The quality of being expensive. C. The feeling of sadness. D. The act of resisting change.
4. What can be inferred about Zhou Lan's attitude when she signed the paper?
A. She was confident that the trees would be saved. B. She was angry and refused to accept the decision. C. She accepted the outcome with quiet dignity. D. She was relieved that the school would be rebuilt.
5. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The importance of standardized testing. B. The economic benefits of selling school land. C. A teacher's fight to save a school and the quiet aftermath. D. A boy's rise to fame through botany.