WhenIwasahighschoolstudentmathematicslookedlikeabighurdle（障碍）formeand

severalofmyclassmates．WhenwereachedtheninthclasswegotMr．Iyerastrictmathsteacher

whowasalsoourclassteacher．Healwaysstucktohisdiscipline．Wehadtoarriveontimepayund

ividedattentiontohislecturesanddarednotneglectanyofhishomework．

Evensoasourclassteacherwegottoknowhimbetter．Noticingsomeofusidgetingnedayasthemid-termexamsapproachedhestoppedsolvingamathematicalproblemtoaskuswhy．“There’stoomuchtodo”wesighed．“We’reafraidwe’llnevermanagetofinishourrevisionbeforethe

exams．”

“Nothingisimpossible”Mr．Iyertoldus．“Thisclassroomisonthesecondfloor．Doyouhaveaproblemreachinghere?”

Wereactedwithblankstares．

“Noyoudon’t!”hesaidansweringhisownquestion．“Youhaveastaircasetohelpyouclimbuptothislevel．Nooneexpectsyoutomakeitintwogiantleaps．Yousimplytakeonestepatatime．Anytaskcanbesolvedifyoufocusontheimmediateactiontobetaken．Therestwilltakecareofitselfifyoukeepatit．Onestepatatime．That’sthesecret．”

Thenhewrotedownanoldmottoontheblackboard—thelongestjourneystartswithasinglestep．Havingheardhisstaircaseanalogy（比拟）weunderstoodwhyheaskedusthequestionandwesawhiminanewlight．

Mostofmyclassmatesscoreddistinctionsinmaths．AndIwentontobecomeanEnglishteacher．TothisdaywheneverIpassonMr．Iyer’sinvaluableadvicetomyownstudentstheybrightenupattheprospectofalighteracademicburden．

24．hatcanwelearnfromthefirstparagraph?

A．Mathswasdifficultformostoftheauthor’sclassmates．

B．ThestudentsthoughtMr．Iyerwasnotagoodteacher．

C．Mr．Iyerwouldpunishthestudentsneglectinghisdiscipline．

D．ThestudentsshowedgreatfeartoMr．Iyer．

25．heunderlinedword“fidgeting”inParagraph2probablymeans“”．

A．excited B．nervous C．hardworking D．calm

26．hydidtheauthorandhisclassmatesreactwithblankstares?

A．BecausetheyweretootiredtounderstandwhatMr．Iyersaid．

B．Becausetheyfeltsurprisedatsuc