All families are unique，but our family truly stands out. I am the middle child，sandwiched between two brothers. I have got an older brother Jeffrey，23 months older than me，and a younger brother Robbie，5 years younger than me. I have two loving parents，who have taught me a lot，but no one has influenced my life more than my older brother Jeffrey. Jeffrey was diagnosed with autism ( 自闭症) 6 months after I was born. His unique view of the world has always been typical to me，since it is all I have ever known.
When I was little，I became a natural therapist! My mom spent many hours teaching Jeffrey simple tasks，tasks that I grasped without formal teaching. Through personal experience I became a teacher and didn??t even know it. I followed my parents??lead and quickly caught on to the importance of being assertive，yet supportive，in order to gain Jeffrey??s interest. When we would play，I was the one who took the lead. Jeffrey didn??t know how to play，how to talk，how to interact with other children，so I would show him，model for him and prompt him. Jeffrey didn??t always understand what others were saying to him，so I would interpret it for him.
As we grew older，our relationship changed. As if adolescence isn??t hard enough，I experienced it with the added challenge of having a brother who stood out.
All I wanted was to NOT be noticed，but whenever I was with Jeffrey I suddenly stood out too. This was an uncomfortable time for me. I felt conflicted because what was“ normal”to me and my family，was atypical to the people I began to associate with. Making new friends at middle school was easy，but having them over my house was difficult. In my self-absorbed adolescence，I felt Jeffrey??s atypical behaviors were a reflection on me. I felt as if I had to explain Jeffrey??s behaviors before my new friends even entered the door . Since this was difficult to do，I avoided having friends over. I just wanted my family to be like everyone else??s. I just wanted to fit in.
As I matured，I became more comfortable with myself and more importantly,Jeffrey??s disability. As I gained self -confidence，I began to invite more friends over to hang out at my house. I quickly realized that Jeffrey??s unique behaviors did not change the way my friends felt about me. On the contrary，his autism was often the topic of discussion. My friends were intrigued by Jeffrey??s behaviors. They soon noticed he could do many things better than the average person. His ability to memorize and repeat pieces of information baffled us. I suddenly felt proud to have a brother unlike anyone else.
Growing up with a brother with autism has taught me so much about myself. He has taught me patience. He has taught me to be more understanding of differences. He has taught me to be more compassionate toward others. He has taught me to accept people for who they are，not what they look like. He has taught me about the importance of diversity. All these years I thought I was Jeffrey??s teacher，but I now realize that he was mine.
1. The author??s favorite teacher was .
A. his parent B. one of the teachers at middle school
C. his brother D. himself
2. It was difficult for the author to invite his classmates of middle school to his home,because at that time.
A. he had got a brother who stood out
B. he couldn??t get along with them
C. his parents didn??t allow him to do so
D. he felt ashamed of having got a disabled brother
3. What does the phrase of“ stand out”mean in the passage? It means .
A. be outstanding B. move away and stand apart
C. refuse to join in an activity D. be seen clearly
4. The last sentence of this passage means that the author??s disabled brother.
A. made him learn the social abilities to deal with different people and situations in the real society
B. enabled him to have self-confidence
C. taught him a lot of knowledge
D. both A and B
( 3)
Charles Johnson was a real writer. I had always wanted to meet one. I had always wanted to be one. His classes were everything I had hoped college would be.
He worked us hard. We had big，challenging assignments every day. On Monday we would have to describe a single event through the eyes of five radically different people，and Tuesday we??d have to write a thousand word sentence without using the word“and”. Crazy stuff，fun stuff，difficult stuff . I saved the assignment sheets and,
to this day，hand out copies to people who ask how I became a writer.
Over the years I spent at the UW，Johnson??s classes took on a familiar pattern.
The first week the class would meet in a regular classroom，where the 30 to 40 people would learn what the workload would be. Within a week we??d be down to five people and class would be held in the alternate little conference room that he kept reserved for the right time. Then the real class would begin. He had the mixture of humor and dedication necessary to deal with students like us: a collection of snotty，deadly serious little bastards ( 讨厌鬼) who thought they were going to be the next Charles Bukowski or Kathy Acker. His direction was gentle but firm.
It turned out that I was better at writing disposable humor for television，the great Satan. But every now and then，I see Charles Johnson in a magazine getting a literary award or the critical praise that he richly deserves. I hold up the magazine and tell everybody within earshot that I used to study with this guy. It??s great to remember a time when I thought all things were possible and I was one of the good guys.
1. Johnson dismissed some students from his class by .
A. asking them to leave by themselves
B. giving his students a lot of difficult homework to do in the first week
C. telling his students in the first week that they would do a lot of difficult homework if they wanted to attend his classes
D. asking his students to write a thousand word sentence without using the word“ and”
2. In the eyes of Johnson，the author was .
A. one of his students B. one of the troublemakers
C. one of the hard-working students D. one of the potential writers
3. What does the word“ stuff”( line 5) refer to? It means .
A. material B. goods C. content D. homework
4. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Johnson??s classes were always dull because they took on a familiar pattern.
B. Johnson was both a qualified and responsible teacher ，and a good writer.
C. The author was proud of being a student of Charles Johnson.
D. It gives the author a good feeling to recall the past days.
