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①　One hundred thirty-five students, four teachers, one giant classroom: This is what 9th grade looks like at Westwood High School, in Mesa, Arizona’s largest school system. There, an innovative teaching model has taken hold, and is spreading to other schools in the district and beyond.

②　Five years ago, faced with high teacher turnover and declining student enrollment, Westwood’s leaders decided to try something different. Working with professors at Arizona State University’s teachers college, they piloted a classroom model known as team teaching, which allows teachers to dissolve the walls that separate their classes across physical or grade divides.

③　The teachers share large groups of students—sometimes 100 or more—and rotate between group instruction, one-on-one interventions, small study groups, or whatever the teachers as a team agree is a priority that day. What looks at times like chaos is in fact a carefully orchestrated plan: Each morning, the Westwood teams meet to hammer out a personalized program for every student the team will focus on that day.

④　By giving teachers more opportunity to collaborate, Mesa’s administrators hoped to fill staffing gaps and boost teacher morale and retention. Initial research suggests the gamble could pay off.

⑤　“Teachers are doing fantastic things, but it’s very rare a teacher walks into another room to see what’s happening,” said Andi Fourlis, superintendent of Mesa Public Schools. “Our profession is so slow to advance because we are working in isolation.”

⑥　Of course, overhauling teaching approaches can’t fix all the frustrations teachers have, such as low pay, but early results from Mesa show team teaching may be helping to reverse low morale. In a survey of hundreds of the district’s teachers, researchers found those who worked on teams reported greater job satisfaction, more frequent collaborations with colleagues, and more positive interactions with students.

⑦　Another benefit of teams, teachers say, is that they can help each other improve their instruction. During one planning session, English teacher Jeff Hall shared a performance appraisal with a science teacher: Her recent lecture on something she called “the central dogma of biology” had bewildered him and their other teammates.

⑧　“If the science is too confusing for me, can you imagine the frustration you feel as kids?” Hall said. But the science teacher, he said, wouldn’t have known about the confusion on her own.

⑨　The model is not for everyone. Some teachers approached about volunteering for a team have said they prefer to work alone. Team teaching can also be a scheduling nightmare, especially at schools like Westwood where only some staff work in teams. There are also thorny questions like how to evaluate four teachers on the performance of 135 students. But for the time being, it seems to be working.

1.1. What do we learn about team teaching from the passage?

A It is generally conducted in classrooms without walls.

B It allows students to choose teachers they favor most.

C It prioritizes peer work over classroom instruction.

D It is closely coordinated despite seeming confusion.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。第二段②句先引出韦斯特伍德高中试行的“团队教学”这一课堂模式。第三段对该模式展开具体介绍:教师们共同负责一大群学生,轮流开展各种教学活动;这种课堂模式有时看起来混乱无序,但实际上是精心策划的方案,每天早上都会经过教师团队的开会协商及计划制定。换言之,团队教学尽管看似混乱，但却是紧密协调过的。D项正确。

2.2. What does initial research suggest regarding Westwood’s innovative teaching model?

A It could help raise teachers’ pay.

B It could turn out to be a success.

C It could cut down overall costs.

D It could end up like a gamble.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。第四段②句指出,初步研究表明,这种冒险尝试可能会奏效。结合前文可知,“这种冒险尝试”指韦斯特伍德高中试行的创新教学模式“团队教学”,第四段①句说明该模式预期的奏效方式“通过给予教师更多的合作机会,来填补教师缺口,提高教师士气和留任率”。综合来看,初步研究的结果是该创新教学模式能取得成效。B项正确,选项中的 could turn out to be asuccess 对应第四段②句中的 could pay off。

3.3. What did superintendent Andi Fourlis say about the teaching profession?

A Morale cannot be boosted until teaching models are overhauled.

B Teachers are simply too busy to visit classes of their colleagues.

C Progress is slow due to lack of collaboration among teachers.

D Teachers often do fantastic things without being noticed.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。第五段介绍安迪·福里斯的观点:教师们虽工作出色,但很少去别的教室学习参观,教师这个职业发展如此缓慢,就是因为我们单打独干。换言之,教师之间缺乏合作导致该职业发展缓慢。C项正确。

4.4. What does the author want to show by citing English teacher Jeff Hall’s experience?

A English teachers and science teachers are complementary in performing their tasks.

B A teacher of arts and letters is completely puzzled by what a science teacher teaches.

C The new teaching model helps inform the teacher how their instruction is received.

D Science teachers will hardly know the confusion they create without a performance appraisal.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。第七段①句先介绍新教学模式“团队教学”的另一好处:能让教师互相帮助以改进教学。随后引用事例进行说明:英语教师杰夫·霍尔对一位理科教师的授课内容感到困惑,杰夫·霍尔认为倘若连自己都理解不了这一教学内容,孩子们更难以理解,(如果没有新教学模式提供的教师互助机会)那位理科教师自己是不知道学生可能存在类似困惑的。由此可见,作者意在通过杰夫·霍尔的经历说明“新教学模式有助于教师了解学生对教学内容的接受程度,以改进教学”。C项正确。

5.5. What does the author think is one of the difficult problems in implementing the new teaching model?

A What to do with teachers working alone.

B What to include in teaching schedules.

C How to recruit volunteers for a team.

D How to assess each teacher’s performance.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。末段先让步说明新教学模式存在的局限及实施方面的难题,再转而肯定其可行性。其中末段④句指出实施过程中棘手的问题“如何根据 135 名学生的表现来评估4位教师”,也即难题之一在于“每位教师的表现评估问题”。D项正确。