Would–be language teachers everywhere have one thing in common: they all want some recognition of their professional status and skills, and a job. The former requirement is obviously important on a personal level, but it is vital if you are to have any chance of finding work.
Ten years ago, the situation was very different. In virtually every developing country, and in many developed countries as well, being a native English speaker was enough to get you employed as an English teacher.
Now employers will only look at teachers who have the knowledge, the skills and attitudes to teach English effectively. The result of this has been to raise non-native English teachers to the same status as their native counter-parts（相对应的人）--- something they have always deserved but seldom enjoyed. Non-natives are happy--- linguistic discrimination（语言上的歧视）is a thing of the past.
An ongoing research project, funded by the University of Cambridge, asked a sample of teachers, educators and employers in more than 40 countries whether they regarded the native /non-native speakers distinction as being at all important. “No” was the answer. As long as candidates can teach and had the required level of English, it didn’t matter who they were and where they came from. Thus, a new form of discrimination--- this time justified because it singled out the unqualified--- liberated the linguistically oppressed（受压迫的）. But the Cambridge did more than just that: it confirmed that the needs of native and non-native teachers were extremely similar.
1. The selection of English teachers used to be mainly based on ________.
2.What did non-native English teachers deserve but seldom enjoy?
3. What kind of people can now find a job as an English teacher?
4. What is the result of the “new form of discrimination”(Line 5, Para.4)?
5. The phrase “the linguistically oppressed”(Line 6, Para. 4) refers to those who were_________.
1999年1月考题
文章导读
一个英语教师的标准是什么？是不是只要是a native English speaker就可以了呢？A native English speaker是否就比a non-native English speaker强呢？该篇短文对比了对英语教师过去和现在的职业要求和资格评价的情况，介绍了现在对本族语英语教师和非本族语英语教师一视同仁的变化。
第一题 The selection of English teachers used to be mainly based on ________.
题解：本题的重要线索是题干中的“used to”。文章的第二段提到“十年前，……只要是a native English speaker，你就足以成为一名英语教师了”。换句话说，就是过去选择英语教师的标准就是看你是不是a native English speaker。所以本题的正确答案可以是：…whether they were English speakers。
