What is a good teacher? Someone may say: a strict one or a friendly one, and even a motherly one. I think they're all right, but my idea .of a good teacher is like this.

First, a good teacher should do well in teaching¹. That's his duty, the most important duty. A good teacher can make each of his class interesting and lively. He can make difficult knowledge easy to understand. But that is not enough.

Of course, a real good teacher should know more about this. So, second, a good teacher should teach his students how to be a real person. If he does like this, he can often give us some good advice on how to get on well with each other, how to do something in order, how to do things better and better, and so on. That would be very reliable² and important for us students all our lives. We may get much more we need than we get from the books, just because of a good teacher.

And thirdly, a good teacher isn't only a teacher, but also a friend, a good and a close friend. When his students are in trouble or something terrible happens to us, a good teacher can help us believe in ourselves, and also stand up again, just like one of our friends. And maybe this kind of friends is a little special (we are not of the same age, and we do different jobs). But we still like to have such a kind of friend. Because an old saying goes: A friend in need is a friend indeed³. That's true.

OK. What do you think of a good teacher now? A good teacher is just like a good book, but you can't finish reading⁴ it for-ever. A good teacher is just like a lamp tower, but it cannot go out in your mind forever⁵. This is my idea of a good teacher, and it's ONLY my idea. It can't tell us whether each teacher is good. Ev-ery teacher has got his own merit⁶. So, every teacher is worth us respecting⁷.

指导教师：叶继坚