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Yang Zhiping, a female delegate to the 16th CPC National Congress, is a senior English teacher at Yinying Middle School in Yangquan City, Shanxi Province. She has led more than 480 students to prestigious universities including Tsinghua, Peking and Nankai during the past 20 years.
Both the students in the middle school and colleagues all think highly of Yang for her devotion to promoting the education level of the school. Throwing herself wholly into teaching, Yang could recite the names of three classes, totaling more than 150 students, within a week. More unbelievable still is that she can return students' homework book to the exact place they sit. Her efforts can be summarized by her doctrine: People wish to have more fortunes. "The graduates I have taught are like priceless treasure to me," she said.
The most difficult job for a teacher is to get challenged students back on the study track. However, this is no longer a hard job for Yang who has the patience and kind-heartedness of a saint. She once met a challenged student who could only get 40 percent in English exams. Frequent failures in this subject led the student loosing confidence in English. After one year of Yang's teaching and assistance a miracle happened. The student was eventually admitted into a well-known university.
Yang's home is located downtown from Yangquan City, about eight kilometers away from the middle school where she works, yet she has never once been late for a class. Even on the day she got married, the day before she gave birth to her son and the day her mother died she was in the classroom, teaching her beloved students. Yang's efforts paid dividends with her class taking in a leading edge in Yangquan City and some students snatching prizes in a nationwide English competition.
In addition to her teaching achievements, Yang has also written more than ten research papers on teaching methods. Her works were warmly received by other teachers and Yang was awarded by provincial and municipal governments for her efforts. The English Exercise-book for Senior High School Students, Grade I, in particular, is useful and welcomed by both students and teachers.
Yang has been awarded "National Excellent Teacher," "Shanxi Model Worker," "Yangquan Woman Pace-setter" and elected as a delegate to the 16th CPC National Congress this year.
(China.org.cn translated by James Liu, November 19, 2002)
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