We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Although we are used to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is rumor (谣言).
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on. Then the last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own feelings to a story, trying to improve it, marking it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.
This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.According to the passage, passive learning may occur when a person is _______.
| A．doing a medical experiment | B．solving a math problem |
| C．watching news on TV | D．doing scientific reasoning |
The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.
| A．active learning | B．knowledge | C．communication | D．passive learning |
The author mentions the game Rumor to show that _____.
| A．a message may be changed when being passed on |
| B．a message should be delivered in different ways |
| C．people may have problems with their sense of hearing |
| D．people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Active learning is less important. |
| B．Passive learning may not be dependable. |
| C．Active learning occurs more frequently. |
| D．Passive learning is not found among scholars. |
America is growing older. Fifty years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. Today, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect American society in many ways — education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the aging of America has made us a very different society — one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior is suitable at various ages.
A person’s age no longer tells you anything about his/ her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29-year-old university president or a 35-year-old grandmother, or a 70-year-old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.
Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother or my father was at my age.” No one says “Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.
1. It can be learned from the text that the aging of the population in America ________.
A. has made people feel younger B. has changed people’s social position
C. has changed people’s understanding of age D. has slowed down the country’s social development
2. The underlined word “one” refers to ________.
A. a society B. AmericaC. a place D. population
3. “Act your age” means people should ________.
A. be active when they are old B. do the right thing at the right age
C. show respect to their parents young or old D. take more physical exercises suitable to their age
4. If a’ 25-year-old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it _________.
A. normal B. wonderful C. unbelievable D. unreasonable
When several different people look at the same person, it’s not unusual for each of them to see different things; when you alone observe one behavior or one person at two different times, you may see different things. The following are but some of the factors that lead to these changing perceptions(感知认可)
(1) Each person’s perceptions of others are formed by his or her own cultural conditioning education, and personal experiences.
(2) Sometimes perceptions differ because of what we choose to observe and how we deal with what we’ve observed. It is not necessarily true that person’s perception is based on observations of a particular person. Your observations may be totally controlled by what others have told you about this person; or you may focus (聚集) primarily on the situation or role relationship. Most people do not use the same yardstick (标准)to measure their parents, their friends, and strangers.
(3) Sometimes we see only what we want to see or don’t see what may be obvious to others because of our own needs, desires, or temporary emotional states. This is a process known as selective perception. Selective perception is obviously more difficult when contradictory (矛盾的) information is particularly obvious, but it can be done. We can ignore (忽视) the stimulus He’s basically a good boy so what I saw was not shoplifting.
We can reduce the importance of the contradictory information — All kids (孩子) get into mischief (顽皮). Taking a book from the bookstore isn’t such a big deal. "We can change the meaning of the contradictory information." It wasn’t shoplifting because he was going to pay for it later. (from www.nmet113.com)
9. The first factor given by the author that affects our perception is ________.
A. the abilities of one’s auditory (听觉的) and visual (视觉的) sensors
B. cultural background and personal experiences
C. experiences one learns from others
D. critical measures taken by other people
10. While observing a particular person, ________.
A. one is likely to take all aspects (方面) to consideration
B. one pays more attention to his/her advantages
C. children often differ from grown-ups in perception
D. one tends to choose certain cues (提示) to look for
11. Observation of the same person by two people at the same time may differ because________.
A. their measuring yardsticks are not the same
B. either of them may be slow to catch information
C. the time for observation is not long enough
D. each of them uses different language to express his/her impressions
12. The word "stimulus" in paragraph 4 refers to________.
A. something attractive B. selective perception
C. contradictory information D. shoplifting
13. The worst thing in selective perception is that________.
A. perceived information runs against your desire
B. facts can be totally ignored or distorted (扭曲)
C. importance of the contradictory information can be overrated (估计过高)
D. the same information may not be dealt with in the same way
Biomass energy (生物能).often forgotten as a promising alternative (替代物) to oil, received its day in the sun with the gathering of the Bio-Energy World Congress and Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, late in April, 1990. Nearly 1, 700 scientists, businessmen, and policy-makers, one-quarter from the foreign nations, gathered for a week to discuss various means of squeezing usable energy out of trees, crops, manure, seaweed, algae, and urban waste. Biomass in the United States contributes 2. 5 percent of the total supply, but this amount can be doubled by 2000 and then doubled again by the year 2010.
Eight percent of Sweden’s energy supply, for example, is presently coming from wood bark and pulp remainings, Sweden intends to raise this percentage by more intensive harvesting of waste food lying around in forests, and through the planting of so-called energy forests of fast-growing trees such as willow and birch.
Brazil is frequently pointed to as a nation with a major successful investment (投资)in energy coming from grains: it presently runs 330,000 automobiles on a water and alcohol (酒精) mixture, replacing 10 percent of its previous oil supply. Brazilian representatives (代表) at the conference said they wish to double this in five years, with a final goal of total replacement. Most of the cars are built at the factory to use the mixture, while older models are changed through low-cost government programs.
4. In Line 2, the phrase received its day in the sun most probably means ________.
A. came to the public mind B. had its turn in the sunlight
C. was regarded as a solar energy D. came from the energy of the sun
5. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?
A. 1, 700 scientists attended the conference.
B. A quarter of American businessmen were present at the conference.
C. Foreign policy-makers accounted for a quarter.
D. Three-quarters of the representatives were from the U. S.
6. Of the total supply in 2010, biomass in the U. S. will be________.
A. 5% B.20% C.10% D.15%
7. Which of the following is not regarded as biomass energy?
A. Willow and seaweed. B. Wood and grains.
C. Water and alcohol mixture. D. Crops and oil mixture.
8. A suitable title for this passage would be ________.
A. An Energy Conference B. Approval of Biomass Energy
C. Bio-Energy for Automobiles D. Keys to Energy Crisis
The baby boy, born at two minutes past midnight Thursday in a Beijing hospital, counted China’s 1.3 billionth citizen and the date, January 6, 2005, became the 1.3 Billion Population Day of China.
With 3,600 grams and 52 cm, the boy is in good condition. So far, the boy has no name. His mother is Lan Hui in her 31 with the Shell Group of Companies and the boy’s father is one staff from Air China.
"I am very happy, and I am the happiest man in the world," the boy’s father said.
Gu Xiulian, Vice-Chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee and President of the ACWF, visited the hospital to see the new coming citizen. Zhang Weiqing, director of National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) of China, awarded him the certificate and gifts.
China mainland would reach 1,299,880,000 by the end of 2004, with a daily net increase of 20,800 on average. Based on this statistics, on January 6, this population would top at 1. 3 billion. NPFPC had determined in advance that the first baby born in this hospital after midnight would be the symbolic 1.3 billionth Chinese.
On the same day, more than 20,000 other babies were added to China’s population list.
The nation’s population policy over the past 25 years has contributed to balanced development, delaying the date of the landmark figure by four years.
1. The baby is regarded as China’s 1. 3 billionth citizen because ________.
A. our population was just one less than 1.3 billion before his birth
B. he was the first baby China had on January 6,2005
C. he was lucky enough to be born at the right time and place
D. he was the healthiest of all born on the same day
2. The baby’s birth is worth so much attention because ________.
A. 1.3 billion is a landmark figure in China’s population statistics
B. 1.3 billion is a turning point in China’s population growth
C. the birth symbolizes China’s success in family planning
D. the birth makes China’s population large enough for celebration
3. Which statement is correct according to the statistical data?
A. In 2004 China had 20,800 babies born on an average day.
B. China’s population reached 1.3 billion by the end of January 5.
C. The exactly 1.3 billionth citizen should be born on January 5.
D. China’s actual population became over 20,000 larger on January 6
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12. The word ChoLESterol in the passage probably means
A. keeping cholesterol steady B. making cholesterol fall down
C. the level of cholesterol D. curing your diabetes
13. The purpose of this advertisement is ________.
A. to help doctors get more patients B. to help people with higher level of cholesterol
C. to obtain benefit from the booklet D. to make the organization well known