Susan Sontag(1933—2004) was one of the most noticeable figures in the world of literature. For more than 40 years she made it morally necessary to know everything—to read every book worth reading, to see every movie worth seeing. When she was still in her early 30s,publishing essays in such important magazines as Partisan Review,she appeared as the symbol of American culture life,trying hard to follow every new development in literature,film and art. With great effort and serious judgment,Sontag walked at the latest edges of world culture.
Seriousness was one of Sontag’s lifelong watchwords(格言),but at a time when the barriers between the well-educated and the poor-educated were obvious, she argued for a true openness to the pleasure of pop culture. In “Notes Camp”, the 1964 essay that first made her name,she explained what was then a little—known set of difficult understandings,through which she could not have been more famous.“Notes on Camp”,she wrote,represents “a victory of ‘form’ over ‘content’, ‘beauty’ over ‘morals’ ”.
By conviction(信念)she was a sensualist(感觉论者),but by nature she was a moralist(伦理学者),and in the works she published in the 1970s and 1980s,it was the latter side of her that came forward. In “Illness as Metaphor”—published in 1978,after she suffered cancer—she argued against the idea that cancer was somehow a special problem of repressed personalities(被压抑的性格),a concept that effectively blamed the victim for the disease. In fact,re-examining old positions was her lifelong habit.
In America,her story of a 19th century Polish actress who set up a perfect society in California,won the National Book Award in 2000. But it was as a tireless,all-purpose cultural view that she made her lasting fame.
“Sometimes,” she once said,“I feel that,in the end,all I am really defending…is the idea of seriousness,of true seriousness.”And in the end,she made us take it seriously too.
64.The underlined sentence in paragraph l means Sontag ____________.
A.was a symbol of American cultural life
B.developed world literature,film and art
C.published many essays about world culture
D.kept pace with the newest development of world culture
65.She first won her name through____________.
A.her story of a Polish actress
B.her book Illness as Metaphor
C.publishing essays in magazines like Partisan Review
D.her explanation of a set of difficult understandings
66.Susan Sontag’s lasting fame was made upon____________.
A.a tireless,all-purpose cultural view
B.her lifelong watchword: seriousness
C.publishing books on morals
D.enjoying books worth reading and movies worth seeing
67.From the works Susan published in the 1970s and 1980s,we can learn that _____.
A.she was more a moralist than a sensualist
B.she was more a sensualist than a moralist
C.she believed repressed personalities mainly led to illness
D.she would like to re-examine old positions
Some kids can't sit still for long. They have a hard time paying attention to just one thing. They're easily distracted(分神).They can get very impatient. They hate standing in line or waiting for their turn in a game or activity. They get bored pretty fast. They may also be impulsive—saying the first thing that comes to mind or interrupting someone else who's talking.
For certain kids, this problem is so severe(严重) that doctors have a name for it: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Perhaps as many as 1 out of every 20 kids under the age of 18 have characteristics of ADHD. Often, these kids have trouble getting through school and face other difficulties later in life.
Rizzo started developing the Virtual Classroom in 1999.He wanted to see if he could use it as a tool for testing and treating kids who have attention disorders.
To diagnose(诊断) ADHD, doctors typically test patients by giving them tasks that require attention. As part of one classic test, you watch letters flashed on a computer screen. Every time you see the letter “A” followed by the letter “X”,you have to press the space bar. If you're paying close attention, you'll register all the times this combination occurs. If not, you'll miss some.
The Virtual Classroom makes these tests more efficient, Rizzo says. In one experiment, he gave a group of kids the classic “A-X” test. Instead of looking at a computer screen in a doctor's office, though, the kids wore headsets that made it look like they were taking the test in a classroom.
“Basically what we found,”Rizzo says,“is that, in 20 minutes of testing with virtual reality,we replicated(复制) a finding that usually requires a couple hours of standard testing with computer screens in the psychologist's office.”The first paragraph mainly tells us _______.
A.how to find a patient with ADHD |
B.the behavior of some kids with ADHD |
C.kids with ADHD cannot sit still for a long time |
D.kids with ADHD are easily distracted |
Perhaps as many as _______ kids have characteristics of ADHD.
A. one out of every twenty kids
B. five percent kids less than 18 years old
C. one out of twenty kids at the age of 18
D. five percent kids more than age of 18 In the experiment, patients need to press the space bar, when _______.
A.see letters A following X | B.first see A then see B |
C.see letter X and A | D.see letters A followed by X |
The main idea of the last paragraph is _______.
A.in virtual classroom, we finish the test in 20 minutes |
B.the standard test with computer screen usually costs several hours |
C.the experiment is easy to do |
D.the result of the experiment |
Travel to China is a lifetime experience and a better way to understand China. Only when you are there, you may start to appreciate and understand what a difference to live in a nation with a population of 1.3 billion.
China offers variety choices for visitors. If you are interested in Chinese history, Chinese culture and Chinese scenery, your trip will be very fulfilled and very interesting. If you want to enjoy a peaceful sunshine beach holiday, there are plenty of tourist areas along the coastal line, which have unspoiled beaches and luxury hotels for visitors. In Hainan Island, the beautiful Sanya beaches are opened the whole year around and there is no winter in this island. If you want excitements and nightlife, stay in big cities. There are many places every night for international gathering. If you are adventurers, go to remote areas to watch wild life or visit minorities(少数民族) to see how they live in the hillsides or desert. If you are sporty, take a cycle trip along the countryside, enjoy the rural(田园的) life and meet with Chinese people long the route.
You may have heard or read a lot about China from books, newspapers, magazines and TV programs. Some of them are true but most of them are out of date, incorrect or even false. China is different from many of your previous experiences and may shock you in many ways. This is what China is!
This country is changing and progressing every day. Yet it is still a developing country. After the economic reform, most of the developments concentrate in major cities and remote areas(边远地区) are still very backward. China is a very populated nation and people have to cope with the crowded environment. Foreign visitors may not get used to the mentality of the people and sometimes become frustrated with the situation, which they never experienced before. Basically Chinese are reserve, peaceful and nice. They are very polite too but in their own way. When a foreigner is willing to take a more positive attitude to recognize the difference, the trip will become worthwhile or you may ruin your trip completely by unreasonable expectation and misjudgment of the people in general.According to the passage, if you go to China, you can enjoy all but _______.
A.mountain climbing | B.sunshine beach |
C.rural life | D.watching wild life |
After economic reform, most remote areas in China now _______.
A.also develop fast | B.are very rich |
C.still need developing | D.are very forward |
This passage might be from _______.
A.advertising | B.newspaper | C.novel | D.newsreport |
Sometimes,foreigners in China may become frustrated(气恼,沮丧).Which of the following statement is NOT true?
A.They are not used to the crowded environment. |
B.Sometimes, Chinese are not polite enough in foreigners' eyes. |
C.They don't think there are good sceneries in China. |
D.Chinese are reserve. |
The high noise of modern life may affect speech and language development in the very young, according to a study that found the auditory (听觉的) parts of the brains of young mice are slower to organize properly in the presence of continuous sounds.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, reared a group of rats in an environment of continuous background noise and found that their brain circuits that receive and interpret (解释) sound did not develop at the same rate as animals that were raised in a quieter environment.
Edward F. Chang and Michael Merzenich, co-authors of the study appearing in the journal Science, said that the continuous noise delayed the organization of auditory neurons (神经细胞) during a critical two-to-three-week period after the rat pups were born.
For rats not exposed to the noise, the auditory cortex(皮层) neurons during this period gathered into a smaller area and began developing a selective response to sounds.
But for the noiseexposed rats, this organization was slowed, causing a delay in the development of the ability to discriminate(辨别) specific sound tones. The researchers said it took three or four times longer for the rats raised in a noisy environment to reach the basic bench marks (基准) of auditory development seen in the rat pups not exposed to noises.
Although the rat is not a perfect model for what happens in humans, the authors note, the study does suggest that high levels of noise might possibly affect some language learning in babies.
“These findings suggest that environmental noise, which is commonly present in contemporary child-rearing environments, can potentially contribute to auditory and language-related development delays,”the authors wrote in Science.
The authors noted that although the brain development was delayed in rats exposed to the noise, their brains did eventually mature (成熟的) normally.The scientists at California University studied rats_______.
A.of different age groups | B.with different habits |
C.in different environments | D.from different areas |
The rats exposed to noise, compared to those not exposed, _______.
A.were more sensitive | B.were duller |
C.grew up more slowly | D.gathered together more quickly |
The result of the research mainly tells us that noise _______.
A.delays brain development | B.stops baby growth |
C.affects speech and language | D.destroys brains |
The findings of the research are said to have special connections with _______.
A.causes of noises | B.medical science |
C.other living things | D.human babies |
Alexis was hot and tired. With rage (愤怒) in her voice she shouted,“Pull me up! I give up. I hate this. This is stupid!” It was at that moment when Jason, the adviser on the trip, looked at me and said,“Ed, I'm going to go down and talk with her.”I then shouted down to Alexis,“ Hold on! You can do this. We know you can!”
Jason grasped another rope, put this climbing harness (系带) on and began to move down the cliff. Within moments Jason was beside Alexis. She had her cheek directly against the face of the rock with her feet barely resting on a small piece of the cliff that jetted (急突) outward. Jason said to Alexis,“I know that you have been on this cliff now for what seems like a long time. Your feet and fingers are cramping (痉挛) up and your forearms feel as though they are on fire. But, Alexis, you are strong. Look how far up you are already. You have taken one of the more difficult parts up the cliff. Alexis, look at the path you have taken.”At that moment, Alexis moved her cheek away from the rock face and looked down. The bright white chalk she used in her hands to give her a better hold, showed the path where her tired hands had moved her upward on the cliff. Jason was right. Alexis had taken the hardest way up the cliff. Jason then looked straight into Alexis' eyes and in a calm voice he said,“You are not alone out here. There are people who care about you, who want to help you and see you succeed. We are going to do this together. Are you ready?” Slowly she nodded and took a deep breath.Jason went down the cliff because _______.
A.Alexis took a wrong path |
B.Alexis was trapped in rocks |
C.Alexis didn't believe in herself |
D.Alexis' forearms were badly hurt |
We can infer from the passage that _______.
A.Alexis was finally pulled up by Ed |
B.Alexis regretted having taken the wrong path up the cliff |
C.Alexis was immediately sent to hospital after she was pulled up |
D.Alexis successfully rock-climbed |
The underlined word “hot” in the story means_______.
A.disappointed | B.angry |
C.uncomfortable | D.running a high body temperature |
Alexis would probably become _______.
A.more strongminded | B.easier to give up |
C.poorer in health | D.less interested in rock climbing |
Generations of children who sat through endless lessons of “chalk and talk” in front of a bossy teacher can take some relief. But the “chalk and talk” method helped them achieve better exam results. Modern classroom techniques may make school days a good deal happier, but contentment(满足) is not the road to success in examinations, according to university researchers.
Their three-year study, monitoring the progress of 2000 teenagers, tried to measure the influence of the “boredom factor” in 17 selected schools in the north of England. The researchers also found that the old-fashioned approach(方法) of teachers ordering pupils about is still alive and producing results. Their conclusions were welcomed yesterday by educationists who were worried by the shift to less formal lessons.
The pupils in the latest study were asked to award teachers marks to measure how frequently they followed or ignored today's fashion for “child-centred” education. A five-point scale was given to spot the teachers who always told them what they should know and what to write down. “It was significant and not anything you would get by chance or accident. Certainly, when you compare the pupil's interest and attitude to school, there is a quite definite and highly significant difference,” one of the researchers said. But the rankings were turned upside down when the team of four researchers looked at how the children did in examination. The sort of methods now frowned upon(不赞同) actually improve the final grades.
The researchers said,“There is nothing wrong with old-fashioned, didactic(说教性的) teaching in the fight place, even if it isn't the flavor at the moment.” However, he insisted the best teachers had always mixed the two techniques to match the needs of pupils, although certain examinations forced some to concentrate more on dictation and learning by rote(死记硬背).University researchers have discovered that _______.
A.modern teaching methods provide students with entertainment |
B.students taught by modern techniques are happy and successful |
C.traditional teaching methods help students score higher |
D.students like old teaching better than modern teaching at school |
We can infer from Paragraph 3 that _______.
A.child-centred education promotes friendship among children |
B.the research findings are not significant enough for a conclusion |
C.those who show greater interest in school did better in exams |
D.those who don't show much interest in school may turn out to score higher in tests |
The researchers suggest that _______.
A.more old methods be used in teaching |
B.students be taught how to score high in exams |
C.dictation be used as one of the best teaching methods |
D.old and new methods be used together |
The best title for this text would be _______.
A.The Examinationbased Teaching |
B.Rote Learning Was the Winner |
C.The Problem of Child-centred Education |
D.The Problem of the Traditional Method |