“Confidence” is probably one of the most noticeable traits (品质) in the Americans. They show confidence in the way they talk, the way they smile, the way they dress and the way they walk. Living and competing with all these confident American students, I find it extremely important to be confident as an international student and instructor. As a student, being confident means you should never hesitate to raise your hand whenever a question or a point comes to your mind. Don't mind if it sounds simple or silly. Otherwise you will never get a chance to speak in class at all. What's worse, the professors may think you are not prepared for the discussion or you do not have your own opinion on the issue—this is the last comment any graduate would like to receive.
Being confident for me as a foreign instructor means calmly asking the student to repeat what he or she has said if I did not get it. Pretending to understand what you actually did not may just bring yourself embarrassment or even disgrace. But the time I most need to be confident is when my students come to my office and bargain about the grades I have given for their speeches. (The course I'm teaching here is Public speaking). Modesty is a trait highly valued in China, but it won't be of much help here if you want to survive and succeed in a good American graduate program.To compete with American students it's very important to .
| A．be quite confident |
| B．be polite and friendly |
| C．have more discussions with them |
| D．understand what they think about |
A professor will have the worst opinion of a student who .
| A．gives a silly or simple answer |
| B．tries to seize any chance to speak in class |
| C．shows no interest in the course |
| D．is considered to have no opinion of his own |
The author is most likely to feel embarrassed if .
| A．he asks a student to repeat what he has said |
| B．the students bargain with him |
| C．he pretends to know what he doesn't |
| D．he has to give a speech |
We learn from the second paragraph that .
| A．we should also remain modest in America |
| B．modesty doesn't help you much in America |
| C．Americans also like modest people |
| D．modesty can help you through an American graduate program |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．American students are ready to accept the grades from the teacher. |
| B．The writer teaches in Europe for a living. |
| C．Students are encouraged to present simple questions. |
| D．One’s ignorance will give away in time. |
As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods. “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse. If I went to a friend’s house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone(语气) of airy acceptance. It’s similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk.” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while.
We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring(探索). Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today. History seemed to be mostly about explorers. Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way. Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Italian burial mound.
Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were. If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees. There were four or five trees that we visited regularly----tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in.
It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end. By then some of us has reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）. In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring. We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that were really were rather big to be up in a tree. Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria.The author and his fiends were often out in the woods to _______.
| A．avoid doing their schoolwork |
| B．play gold and other sports |
| C．spend their free time |
| D．keep away from their parents |
What can we infer from Paragraph 2?
| A．The author explored in the woods aimlessly. |
| B．Human history is not the result of exploration. |
| C．Exploration should be a systematic activity. |
| D．The activities in the woods were well planned.The author explored in the woods aimlessly. |
The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．doubtful |
| B．calm |
| C．serious |
| D．optimistic |
How does the author feel about his childhood?
| A．Long and unforgettable. |
| B．Lonely but memorable. |
| C．Boring and meaningless. |
| D．Happy but short. |
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. Conditioned as we are 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 little more than hearsay and 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, through all the people playing the game. 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 creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）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 in _______.
| A．visiting an exhibition |
| B．solving a math problem |
| C．doing a medical experiment |
| D．doing scientific reasoning |
The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.
| A．active learning |
| B．passive learning |
| C．communication |
| D．knowledge |
The author mentions the game Rumor to show that _____.
| A．a message should be delivered in different ways |
| B．a message may be changed when being passed on |
| 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 is not found among scholars. |
| C．Active learning occurs more frequently. |
| D．Passive learning may not be reliable. |
Harriet Tubman lived a life filled with adventure.Tubman worked with the Underground Railroad. She helped many slaves reach freedom in the North. She was a scout(侦察员)in the Civil War. She also worked as a nurse during the war.
Life in the Old South was very hard for slaves. Most slaves lived in small houses.They had large families, and even the children had to work in the fields.Most slaves dreamed of getting to the north.They wanted to be free.
One day Harriet saw a slave trying to run away. Then she saw the keeper running after him with a whip.Harriet stood in the keeper's way.The keeper took a weight and threw it at the slave.He hit Harriet above her eyes.It almost killed her. The scar(伤疤)on Harriet's head was an emblem(向征)of her will to fight for what she believed in.
The Fugitive(逃亡)Slave Law made Harriet's job harder.The law said that slaves could be caught even in the North. Harriet began leading slaves all the way into Canada.There they were safe.The law couldn't hurt them there.
When Harriet came for her mother and father,they were very old.Harriet was afraid they might not be able to make the trip.She got a horse.She and a friend made a wagon.She helped her mother and father ride to freedom.The story mainly tells us about______.
| A．life of the slaves in the Old South |
| B．life of Harriet Tubman |
| C．Harriet Tubman's fight for freedom for the slaves |
| D．the Civil War |
According to the story,which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?______.
| A．Harriet Tubman used to work as a nurse during the Civil War. |
| B．The weight hit Harriet in the head and left a scar on her head. |
| C．Harriet led slaves to Canada where the law couldn't hurt them. |
| D．The Fugitive Slave Law protected running slaves in the North. |
The Fugitive Slave Law______.
| A．protected running slaves |
| B．set slaves free |
| C．offered good jobs for slaves |
| D．made Harriet's job more difficult |
We can infer from the story that the author______.
| A．was in favor of slavery |
| B．was supportive about Harriet's work |
| C．thought the Fugitive Slave Law was good |
| D．thought slaves were treated well in the North |
It is sometimes reported that strange flying objects have been seen high up in the sky. People call these strange objects Unidentified(不明的)Flying Objects(UFOs). These UFOs caused a lot of interest. Some of the reports about them are difficult to believe.Some have been explained in scientific ways. Others have never been explained.
Here is an account of UFOs from a report.
Dennis Bardens,who wrote an article,tells us that he once saw a UFO himself.He was having dinner one night with a friend near Tripoli(的黎波里),Libya(利比亚),and after dinner the two men walked across a yard to his room to look at some papers.Bardens noticed that the moon looked strange that night.
“It wasn't the moon,”was the reply.
They watched the light and saw that it was moving.It seemed to be an object rather like a big plate.In some ways it looked like smoke with a light on it,but it wasn't smoke because it didn't change its shape.It was moving in a regular way.That is to say,it didn't go suddenly faster or more slowly,and it didn't go higher or lower.So the two men decided that there must be men in it.
When it came nearer to Libya,Bardens said that he felt eyes looking at him.He was being watched in the darkness.
When it was nearer,they noticed that the bottom parts were brighter than the top.The bottom was yellow and the top was red.Then the object suddenly turned away and left Libya,moving very fast.
On a later day Bardens talked to other people about it,and he found some who had seen it.They all described(描述)it in the same way.Could they all the mistaken?The UFOs are______.
| A．flying high up in the sky | B．strange flying objects |
| C．difficult to believe | D．very interested |
A UFO was seen one night______.
| A．when they were walking across a yard to Bardens' room |
| B．while they were looking at the light |
| C．when Bardens noticed the moon appearing strange |
| D．while they were having dinner |
The UFO looked like______.
| A．smoke | B．light |
| C．a moving object | D．a large plate |
When the UFO came nearer to Libya,______.
| A．it disappeared all at once |
| B．it suddenly turned away and left |
| C．it was watched in the darkness |
| D．Bardens was looking at it |
Life is difficult.
It is a great truth because once we truly understand and accept it, then life is no longer difficult.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that difficulties represent(代表) a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause in us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning.
Problems are the serious test that tells us success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability(能力) to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.From the passage, it can be inferred that ______.
| A．everybody has problems |
| B．we become stronger by facing and solving the problems of life |
| C．life is difficult because our problems bring us pain |
| D．people like to complain about their problems |
The writer probably used just one short sentence in the first paragraph to ______.
| A．save space | B．persuade readers |
| C．make readers laugh | D．get reader's attention |
The main idea of paragraph 3 is that ______.
| A．most people feel life is easy |
| B．the writer feels life is easy |
| C．the writer likes to complain about his problems |
| D．most people complain about how hard their lives are |
According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to ______.
| A．encourage them to learn |
| B．teach them to fear the pain of solving problems |
| C．help them learn to deal with pain |
| D．teach them how to respect for problems |