“Experience may possibly be the best teacher, but it is not a particularly good teacher.” You might think that Winston Churchill or perhaps Mark Twain spoke those words, but they actually come from James March, a professor at Stanford University and a pioneer in the field of organization decision making. For years March( possibly be wisest philosopher of management) has studied how humans think and act, and he continues to do so in his new book The Ambiguities of Experience.
He begins by reminding us of just how firmly we have been sticking to the idea of experiential learning :“Experience is respected;experience is sought;experience is explained.” The problem is that learning from experience involves(涉及)serious complications(复杂化),ones that are part of the nature of experience itself and which March discusses in the body of this book.
In one interesting part of book,for example,he turns a double eye toward the use of stories as the most effective way of experiential learning. He says “The more accurately(精确的)reality is presented,the less understandable the story,and the more understandable the story, the less realistic it is.”
Besides being a broadly knowledgeable researcher. March is also a poet, and his gift shines though in the depth of views he offers and the simple language he uses. Though the book is short, it is demanding;Don’t pick it up looking for quick, easy lessons. Rather, be ready to think deeply about learning from experience in work and life.According to the text, James March is ____________.
| A.a poet who uses experience in his writing |
| B.a teacher who teachers story writing in university |
| C.a researcher who studies the way humans think and act |
| D.a professor who helps organizations make important decisions |
According to James March, experience ______________.
| A.is overvalued |
| B.is easy to explain |
| C.should be actively sought |
| D.should be inactively sought |
What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
| A.Experience makes stories more accurate. |
| B.Stories made interesting fail to fully present the truth. |
| C.The use of stories is the best way of experiential learning. |
| D.Stories are easier to understand when reality is more accurately described. |
What’s the purpose of this text?
| A.To introduce a book. | B.To describe a researcher. |
| C.To explain experiential learning. | D.To discuss organizational decision making. |
The most important holiday in spring, especially for Christians, is Easter. This Christian holiday is not on the same date every year,but it’s always on a Sunday. It can be any Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Many people celebrate Easter by buying new clothes. Children celebrate by hunting for colored eggs that their parents have hidden around the house. People also give Easter baskets filled with candy and other goodies to one another to celebrate the day.
But the holiday is more than new clothes and good things to eat. On Easter, many people go to church to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection(复活)from the dead. Most people color Ester eggs. Some people hide them. Others just eat them. But no matter what one does with Easter eggs,they are an important Easter tradition throughout the Western world. People from many different cultures celebrate Easter. In both America and Belgium, children look for Easter eggs hidden on lawns and in bushes. In America, children believe the eggs are hidden by the Easter bunny (兔子).But in Belgium, the hidden eggs are supposed to have fallen from church bells. In Bulgaria (保加利亚), red Easter eggs are lucky in churches. Bulgarian families also hit these Easter eggs together to see whose is the strongest. The winner looks forward to good fortune that year. Still dozens of other Easter traditions exist. In parts of Austria,for example,children sing from door to door and are rewarded with colorful eggs.Easter comes _______.
| A.on the same date every year | B.on Sunday on March 22 |
| C.on Sunday on April 25 | D.on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 |
To celebrate Easter, people ___________.
| A.go shopping, hide colored eggs and children hunt for them |
| B.give Easter baskets filled candy and goodies to one another |
| C.buy new clothes, hide colored eggs and children look for them around the house |
| D.both B and C |
For Christians the more important thing to do on Easter is________.
| A.going to church to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection | B.buying new clothes |
| C.eating delicious food and paint color eggs | D.exchange beautiful gifts each other |
In some places of Austria, children sing from door to door for_______.
| A.blesses | B.Easter eggs | C.candy and goodies | D.Easter bunny |
Discover
Newsmagazine of science devoted to the wonders an stories of modern science, written for the educated general reader. Published(出版) by Disney Magazine Publishing Co., Discover tells many of the same stories professionals(专业人员) read in Scientific American. A truly delightful family science magazine, each issue(每期) brings to light new and newsworthy topics to make dinnertime and water-cooler conversations interesting.
Cover Price: $59.88
Price: $19.95($1.66/issue)
You Save: $39.93(67%)
Issues: 12 issues/12 months
Self
Published by Conde Nast Publications Inc., Self is a handbook devoted to women’s overall physical and mental health. Every issue contains usable articles such as “Style Lab”, in which wearable clothes are mixed and matched on non-models and the “Eat-right Road Map”, with tips on how to eat properly.
Cover Price: $35.86
Price: $15.00($2.5/issue)
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Issues: 10 issues/12 months
Instyle
Instyle is a guide to the lives and lifestyles of the world’s famous people. The magazine covers the choices people make about their homes, their clothes and their free time activities. With photos and articles, it opens the door to these people’s homes, families, parties and weddings, offering ideas about beauty, fitness and in general, lifestyles. Publisher: The Time Inc.Magazine Company.
Cover Price: $47.88
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Wired
This magazine is designed for leaders in the field of information engineering including top managers and professionals in the computer, business, design and education industries. Published by Conde Nast Publications Inc., Wired often carries articles on how technology changes people’s lives.
Cover Price: $59.40
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Issues: 10 issues/12monthsWhich of the following magazines is published monthly?
| A.Discover | B.Self | C.Instyle | D.Wired |
Which two magazines are published by the same publisher?
| A.Wired and Instyle | B.Discover and Instyle |
| C.Self and Discover | D.Self and Wired |
Which magazine offers the biggest price cut?
| A.Instyle | B.Wired | C.Discover | D.Self |
The works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth are “rocket-boosters” to the brain and better therapy than self-help books, researchers will say this week.
Scientists, psychologists and English academics at Liverpool University have found that reading the works of the Bard and other classical writers has a beneficial effect on the mind, catches the reader’s attention and cause moments of self-reflection.
Using scanners, they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read works by William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, T.S Eliot and others.
They then “translated” the texts into more “straightforward”, modern language and again monitored the readers’ brains as they read the words.
Scans showed that the more “challenging” prose (散文)and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the more pedestrian versions.
Scientists were able to study the brain activity as it responded to each word and record how it “lit up” as the readers encountered unusual words, surprising phrases or difficult sentence structure.
This “lighting up” of the mind lasts longer than the initial electrical spark, shifting the brain to a higher gear, encouraging further reading.
The research also found that reading poetry, in particular, increases activity in the right hemisphere (半球)of the brain, an area concerned with “autobiographical memory”, helping the reader to reflect on and reappraise their own experiences in light of what they have read. The academics said this meant the classics were more useful than self-help books.
Philip Davis, an English professor who has worked on the study with the university’s magnetic resonance centre, will tell a conference this week: “Serious literature acts like a rocket-booster to the brain.
"The research shows the power of literature to shift mental pathways, to create new thoughts, shapes and connections in the young and the elderly alike.”How do classics such as Shakespeare and Wordsworth benefit the readers?
| A.They set off far less electrical activity in the brain. |
| B.They light up the mind shorter than the initial electrical spark. |
| C.They shift physical pathways in the young and the elderly. |
| D.They draw readers’ attention and help make self-examination. |
Why does the author mention” They then” translated”… modern language“?
| A.To prove that classics are more useful than ordinary versions. |
| B.To show self-help books act like rocket-boosters to the brain. |
| C.To tell serious literature sets off far less electrical activity. |
| D.To make known ordinary versions set off more electrical activity |
What can we conclude according to the researchers?
| A.Self-help books are more valuable than classics. |
| B.Serious literature lights up the mind shorter than ordinary versions. |
| C.The right hemisphere of the brain is related to autobiographical memory. |
| D.Literature has a beneficial effect only on the mind of the young. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A.Ordinary Versions Create New Thoughts |
| B.Modern Language Increases the Brain |
| C.Classics Help lmprove the Brain Activity |
| D.Self-help Books, Rocket-boosters |
My love affair with the sea began when I was no more than six years old, walking along the sandy beaches. I always wanted to make the first set of footprints in the wet sand.
Unlike many surfers who sought the perfect wave, my interests always lay beneath the sea’s surface in a world I could only imagine and dream of. Soon, wearing a snorkel and a mask, I made my first solo adventures in the deep.
Perhaps the greatest turning point in my life came when I was in high school and I wrote a letter to the famous Scripps Oceanographic Institution, in San Diego, asking how I might learn more about the sea.
A kind scientist answered my letter and told me how to apply to Scripps for a summer scholarship, which I received. During one of their cruises that summer, I met Dr. Robert Norris, a marine geologist. He loved the sea almost as much as I did. Soon he was asking me what my plans were and where I expected to attend college. I told him I didn’t know, so he suggested I consider his school, the University of California in Santa Barbara.
Now my love affair with the sea became a serious endeavor. If I wanted to be an undersea explorer, I needed to learn as much as I could about the laws of the physical world that controlled the environment I wanted to enter. The undersea world is not our natural world. It is unforgiving to those who make mistakes. At its greatest depths the water temperature is near freezing, the pressure is eight tons per square inch, and it is totally dark. It is easy to get lost in such a world. I needed to learn a lot about geography, navigation, meteorology, geology, biology, and many other things. While I was in school, I took a little of everything.
I decided another important thing for me to do was to join the U.S. Navy. If I was going to be an undersea explorer, I would have to lead men and women on dangerous adventures where they might get hurt, and I didn’t want that to happen. In the Navy I learned discipline, organization, and how to motivate and lead people on expeditions so that we could explore the wonders of the deep.
Finally, the time came to put all that I had learned to use, to go forth with a team of men and women and explore an adventure I am still on and hope to be on for many years to come. In Paragraph 5, the writer discusses “the laws of the physical world.”Which of the following is an example of one of the laws?
| A.Water pressure. |
| B.Various ocean animal life. |
| C.The appearance of the water. |
| D.The different colors of the ocean. |
In college, the writer took many different types of courses because he _____.
| A.was not sure what he wanted to study |
| B.was advised to take them by Dr. Robert Norris |
| C.believed it would help him succeed in the Navy |
| D.thought they were needed to fully understand the ocean |
The writer joined the Navy to _______.
| A.develop his leadership skills |
| B.get along with people under stress |
| C.learn about the dangers of the ocean |
| D.gather specific information about ocean life |
What would the writer recommend to students who want to be underwater explorers?
| A.Spend time examining your talents. |
| B.Join groups to learn to get along on a team. |
| C.Interview explorers to see if they are happy. |
| D.Study as many ocean-related topics as you can. |
Even if you are naturally shy, these three tricks will help you to quickly build a new social circle in any new city.
1. Take pictures
One of the great things about taking pictures at an event or party is that it gives you an excuse to get in touch with the person later. Everybody loves seeing pictures of themselves, and it’s very easy after taking a picture to say “If you’d like I can email it to you”. This can be the seed that leads to new connections. The next time you hear about a fun event email your new contacts to let them know about it.
2. Eat alone in public
You might feel self-conscious eating by yourself but it has an important benefit: you are much easier to approach when you are alone. People may be afraid of interrupting you or being rude if you are in a conversation with someone else. Bring a book or newspaper to read (this will make you feel less self-conscious). Plus, having an interesting book with you will give others an excuse to start a conversation if they’ve read it.
3. Join a class, sports team, or club
Yoga, salsa dancing, volleyball, Toastmasters (a public speaking club), a class for work, etc. Take up a new hobby or continue an old one!
These are all great places to meet new people, primarily because you will be forced to see the same people over and over again in the class. You will automatically make friends with them if you have a common interest and are forced to see each other again.
Tips:
* In the beginning, never turn down an invitation from someone, even if it’s something you wouldn’t normally do.
* Email your new friends with fun things to do instead of always asking what their plans are. If they have a better plan you can drop yours and join them. This will help establish you as someone who is contributing value instead of just taking it (people want this in a friend).
* Don’t let little things in life upset you or be a negative person. People don’t want to be around someone like that!________ can give you an excuse to start new connections.
| A.Taking pictures of others |
| B.Eating by yourself in public |
| C.Reading interesting books |
| D.Joining group activities |
When having meals, you’d better ________ if you want to make new friends.
| A.approach others to show conscious friendliness |
| B.sit on your own in public places |
| C.invite others to your apartment to eat together |
| D.start a conversation with those who have friends aside |
Which of the following pieces of advice is a tip from the text?
| A.Try to be outgoing and talkative instead of being shy. |
| B.Never turn down an invitation from your friends. |
| C.Offer suggestions on how to spend time together. |
| D.Always give a positive response to any request. |
By writing the text, the author intends to tell us ________.
| A.why you should change when you move to a new city |
| B.how you can make new friends in a new city |
| C.why you should make new friends in a new city |
| D.how you can keep in touch with strangers |