TheWhiteHouseCorrespondents’Di-优题课

We know the famous ones—the Thomas Edisons and the Alexander Graham Bells—but what about the less famous inventors? What about the people who invented the traffic light and the windshield wiper (雨刮器)？ Shouldn’t we know who they are?
Joan Mclean thinks so. In fact, McLean, a professor of physics at Mountain University in Range, feels so strongly about this matter that she’s developed a course on the topic. In addition to learning “who” invented “what”, however, McLean also likes her students to learn the answers to the “why” and “how” questions. According to McLean, “When students learn the answers to these questions, they are better prepared to recognize opportunities for inventing and more willing to give inventing a try.”
Her students agree. One young man with a patent（专利）for an unbreakable umbrella is walking proof of McLean’s statement. “If I had not heard the story of the windshield wiper’s invention,” said Tommy Lee, a senior physics major, “ I never would have dreamed of turning my bad experience during a rainstorm into something so useful.” Lee is now considering to sell his patent to an umbrella producer.
So, just what is the story behind the windshield wiper? Well, Mary Anderson came up with the idea in 1902 after a visit to New York City. The day was cold and stormy, but Anderson still wanted to see the sights, so she jumped aboard a streetcar. Noticing that the driver was struggling to see through the snow covering the windshield, she found herself wondering why there couldn’t be a built-in device(装置) for cleaning the window. Still wondering about this when she returned home to Birminghan, Alabama, Anderson started drafting out solutions. One of her ideas, a lever (操作杆) on the inside of a vehicle that would control an arm on the outside, became the first windshield wiper.
Today we benefit from countless inventions and innovations. It’s hard to imagine driving without Garrett A. Morgan’s traffic light. It’s equally impossible to picture a world without Katherine J. Blodgett’s innovation that makes glass invisible. Can you picture life without clear windows and eyeglasses?

Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn't matter where you live--in the middle of a modern city, or a faraway village--the chances are that you' ll be disturbed by jet planes, radios, oil - powered engines, etc. We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they' re working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be a very frightening experience for a human being. However, some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓). The noise level in some discos is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration(专心) suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration, what really influences their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise which doesn't change too much(music, for example) may even help people to concentrate.
According to this passage, the noise pollution .

A．has become the worst in the countryside	B．has become better in big cities
C．has spread from cities to villages	D．has been controlled in modern cities

Some people have their hearing harmed .

A．while listening to pop music	B．in complete silence
C．when speaking loudly	D．while watching TV

Scientists have discovered that what prevents people from concentrating on something is .

A．all kinds of noise	B．changes in the level of noise
C．background noise	D．popular music

Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a small pool of water ahead on the path．I angled my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't covered by water or mud．As I reached the pool, I was suddenly attacked! Yet I did nothing for the attack．It was so unpredictable and from somewhere totally unexpected．I was surprised as well as unhurt though I had been struck four or five times．I backed up a foot and my attacker stopped attacking me．Had I been hurt I wouldn't have found it amusing．And I was laughing．After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!
Having stopped, laughing, I took a step forward．My attacker rushed me again．He charged towards me at full speed, attempting to hurt me but in vain．For a second time, I took a step backwards while my attacker paused．I wasn't sure what to do．After all, it's just not everyday that one is attacked by a butterfly．I stepped back to look the situation over．My attacker moved back to land on the ground．That's when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier．He had a mate and she was dying．
Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her．I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate．He had taken it up on himself to attack me for his mate's sake （缘故）, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large．He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life, should I have been careless enough to step on her．His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate's safety seemed admirable．I couldn't do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the pool．He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed．
Since then, I've always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever I see huge barriers facing me.
Why did the writer change his direction while walking down a path?

A．To get close to a butterfly.	B．To look over the bad situation.
C．To escape a sudden attack.	D．To avoid getting his shoes dirty.

What made the man feel funny?

A．Making the attacker pause.	B．Being attacked by a butterfly.
C．Being stepped on by his mate.	D．Discovering the energetic butterfly.

From this experience the man learned.

A．what he should do when faced with trouble	B．people should show sympathy to the weak
C．how he should deal with attacks	D．people should protect butterflies

Which of the following words can best describe the butterfly?

A．Careless．

B．Amusing．

C．Courageous．

D．Aggressive.

Have you ever picked a job based on the fact that you were good at it but later found it made you feel very uncomfortable over time? When you select your career, there's a whole lot more to it than assessing your skills and matching them with a particular position. If you ignore your personality, it will hurt you long-term regardless of your skills or the job's pay. There are several areas of your personality that you need to consider to help you find a good job. Here are a few of those main areas;
1) Do you prefer working alone or with other people?
There are isolating（使孤立）jobs that will drive an outgoing person crazy and also interactive jobs that will make a shy person uneasy. Most people are not extremes in either direction but do have a tendency that they prefer. There are also positions that are sometimes a combination of the two, which may be best for someone in the middle who adapts easily to either situation.
2) How do you handle change?
Most jobs these days have some elements of change to them, but some are more than others. If you need stability in your life, you may need a job where the changes don't happen so often. Other people would be bored of the same daily routine.
3) Do you enjoy working with computers？
I do see this as a kind of personality characteristic. There are people who are happy to spend more than 40 hours a week on a computer, while there are others who need a lot of human interaction throughout the day. Again, these are extremes and you'll likely find a lot of positions somewhere in the middle as well.
4) What type of work environment do you enjoy？
This can range from being in a large building with a lot of people you won't know immediately to a smaller setting where you'll get to know almost all the people there fairly quickly.
5) How do you like to get paid?
Some people are motivated by the pay they get, while others feel too stressed to be like that. The variety of payment designs in the sales industry is a typical example for this.
Anyway, these are a great starting point for you. I've seen it over and over again with people that they make more money over time when they do something they love. It may take you a little longer, but making a move to do what you have a passion for can change the course of your life for the better.
What is unnecessary in your job hunting?

A．Assessing your skills	B．Going to different areas
C．Matching your skills with a position	D．taking your personality into consideration

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Isolating jobs usually drive people mad.	B．Interactive jobs make people shy easily.
C．Extreme people tend to work with others.	D．Almost everyone has a tendency in jobs.

What is the missing word about a job search in the following chart?

A．Design.

B．Changes.

C．Cooperation.

D．Hobbies.

What is the best title for this passage?

A．Lifestyles and Job Pay	B．Jobs and Environment
C．Job Skills and Abilities	D．Personalities and Jobs

The report came to the British on May 21, 1941. The German battleship Bismarck, the most powerful warship in the world, was moving out into the Atlantic Ocean. Her task: to destroy the ships carrying supplies from the United States to war-torn England.
The British had feared such a task. No warship they had could match the Bismarck in speed or in firepower. The Bismarck had eight 15-inch guns and 81 smaller guns. She could move at 30 nautical miles(海里) an hour, she was believed to be unsinkable.
However, the British had to sink her. They sent out a task force headed by their best battleship Hood to hunt down the Bismarck. On May 24, the Hood found the Bismarck. It was a meeting that the German commander Luetjens did not want to see. His orders were to destroy the British ships that were carrying supplies, but to stay away from a fight with British warships.
The battle didn’t last long. The Bismarck’s first torpedo(鱼雷)hit the Hood, which went down taking all but three of her 1,419 men with her. But in the fight, the Bismarck was slightly damaged （损坏）. Her commander decided to run for repairs to France, which had at that time been taken by the Germans. The British force followed her. However, because of the Bismarck’s speed and the heavy fog, they lost sight of her.
For two days, every British ship in the Atlantic tried to find the Bismarck, but with no success. Finally, she was sighted by a plane from Ireland. Trying to slow the Bismarck down so that their ships could catch up with her, the British fired at her from the air. The Bismarck was hit. On the morning of May 27, the last battle was fought. Four British ships fired on the Bismarck. And she was finally sunk.
The Bismarck sailed into the Atlantic Ocean ______.

A．to sink the Hood	B．to gain control of France
C．to cut off American supplies to Britain	D．to stop British warships reaching Germany

Many people believed that the Bismarck could not be defeated because she ______.

A．was fast and powerful	B．had more men on board
C．was under Luetjens' command	D．had bigger guns than other ships

We learn from the text that on 24 May______.

A．the British won the battle against the Bismarck

B．the Bismarck won the battle against the British

C．the British gunfire damaged the Bismarch seriously

D．the Bismarck succeeded in keeping away from the British

Which of the following is the immediate cause of the sinking of the Bismarck?

A．The British air strikes.	B．The damage done by the Hood.
C．Gunfire from the British warships.	D．Luetjen's decision to run for France