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.doing a medical experiment |
B.solving a math problem |
C.visiting an exhibition |
D.doing scientific reasoning |
The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.
A.active learning | B.knowledge |
C.communication | D.passive learning |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.Active learning is less important. |
B.Passive learning may not be reliable. |
C.Active learning occurs more frequently. |
D.Passive learning is not found among scholars. |
The library is one of the most popular places at a western university. Students turn to it for research, conversations about class, and many other services.
Compared with Chinese libraries, college libraries, college libraries in the US and UK tent to offer more resources. A postgraduate at Yale University can borrow as many as 225 books at a time.
In addition to borrowing books, there are online and electronic resources. These include a database search of popular and academic material, such as LexisNexis Academic, which offer items from newspapers and magazines.
Although books and articles are the items that students ask for most frequently, some libraries provide audio and video recordings, maps and sheet music (活页乐谱). At some schools, teachers and tutors put electronic copies of their teaching PPTs on the library Web to give easier access for students.
Another useful service in Western college libraries is the Interlibrary Loan. This allows a student at one school to borrow books from another school. The loan request is make through the student’s college library, which gets the book, gives it to the user, and arranges for its return.
Technology has brought more services to students and has made libraries attractive. Some universities have services for students to send messages through the computer or mobile texts to ask the library staff for information.
Earlier this year, Harvard University introduced a new Scan and Deliver service, allowing students to make requests for parts of books and articles. Requests made through the system are handled by library staff. The student receives and e-mail with an Internet link to the scanned pages. The service is free and all material comes within four days.
It used to be that libraries didn’t allow food or drinks. But that rule is changing and many of them now contain a café so students can spend as much time as they want in the library.
Actually, some US university libraries are now all-night affairs, or have at least one study room open all night.
1. In Western college libraries a postgraduate can ______.
A. have a free drink or a meal
B. borrow as many books as they want
C. access not only books but other study resources
D. ask questions and get answers from their tutors
2. LexisNexis Academic is the name of ______.
A. a database
B. a library
C. a university
D. a guide
3. How can a college student borrow books from other college’s libraries?
A. By going to these libraries.
B. By getting them through the Internet.
C. By sending messages through the computer or mobile texts.
D. By borrowing them through their own library.
4. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Chinese library services are better than western ones.
B. Library staff play an important role in college library service.
C. Postgraduates can post their own PPTs to the library website.
D. 24-hour services are adopted in all western libraries nowadays.
5. Why are university libraries more attractive now?
A. Because students can eat and drink there at any time.
B. Because students can have a stay-over there all night.
C. Because students can enjoy quicker and more convenient services.
D. Because students can borrow anything they want there.
Life-changing disaster awaits the drunken driver. And he is proof.
At just 18 years of age, he could be a classmate or a friend, and that familiarity adds to the power of his words. He has spoken to more than 2,500 high school students so far, and he has noticed their unusual silence.
"A lot of teachers say, 'Don't drink,' but I'm not going to say that, because I know that students are going to do it," Nepola says. "I just say, 'Don't get in a car.' "
One year ago, Nepola, having been with friends drinking, lost control of his car and was thrown into trees 20 feet away. He was found covered in blood, with many bones broken.
At Hackensack University Medical Center, his skull was opened to relieve pressure on his brain. He was diagnosed with traumatic(创伤性)brain injury and remained in a coma(昏迷)and on life support for nearly three weeks.
At Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. physical therapist Erin Leahy initially found Nepola unable to move the right side of his body. But by the end of his six-week stay, he was able to walk out of the building. Leahy called that an inspiration and a miracle.
But Nepola's recovery is incomplete. Brain and muscular therapy has helped him regain movement in his right arm, but he still struggles with his right hand.
In the process of recovery, Nepola has thought deeply about what happened and why, and decided to share his story. Encouraged by his trauma doctor, Sanjeev Kaul, he teamed with Gonzalez and began attending assemblies in April.
He said he was nervous at first, but has grown used to the spotlight. And his rehabilitation(康复)and visible trauma help him draw serious attention from students.
Besides, "I'm not a wall," he said. "I feel like I know how to talk to people."
Driving drunk, he tells students, is like playing Russian roulette(俄罗斯轮盘赌博): "You might do it a bunch of times, but something is going to happen."
Now, his days are all about the therapy, work and going to the gym. Mentally, he says, "I’m a lot happier in my life."
1. The main purpose of the text is to ______.
A. tell readers about the dangers of driving a car
B. warn students about the dangers of drinking
C. tell readers about Michael Nepola’s recovery experience
D. advise people not to drive a car after drinking
2. As a eighteen year old boy, Nepola story is powerful because ______.
A. his family supported him
B. his classmate and friend never gave up him
C. his classmate and friend are familiar with him
D. he is just like one classmate or friend we know
3. What does the underlined sentence mean?
A. A drunk driver will eventually have a serious accident.
B. Drunk driving is as risky as it is excited.
C. Drunk driving can be fun if the driver is experienced.
D. An experienced driver can drive drunk successfully.
4. After the accident, Michael Nepola came to ______.
A. make a full recovery
B. recover at a magical speed
C. be eager for more adventure
D. enjoy life more despite his physical condition
5. What can we infer from the article?
A. Michael Nepola believes his accident was the result of bad luck.
B. Michael Nepola thinks that students shouldn’t get drunk.
C. Michael Nepola wants to warn young people about the dangers of drunk driving.
D. Michael Nepola still doesn’t care about his future or college.
第二部分阅读理解 (共20小题;每小题2.5分,满分50分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳答案。
Grandma Moses is among the most famous twentieth-century painters of the United States, yet she did not start painting until she was in her late seventies. As she once said to herself: " I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me." No one could have had a more productive old age.
She was born Anna Mary Robertson on a farm in New York State, one of five boys and five girls. At twelve she left home and was in domestic service until, at twenty—seven, she married Thomas Moses, the hired hand of one of her employers. They farmed most of their lives, first in Virginia and then in New York State, at Eagle Bridge. She had ten children, of whom five survived; her husband died in 1927.
Grandma Moses painted a little as a child and made embroidery (刺绣) pictures as a hobby, but only changed to oils in old age because her hands had become too stiff to sew and she wanted to keep busy and pass the time. Her pictures were first sold at the local drugstore and at a market and were soon noticed by a businessman who bought everything she painted. Three of the pictures exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1940 she had her first exhibition in New York. Between the 1930's and her death, she produced some 2,000 pictures: detailed and lively portrayals of the country life she had known for so long, with a wonderful sense of color and form. "I think really hard till I think of something really pretty, and then I paint it" she said.
1. According to the passage, Grandma Moses began to paint because she wanted to_______.
A. make herself beautiful
B. keep active
C. earn more money
D. become famous
2. Grandma Moses spent most of her life ________.
A. nursing B. painting C. embroidering D. farming
3. The underlined word “portrayals ” means ________.
A. descriptions B. expressions C.explanations D.impressions
4. From Grandma Moses' description of herself in the first paragraph, it can be inferred that she
was ________.
A. independent B. pretty C. rich D. nervous
5. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Grandma Moses: Her Life and Pictures.
B. The Children of Grandma Moses.
C. Grandma Moses: Her Best Exhibition.
D.Grandma Moses and Other Older Artists.
After too long on the Net,even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend‘s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear words on screen; a secretary‘s tone seems more rejecting than I’d imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid- hours becomes minutes, and alternately seconds stretch into days. Weekends, once a highlight of my week,are now just two ordinary days.
For the last three years,since I stopped working as a producer for Charlie Rose,I have done much of my work as a telecommuter. I submit (提交) articles and edit them by E-mail and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England, so much of our relationship is computer-mediated.
If I desired,I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food,and manage my money,love and work. In fact,at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home,going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the blizzard of 96 on TV.
But after a while,life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged (融合) with my machines,taking data in spitting them back out, just another node (波节)on the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms. We start to strongly dislike the outside forms of socializing. It’s like attending an A. A. meeting in a bar with everyone holding a half-sipped drink. We have become the Net opponents’ worst nightmare.
What first seemed like a luxury,crawling from bed to computer,not worrying about hair,and clothes and face,has become an avoidance,a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber-interaction,coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult.
At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to chatter in the background, something that I'd never done previously. The voices of the programs soothe (安慰) me, but then I'm jarred (使感不快) by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or compulsively (强制性能地) needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather. "Dateline," "Frontline," "Nightline," CNN, every possible angle of every story over and over and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background.
1.Compared to the clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes____
A.unreal B.unbearable C.misleading D.not understandable
2.What does the last paragraph mean
A.Having worked on the computer for too long, she became a bit strange.
B.She is so interested in TV programs that she often forgets her work
C.She watches TV a lot in order to keep up with the latest news and the weather.
D.She turns on TV now and then in order to get some comfort from TV program.
3.What is the author’s attitude to the computer?
A.She has become bored with it.
B.She dislikes it because TV is more attractive.
C.She dislikes it because it cuts off her relation with the outside world.
D.She likes it because it is very convenient.
4.The underlined phrase “coming back out of the cave ”probably means_______.
A.going back to the dreaming world B.coming back home from the outside world
C.restoring direct human contact D.getting away from living a strange life
Consulates (领事馆) exist to help citizens abroad to help themselves. Every year millions of people go abroad for pleasure or profit (利润). There are consular officers ready to do what they can to help if people get into difficulties, but for all sorts of reasons there are limits to what they can do. Most times things go well for travelers abroad but occasionally things go wrong.
So, whether you are an experienced traveler or a first timer, going by yourself, with the family or a group there are things you should do before you go. Think about money and tickets well in advance. Take enough money including enough to pay your return fare, and hold on to it. Better still, buy return tickets in the first place. In an emergency a consul (领事) will contact relatives or friends and ask them to help you with money or tickets. But there's no law that says a consul has to lend you money and if he eventually does (and it will have to be repaid) he will want to be satisfied first that you really do have no money and there is no one else you know who can help.
It is also important to take out proper insurance (保险) for everything from car breakdowns to loss of life. A consul cannot pay your medical or any other bills, nor can he do the work of local travel representatives or motoring organizations.
1.What is the author trying to do in the textm
A.To inform people about laws abroad. B.To describe an international problem.
C.To explain how to visit a consulate. D.To give advice about consulates
2.Why would somebody read the text?
A.To know how to contact a consul. B.To find out how to make a complaint (抱怨).
C.To know when to contact a consul. D.To find out where a consul lives.
3.You can borrow money from a consul if you
A.need to stay abroad longer. B.have to help a relative
C.have no other financial (资金) means D.need to have your car repaired
4.Which of the following notices would you see in Consular Office?
A. CONSULAR OFFICE
In an emergency you may contact your consul. He may give you advice but you should not rely on being given financial help.
B.CONSULAR OFFICE
In an emergency you may contact this office. Your consul can always help with hospital and dental costs.
C.CONSULAR OFFICE
You may contact your consul if you have run out of money. He will arrange for you to receive help if you cannot pay your bills.
D.CONSULAR OFFICE
Your consul is here to help you. If your car has broken down or you’re experiencing travel difficulties of any kind. Contact your consul.