Question

Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality (理性), but when it comes to my college education I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any reasonable student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, many famous professors and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that’s not what I did.
I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts (文科) university that doesn’t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my job. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by communicating with people who weren’t studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a wise choice. They told me I was wise and grown-up beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.
　I headed off to the college and sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering "factories" where they didn’t care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical expert and excellent humanist all in one.
　Now I’m not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideas crashed into reality, as all noble ideas finally do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.
　The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don’t mix as easily as I supposed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult.
【小題1】Why did the author choose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts university?

A．He intended to become an engineer and humanist.

B．He intended to be a reasonable student with noble ideals.

C．He wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality.

D．He wanted to communicate with liberal-arts students.

【小題2】According to the author, by communicating with people who study liberal arts, engineering students can ___________.

A．become noble idealists

B．broaden their knowledge

C．find a better job in the future

D．balance engineering and liberal arts

【小題3】 Which word below can replace the underlined word “reconcile”?

A．confuse

B．compare

C．combine

D．compete

【小題4】The underlined sentence in 1st paragraph means ___________.

A．he has failed to achieve his ideal aims

B．he is not a practical and rational student

C．his choice of attending to a small liberal-arts university is reasonable

D．his idea of combining engineering with liberal - arts is noble and wise

【小題5】 The author suggests in this passage that ___________.

A．liberal-arts students are supported to take engineering courses

B．technical experts with a wide vision are expected in the society

C．successful engineering students are more welcomed in the society

D．engineering universities with liberal-arts courses are needed

Answer 1

【小題1】A
【小題1】B
【小題1】C
【小題1】A
【小題1】B

解析文章大意：作者講述了一段自己的經歷來說明自己不明智的選擇。他抱著今后成為一名既是技 術專家又是人文主義者的目的選擇在一所很小的文科大學里學習理科結果證明他的選擇并非如他原來想像的那么理想。
【小題1】A文章第二段中間作者談到了他這樣選擇的原因“I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by communicating with people...”。
【小題1】B 文章第二段“I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interacting with people who weren’t studying science or engineering.”中expand my vision 與選項A的broaden their horizons屬于同義替代。
【小題1】C 考查詞義推測。根據句意可知reconcile為“結合之意”。
【小題1】A 這句話的大概意思是工程類的學生被認為是很實際并很理性的但輪到我選擇教育時我成了理想主義者和傻瓜。言下之意是他的教育失敗了。
【小題1】B從作者選擇學校和專業(yè)的理由來推斷社會需要知識面寬的專業(yè)人才。