Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of many colleges and universities in the United States. Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were all started before the American Revolution made the thirteen colonies(殖民地) into states.
In the early years, these schools were much alike. Only young men attended colleges. All the students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Little was known about science then, and one kind of school could teach everything that was known about the world. When the students graduated, most of them became ministers or teachers.
In 1782, Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors. Later, lawyers(律師) could receive their training in Harvard’s law school. In 1852, Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German, as well as Latin and Greek. Soon it began teaching American history.
As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects that interested them.
Special colleges for women were started. New state universities began to teach such subjects as farming, engineering and business. Today, there are many different kinds of colleges and universities. Most of them are divided into smaller schools that deal with special fields of learning. There is so much to learn that one kind of school cannot offer it all.
【小題1】 Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were the names of the _______ in America.

A．states B．cities C．universities D．colonies
【小題2】As knowledge increased, colleges began to teach _______.
A．everything that is known B．many new subjects
C．French and German D．farming
【小題3】The title of this passage should be _______.
A．Famous Harvard University
B．American Universities
C．The Changing of American Universities
D．The American Revolution
【小題4】Which statement does the passage lead you to believe?
A．The early schools are still much alike.
B．There is more to learn today than in 1636.
C．All the early students worked harder.
D．Students in modern America learn only science.


【小題1】C
【小題2】B
【小題3】C
【小題4】B

解析試題分析：文章介紹了美國幾個名牌大學(xué)的發(fā)展經(jīng)過，主要以時間為線索可以看出美國大學(xué)的變化過程。
【小題1】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第一段的句子：Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of many colleges and universities in the United States. Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were all started before the American Revolution made the thirteen colonies(殖民地) into states.可知Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth都是美國大學(xué)的名字。選C。
【小題2】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第四段的句子：As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects.可知大學(xué)開始教授新的知識：答案是：B
【小題3】主旨題：從整篇文章看文章以時間為線索介紹了美國大學(xué)的變化。選C
【小題4】細(xì)節(jié)題：從最后一段的內(nèi)容：There is so much to learn that one kind of school cannot offer it all.可知現(xiàn)在比1636年要學(xué)的東西更多。選B
考點(diǎn)：考查文化類短文

練習(xí)冊系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

The world’s native languages are dying out at an unprecedented(空前的) rate, taking with them irreplaceable(不能替代的) knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study.
The study identified five global “hot spots” where languages are vanishing faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. “Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction,” linguistics(語言學(xué)的) professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world’s 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century.
Native people had an intimate(詳盡的) knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. “Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it’s only in people’s heads,” he said. “We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base.”
Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. “The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them,” he said. “When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,‘This is a dying language, we need to learn it’.” Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the  Amurdag  language, which had previously been thought extinct.
The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues.
【小題1】What does this text mainly talk about?

A．A study on native languages endangered.
B．The knowledge of native languages.
C．People’s efforts in saving native languages.
D．Harrison and his study on languages.
【小題2】The underlined word“vanishing”in the second paragraph can be best replaced by        .
A．developing B．changing C．increasing D．Disappearing
【小題3】According to Harrison, language extinction        .
A．causes the researchers lots of worries
B．speeds up the pace of species extinction
C．threatens the existing of Spanish and English
D．brings about a loss of knowledge about the environment
【小題4】Which of the following can be described as good news?
A．Native languages became less endangered in Australia.
B．A man was found with knowledge of the Amurdag language.
C．Researchers were well received by native people in Australia.
D．Many schoolchildren showed interest in the Yawuru language.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

We often use the words growth and development as if they meant essentially the same thing. But this may not always be the case. One can easily imagine instances in which a country has achieved higher levels of income (growth) with little or no benefit coming to most of its citizens (development).
In the past, most development policies were aimed increasing the growth rate of income per capita. Many still are, based on the theory that benefits of economic growth will come to all members of society. If this theory is correct, growth should promote development.
By the early 1970s, however, the relationship between growth and development was being questioned. A major study by the World Bank in 1974 concluded that it is now clear that more than a decade of rapid growth in underdeveloped countries has been of little benefit to a third of their population.
The World Bank study indicated that increases in GNP per capita did not promise important improvements in such development indicators as nutrition, health, and education. Although GNP per capita did indeed rise, its benefits come down to only a small part of the population. This realization gave rise to a call for new development policies. These new policies favored agriculture over industry, called for domestic redistribution of income and wealth, and encouraged programs to satisfy such basic needs as food and shelter.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the international macroeconomic crises of high oil prices, worldwide recession, and third world debt forced attention away from programs designed to get rid of poverty. However, the lesson remains: economic growth does not promise economic development. Efforts may be required to change growing output capacity into economic benefits that reach most of a nation’s people.
【小題1】As to the relationship between growth and development, what can we infer from the passage?

A．Development is a reliable measure of growth. 
B．Growth always brings about development. 
C．Development is not necessarily the result of growth. 
D．Growth and development refer to the same thing. 
【小題2】According to the study by the World Bank in 1974,economic growth in some background countries brought 
A．benefit only to a third of their population. 
B．a(chǎn)lmost no benefit to a third of their population. 
C．little benefit to their people. 
D．no benefit at all to their people. 
【小題3】The programs designed to get rid of poverty were not very well carried out because the government
A．knew that growth didn’t promise development. 
B．gave too much attention to increases in GNP per capita. 
C．wished to replace the programs with new development policies. 
D．was busy solving other more serious economic problems. 
【小題4】If the passage continues, what is the author most likely to discuss in the next paragraph?
A．How to turn growth into development. 
B．How to remove poverty from society. 
C．How to decrease third world debt. 
D．How to cope with economic crises. 

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Is there a limit to the number of years that a person can expect to live? Can changes in life-style add years to one’s life? Throughout history people have sought answers to these questions and others.
Various myths offer the hope of great longevity. In the imaginary land of Shangri-La, for example, people are said to lead a charmed existence for a thousand years. The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was convinced that he would find the Foundation of Youth in what is now the state of Florida. According to the Bible, Methuselah lived to be more than 900 years old.
The subject of longevity is fascinating, and scientists study individuals such as Jeanne Calment to learn about the aging process. Calment died in 1997 in Arles, France, at the age of 122. She never married, and she lived in her own apartment until moving to a retirement community when she was 109.
Most scientists agree that bodies will last, at best, about 125 years. This potential has changed little since modern human beings appeared more than 100 thousand years age. Recent improvements in medicine and the environment have extended life expectancy, especially for those from poorer parts of the world. It is not clear, however, whether such improvements will lengthen life expectancy beyond a certain point.
Life expectancy is the number of years an infant can be expected to live, given the conditions into which it is born. Life expectancy, therefore, is affected by nutrition, medical care, and social and political circumstances. An individual’s genetic makeup is also an important factor. Children from long-lived families can hope to enjoy long lives themselves. According to recent data, the average life expectancy worldwide in 1998 was 67 years. This can be compared with an average life expectancy of 77 in the United States.
In 1970 the average life expectancy worldwide was 61 years, or 6 years less than it was in 1998. This same period saw a drop in infant mortality -— the death of a child before the first birthday-—from 80 births out of 1,000 to 54 births out of 1,000. According to some researchers, the rise in the average life expectancy is due primarily to the drop in infant mortality. It is not so much that adults are living to an older age. It is, rather, that more people are living into adulthood because more children are surviving beyond their first birthdays.
【小題1】Infant mortality is defined as ________ .

A．the number of children born alive
B．the kinds of behavior typical of very young children
C．the number of children, out of 1,000 births, who die before their first birthday
D．the typical and obvious thoughts of very young children
【小題2】Although it may be possible to improve the life expectancy of a particular group of people, ________ .
A．it is more difficult to affect the rate of infant mortality
B．it is unlikely that one will be able to extend the potential life span of human beings in general
C．the process of evolution is extending the potential life span beyond 125 years
D．the potential that bodies will last, at best, about 125 years has changed much since modern human beings appeared
【小題3】One can infer that people have at times imagined that ________ .
A．people live longer in the state of Florida
B．a(chǎn) long life is a burden rather than a blessing
C．it is possible to find a way to live for centuries
D．life expectancy is affected by a couple of factors
【小題4】One can conclude that  ________ .
A．the aging process can be stopped.
B．the aging process is inevitable.
C．life expectancy in the United States will soon reach 125 years.
D．the average life expectancy worldwide is decreasing

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal（信號）. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.
Different cultures emphasize（強(qiáng)調(diào)）the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job．In many European countries -- like the UK or France -- people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.
Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand．I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled．After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.
Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.
People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.
【小題1】In some countries, eating together at restaurants may make it easier for people to _______.

A．develop closer relations B．share the same culture
C．get to know each other D．keep each other company
【小題2】The author mentions his experience in Thailand to show that _______.
A．the English prefer to make long speeches
B．too many words are of no use
C．people from Thailand are quiet and shy by nature
D．even talk and silence can be culturally different
【小題3】According to the text, how can people from different cultures understand each other better?
A．By sharing different ways of life.
B．By accepting different habits.
C．By recognizing different values.
D．By speaking each other' s languages.
【小題4】What would be the best title for the text?
A．Multicultural Environment.
B．Cross-Cultural Differences.
C．How to Understand Each Other.
D．How to Build Up a Relationship.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

A fellow speaker from California named Geri flew to Japan, in her favorite jeans and a casual jacket, to give her first speech. Fourteen hours later, four perfectly dressed Japanese gentlemen greeted her at Narita Airport. Smiling and bowing low, they handed her their business cards. With her bag in one hand, Geri took their cards with the other. She thanked them, glanced briefly at the cards, and put them into her jeans pocket quickly.
When the five of them arrived at the hotel, they invited Geri to tea in the lobby (大廳). While sipping tea, the gentlemen presented her with a small gift which she eagerly opened. She was thrilled with the gift and shouted excitedly, “Oh, it’s beautiful!”
At this point, the four Japanese gentlemen stood up and, bowing only very slightly, said “Sayonara” and left immediately. Poor Geri was left astonished. What did she do wrong?
Everything! Her jeans were the first gaffe. Even if you’re coming off a bicycle in Japan, you do not meet c1ients (客人) casually dressed. The second mistake was Geri’s handling of their business cards rudely. In Japan, the business card is one of the most important communicative tools. It is always presented and accepted respectfully with both hands. However, Geri put their cards away much too quickly. In Japan, people use business cards as a conversation starter. You chat about each other’s cards and work and do not put theirs away until they gently and respectfully place yours in safekeeping. Putting it carelessly into her jeans pocket was the ultimate disrespect.
Then, the fourth horror of horrors was that Geri should not have opened the gift in front of her clients. In a land where saving face is critical, it would be embarrassing to discover the gift they gave was not as nice as the one they received. What is worse, Geri hadn’t even given them a gift!
【小題1】In the four Japanese gentlemen’s eyes, Geri took their cards _____________.

A．excitedly B．embarrassingly C．politely D．disrespectfully
【小題2】Why did the four Japanese gentlemen leave Geri suddenly?
A．Because they couldn’t bear Geri’s behavior any longer.
B．Because they had finished the task.
C．Because Geri had something more important to do.
D．Because Geri felt embarrassed.
【小題3】What does the underlined word “gaffe” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A．ignorance B．sadness C．mistake D．carelessness
【小題4】The third mistake Geri made was that she _____________.
A．used her own card as a conversation starter
B．took her clients’ cards with one hand
C．kept her clients’ cards in a wrong place
D．met her clients in jeans
【小題5】What lesson can we draw from this story?
A．Honesty is the best policy.
B．Think twice before you take any action.
C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
D．Don't claim to know what you don't know.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Laptop computers （筆記本電腦）are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.
Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a ＄10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to "speak" with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees－anywhere at all!
Because of the many changes in computer technology, laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.
At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff（全體員工）use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, "Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we're giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything."
【小題1】The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to _____.

A．use for their schoolwork
B．a(chǎn)ccess the Internet
C．work at home
D．connect them to libraries
【小題2】Why is the word "speak" in the second paragraph in quotation marks (引號)?
A．They can speak loudly.
B．They use the computer language.
C．Laptops have speakers.
D．They don't really talk.
【小題3】Which of the following is TRUE about Westlake College?
A．All teachers use computers.
B．1500 students have laptops.
C．It is an old college in America.
D．Students there can do everything.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Mark Twain has been called the inventor of the American novel. And he surely deserves additional praise: the man who popularized the clever literary attack on racism.
I say clever because anti-slavery fiction had been the important part of the literature in the years before the Civil War. H. B. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is only the most famous example. These early stories dealt directly with slavery. With minor exceptions, Twain planted his attacks on slavery and prejudice into tales that were on the surface about something else entirely. He drew his readers into the argument by drawing them into the story.
Again and again, in the postwar years, Twain seemed forced to deal with the challenge of race. Consider the most controversial, at least today, of Twain’s novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Only a few books have been kicked off the shelves as often as Huckleberry Finn, Twain’s most widely read tale. Once upon a time, people hated the book because it struck the mass rude. Twain himself wrote that those who banned the book considered the novel “trash and suitable only for the slums”. More recently the book has been attacked because of the character Jim, the escaped slave, and many occurrences of the word nigger. (The term Nigger Jim, for which the novel is often severely criticized, never appears in it.)
But the attacks were and are silly—and miss the point. The novel is strongly anti-slavery. Jim’s search through the slave states for the family from whom he has been forcibly parted is heroic. As J. Chadwick has pointed out, the character of Jim was a first in American fiction — a recognition that the slave had two personalities, “the voice of survival within a white slave culture and the voice of the individual: Jim, the father and the man.”
There is much more. Twain’s mystery novel Pudd’nhead Wilson stood as a challenge to the racial beliefs of even many of the liberals of his day. Written at a time when the accepted wisdom held Negroes to be inferior to whites, especially in intelligence, Twain’s tale centered in part around two babies switched at birth. A slave gave birth to her master’s baby and, for fear that the child should be sold south, switched him for the master’s baby by his wife. The slave’s light-skinned child was taken to be white and grew up with both the attitudes and the education of the slave-holding class. The master’s wife’s baby was taken for black and grew up with the attitudes and intonations of the slave.
The point was difficult to miss: nurture, not nature, was the key to social status. The features of the black man that provided the stuff of prejudice—manner of speech, for example—were, to Twain, indicative of nothing other than the conditioning that slavery forced on its victims.
Twain’s racial was not perfect . One is left uneasy, for example, by the lengthy passage in his autobiography about how much he loved what were called “nigger shows” in his youth--mostly with white men performing in black-face---and his delight in getting his mother to laugh at them. Yet there is no reason to think Twain saw the shows as representing reality. His frequent attacks on slavery and prejudice suggest his keen awareness that they did not.
Was Twain a racist? Asking the questioning the 21st century is as wise as asking the same of Lincoln. If we read the words and attitudes of the past through the “wisdom” of the considered moral judgments of the present, we will find nothing but error. Lincoln, who believed the black man the inferior of the white, fought and won a war to free him. And Twain, raised in a slave state, briefly a soldier, and inventor of Jim, may have done more to anger the nation over racial injustice and awaken its collective conscience than any other novelist in the past century.
【小題1】How do Twain’s novels on slavery differ from Stowes?

A．Twain was more willing to deal with racism.
B．Twain’s attack on racism was much less open.
C．Twain’s themes seemed to agree with plots.
D．Twain was openly concerned with racism.
【小題2】The story of two babies switched mainly indicates that    .
A．slaves were forced to give up their babies to their masters
B．slaves babies could pickup slave holders’ way of speaking
C．blacks’ social position was shaped by how they were brought up
D．blacks were born with certain features of prejudice
【小題3】 What does the under lined word “they” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
A．The attacks.
B．Slavery and prejudice.
C．White men.
D．The shows.
【小題4】 What does the author mainly argue for?
A．Twain had done more than his contemporary writers to attack racism.
B．Twain was an admirable figure comparable to Abraham Lincoln.
C．Twain’s works had been banned on unreasonable grounds.
D．Twain s works should be read from a historical point of view.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

In just two months, the latest buzzword from the Internet, diaosi, has spread so much that it can be found everywhere—from online forums(論壇) to micro blogs. Many people even call themselves diaosi. It’s not the first time a term has gone popular on the Internet in China. However, why is the word so viral that is has become a cultural phenomenon? Here, we tell you something you want to know about it.
Where it began
The word originated in Baidu. Com’s Tieba (a top Chinese bulletin board system) of soccer player Li Yi. There, fans of Li, who are called yisi in Chinese, not only talk about soccer but complain about their lives, work and relationships. Yisi, who are known for their rude and dirty language, were given the name diaosi by others who have seen their posts.
What a “diaosi” is like
The word diaosi was coined first by single, young men who feel they have dead-end lives. Generally, men in this category don’t earn enough, are not good-looking, and have difficulty winning promotion(晉升). Unlike their upper-class contemporaries(同代人), they lack influential families, useful social networks for their careers, and most importantly, suitable women to marry. “I’m just a diaosi, poor and plain-looking. Who will marry me?” The sigh can be heard, which is half self-mockery(自嘲), half reality. Many young men call themselves diaosi because they feel they are among the lowest classes of the society.
“Diaosi” culture reflects social changes
According to Zhu Chongke, a professor in the School of Asia-Pacific Studies at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, the popularity of this word diaosi stems from the fact that is was created by common people and thus resonates(共鳴) with a huge population. “Labeling yourself a diaosi offers a way for people to mock themselves and relieve pressure, hence it spread quickly,” he told Xinhua Agency. “The attitude is basically: ‘I already have little to lose, so why don’t I mock myself for gun?’.” The phenomenon reflects a larger social issues. These young people have no influential family background, no chances of receiving promotion at work or no economic strength to find a proper woman to marry. It reflects a deep sense of loss.
【小題1】Diaosi refers to the ones with following features except      .

A．the ones who don’t earn much.
B．the ones who are not good-looking.
C．the ones who have difficulty winning promotion
D．the ones who have suitable people to marry.
【小題2】The word “diaosi” is so popular because         .
A．It was used to describe the fans of soccer player Li Yi.
B．It was created by common people and resonates with a huge population.
C．It is new and interesting.
D．It helps people who are among the lowest classes mock themselves.
【小題3】Which of the following is NOT true?
A．It’s not the first time a term like “diaosi” has gone popular on the Internet.
B．The name “diaosi” was given by those people who are among the lowest classes.
C．Many young people call themselves diaosi because they have a deep sense of loss.
D．Calling yourself diaosi can probably mock yourselves and release pressure.
【小題4】The author’s attitude to diaosi is      .
A．positive B．negative C．neutral(中立的) D．indifferent

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊答案