Students and Technology in the Classroom
I love my blackberry—it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me . I also love my laptop computer ，as it holds all of my writing and thought .Despite this love of technology ,I know that there are times when I need to move away from these device and truly communication with others.On occasion ,I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers. My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas .Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom ,I have a rule —no laptop ,ipads ,phones ,etc .When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were not happy .
Most students assume that year reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology . There’s a bit of truth to that.Some students assume that I am anti-technology . There’s no truth in that at all . I love technology and try to keep up with it so I relate to my students.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversions and truly engage complex ideas. Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas . I want students to think differently and make connections between the course the material and the class discussion .
I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the educations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create .Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge , they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom .
I’m not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change ,I’m sticking to my plan. a few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too give up.
小題1:
some of the students in the history class were unhappy with____

A．the course material	B．others’ misuse of technology
C．discussion topics	D．the author’s class regulator

小題2:
the underlined word “engage ”in para.4 probably means ____

A．explore

B．a(chǎn)ccept

C．change

D．reject

小題3:
according to the author ,the use of technology in the classroom may ____

A．keep students from doing independent thinking

B．encourage students to have in-depth conversations

C．help students to better understand complex themes

D．a(chǎn)ffect students’ concentration on course evaluation

小題4:
it can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author ____

A．is quite stubborn

B．will give up teaching history

C．will change his teaching plan soon

D．values technology-free dialogues in his class

As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electhical generating（發(fā)電）and transmission（輸送）systen for the 21^th century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the suurouding community. The same is true of big solar ppants and the power lines that will be laid dowm to move electricity around.
The 19^th century saw land grants（政府撥地）offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads ,leaving public land in between privately owned land . In much of the west ,some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped ,and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management ,with the completion or the interstate highway system ,many of the small towns which sprang up as railway stops and developed well ,have lost their lifeblood and died .
Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the west .this is not an argument against building then ,we need alternative energy badly .and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now .
So trade-offs will have to be made .some scenic sport will be sacrificed .some species (物種)will be forced to move ,or will be carefully moved to special accommodations ,deals will be struck to reduce the immediate effects .
The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter .the 21^st century development of the American west as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money to do a lot of good .but it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind ,just like the railroad and the highway .
The money set aside in negotiated trade –offs and the institution that control  will shape the west far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines .so let’s remember the effects of the railroad and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the west .
小題1:
what was the problem caused by the construction of the railways ?

A．small towns along the railways became abandoned .

B．some railroad stops remained .

C．land in the west was hard to manage .

D．land grants went into private hands.

小題2:
what is the major concern in the development of alternative energy according to the last two paragraphs ?

A．the transmission of power	B．the use of money and power
C．the conservation of solar energy	D．the selection of an ideal place

小題3:
what is the author ‘s attitude towards building solar plants ?

A．cautious

B．a(chǎn)pproving

C．doubtful

D．disapproving

小題4:
which is the best title for the passage ?

A．how the railways have affected the west

B．how solar energy could reshape the west

C．how the effects of power plants can be reduced

D．how the problems of the highways have been settled

  Arthur  Miller(1915-2005)is universally  recognized  as one of the greatest dramatists  of the 20^th  century. Miller`s father  had  moved to the USA from  Austria Hungary．Drawn like so many other by the“Great American  Dream”However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the  earlv l930s.
Milles's most famous play, Death of a SaIesman, is a powerful attack on the American system.with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into double with his worth. Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment : if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at loss as to what to do with his lack of sucess. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949 ,the  play was greeted with enthusiastic revews,and it won the Tony Award for Best Play,the New York Drama Critics` Circle Award,and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Millerl died  of hear failure at his home in Roxbury,Connecticut,on the evening of February 10,2005,the 56th anniversary  of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
小題1:
Why did Arthur Miller' s father move to the USA?

A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.

B．He was attracted by the "Great American Dream.

C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist.

D．His family business failed.

小題2:
The play Death of a Salesman

A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world

B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company

C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller

D．focuses on the skills in doing business

小題3:
What can we learn about Willy Loman?

A．He treats his employer badly.

B．He runs the Wagner Company.

C．He is a victim of the American system.

D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.

小題4:
After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman

A．a(chǎn)chieved huge success

B．won the first Tony Award

C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen

D．was severely attacked by dramatists

小題5:
What is the text mainly about?

A．Arthur Miller and his family.

B．The awards Arthur Miller won.

C．The hardship Arthur Miller experienced.

D．Arthur Miller and his best-known play.

“Experience may possibly be the best teacher, but it is not a particularly good teacher.” You might think that Winston Churhill 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（復(fù)雜化），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（精確的）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.
小題1:
According to the text, James March is ____________. 

A．a(chǎn) poet who uses experience in his writing

B．a(chǎn) teacher who teachers story writing in university

C．a(chǎn) researcher who studies the way humans think and act

D．a(chǎn) professor who helps organizations make important decisions

小題2:
According to James March, experience ______________. 
A. is overvalued          B. is easy to explain
C. should be actively sought
小題3:
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.

小題4:
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.

Feeling blue about world ? “Cheer up.” Says science writer Matt Ridley.”The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and got nature.”
Ridley calls himself a tat ional optimist—tactical .because he’s carefully weighed the evidence optimistic .because that   offence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good .And this is what he’s set out to prone from unique point of view in his most recent book. The Rant anal Opting  .He views mankind as grand enterprise that .on the whole .has done little but progress for 100.000 years. He backed his finding with hard gathered though years of research.
Here’s how he explains his views.
Shopping fuels invention
It is reported that there are more than ten billion different producers for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty .our own generation has access to more nutritious food .more convenient transport .bigger houses, better ears .and of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us .This will continue as long as we there things to make other things, This more we specialize and exchange, the better off we’ll be.
2) Brilliant advances
One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ener before is that the four most basie human needs -food, clothing, fuel and shelter- have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it’s half second.
3) Let’s not kill ourselves for climate change
Mitigating(減輕) climate change could prove just as damaging to human welface as climate change itself. A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fassil-fuel(化石燃料) electrieity is forhidden by well meaming members of green polucal movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that mes in a flood caused by climate change. If chmaic change proves to be xxxx, but cutting carbon canses realparn, we may well find that we have stopped a nose bleed by putting a tournquet(止血帶) around our necks.
小題1:What is the theme of Ridley’s most recent book?

A．Weakness of human nature.

B．Concern about climate change.

C．Importance of practical thinking.

D．Optimism about human progress.

小題2:How does Ridley look at shopping?

A．It encourages the creation of things.

B．It results in shortage of goods.

C．It demands more fossil fuels.

D．It causes a poverry problem.

小題3:The candle and lamp example is used to show that     .

A．oil lamps give off more light than candles

B．shortening working time brings about a happier life.

C．a(chǎn)dvanced technology helps to produce better candles.

D．increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods.

小題4:What does the last sentence of the passage imply?

A．Cutting carbon is necessary in spite of the huge cost.

B．Overreaction to cliamate change may be dangerous.

C．People’s health is closely related to climate change.

D．Careless medical treatment may cause great pain.

Next time a customer comes to your office, offer him a cup of coffee. And when you’re doing your holiday shopping online, make sure you’re holding a large glass of iced tea. The physical sensation（感覺） of warmth encourages emotional warmth, while a cold drink in hand prevents you from making unwise decisions—those are the practical lesson being drawn from recent research by psychologist John A. Bargh.
Psychologists have known that one person’s perception（感知） of another’s “warmth” is a powerful determiner in social relationships. Judging someone to be either “warm” or “cold” is a primary consideration, even trumping evidence that a “cold” person may be more capable. Much of this is rooted in very early childhood experiences, Bargh argues, when babies’ conceptual sense of the world around them is shaped by physical sensations, particularly warmth and coldness. Classic studies by Harry Harlow, published in 1958, showed monkeys preferred to stay close to a cloth “mother” rather than one made of wire, even when the wire “mother” carried a food bottle. Harlow’s work and later studies have led psychologists to stress the need for warm physical contact from caregivers to help young children grow into healthy adults with normal social skills.
Feelings of “warmth” and “coldness” in social judgments appear to be universal. Although no worldwide study has been done, Bargh says that describing people as “warm” or “cold” is common to many cultures, and studies have found those perceptions influence judgment in dozens of countries.
To test the relationship between physical and psychological warmth, Bargh conducted an experiment which involved 41 college students. A research assistant who was unaware of the study’s hypotheses（假設(shè)）, handed the students either a hot cup of coffee, or a cold drink, to hold while the researcher filled out a short information form: The drink was then handed back. After that, the students were asked to rate the personality of “Person A” based on a particular description. Those who had briefly held the warm drink regarded Person A as warmer than those who had held the iced drink.
“We are grounded in our physical experiences even when we think abstractly,” says Bargh.
小題1:
According to Paragraph 1, a person’s emotion may be affected by ______.

A．the visitors to his office	B．the psychology lessons he has
C．his physical feeling of coldness	D．the things he has bought online

小題2:
The author mentions Harlow’s experiment to show that ______.

A．a(chǎn)dults should develop social skills	B．babies need warm physical contact
C．caregivers should be healthy adults	D．monkeys have social relationships

小題3:
In Bargh’s experiment, the students were asked to ______.

A．evaluate someone’s personality	B．write down their hypotheses
C．fill out a personal information form
D．hold coffee and cold drink alternatively

小題4:
We can infer from the passage that ______.

A．a(chǎn)bstract thinking does not come from physical experiences

B．feelings of warmth and coldness are studied worldwide

C．physical temperature affects how we see others

D．capable persons are often cold to others

小題5:
What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Drinking for Better Social Relationships

B．Experiments of Personality Evaluation

C．Developing Better Drinking Habits

D．Physical Sensations and Emotions

Each Indian（印第安人）was supposed to keep his birth name until he was old enough to earn one for himself．But his playmates（游戲伙伴）would always give him a name of their own．No matter what his parents called him, his childhood friends would use the name they had chosen．Often it was not pleasing, such as Bow Legs or Bad Boy．But sometimes a name fit so well that the youngster found it difficult to shake it off．If he could not earn a better one from a war later, he could be stuck with a name like Bow Legs for the rest of his life.
The Indian earned his real name when he was old enough for his first fight against the enemy．His life name depended on how he acted during this first battle．When he returned from the war, the whole tribe would gather and observe the ceremony in which he would be given his name by the chief．If he had done well, he would get a good name．Otherwise he might be called Crazy Wolf or Man-Afraid-Of-a-Horse．So an Indian’s name told his record or described the kind of man he was.
A man was given many chances to improve his name, however．If in a later battle he was brave in fighting against the enemy, he was given a better name．Some of our great fighters had as many as twelve names—all good and each better than the last.
An Indian’s names belonged to him for the rest of his life．No one else could use them．Even he himself could not give them away because names were assigned by the tribe, not the family．So no man could pass on his name unless the chief and the tribe asked him to do so.
Sometimes an Indian would be asked to give his name to a son who had performed a noticeable deed．I know of only three of four times when this happened．It is the rarest honor for a person—the honor of assuming（承擔(dān)） his father’s name.
小題1:
An Indian could be given the second name by__________.

A．his father	B．the enemy
C．the chief of the tribe	D．his childhood friends

小題2:
The greatest honor an Indian could earn was____________.

A．a(chǎn) victory in his first battle against the enemy

B．a(chǎn) name given by the chief

C．a(chǎn) ceremony to get his real name

D．the right to use his father’s name

小題3:
If an Indian had more than ten names, it meant that____________.

A．many people in the tribe liked him	B．he was a great fighter
C．he had a lot of friends	D．he had fought in fewer than ten battles

小題4:
Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?

A．The names given by the playmates of an Indian were usually not pleasant

B．The life name of an Indian was earned in battle

C．An Indian could throw away his birth name when he was old enough to earn one for himself.

D．The Indians themselves were not allowed to give their names away.

During his life Dr James Naismith worked as a doctor, taught P.E and wrote several books. While he never thought it very important, Dr Naismith is today best known for one thing. He was the inventor of basketball.
Dr James Naismith was born in Canada in 1861 and his first job was at a special sports school in the USA. One day the school principal told James he was having a problem with the students. Because of heavy snow, the students could not go outside. He told James that they needed a sport the boys could play indoors and gave the teacher two weeks to think of something.
It was on the very last day that James came up with his idea. The “birth of basketball” is said to be on December 21, 1891, when two teams from the school played the first game. It was quite different from the basketball games of today. It had 9 players on each team and footballs were used instead of basketballs. Soon after, the game changed to 5 players on each side, using special “basketballs” through nets.
Although Dr Naismith did not live to see basketball become the worldwide game it is today, in 1936, just three years before his death, basketball became an Olympic sport at the Games in Berlin.
小題1:
Which of the following things did Dr James Naismith NOT do?

A．Teach P.E in school.	B．Write some books.
C．Work at a hospital.	D．Take part in the Olympic Games.

小題2:
In which season did Dr Naismith invent basketball?

A．Summer.

B．Winter.

C．Spring.

D．Autumn.

小題3:
Why is December 21 thought to be the birthday of basketball?

A．It was on this day that Dr Naismith came up with his idea for basketball.

B．It was the day on which Dr Naismith was born.

C．It was the day on which Dr Naismith was asked by his boss to invent a new game.

D．It was on this day that the first game of basketball was played.

小題4:
At the time of Dr Naismith’s death, which of the following was true?

A．Basketball was already a worldwide game.

B．Basketball was played with 9 players on each side.

C．Basketball was an Olympic sport.

D．Basketball was still played using footballs.

Weddings in the United States vary as much as the people do. There are church weddings with a great deal of fanfare； there are weddings on mountain-tops with guests barefooted； and there have been weddings on the ocean floor with oxygen tanks for the guests. But many weddings, no matter where or how they are performed, include certain traditional customs.
　　Before a couple is married，they become engaged. And then invitations are sent to those who live nearby, their close friends and their relatives who live far away. When everything is ready，then comes the most exciting moment.
　　The wedding itself usually lasts between 20 and 40 minutes. The wedding party enters the church while the wedding march is played. The bride carrying a bouquet enters last with her father who will "give her away". The groom enters the church from a side door. When the wedding party is gathered by the altar， the bride and groom exchange vows. It is traditional to use the words "To have and to hold from this day forward， for better， for worse， for richer， for poorer， in sickness and in health， to love and to cherish， till death do us part". Following the vows， the couple exchange rings. Wearing the wedding ring on the fourth finger of the left hand is an old custom.
　　After the ceremony there is often a party, called a "reception" which gives the wedding guests an opportunity to congratulate the newlyweds.
The car in which the couple leaves the church is decorated with balloons, streamers and shaving cream. The words "Just Married" are painted on the trunk or back window. The bride and groom run to the car under a shower of rice thrown by the wedding guests. When the couple drives away from the church， friends often chase them in cars， honking and drawing attention to them. And then the couple go on their honeymoon.
小題1: What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Introducing the kinds of wedding in the USA

B．introducing the whole procedure of the wedding in the USA

C．Introducing the traditional wedding ceremony in the USA

D．Introducing a forgetful wedding party in the USA

小題2:Which of the following sentences is true?

A．In American ,before a couple are married, they never get engaged.

B．It is an old custom to wear the wedding ring on the fourth finger of the right hand.

C．They don’t invite the relatives who live far away to the wedding party.

D．The couple will go on their honeymoon on the very wedding day.

小題3:Which is the last but one step of the wedding ceremony?

A．The bride carrying a bouquet enters with her father who will "give her away"

B．t he bride and groom exchange vows

C．the couple exchange rings

D．The wedding party enters the church while the wedding march is played

William Butler Yeats, a most famous Irish writer, was born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. His childhood lacked the harmony (和睦) that was typical of a happy family. Later, Yeats shocked his family by saying that he remembered “l(fā)ittle of childhood but its pain”. In fact, he inherited (繼承) excellent taste in art from his family—both his father and his brother were painters. But he finally settled on literature, particularly drama (戲劇) and poetry.
Yeats had strong faith in coming of new artistic movements. He set himself the fresh task in founding an Irish national theatre in the late 1890s. His early theatrical experiments, however, were not received favorably at the beginning. He didn’t lose heart, and finally enjoyed success in his poetical drama.
Compared with his dramatic works, Yeats’s poems attract much admiring notice. The subject matter includes love, nature, history, time and aging. Though Yeats generally relied on very traditional forms, he brought modern sensibility to them. As his literary life progressed, his poetry grew finer and richer, which led him to worldwide recognition.
He had not enjoyed a major public life since winning the Nobel Price in 1923. Yet, he continued writing almost to the end of his life. Had Yeats stopped writing at age 40, he would who probably now be valued as a minor poet, for there is no other example in literary history of a poet Auden wrote, among others, the following liners:
Earth, receive an honored guest:
William Yeats is laid to rest.
Let the Irish vessel (船) lie
Emptied of its poetry.
小題1:Which of the following can describe Yeats’s family?

A．It filled Yeats’s childhood with laughter.

B．It was shocked by Yeats’s choice.

C．It was a typically wealthy family.

D．It had an artistic atmosphere.

小題2:According to the passage, what do we know about Yeats’s life?

A．Yeats founded the first Irish theater.

B．Yeats stuck to modern forms in his poetry.

C．Yeats began to produce his best works from the 1910s.

D．Yeats was not favored by the public until the 1923 Noble Prize.

小題3:What kind of feeling is expressed in W. H. Auden’s lines?

A．Envy.	B．Sympathy.
C．Emptiness.	D．Admiration.

小題4:What is the passage mainly about?

A．Yeats’ literary achievements.

B．Yeats’ historical influence.

C．Yeats’ artistic ambition.

D．Yeats’ national honor.