Passage 1
Proper arrangement of classroom space is important to encouraging interaction.Most of us have noticed how important physical setting is to efficiency and comfort in our work.Today's corporation hire human engineering specialists and spend a considerable amount of time and money to make sure that the physical environments of buildings are fit to the activities of their inhabitants.
Similarly, college classroom space should be designed to encourage the activity of critical thinking.We are already in the twenty-first century,but step into almost any college classroom and you step back in time at least a hundred years.Desks are normally in straight rows, so students can clearly see the teacher but not all their classmates.This assumption behind such an arrangement is obvious:Everything of importance comes from the teacher.
With a little imagination and effort,unless desks are fixed to the floor,the teacher can correct this situation and create space that encourages interchange among students.In small or standardized classes,chairs,desks,and tables can be arranged in a variety of ways:circles,U-shapes,or semicircles.The primary goal should be for everyone to be able to see everyone else.Larger classes,particular those held in lecture halls,unfortunately,allow much less flexibility.
Arrangement of the classroom should also make it easy to divide students into small groups for discussion or problem-solving exercises.Small classes with movable desks and tables present no problem.Even in large lecture halls,it is possible for students to turn around and form group of four to six.Breaking a class into small groups provides more opportunities for students to interact with each other,think out loud,and see how other students’ thinking processes operate--all essential elements in developing new modes of critical thinking.
In courses that regularly use a small group format,students might be asked to stay in the same small groups throughout the course.A colleague of mine allows students to move around during the first two weeks,until they find a group they are comfortable with.He then asks them to stay in the same seat,with the same group,from that time on.This not only creates a comfortable setting for interaction but helps him learn students’ names and faces.
1. According to the passage,proper arrangement of physical environment in a company _______.
A. can improve working conditions
B. leads to an friendly atmosphere
C. can promote working efficiency
D. produce an energetic team leader
2. Desks in straight rows in a traditional classroom imply _______.
A. the importance of facial expressions
B. group work is not welcome in class
C. strict rules that must be abided by
D. the absolute authority of teachers
3. The most important goal of classroom arrangement is to _______.
A. create more chances of interaction among students
B. increase more speaking practices among students
C. make it possible for teachers to judge how well students have learned
D. improve the relationship between students and teachers
4. By dividing students into small groups,teachers _______.
A. find it easier to handle the in-class teaching
B. can participate in group work conveniently
C. help develop students’ abilities in critical thinking
D. reinforce students’ ability in cooperation and communication
5. It can be inferred that the author _______.
A. criticizes the importance of teachers in class
B. stresses the importance of interaction among students
C. is reluctant to teach in a classroom in the 21st century
D. is eager to reform the desk arrangements in his college
Passage 4
Material culture refers to what can be seen, held, felt, used--what a culture produces. Examining a culture’s tools and technology can tell us about the group’s history and way of life. Similarly, research into the material culture of music can help us to understand the music culture. The most vivid body of material culture in it, of course, is musical instruments. We cannot hear for ourselves the actual sound of any musical performance before the 1870s when the phonograph was invented, so we rely on instruments for important information about music cultures in the remote past and their development. Here we have two kinds of evidence: instruments well preserved and instruments pictured in art. Through the study of instruments, as well as paintings, written documents, and so on, we can explore the movement of music from the Near East to China over a thousand years ago, or we can outline the spread of Near Eastern influence to Europe that resulted in the development of most of the instruments in the symphony orchestra.
Sheet music or printed music, too, is material culture. Scholars once defined folk music cultures as those in which people learn and sing music by ear rather than from print, but research shows mutual influence among oral and written sources during the past few centuries in Europe, Britain, and America. Printed versions limit variety because they tend to standardize any song, yet they stimulate people to create new and different songs. Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on music and, when it becomes widespread, on the music culture as a whole.
One more important part of music’s material culture should be singled out: the influence of the electronic media--radio, record player, tape recorder, television, and videocassette, with the future promising talking and singing computers and other developments. This is all part of the "information revolution", a twentieth-century phenomenon as important as the industrial revolution was in the nineteenth. These electronic media are not just limited to modem nations; they have affected music cultures all over the globe.
6. Research into the material culture of a nation is of great importance because __
A. it helps produce new cultural tools and technology
B. it can reflect the development of the nation
C. it helps understand the nation’s past and present
D. it can demonstrate the nation’s civilization
7. It can be learned from this passage that _____
A. the existence of the symphony was attributed to the spread of Near Eastern and Chinese music
B. Near Eastern music had an influence on the development of the instruments in the symphony Orchestra
C. the development of the symphony shows the mutual influence of Eastern and Western music
D. the musical instruments in the symphony orchestra were developed on the basis of Near Eastern music
8. According to the author, music notation is important because ___
A. it has a great effect on the music culture as more and more people are able to read it
B. it tends to standardize folk songs when it is used by folk musicians
C. it is the printed version of standardized folk music
D. it encourages people to popularize printed versions of songs
9. It can be concluded from the passage that the introduction of electronic media into the world of music __
A. has brought about an information revolution
B. has speeded up the appearance of a new generation of computers
C. has given rise to new forms of music culture
D. has led to the transformation of traditional musical instruments
10. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
A. Musical instruments developed through the years will sooner or later be replaced by computers.
B. Music cannot be passed on to future generations unless it is recorded.
C. Folk songs cannot be spread far unless they are printed on music sheets.
D. The development of music culture is highly dependent on its material aspect.
Passage 5
You’re busy filling out the application form for a position you really need. Let’s assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn’t it tempting to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University? More and more people are turning to utter deception like this to land their job or to move ahead in their careers, for personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university.
Registrars at most well-known colleges say they deal with deceitful claims like these at the rate of about one per week. Personnel officers do check up on degrees listed on application forms, then. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are reluctant to accuse the applicant directly. One Ivy League school calls them "impostors (骗子)"; another refers to them as "special cases". One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says that these claims are made by "no such people". To avoid outright (彻底的) lies, some job-seekers claim that they "attended" or "were associated with" a college or university. After carefully checking, a personnel officer may discover that "attending" means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that "being associated with" a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of the century---that’s when they began keeping records, anyhow. If you don’t want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a phony diploma.
One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of nonexistent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from "Smoot State University". The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the "University of Purdue". As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.
11. The main idea of this passage is that _____
A. employers are checking more closely on applicants now
B. lying about college degrees has become a widespread problem
C. college degrees can now be purchased easily
D. employers are no longer interested in college degrees
12. According to the passage, "special eases" refers to cases that __
A. students attend a school only part-time
B. students never attended a school they listed on their application
C. students purchase false degrees from commercial firms
D. students attended a famous school
13. We can infer from the passage that __
A. performance is a better judge of ability than a college degree
B. experience is the best teacher
C. past work histories influence personnel officers more than degrees do
D. a degree from a famous school enables an applicant to gain advantage over others in job competition
14. This passage implies that __
A. buying a false degree is not moral
B. personnel officers only consider applicants from famous schools
C. most people lie on applications because they were dismissed from school
D. society should be greatly responsible for lying on applications
15. The word "phony" (Line 13, Para. 2) means __
A. thorough C. false B. ultimate D. decisive
Passage 6
Nobody actually wants to cause offence but,as business becomes ever more international,it is increasingly easy to get it wrong. There may be a single European market but it does not mean that managers behave the same in Greece as they do in Denmark.
In many European countries handshaking is an automatic gesture.In France good manners require that on arriving at a business meeting a man should shake hands with everyone present. This can be a demanding task and,in a crowded room,may require gymnastic(体育的)ability if the farthest hand is to be reached. Handshaking is almost as popular in some other countries,but Northern Europeans,such as the British and Scandinavians,are not quite so fond of physical demonstrations of friendliness.
In Europe the most common challenge is not the content of the food,but the way you behave as you eat. Some things are just not done.In France it is not good manners to raise tricky questions of business over the main course.Business has its place:after the cheese course. Unless you are prepared to eat in silence you have to talk about something-something,that is,other than the business deal which you are continually chewing over in your head.
In Germany,as you walk sadly back to your hotel room,you may wonder why your apparently friendly hosts have not invited you out for the evening. Don't worry,it is probably nothing personal. Germans do not entertain business people with quite the same enthusiasm as some of their European counterparts.
The Germans are also notable for the amount of formality they bring to business. As an outsider,it is often difficult to know whether colleagues have been working together for 30 years or have just met in the lift. If you are used to calling people by their first names this can be a little strange. To the Germans,titles are important. Forgetting that someone should be called Herr Doktor or Frau Direktorin might cause serious offence. It is equally offensive to call them by a title they do not possess.
In Italy the question of title is further confused by the fact that everyone with a university degree can be called Doctor-and engineers,lawyers and architects may also expect to be called by their professional titles.
These cultural challenges exist side by side with the problems of doing business in a foreign language. Language,of course,is full of difficulties-disaster’may be only a syllable away.But the more you know of the culture of the country you are dealing with,the less likely you are to get into difficulties.It is worth the effort. It might be rather hard to explain that the reason you lost the contract was not the product or the price,but the fact that you offended your hosts in a light-hearted comment over an aperitif(开胃酒).Good manners are admired: they can also make or break the deal.
16. This passage suggests us to
A. behave the same in the single European market
B. make the deal by good manners
C. give humorous remarks when you eat with people
D. learn more about cultural differences
17. In which country are you not expected to shake hands with everyone you meet?
A. France. B. Germany. C. Norway. D. Italy.
18. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. People in Britain shake hands just as many as people in France.
B. In France people prefer talking about business during meals.
C. Italian professionals expect to be called by their titles.
D. German business people don't like to be called by their surnames.
19. If you are not invited out for the evening by your business counterparts in Germany,that means
A. they still haven't taken you as their friend yet
B. they want to keep a distance from you
C. they are still hesitating whether to do business with you or not
D. they don't realize the need to invite you out
20. Which one below can NOT be a proper title for this passage?
A.When in Rome... B. I Didn't Mean to Be Rude
C. Doing Business in Europe D. Good Manner,Successful Business
1-5 C D A C B 6-10 C B A C D
11-15 B B D D C 16-20 B C C D C
作文每周一练(七)
Directions: You are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic My View on Opportunity. You should write at least 120 words and base your composition on the outline given in Chinese below.
1. 有人认为机会是极少的
2. 另一些人认为人人都会有某种机会
3. 我认为…….写出你的观点,说明你的理由
My View on Opportunity
A common concept among some people is that opportunities are few. They always complain that opportunities never occur to them. They only admire those people who make a hit or succeed by seizing some opportunities, and always wonder why they are never given a good opportunity to show their talent.
Another common notion is that there are opportunities everywhere. Opportunity may occur to anybody at any time and under any circumstances as long as he/she keeps making constant efforts. As a student, you can get to the top through your hard work. As a businessman, you can succeed through accurate calculation and with a complete certainty that you can make a profit.
In my opinion, opportunity favors only those who keep trying and who are ready for it. As the saying goes "God helps those who help themselves", So no matter whether there's opportunity or not, what we should do is to study, to learn and become learned people, Only in this way can you seize your opportunity when it occurs. So never say there's no opportunity again.