◆第二章◆ 长篇阅读
2013年12月考次起,全国大学英语四、六级考试委员会对四、六级考试的试卷结构和测试题型作局部调整。原来的快速阅读调整为长篇阅读段落信息匹配题题型。篇章长度和难度不变。篇章后附有10个句子,每句一题。每句所含的信息出自篇章的某一段落,要求考生找出与每句所含信息相匹配的段落。有的段落可能对应两题,有的段落可能不对应任何一题。
新题型不但要求考生对文章全篇能够有所理解,还要求对文章的一些细节能够把握。值得关注的是此次改革对学生的宏观概括总结能力有较为明显的提升要求,即考生不仅要读懂,还要对所掌握的信息进行加工处理并归纳总结。同时,过去快速阅读所考查的快速定位能力在新题型中依旧是考查点之一。
一、长篇阅读解题思路与技巧
1.解题步骤
如何有效应对阅读新题型呢?在词汇基础基本保证的情况下,考生要掌握一些解题技巧,再辅以大量训练,才能取得理想的效果。
总的来说,该题型的解题基本步骤如下:
1)先快速读题干,划出关键词
【如何判断关键词】
什么是关键词呢?关键词是用来帮助我们定位信息的词汇。最理想的情况是:我们依靠所划的关键词迅速定位到信息所在的段落,从而得到答案。这就要求我们所划的关键词越是独一无二越好。
【关键词的类型】
(1)拼写较长的词。这些词属于低频词,一般不会大篇幅地出现。利用这些词可以高效地查找匹配段落。另外,这些词有时会作为生词在文中标注出来,我们选它做关键词,瞬间就能找到原文出处了。
(2)数字,包括年代、百分比、特殊事件等。如:mid-1970s,3.9 percent,20 percent,September 11等。利用这些数字可以进行快速定位。
(3)以连字符连接的特殊词汇。如:university-based,one-child。这些词是由两个(或三个)单词连接的新词,一般当成形容词使用。这些词也属于低频词,一般不会大篇幅出现。
(4)研究、报告、书籍型词汇。如:report,study,books等。一般来说研究、报告等内容都是易考点,这些信息经常出现在特定的段落里,所以根据这些词汇作为关键词也很容易定位。
(5)最高级。如best,worst,most等。
(6)同义改写词。有时仅凭某个关键词我们可能无法迅速地找到答案,例如题干的关键词是原文对应词的同义改写词。这时,我们可以同时多关注几个关键词进行多次定位。
2)采用略读(skimming)和查读(scanning)的方式通读原文,进行必要的分析概括归纳
略读(skimming)又称跳读或浏览,是一种非常实用的快速阅读技能,其目的是以尽可能快的速度了解文章的大意和主题思想,对文章的结构有个总的概念。
查读(scanning)又称寻读,目的是从大量的资料中迅速查找某一项具体事实或某一项特定信息,既要求速度又要求准确,具有明确的目的性。
做长篇阅读题的过程其实就是灵活运用略读和查读两种快速阅读技巧的过程。
3)配对信息
一般情况下,题干的描述不会是文章的原句,而是原句的同义改写或原段落主要内容的概括总结。
2.常设考点
1)段落首尾句
2)逻辑关系处
(1)因果关系:as a result,therefore,hence,because of,for,due to等。
(2)并列、递进关系:and,or,then,in addition,besides,in other words,moreover等。
(3)转折关系:however,nevertheless,but,yet,though,although,in fact,actually等。
(4)对比关系:contrary to,in contrast to,unlike,like等。
在这些逻辑关系中,因果关系和转折关系处尤其容易出现考点。这些逻辑提示词从阅读的角度来看,也给了我们某种提示,告诉我们哪些句子是相对重要的信息。
3)标点符号处
许多标点符号的出现是为了更好地解释前面的一些信息,所以我们可以运用标点符号,包括破折号、连字符、双引号、小括号、冒号等,推测不认识的词汇或句子的含义。
4)数字、人名、地名、缩略语、斜体处
这些信息一般很容易识别,另外一般都是文章的细节信息,容易出细节判断题。最常见的数字有阿拉伯数字、百分数、货币数目、时间等,人名、地名等专有名词以及一些机构名称的缩略语(如UNESCO,NASA)。
二、长篇阅读练习
Exercise One
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passagewith ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.
Universities Branch Out
A)As never before in their long history,universities have become instruments of national competition aswell as instruments of peace.They are the place of the scientific discoveries thatmove economies forward,and the primary means of educating the talent required to obtain and maintain competitive advantage.But at the same time,the opening of national borders to the flow of goods,services,information and especially people has made universities a powerful force for global integration,mutual understanding and geopolitical stability.
B)In response to the same forces thathave driven theworld economy,universities have become more self-consciously global:seeking students from around the world who represent the entire range of cultures and values,sending their own students abroad to prepare them for global careers,offering courses of study that address the challenges of an interconnected world and collaborative(合作的)research programs to advance science for the benefitofall humanity.
C)Of the forces shaping higher education none ismore sweeping than the movement across borders.Over the past three decades the number of students leaving home each year to study abroad has grown at an annual rate of 3.9 percent,from 800,000 in 1975 to 2.5 million in 2004.Most travel from one developed nation to another,but the flow from developing to developed countries is growing rapidly.The reverse flow,from developed to developing countries,is on the rise,too.Today foreign students earn 30 percent of the doctoral degrees awarded in the United States and 38 percent of those in the United Kingdom.And the number crossing borders for undergraduate study is growing aswell,to 8 percent of the undergraduates at America’s best institutions and 10 percent of all undergraduates in the U.K.In the United States,20 percentof the newly hired professors in science and engineering are foreign-born,and in Chinamany newly hired faculty members at the top research universities received their graduate education abroad.
D)Universities are also encouraging students to spend some of their undergraduate years in another country.In Europe,more than 140,000 students participate in the Erasmus program each year,taking courses for credit in one of 2,200 participating institutions across the continent.And in the United States,institutions are helping place students in summer internships(实习)abroad to prepare them for global careers.Yale and Harvard have led the way,offering every undergraduate at least one international study or internship opportunity—and providing the financial resources tomake it possible.
E)Globalization is also reshaping the way research is done.One new trend involves sourcing portions of a research program to another country.Yale professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Tian Xu directs a research center focused on the genetics of human disease at Shanghai’s Fudan University,in collaborationwith faculty colleagues from both schools.The Shanghai center has 95 employees and graduate students working in a 4,300-square-meter laboratory facility.Yale faculty,postdoctors and graduate students visit regularly and attend videoconference seminars with scientists from both campuses.The arrangement benefits both countries;Xu’s Yale lab ismore productive,thanks to the lower costs of conducting research in China,and Chinese graduate students,postdoctors and faculty get on-the-job training from a world-class scientist and his U.S.team.
F)As a result of its strength in science,the United States has consistently led the world in the commercialization of major new technologies,from the mainframe computer and the integrated circuit of the 1960s to the Internet infrastructure(基础设施)and applications software of the 1990s.The link between university-based science and industrial application is often indirect but sometimes highly visible:Silicon Valley was intentionally created by Stanford University,and Route 128 outside Boston has long housed companies spun off from MIT and Harvard.Around the world,governments have encouraged copying of thismodel,perhapsmost successfully in Cambridge,England,where Microsoft and scores of other leading software and biotechnology companies have set up shop around the university.
G)For all its success,the United States remains deeply hesitant about sustaining the researchuniversity model.Most politicians recognize the link between investment in science and national economic strength,but support for research funding has been unsteady.The budget of the National Institutes of Health doubled between 1998 and 2003,but has risen more slowly than inflation since then.Support for the physical sciences and engineering barely kept pace with inflation during that same period.The attempt to make up lost ground is welcome,but the nation would be better served by steady,predictable increases in science funding at the rate of long-term GDP growth,which is on the order of inflation plus 3 percent per year.
H)American politicians have great difficulty recognizing that admitting more foreign students can greatly promote the national interestby increasing internationalunderstanding.Adjusted for inflation,public funding for international exchanges and foreign-language study is well below the levels of 40 years ago.In the wake of September 11,changes in the visa process caused a dramatic decline in the number of foreign students seeking admission to U.S.universities,and a corresponding surge in enrollments in Australia,Singapore and the U.K.Objections from American university and business leaders led to improvements in the process and a reversal of the decline,but the United States is still seen by many as unwelcoming to international students.
I)Most Americans recognize thatuniversities contribute to the nation’swell-being through their scientific research,butmany fear that foreign students threaten American competitiveness by taking their knowledge and skills back home.They fail to grasp thatwelcoming foreign students to the United States has two important positive effects:First,the very best of them stay in the States and—like immigrants throughout history—strengthen the nation;and second,foreign studentswho study in the United States become ambassadors formany of its most cherished(珍视)values when they return home.Or at least they understand them better.In America as elsewhere,few instruments of foreign policy are as effective in promoting peace and stability aswelcoming international university students.
1.American universities prepare their undergraduates for global careers by giving them chances for international study or internship.
2.Since themid-1970s,the enrollment of overseas students has increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent.
3.The enrollment of international studentswill have a positive impact on America rather than threaten its competitiveness.
4.The way research is carried out in universities has changed as a result of globalization.
5.Of the newly hired professors in science and engineering in the United States,twenty percent come from foreign countries.
6.The number of foreign students applying to U.S.universities decreased sharply after September 11 due to changes in the visa process.
7.The U.S.federal funding for research has been unsteady for years.
8.Around the world,governments encourage themodel of linking university-based science and industrial application.
9.Present-day universities have become a powerful force for global integration.
10.When foreign students leave America,they will bring American values back to their home countries.
Exercise To
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passagewith ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.Youmay choose a paragraphmore than once.
Can Digital Textbooks Truly Replace the Print Kind?
A)The shortcomings of traditional print edition textbooks are obvious:For starters they’re heavy,with the average physics textbook weighing 3.6 pounds.They’re also expensive,especially when you factor in the average college student’s limited budget,typically costing hundreds of dollars every semester.But the worst part is that print versions of textbooks are constantly undergoing revisions.Many professors require that their students use only the latest versions in the classroom,essentially rendering older texts unusable.For students,it means they’re basically stuck with a four pound paperweight that they can’t sell back.
B)Which is why digital textbooks,if they live up to their promise,could help ease many of these shortcomings.But till now,they’ve been something like a mirage(幻影)in the distance,more like a hazy(模糊的)dream than an actual reality.Imagine the promise:Carrying all your textbooks in a 1.3 pound iPad?It sounds almost too good to be true.But there are a few pilot schools already making the transition(过渡)over to digital books.Universities like Cornell and Brown have jumped onboard.And onemedical program at the University of California,Irvine,gave their entire class iPads with which to download textbooks just last year.
C)But not allwere eager to jump aboard.“Peoplewere tired ofusing the iPad textbook besides using it for reading,”says Kalpit Shah,who will be going into his second year at Irvine’s medical program this fall.“They weren’t using it as a source of communication because they couldn’t read orwrite in it.So a third of the people inmy program were using the iPad in class to take notes,the other third were using laptops and the last third were using paper and pencil.”The reason it hasn’t caught on yet,he tellsme,is that the functionality of eedition textbooks is incredibly limited,and some students justaren’tmotivated to learn new study behavior.
D)But a new application called Inklingmight change all that.The company just released an updated version last week,and it’ll be utilized in over 50 undergraduate and graduate classrooms this coming school year.“Digital textbooks are not going to catch on,”says Inkling CEOMattMacInnisashe’sgivingme a demo(演示)over coffee.“What Imean by that is the currentperspective of the digital textbook is it’san exact copy of the printbook.There’s Course Smart,etc.,these guys who take an image of the page and put it on a screen.If that’s how we’re defining digital textbooks,there’s no hope of that becoming a mainstream product.”He calls Inkling a platform for publishers to build rich multimedia content from the ground up,with a heavy emphasis on real-world functionality.The traditional textbookmerely serves as a skeleton.
E)At first glance Inkling is an impressive experience.After swiping(触击)into the iPad app(应用软件),which you can get for free here,he opens up a few different types of textbooks.Up first is a chemistry book.The boot time is pretty fast,and he navigates through(浏览)a few chapters before swiping into a fully rendered 3D molecule that can be spun around to view its various building blocks.“Publishers give us all of the source media,artwork,videos,”he says.“We help them think through how to actually build something for this platform.”Next he pulls up a music composition textbook,complete with playable demos.It’s a learning experience that attacks you from multiple sensory directions.It’s clear why thiswould be something amusicmajor would love.
F)But themost exciting part about Inkling,tome,is its notation(批注)system.Here’s how it works:When you purchase a used print book,it comeswith its previous owner’s highlights and notes in themargins.It uses the experience of someone who already went through the class to help improve your reading(how much you trust each notation is obviously up to you).Butwith Inkling,you can highlight a piece of content andmake notes.Here’swhere things get interesting,though:If a particularly important passage is highlighted by multiple Inkling users,that information is stored on the cloud and is available for anyone reading the same textbook to come across.Thatmeans users have access to notes from not only their classmates and Facebook friends,but anyone who purchased the book across the country.The best comments are then sorted democratically by a voting system,meaning that your social learning experience is shared with the best and brightest thinkers.As a bonus,professors can even chime in(插话)on discussions.They’llbe able to answer the questions of studentswho are in their class directly via the interactive book.
G)Of course,Inkling addresses several of the other shortcomings in traditional print as well.Textbook versions are constantly updated,motivating publishers by minimizing production costs(the big ones like McGraw-Hill are already onboard).Furthermore,students will be able to purchase sections of the text instead of buying the whole thing,with individual chapters costing as little as﹩2.99.
H)There are,however,challenges.“It takes efforts to build each book,”MacInnis tellsme.And it’s clear why.Each interactive textbook is amedia-heavy experience built from the ground up,and you can tell that it takes a respectable amount ofmanpower to put together each one.For now the app is also iPad-exclusive,and though a few of these educational institutions are giving the hardware away for free,for other studentswho don’t have such a luxury it’s an added layer of cost—and an expensive one at that.
I)But thismuch is clear:The traditional textbookmodel is and has been broken for quite some time.Whether digitally interactive ones like Inkling actually take off or not remains to be seen,and we probably won’t have a definite answer for the next few years.However,the solution to any problem begins with a step in a direction.And at least for now,that hazy mirage in the distance?A littlemore tangible(可触摸的),a little less of a dream.
1.The updated version of Inking is described by its Chief Executive Officer as a platform for buildingmultimedia content of the traditional textbook.
2.Some students still use paper and pencil because they find it troublesome to take noteswith an iPad.
3.Unlike traditional textbooks,the digital textbooks enable the students to spend less since they just need to buy parts of the text.
4.The biggest problem with traditional print textbooks is that they are not reused once a new edition comes out.
5.Whether digital textbookswill catch on is not clear enough in the years to come,but it is a step in a direction.
6.It is challenging to build an interactive digital textbook from the ground up because great collaborative efforts are needed.
7.Matt MacInnis holds that some current digital textbooks are nomore than print versions put on a screen and therefore of no hope in developing.
8.It seems a dream to replace the print textbooks by the digital ones.
9.Through Inkling’s notation system one can share his learning experience with the best and brightest thinkers,which is themost fascinating.
10.One of the difficulties for students to replace traditional textbooks with interactive digital ones is the high cost of iPad.
Exercise Three
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.Youmay choose a paragraphmore than once.
The Magician
The revolution that Steve Jobs led is only just beginning.
A)When it came to putting on a show,nobody else in the computer industry,or any other industry for thatmatter,could match Steve Jobs.His product launches,at which he would stand alone on a black stage and produce as if by magic an“incredible”new electronic gadget(小器具)in frontof an amazed crowd,were the performances of amaster showman.All computers do is fetch and work with numbers,he once explained,but do it fast enough and“the results appear to be magic”.Mr.Jobs,who died recently aged 56,spent his life packaging thatmagic into elegantly designed,easy-to-use products.
B)The reaction to his death,with people leaving candles and flowers outside Apple stores and politicians singing praises on the internet,is proof thatMr.Jobs had become somethingmuch more significant than just a clever money-maker.He stood out in three ways—as a technologist,as a corporate(公司的)leader and as somebody whowas able tomake people love whathad previously been impersonal,functionalgadgets.Strangely,it is this lastquality thatmay have the deepesteffecton theway people live.The era of personal technology is in many ways just beginning.
C)As a technologist,Mr.Jobswas different because he was not an engineer—and thatwas his great strength.Instead he was keenly interested in product design and aesthetics(美学),and inmaking advanced technology simple to use.He repeatedly took an existing but halfformed idea—the mouse-driven computer,the digital music player,the smartphone,the tablet computer(平板电脑)—and showed the rest of the industry how to do it properly.Rival firms competed with each other to follow where he led.In the process he broughtabout great changes in computing,music,telecoms and the news business that were painful for existing firms butwelcomed bymillions of consumers.
D)Within the wider business world,a man who liked to see himself as a hippy(嬉皮士),permanently in revolt against big companies,ended up being hailed by many of those corporate giants as one of the greatest chiefexecutives ofhis time.Thatwas partly due to his talents:showmanship,strategic vision,an astonishing attention to detail and a dictatorial management style which many bosses must have envied.But most of all it was the extraordinary trajectory(轨迹)of his life.His fall from grace in the 1980s,followed by his return to Apple in 1996 after a period in the wilderness,is an inspiration to any businessperson whose career has taken a turn for the worse.The way in which Mr Jobs revived the failing company he had co-founded and turned it into the world’s biggest tech firm(bigger even than Bill Gates’s Microsoft,the company that had outsmarted Apple so dramatically in the 1980s),sounds like something from a Hollywoodmovie.
E)Butwhatwas perhapsmostastonishing aboutMr Jobswas the absolute loyalty hemanaged to inspire in customers.Many Apple users feel themselves to be part of a community,with Mr.Jobs as its leader.And therewas indeed a personal link.Apple’s productswere designed to accord with the boss’s tastes and to meet his extremely high standards.Every iPhone or MacBook has his fingerprints all over it.His greatachievementwas to combine an emotional spark with computer technology,and make the resulting product feel personal.And that is what put Mr.Jobs on the right side ofhistory,as technological innovation(创新)hasmoved into consumer electronics over the past decade.
F)As our special report in this issue(printed before Mr Jobs’s death)explains,innovation used to spill over from military and corporate laboratories to the consumermarket,but lately this process has gone into reverse.Many people’s homes now havemore powerful,andmore flexible,devices than their offices do;consumer gadgets and online services are smarter and easier to use thanmost companies’systems.Familiar consumer products are being adopted by businesses,governmentand the armed forces.Companies are employing in-house versions of Facebook and creating their own“app stores”to deliver software to employees.Doctors use tablet computers for theirwork in hospitals.Meanwhile,the number of consumers hungry for such gadgets continues to swell.Apple’s products are now being snapped up in Delhi and Dalian just as in Dublin and Dallas.
G)Mr Jobs had a reputation as a control freak(怪人),and his critics complained that the products and systems he designed were closed and inflexible,in the name of greater ease of use.Yet he also empowered millions of people by giving them access to cutting-edge technology.His insistence on putting users first,and focusing on elegance and simplicity,has become deep-rooted in his own company,and is spreading to rival firms too.It is no longer just at Apple that designers ask:“Whatwould Steve Jobs do?”
H)The gap between Apple and other tech firms is now likely to narrow.This week’s announcement of a new iPhone by amanagement team led by Tim Cook,who replaced Mr.Jobs as chief executive in August,was generally regarded as competent but uninspiring.WithoutMr.Jobs to shower his star duston the event,it felt like justanother product launch from just another technology firm.At the recent unveiling of a tablet computer by Jeff Bezos of Amazon,whose company is doing the best job of following Apple’s lead in combining hardware,software,content and services in an easy-to-use bundle,therewere several attacks at Apple.Butby doing his best to imitate Mr.Jobs,Mr Bezos also flattered(抬举)him.With Mr.Jobs gone,Apple is justone ofmany technology firms trying to arouse his uncontrollable spirit in new products.
I)Mr.Jobswas said by an engineer in the early years of Apple to emita“reality distortion(扭曲)field”,such were his powers of persuasion.But in the end he created a reality of his own,channeling the magic of computing into products that reshaped entire industries.The man who said in his youth that hewanted to“put a ding in the universe”did just that.
1.Mr.Jobs’s peculiarity lies in his keen interest in designing elegant and user-friendly electronic gadgets.
2.Themost astonishing part of Mr.Jobs’s success is that he commanded absolute loyalty from Apple users.
3.In spite of the user-friendliness of Apple products,his opponents regarded it as not flexible and open.
4.Nobody in the computer industry could be better than Steve Jobs in terms ofhis capability to produce electronic products.
5.The products Steve Jobs had created reshaped the whole computer industry.
6.Nowadays innovation originates in the consumer market rather than military and corporate laboratories.
7.Although Steve had always been fighting with big companies,they still regard him as a great executive.
8.Apple without Steve Jobs is nomore than one of the ordinary tech firms.
9.Steve Jobs started the era of personal technology thatmost deeply affected people’s way of life.
10.For those who have suffered failures in business,Steve Jobs’s life experience serves as an inspiration.
Exercise Four
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passagewith ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.
Small Schools Rising
This year’s list of the top 100 high schools shows that today,thosewith fewer students are flourishing.
A)Fifty years ago,they were the latest thing in educational reform:big,modern,suburban high schoolswith students counted in the thousands.As baby boomers(第二次世界大战后婴儿潮时期出生的人)came of high-school age,big schools promised economic efficiency.A greater choice of courses,and,of course,better football teams.Only years later did we understand the trade-offs this involved:the creation ofexcessive bureaucracies(官僚机构),the difficulty of forging personal connections between teachers and students.SAT scores began dropping in 1963;today,on average,30% of students do not complete high school in four years,a figure that rises to 50% in poor urban neighborhoods.While the emphasis on teaching to higher,test-driven standards as set in No Child Left Behind resulted in significantly better performance in elementary(and somemiddle)schools,high schools for a variety of reasons seemed to havemade little progress.
B)Size isn’t everything,but it does matter,and the past decade has seen a noticeable countertrend toward smaller schools.This has been due,in part,to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,which has invested﹩1.8 billion in American high schools,helping to open about 1,000 small schools—most of them with about 400 kids each with an average enrollment of only 150 per grade,About 500 more are on the drawing board.Districts all over the country are taking notice,along with mayors in cities like New York,Chicago and San Diego.Themovement includes independent public charter schools,such as No.1 BASIS in Tucson,with only 120 high-schoolers and 18 graduates this year.It embraces districtsanctioned magnet schools,such as the Talented and Gifted School,with 198 students,and the Science and Engineering Magnet,with 383,which share a building in Dallas,as well as the City Honors School in Buffalo,N.Y.,which grew out of volunteer evening seminars for students.And it includes alternative schools with students selected by lottery(抽签),such as H-BWoodlawn in Arlington,Va.And most noticeable of all,there is the phenomenon of large urban and suburban high schools that have split up into smaller units of a few hundred,generally housed in the same grounds that once boasted thousands of students all marching to the same band.
C)Hillsdale High School in San Mateo,Calif.,is one of those,ranking No.423—among the top 2% in the country—on Newsweek’s annual ranking of America’s top high schools.The success of small schools is apparent in the listings.Ten years ago,when the first Newsweek list based on college-level test participation was published,only three of the top 100 schools had graduating classes smaller than 100 students.This year there are 22.Nearly 250 schools on the full Newsweek list of the top 5% of schools nationally had fewer than 200 graduates in 2007.
D)Although many of Hillsdale’s students came from wealthy households,by the late 1990s average test scores were sliding and it had earned the unaffectionate nickname(绰号)“Hillsjail”.Jeff Gilbert,a Hillsdale teacher who became principal last year,remembers sittingwith other teachers watching students file out of a graduation ceremony and asking one another in astonishment,“How did that student graduate?”
E)So in 2003 Hillsdale remade itself into three“houses”,romantically named Florence,Marrakech and Kyoto.Each of the 300 arriving ninth graders are randomly(随机地)assigned to one of the houses,where they will keep the same four core subject teachers for two years,beforemoving on to another for 11th and 12th grades.The closeness this system cultivates is reinforced by the institution of“advisory”classes.Teachersmeetwith students in groups of 25,five mornings a week,for open-ended discussions of everything from homework problems to bad Saturday-night dates.The advisers also meet with students privately and stay in touch with parents,so they are deeply invested in the students’success.“We’re constantly talking about one another’s advisees,”says English teacher Chris Crockett.“If you hear that yours isn’t doing well inmath,or see them sitting outside the dean’s office,it’s like a personal failure.”Along with the new structure came amore demanding academic program,the percentage of freshmen taking biology jumped from 17 to 95.“Itwas rough for some.But by senior year,two-thirds havemoved up to physics,”says Gilbert“Our kids are coming to school in part because they know there are adults herewho know them and care for them.”But not all schools show advances after downsizing,and it remains to be seen whether smaller schoolswill be a cure-all solution.
F)The Newsweek listof top U.S.high schoolswasmade this year,as in years past,according to a single metric,the proportion of students taking college-level exams.Over the years this system has come in for its share of criticism for its simplicity.But that is also its strength:it’s easy for readers to understand,and to do the arithmetic for their own schools if they’d like.
G)Ranking schools is always controversial,and this year a group of38 superintendents(地区教育主管)from five stateswrote to ask that their schools be excluded from the calculation.“It is impossible to know which high schools are‘the best’in the nation,”their letter read,in part.“Determining whether different schools do or don’t offer a high quality of education requires a look at many different measures,including students’overall academic accomplishments and their subsequent performance in college,and taking into consideration the unique needs of their communities.”
H)In the end,the superintendents agreed to provide the data we sought,which is,after all,public information.There is,in our view,no real dispute here;we are all seeking the same thing,which are schools that better serve our children and our nation by encouraging students to tackle tough subjects under the guidance of gifted teachers.And if we keep working toward that goal,someday,perhaps,a listwon’t be necessary.
1.There is consensus that to better serve the children and our nation,schools should hire talented teachers to instruct students to solve the difficult subjects.
2.Although big schools have advantages in some fields,there exist numerous problems such as the difficulty in connecting students and teachers.
3.The“advisory”classeswere set up so that students couldmaintain closer relationshipswith their teachers.
4.In the American top high schools,small-sized schools are increasing in the past decade.
5.Newsweek’s school ranking system is criticized as simple,but ithas its own advantage.
6.One point eight billion dollars have been sponsered to encourage small schools to be set up.
7.The poor school performance of students does harm to Hillsdale’s reputation.
8.Some large schoolshave splitup into smaller ones,which is themostnoticeable trend in high school education.
9.To rank schools scientifically,it is necessary to usemany differentmeasures.
10.Compared with high schools,elementary and somemiddle schools perform better.
ExerciseFive
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.Youmay choose a paragraphmore than once.
Why Integrity Matters
What is Integrity?
A)The key to integrity is consistency—not only setting high personal standards for oneself (honesty,responsibility,respect for others,fairness)but also living up to those standards each day.One who has integrity is bound by and followsmoral and ethical(道德上的)standards even whenmaking life’s hard choices,choiceswhichmay be clouded by stress,pressure to succeed,or temptation.
B)What happens ifwe lie,cheat,steal,or violate other ethical standards?We feel disappointed in ourselves and ashamed.But a lapse(缺失)of integrity also affects our relationshipswith others.Trust is essential in any important relationship,whether personalor professional.Who can trust someone who is dishonest or unfair?Thus,integrity must be one of our most important goals.
Risk Business
C)We are each responsible for our own decisions,even if the decision-making process has been undermined by stress or peer pressure.The real test of character is whether we can learn from ourmistake,by understanding why we acted as we did,and then exploring ways to avoid similar problems in the future.
D)Making ethical decisions is a critical part of avoiding future problems.We must learn to recognize risks,because ifwe can’t see the riskswe’re taking,we can’tmake responsible choices.To identify risks,we need to know the rules and be aware of the facts.For example,one who doesn’t know the rules about plagiarism(剽窃)may accidentally use words or ideas without giving proper credit,or one who fails to keep careful research notes may unintentionally fail to quote and cite sourcesas required.But the fact thatsuch a violation is “unintentional”does not excuse themisconduct.Ignorance is not a defense.
But Everybody Does It
E)Most people who get in trouble do know the rules and facts,butmanage to fool themselves about the risks they’re taking by using excuses:“Everyone else does it,”“I’m nothurting anyone”or“I really need this grade.”Excuses can get very elaborate:“I know I’m looking at another’s exam,even though I’m supposed to keep my eyes on my own paper,but that’s not cheating because I’m just checkingmy answers,not copying.”Wemust be honest about our actions,and avoid excuses.If we fool ourselves into believing we’re not doing anything wrong,we can’t see the real choice we’remaking—and that leads to bad decisions.
F)To avoid fooling yourself,watch out for excuses and try this test:Ask how you would feel if your actionswere public and anyone could bewatching over your shoulder.Would you feel proud or ashamed of your actions?If you’d rather hide your actions,that’s a good indication that you’re taking a risk and rationalizing it to yourself.
Evaluating Risk
G)To decide whether a risk isworth taking,youmust examine the consequences,in the future aswell as right now,negative aswell as positive,and to others aswell as to yourself.Those who take risks they later regret usually focus on immediate benefits(“what’s in it for me”),and simply haven’t considered whatmight go wrong.The consequences of getting caught are serious,and may include a“0”on a test or assignment;an“F”in the class;suspension(暂令停学)or dismissal from school;transcript notation;and a tarnished reputation.In fact,when you break a rule or law,you lose control over your life,and give others the power to impose punishment:you have no control over what that punishment might be.This is an extremely vulnerable(脆弱的)position.Theremay be somematters of life and death,or highest principle,whichmight justify such a risk,but there aren’tmany things that fall in this category.
Getting Away W ith It—or Not
H)Those who don’t get caught pay an even higher price.A cheater doesn’t learn from the test,depriving(剥夺)him/herself of an education.Cheating undermines confidence and independence:the cheater is a fraud,and knows thatwithoutdishonesty,he/shewould have failed.Cheating destroys self-esteem and integrity,leaving the cheater ashamed,guilty,and afraid of getting caught.Worstofall,a cheaterwho doesn’tget caught the first time usually cheats again,notonly because he/she is farther behind,butalso because it seems“easier”.This slippery slope of eroding ethics and bigger risks leads only to disaster.Eventually,the cheater gets caught,and the later he/she gets caught,the worse the consequences.Students have been dismissed from school because they didn’t get this simplemessage:Honesty is the ONLY policy thatworks.
Cheating Hurts Others,Too
I)Cheaters often feel invisible,as if their actions“don’t count”and don’t really hurtanyone.But individual choices have a profound cumulative(累积的)effect.Cheating can spread like a disease,and a cheater can encourage others just by being seen from across the room.Recent statistics suggest 30% or more of college students cheat.If a class is graded on a curve,cheating hurts others’grades.Even if there is no curve,cheating“poisons”the classroom,and othersmay feel pressured to join in.(“If I don’t cheat,I can’t compete with thosewho do.”)Cheating also has a destructive impacton teachers.The real reward of good teaching is seeing students learn,but a cheater says,“I’m not interested in what you’re trying to teach;all I care about is stealing a grade,regardless of the effect on others.”The end result is a blatantand destructive attack on the quality of your education.Finally,cheating can hurt the reputation of the University,and harm thosewhoworked hard for their degree.
Why Integrity Matters
J)If cheating becomes the norm,then we are in big trouble.Wemust rely on the honesty and good faith of others every day.If not,we couldn’t put money in the bank,buy food,clothing,ormedicine from others,drive across a bridge,get on a plane,go to the dentist—the list is endless.There are many examples of the vast harm that is caused when individuals forget or ignore the effect their dishonesty can have.The savings and loan scandal,the stock market and junk bond swindles,and,of course,Watergate,have undermined the faith ofmany Americans in the integrity of political and economic leaders and society as awhole.Such incidents take a tremendous toll on our nation’s economy and our individualwell-being.For example,but for the savings and loan debacle,theremight be funds available to reduce the national debt and pay for education.
K)In sum,we all have a common stake in our school,our community,and our society.Our actions domatter.It is essential thatwe actwith integrity in order to build the kind ofworld in which we want to live.
1.Integritymatters in that our daily social activities depend on people’s honesty and good faith.
2.In order to ensure wemake responsible choices wemust learn to identify the risks we are going to take.
3.A cheater who doesn’t get caught right away will paymore dearly.
4.If you are afraid of showing your actions in public,it indicates thatyou aremaking excuses to fool yourself.
5.Integrity is the basis ofmutual trust in personal and professional relationships.
6.Many Americans lost faith in the integrity of their political leaders as a result of the Watergate Scandal.
7.Those who value immediate benefits aremore likely to take riskswhich they regret later.
8.Cheaters in exams don’t care about their education;all they care about is how to steal a grade.
9.Violation of a rule ismisconduct even if it is claimed to be unintentional.
10.A person of integrity not only sets highmoral and ethical standards but also sticks to them in their daily life.
Exercise Six
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passagewith ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.Youmay choose a paragraphmore than once.
British Cuisine:the Best of Old and New
A)British cuisine(烹饪)has come of age in recent years as chefs(厨师)combine the best of old and new.Why does British food have a reputation for being so bad?Because it is bad!Those are not themost encouraging words to hear just before eating lunch at one of Hong Kong’s smartest British restaurants,Alfie’s by KEE,but head chef Neil Tomes hasmore to say.“The past 15 years or so have been a noticeable period of improvement for food in England,”the English chef says,citing the trend in British cuisine for better ingredients,preparation and cooking methods,and more appealing presentation.Chefs such as Delia Smith,Nigel Slater,Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsaymade the public realize that cooking—and eating—didn’thave to be a boring thing.And now,mostof the British public is familiar even with the extremes ofHeston Blumenthal’smolecular gastronomy,a form of cooking that employs scientific methods to create the perfect dish.“It’s no longer the case that the commonman in England is embarrassed to show he knows about food,”Tomes says.
B)There was plenty of room for improvement.The problemswith the nation’s cuisine can be traced back to the Second World War.Before theWar,much of Britain’s food was imported and when German U-boats began attacking ships bringing food to the country,Britain went on rations(配给).“As rationing came to an end in the 1950s,technology picked up and was used tomass-produce food,”Tomes says.“And by then peoplewere justhappy to have a decent quantity of food in their kitchens.”Theyweren’t looking for cured meats,organic produce or beautiful presentation;theywere looking forwhatever they could get their hands on,and this prioritization of quantity over quality prevailed for decades,meaning a generation was brought up with food that couldn’t compete with neighboring France,Italy,Belgium or Spain.
C)Before star chefs such as Oliver began making cooking fashionable,it was hard to find a restaurant in London thatwas open after 9pm.But in recentyears the capital’s culinary(烹饪的)scene has developed to the point that it is now confident of its ability to please the tastes of any international visitor.With the opening of Alfie’s in April,and others such as The Pawn,two years ago,modern British food hasmade itsway to Hong Kong.“With British food,I think that Hong Kong restaurants are keeping up,”says David Tamlyn,the Welsh executive chef at The Pawn in Wan Chai.“Hong Kong diners are extremely responsive to new ideas or presentations,which is good news for new dishes.”
D)Chefs agree that diners in Hong Kong are embracing the modern British trend.Some restaurants aremodifying the recipes(菜谱)of British dishes to breathe new life into the classics,while others are using better quality ingredients but remaining true to British traditions and tastes.Tamlyn is in the second camp.“We select our food very particularly.We use USbeef,New Zealand lamb and for our custards(牛奶蛋糊)we use Bird’s Custard Powder,”Tamlyn says.“Some restaurants go for custard made fresh with eggs,sugar and cream,but British custard is different,and we stay true to that.”
E)Matthew Hill,seniormanager at the two-year-old SoHo restaurant Yorkshire Pudding,also uses better ingredients as a means of improving dishes.“There are a lot of existing perceptions about British food and so we can’t alter these toomuch.We’re a traditional British restaurantso there are some staples(主菜)thatwill remain essentially unchanged.”These traditional dishes include fish and chips,steak and kidney pie and large pieces of roasted meats.At Alfie’s,the newest of the British restaurants in town and perhaps themost gentlemen’s club-like in design,Neil Tomes explains his passion for provenance(原产地).“Britain has started to become really proud of the food it’s producing.It has excellent organic farms,beautifully crafted cheeses,high-qualitymeats.”
F)However,the British don’t have a history of exporting their foodstuffs,which makes it difficult for restaurants in Hong Kong to source authentic ingredients.“We can get a lot of our ingredients once a week from the UK,”Tamlyn explains.“But there is also pressure to buy local and save on food miles,which means we take our vegetables from the local markets,and there are a lot thatwork wellwith British staples.”
G)The Phoenix,in Mid-Levels,offers the widest interpretation of“British cuisine”,while still trying tomaintain its soul.The gastro-pub has existed in various locations in Hong Kong since 2002.Singaporean head chef Tommy Teh Kum Chai offers daily specials on a blackboard,rather than sticking to a menu.This enables him to reinterpret British cuisine depending on what is available in the localmarkets.“We use a lotof ingredients thatpeople wouldn’t perhaps associate as British,but are presented in a British way.Bell peppers stuffed with couscous,alongside ratatouille,is a very popular dish.”Although the ingredientsmay not strike diners as being traditional,they can be found in dishes across Britain.
H)Even the traditional chefs are aware of the need to adapt to local tastes and customs,while maintaining the Britishness of their cuisine.At Yorkshire Pudding,Hill says that his staff asks diners whether they would like to share their meals.Small dishes,shared meals and “mixing itup”isnotsomething commonly done in Britain,but Yorkshire Puddingwillbring full dishes to the table and offer individual plates for each diner.“Thatway,people still get the presentation of the dishes as they were designed,but can carve them up however they like,”Hill says.This practice is also popular at The Pawn,although largely for rotisseries(烤肉馆),Tamlyn says.“Some tableswill arrive on a Sunday,order awhole chicken and a shoulder of lamb or a baby pig,and just stay for hours enjoying everything we bring out for them.”
I)Some British traditions are too sacred(神圣的)to mess with,however,Tomes says.“I’d never change a full English breakfast.”
1.Hong Kong dinerswelcome the new ways of presenting the traditional British dishes.
2.Great changes have taken place in food industry in Britain.
3.Besides importing ingredients from Britain once a week,Tamlyn’s restaurant also buys vegetables from the localmarkets.
4.Owing to attacks on the ship that deliver foods,there was an inadequate supply of food in Britain during the war.
5.With full dishes and plates offered,diners can share the meals by dividing the dishes in whatever way they like.
6.Britain has started to take pride in the food it’s producing because they are produced on excellent organic farms.
7.With culinary improvement in recent years,London’s restaurants are now able to appeal to the tastes of all kinds of overseas visitors.
8.Britain couldn’t competewith some of its neighboring countries in terms of food in the postwar decades owing to its people’s care for quantity rather than quality.
9.Some restaurantsmaintain British traditional dishes and othersmay not.
10.Some gastro-pub in Hongkongmay not use British ingredients,but presents its dishes in a British way.
ExerciseSeven
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passagewith ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.
A Grassroots Remedy
A)Mostofus spend our lives seeking the naturalworld.To thisend,wewalk the dog,play golf,go fishing,sit in the garden,drink outside rather than inside the pub,have a picnic,live in the suburbs,go to the seaside,buy aweekend place in the country.Themost popular leisure activity in Britain is going for a walk.And when joggers(慢跑者)jog,they don’t run the streets.Every one of them instinctively heads to the park or the river.It is my profound belief that not only do we all need nature,butwe all seek nature,whether we know we are doing so or not.
B)But despite this,our children are growing up nature-deprived(丧失).I spentmy boyhood climbing trees on Streatham Common,South London.These days,children are robbed of these ancient freedoms,due to problems like crime,traffic,the loss of the open spaces and odd new perceptions about what is best for children,that is to say,things that can be bought,rather than things that can be found.
C)The truth is to be found elsewhere.A study in the US:families hadmoved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(多动症).Those whose accommodation had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%;thosewho had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just4%.
D)A study in Sweden indicated that kindergarten children who could play in a natural environment had less illness and greater physical ability than children used only to a normal playground.A US study suggested that when a school gave children access to a natural environment,academic levelswere raised across the entire school.
E)Another study found that children play differently in a natural environment.In playgrounds,
children create a hierarchy(等级)based on physical abilities,with the tough ones taking the lead.Butwhen a grassy area was planted with bushes,the children gotmuchmore into fantasy play,and the social hierarchy was now based on imagination and creativity.
F)Most bullying(恃强凌弱)is found in schools where there is a tarmac(柏油碎石)
playground;the least bullying is in a natural area that the children are encouraged to explore.This reminds me unpleasantly of Sunnyhill School in Streatham,with its harsh tarmac,where Iused to hang about in corners fantasizing aboutwildlife.
G)But children are frequently discouraged from involvementwith natural spaces,for health and safety reasons,for fear that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage.So,instead,the damage is done to the children themselves:not to their bodies but to their souls.
H)One of the great problems ofmodern childhood is ADHD,now increasingly and expensively treated with drugs.Yet one study after another indicates that contactwith nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children.However,we spendmoney on drugs rather than on green places.
I)The life of old people ismeasurably better when they have access to nature.The increasing emphasis for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years.And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality.
J)In wider and more difficult areas of life,there is evidence to indicate that natural surroundings improve allkinds of things.Even problemswith crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contactwith the naturalworld.
K)Dr.William Bird,researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds,states in his study,“A natural environment can reduce violent behavior because its restorative process helps reduce anger and impulsive behavior.”Wild places need encouraging for this reason,nomatter how small their contribution.
L)We tend to look on nature conservation as some kind of favor thathuman beings are granting to the natural world.The error here is far too deep:not only do humans need nature for themselves,but the very idea that humanity and the natural world are separable things is profoundly damaging.
M)Human beings are a species of mammals(哺乳动物).For sevenmillion years they lived on the planet as part of nature.Our ancestral selvesmiss the naturalworld and long for contact with non-human life.Anyone who has patted a dog,stroked a cat,sat under a tree with a pint of beer,given or received a bunch of flowers or chosen to walk through the park on a nice day,understands that.
N)We need the wild world.It is essential to our well-being,our health,our happiness.Without the wild world we are notmore but less civilized.Without other living things around uswe are less than human.
O)Five ways to find harmony with the naturalworld
Walk:Break the rhythm of permanently being under a roof.Get off a stop earlier,make a circuit of the park at lunchtime,walk the child to and from school,get a dog,feel yourselfmoving inmoving air,look,listen,absorb.
Sit:Take a moment,every now and then,to be still in an open space.In the garden,anywhere that’s not in the office,anywhere out of the house,away from the routine.Sit under a tree,look atwater,feel refreshed,ever so slightly renewed.
Drink:The best way to enjoy the natural world is by yourself;the second best way is in company.Take a drink outside with a good person,a good gathering:talk with the sun and the wind with birdsong for background.
Learn:Expand your boundaries.Learn five species of bird,five butterflies,five trees,five bird songs.Thatway,you see and hearmore:and yourmind responds gratefully to the greater amount ofwildness in your life.
Travel:The places you always wanted to visit:by the seaside,in the country,in the hills.Take a weekend break,a day-trip,get out there and do it:for the scenery,for the way through the woods,for the birds,for the bees.Go somewhere special and bring specialness home.It lasts forever,after all.
1.Elderly people can enjoy a life of better quality when they contactwith nature.
2.The British people seek nature in differentways.
3.In treating children’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,drugs are preferred to green places.
4.Study shows that access to nature contributes to the reduction of violence.
5.More access to naturemakes children less likely to fall ill.
6.People prefer for their children things that are purchased nowadays.
7.People would notbe so civilized without the wild world.
8.Children who have chances to explore naturalareasare less likely to be involved in bullying.
9.There aremany ways of finding harmony with nature such as sitting under the tree and take a drink outside.
10.It is extremely harmful to think that humanity and the natural world can be separated.
Exercise Eight
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.Youmay choose a paragraphmore than once.
Caught in the Web
A)A few months ago,itwasn’tunusual for 47-year-old Carla Toebe to spend 15 hours per day online.She’d wake up early,turn on her laptop and chat on Internet dating sites and instant-messaging programs—leaving her bed for only brief intervals.Her household bills piled up,along with the dishes and dirty laundry,but it took near-constant complaints from her four daughters before she realized she had a problem.
B)“I was starting to feel like my whole world was falling apart—kind of slipping into a depression,”said Carla.“I knew that if I didn’t get off the dating sites,I’d just keep going,”detaching(使脱离)herself further from the outside world.Toebe’s conclusion:She felt like she was“addicted”to the Internet.She’s not alone.
C)Concern about excessive Internet use isn’t new.As far back as 1995,articles in medical journals and the establishment of a Pennsylvania treatment center for overusers generated interest in the subject.There’s still no consensus on how much time online constitutes too much orwhether addiction is possible.
D)But as reliance on the Web grows,there are signs that the question is gettingmore serious attention:Lastmonth,a study published in CNSSpectrums claimed to be the first large-scale look at excessive Internet use.The American Psychiatric Association may consider listing Internet addiction in the next edition of its diagnostic manual.And scores of online discussion boards have popped up on which people discuss negative experiences tied to too much time on the Web.
E)“There’s no question that there’re people who’re seriously in trouble because they’re overdoing their Internet involvement,”said psychiatrist(精神科医生)Ivan Goldberg.Goldberg calls the problem a disorder rather than a true addiction.
F)Jonathan Bishop,a researcher in Wales specializing in online communities,is more skeptical.“The Internet is an environment,”he said.“You can’t be addicted to the environment.”Bishop describes the problem as simply amatter of priorities,which can be solved by encouraging people to prioritize other life goals and plans in place of time spent online.
G)The new CNS Spectrums study was based on results of a nationwide telephone survey of more than 2,500 adults.Like the 2005 survey,this one was conducted by Stanford University researchers.About 6% of respondents reported that“their relationships suffered because of excessive Internet use.”About9% attempted to conceal“nonessential Internet use,”and nearly 4% reported feeling“preoccupied by the Internet when offline.”About 8% said they used the Internetas away to escape problems,and almost14% reported they “found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time.”
H)“The Internet problem is still in its infancy,”said Elias Aboujaoude,a Stanford professor.No single online activity is to blame for excessive use,he said.“They’re online in chat rooms,checking e-mail,or writing blogs.[The problem is]not limited to porn(色情)or gambling websites.”
I)Excessive Internet use should be defined not by the number of hours spent online but“in terms of losses,”said Maressa Orzack,a Harvard University professor.“If it’s a loss [where]you’re notgetting towork,and family relationships are breaking down as a result,then it’s toomuch.”
J)Since the early 1990s,several clinics have been established in the U.S.to treat heavy Internet users.They include the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery and the Center for Internet Behavior.
K)The website for Orzack’s center lists the following among the psychological symptoms of
computer addiction:
●Having a sense of well-being(幸福)or excitementwhile at the computer.
●Longing formore and more time at the computer.
●Neglect of family and friends.
●Feeling empty,depressed or irritable when not at the computer.
●Lying to employers and family about activities.
●Inability to stop the activity.
●Problemswith school or job.
Physical symptoms listed include dry eyes,backaches,skippingmeals,poor personal hygiene(卫生)and sleep disturbances.
L)People who struggle with excessive Internet use maybe depressed or have other mood disorders,Orzack said.When she discusses Internet habits with her patients,they often report that being online offers a“sense of belonging,and escape,excitement[and]fun,”she said.“Some people say relief…because they find themselves so relaxed.”
M)Some parts of the Internet seem to draw people in more than others.Internet gamers spend countless hours competing in games against people from all over the world.One such game,called World of Warcraft,is cited on many sites by posters complaining of a“gaming addiction.”
N)Andrew Heidrich,an education network administrator from Sacramento,plays World of Warcraft for about two to four hours every other night,but that’s nothing compared with the 40 to 60 hours a week he spent playing online games when he was in college.He cut back only after a full-scale family intervention(干预),in which relatives told him he’d gained weight.
O)“There’s thiswhole culture of competition that sucks people in”with online gaming,said Heidrich,now a father of two.“People do it at the expense of everything thatwas a constant in their lives.”Heidrich now visits websites that discuss gaming addiction regularly“to remind myself to keep my love for online games in check.”
P)Toebe also regularly visits a sitewhere posters discuss Internetoveruse.In August,when she first realized she had a problem,she posted amessage on a Yahoo Internet addiction group with the subject line:“Ihave an Internet Addiction.”
Q)“I’m self-employed and need the Internet formy work,but I’m failing to accomplish my work,to take care ofmy home,to give attention tomy children,”she wrote in amessage sent to the group.“Ihave nomoney or insurance to getprofessional help;Ican’teven pay my mortgage(抵押贷款)and face losing everything.”
R)Since then,Toebe said,she has kepther promise to herself to cut back on her Internetuse.“Ihave a boyfriend now,and I’m not interested in online dating,”she said by phone last week.“It’s a lot better now.”
1.Internet use would be considered excessive if it seriously affected family relationships.
2.Excessive Internet use had rendered Carla Toebe so poor that she couldn’t afford to seek professional help.
3.Internet games are likely to draw people inmore than other parts of the Internet.
4.People haven’t yet reached agreement on the definition of excessive Internet use.
5.The Internet problem is in its early stage of development.
6.An telephone investigation shows that overuse in computer may lead to such problems as negatively influence relationships and escape problems.
7.People who fight against heavy reliance on the Internetmay be in depression or have other emotion problems.
8.The Internet overuse problem can be solved if people can realize what ismore important in life.
9.Andrew Heidrich now visitswebsites that discuss online gaming addiction to curb his desire for online gaming.
10.There are psychological and physical symptomswhen people are addicted to computer.
Exercise Nine
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passagewith ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.Youmay choose a paragraphmore than once.
Colleges Taking Another Look at Value of Merit-based Aid
A)Good grades and high tests scores still matter—a lot—to many colleges as they award financial aid.Butwith low-income students projected tomake up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years,some schools are re-examiningwhether that aid,typically known as“merit aid”,is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.GeorgeWashington University in Washington,D.C.,for example,said last week that it would cut the value of its average merit scholarships by about one-third and reduce the number of recipients(接受者),pouring the savings,about﹩2.5 million,into need-based aid.Allegheny College in Meadville,Pa.,made a similar decision three years ago.Now,Hamilton College in Clinton,N.Y.,says itwill phase outmerit scholarships altogether.No currentmerit-aid recipients will lose their scholarships,but need-based aid alone will be awarded beginning with students entering in fall 2008.
B)Not all colleges offermeritaid;generally,themore selective a school,the less likely it is to do so.Harvard and Princeton,for example,offer generous need-based packages,butmany families who don’tmeet need eligibility(资格)have been willing to pay whatever they must for a big-name school.For small regional colleges that struggle just to fill seats,merit aid can be an important revenue-builder because many recipients still pay enough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship amount to keep the institution running.But for rankings-conscious schools in between,meritaid has served primarily as a tool to recruit top students and to improve their academic profits.“They’re trying to buy students,”says Skidmore College economist Sandy Baum.
C)Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately students who could afford to enrollwithout it.“Aswe look to the future,we see amore pressing need to invest in needbased aid,”says Monica Inzer,dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton,which has offered merit scholarships for 10 years.During that time,it rose in US News&World Report’s ranking of the best liberal arts colleges,from 25 to 17.Merit aid,which benefited about 75 students a year,or about 4% of its student body,at a cost of about﹩1 million a year,“served uswell,”Inzer says,but“to be discounting the price for families that don’t need financial aid doesn’t feel right anymore.”
D)Need-based aid remains by far the largest share of all student aid,which includes state,federal and institutional grants.But merit aid,offered primarily by schools and states,is growing faster,both overall and at the institutional level.Between 1995-96 and 2003-04,institutionalmerit aid alone increased 212%,compared with 47% for need-based grants.At least 15 states also offermerit aid,typically in a bid to enroll top students in the state’s public institutions.
E)But in recentyears,a growing chorus(异口同声)of criticshasbegun pressuring schools to drop the practice.Recentdecisionsby Hamilton and othersmay be“a sign thatpeople are starting to realize that there’s this destructive competition going on,”says Baum,co-author of a recent College Report that raises concerns about the role of institutional aid not based on need.
F)David Laird,president of the Minnesota Private College Council,saysmany of his schools would like to reduce theirmeritaid but fear that in doing so,theywould lose top students to their competitors.“No one can take one-sided action,”says Laird,who is exploringwhether to seek an exemption(豁免)from federal anti-trust laws so member colleges can discuss how they could jointly reducemerit aid,“This is amerry-go-round that’s going very fast,and none of the institutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying to break away by themselves.”
G)A complicating factor is thatmerit aid has become so popular withmiddle-income families,who don’tqualify for need-based aid,thatmany have come to depend on it.And,as tuitions continue to increase,the line between merit and need blurs.That’s one reason Allegheny College doesn’t plan to drop merit aid entirely.“We still believe in rewarding superior achievements and know that these top students truly value the scholarship,”says Scott Friedhoff,Allegheny’s vice president for enrollment.
H)Emory University in Atlanta,which boasts a﹩4.7 billion endowment(捐赠),meanwhile,is taking another approach.This year,itannounced itwould eliminate loans for needy students and cap them formiddle-income families.At the same time,itwould expand its 28-year-old merit program.“Yeah,we’re playing the merit game,”acknowledges Tom Lancaster,associate dean for undergraduate education.But it has its strong point,too,he says.“The factof thematter is,it’s not justabout the lowest-income people.It’s the average American middle-class family who’s being priced out of themarket.”
A few words aboutmerit-based aid:
I)Merit-based aid is aid offered to students who achieve excellence in a given area,and is generally known as academic,athletic and artisticmerit scholarships.
J)Academic merit scholarships are based on students’grades,GPA and overall academic performance during high school.They are typically meant for students going straight to college right after high school.However,there are scholarships for current college students with exceptional grades as well.Thesemerit scholarships usually help students pay tuition bills,and they can be renewed each year as long as the recipients continue to qualify.In some cases,studentsmay need to be recommended by their school or a teacher as part of the qualification process.
K)Athleticmerit scholarships aremeant for students that excel(突出)in sports of any kind,from football to track and field events.Recommendation for these scholarships is required,since exceptionalathletic performance has to be recognized by a coach or a referee(裁判).Applicants need to send in a tape containing their best performance.
L)Artistic merit scholarships require that applicants excel in a given artistic area.This generally includes any creative field such as art,design,fashion,music,dance or writing.Applying for artistic merit scholarships usually requires that students submit a portfolio(选辑)of some sort,whether that includes a collection of artwork,a recording of a musical performance or a video of them dancing.
1.In recent years,institutionalmerit-based aid has increased much faster than need-based aid due to fierce competition among institutions.
2.Withmore andmore low-income students pursuing higher education,a number of colleges are revising their financial aid policies.
3.Many private collegeswould like to seemerit aid reduced.
4.Monica Inzer believes it’s not right to give aid to thosewho can afford the tuition.
5.Applicants for athleticmerit scholarships need a recommendation from a coach or a referee who recognizes their exceptional athletic performance.
6.Allegheny College doesn’t plan to drop merit aid entirely because many students from middle-income families have come to rely on it.
7.Compared withmeritaid,need-based aid aremore likely to be federal grants.
8.The chief purpose of rankings-conscious colleges in offering merit aid is to attract good students.
9.People are critical about schools’priority ofmeritaid for fear that itwould cause destructive competition among institutions.
10.Annual renewal of academic merit scholarships depends on whether the recipients remain qualified.
Exercise Ten
Directions:In this section,you are going to read a passagewith ten statements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.Youmay choose a paragraphmore than once.
Protect Your Privacy When Job-hunting Online
A)Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception,typically for economic gain.
B)The numbers associated with identity theftare beginning to add up fast these days.A recent General Accounting Office report estimates thatasmany as 750,000 Americans are victims of identity theft every year.And that number may be low,asmany people choose not to report the crime even if they know they have been victimized.
C)Identity theft is“an absolute epidemic,”states Robert Ellis Smith,a respected author and advocate of privacy.“It’s certainly picked up in the last four or five years.It’sworldwide.It affects everybody,and there’s very little you can do to prevent it and,worst of all,you can’t detect it until it’s probably too late.”
D)Unlike your fingerprints,which are unique to you and cannot be given to someone else for their use,you personal data,especially your social security number,your bank account or credit card number,your telephone calling card number,and other valuable identifying data,can be used,if they fall into the wrong hands,to personally profit at your expense.In the United States and Canada,for example,many people have reported that unauthorized persons have taken funds out of their bank or financial accounts,or,in the worst cases,taken over their identities altogether,running up vast debts and committing crimes while using the victims’names.In many cases,a victim’s lossesmay include not only out-ofpocket financial losses,but substantial additional financial costs associated with trying to restore his reputation in the community and correcting erroneous information for which the criminal is responsible.
E)According to the FBI,identity theft is the number one fraud committed on the Internet.So how do job seekers protect themselves while continuing to circulate their resumes online?The key to a successfulonline job search is learning tomanage the risks.Here are some tips for staying safe while conducting a job search on the Internet.
1.Check for a privacy policy.
F)If you are considering posting your resume online,make sure the job search site you are considering has a privacy policy,like CareerBuilder.com.The policy should spell out how your information will be used,stored and whether or not itwill be shared.Youmay want to think twice about posting your resume on a site that automatically shares your information with others.You could be opening yourself up to unwanted calls from solicitors(推销员).
G)When reviewing the site’s privacy policy,you’llbe able to delete your resume justas easily as you posted it.You won’t necessarily want your resume to remain out there on the Internet once you land a job.Remember,the longer your resume remains posted on a job board,themore exposure,both positive and not-so-positive,itwill receive.
2.Take advantage of site features.
H)Lawful job search sites offer levels of privacy protection.Before posting your resume,carefully consider your job search objective and the level of risk you arewilling to assume.
I)CareerBuilder.com,for example,offers three levels of privacy from which job seekers can choose.The first is standard posting.This option gives job seekers who post their resumes themost visibility to the broadest employer audience possible.
J)The second is anonymous(匿名的)posting.This allows job seekers the same visibility as those in the standard posting category without any of their contact information being displayed.Job seekers who wish to remain anonymous but want to share some other informationmay choose which pieces of contact information to display.
K)The third is private posting.This option allows a job seeker to posta resume without having it searched by employers.Private posting allows job seekers to quickly and easily apply for jobs that appear on CareerBuilder.com without retyping their information.
3.Safeguard your identity.
L)Career experts say thatone of the ways job seekers can stay safe while using the Internet to search out jobs is to conceal their identities.Replace your name on your resume with a generic(泛指的)identifier,such as“Intranet Developer Candidate,”or“Experienced Marketing Representative.”
M)You should also consider eliminating the name and location of your current employer.Depending on your title,itmay not be all that difficult to determine who you are once the name ofyour company is provided.Use a general description of the company such as“Major automanufacturer,”or“International packaged goods supplier.”
N)If your job title is unique,consider using the generic equivalent instead of the exact title assigned by your employer.
4.Establish an email address for your search.
O)Anotherway to protect your privacy while seeking employment online is to open up an email account specifically for your online job search.Thiswill safeguard your existing email box in the event someone you don’t know gets hold of your email address and shares itwith others.
P)Using an emailaddress specifically for your job search also eliminates the possibility thatyou will receive unwelcome emails in your primary mailbox.When naming your new email address,be sure that it doesn’t contain references to your name or other information that will give away your identity.The best solution is an email address that is relevant to the job you are seeking such as salesmgr2004@provider.com.
5.Protect your reference.
Q)If your resume contains a section with the names and contact information ofyour references,take it out.There’s no sense in safeguarding your information while sharing private contact information of your references.
6.Keep confidential(机密的)information confidential.
R)Do not,under any circumstances,share your social security,driver’s license,and bank account numbers or other personal information,such as race or eye color.Honest employers do not need this information with an initial application.Don’t provide this even if they say they need it in order to conduct a background check.This is one of the oldest tricks in the book—don’t fall for it.
1.Applicants are advised not to use their full nameswhen seeking employment online.
2.Identity theft is committed typically formoney.
3.The victims of identity theftmay losemoney aswell as reputation.
4.Using a special email address in the job search can help prevent you from receiving unwelcome emails.
5.Honest employers don’t require applicants to submit very personal information on background checks.
6.It is important that your resume not stay online longer than is necessary.
7.To protect your references,you should not post online their private contact information.
8.Identity theft is difficult to detect and one can hardly do anything to prevent it.
9.Identity theft is themost serious offence on the internet.
10.Three levels of privacy are offered for people who are looking for jobs.
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