河海大学 研究生英语阅读理解
Unit 11
Passage One
Now custom has not been commonly regarded as a subject of any great importance. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to, be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behavior at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around. Traditional custom, taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behavior more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions. Yet that is a rather trivial aspect of the matter. The fact of first-rate importance is the predominant role that custom plays in experience and in belief and the very great varieties it may manifest.
No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. Even in his philosophical probings he cannot go behind these stereotypes; his very concepts of the true and the false will still have reference to his particular traditional customs. John Dewey has said in all seriousness that the part played by custom in shaping the behavior of the individual as over against any way in which he can affect traditional custom, is as the proportion of the total vocabulary of his mothertongue over against those words of his own baby talk that are taken up into the language of his family. When one seriously studies social orders that have had the opportunity to develop independently, the figure becomes no more than an exact and matter-of-fact observation. The life history of the individual is first and formost an adjustment to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.
Comprehension Questions
1. The author thinks the reason why custom has been ignored in the academic world is that
.
A.custom reveals only the superficial nature of human behavior
B.the study of social orders can replace the study of custom
C.people are still not aware of the important role that custom plays in forming our world
outlook
D.custom has little to do with our ways of thinking
2. Which of the following is true according to John Dewey?
A.An individual can exercise very little influence on the cultural tradition into which he is
born.
B.Custom is the direct result of the philosophical probings of a group of people.
C.An individual is strongly influenced by the cultural tradition even before he is born.
D.Custom represents the collective wisdom which benefits the individual.
3. The word "custom" in this passage most probably means .
A.the concept of the true and the false of a society
B.the independently developed social orders
C.the adjustment of the individual to the new social environment
D.the patterns and standards of behavior of community
4. According to the passage, a person's life, from his birth to his death, .
A.is constantly shaping the cultural traditions of his people
B.is predominated by traditional custom
C.is continually influenced by the habits of other communities
D.is continually influenced by the people around him
5. The author's purpose in writing this passage is .
A.to urge individuals to follow traditional customs
B.to stress the strong influence of customs on an individual
C.to examine the interaction of man and social customs
D.to show man's adjustment to traditional customs
Passage Two
Through human history, weather has altered the march of events and caused some mighty catastrophes. Since Columbus did not know where he was going or where he had arrived when he got there, the winds truly deserved nearly as much credit as he for the discovery of America. Ugly westerlies helped turn the 1588 Spanish Armada away from England in a limping panic. Napoleon was done in twice by weather: once by the snow and cold that forced his fearful retreat from Moscow, later by the rain that bedeviled him at Waterloo and caused Victor Hugo to write: " A few drops of water--- an unseasonable cloud crossing the sky, sufficed for the overthrow of a world. " In 1944 the Allied invasion of Normandy was made possible by a narrow interval of reasonably good weather between the bad. It was so narrow, in fact that Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower later expressed gratitude to " the gods of war".
Every year brings fresh reminders of the weather's power over human life and events in the form of horrifying tornadoes, hurricanes and floods. These leave behind forgettable statistics and unforgettable images of devastated towns and battered humanity that can only humble people in the face of such wrath. Farmers often suffer the most , from the drought and plagues of biblical times to the hailstorms or quick freezes that even today can wipe out whole crops in minutes, Icy assaults serve as reminders of the inescapable vulnerability of life and social well-being to the whims of the weather. And history is packed with reminders of far worse. The weather, ample, provoked a major social dislocation in the United States in the 1930's when it turned much of the Southwest into the Dust Bowl.
Comprehension Questions
1.According to the author, Columbus .
A.did not discover America
B.stole the credit for the discovery 0f America from someone else
C.dose not deserve to be known as the man who discovered America
D.was not aware he had discovered America
2. According to the passage, what helped the Allies succeed in the Normandy Invations in 1944?
A. A spell of bad weather
B. A short period of fairly good weather.
C.Good weather followed by bad weather.
D.The excellent weather conditions.
3. The best title for the first paragraph would be .
A.The Development of History up to Modern Times
B.The Importance of Weather for the Progress of Events in History
C.The Way Fate Influences the Outcome of Events in History
D.Success in All Past Undertakings Depended on the Weather
4. In the second paragraph, weather is seen as .
A.an impulsive and unpredictable force
B.man's benefactor
C.man's chief enemy
D. a powerful destroyers of human life and property
5. It can be inferred from the passage that weather brings .
A.only benefits to man
B.only disadvantages to man
C.both benefits and disadvantages to man
D.nothing but incovenience to man
Unit 12
Passage One
Material culture refers to the touchable, material "things" —physical objects that can be seen, held, felt, used—that a culture produces. Examining a culture's tools and technology can tell us about the group's history and ways of life. Similarly, research into the material culture of music can help us to understand the music-culture. The most vivid body of "things" in it, of course, are 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 on 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 song. Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on musicians and, when it becomes widespread, on the music-culture as whole.
One more important part for 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 modern nations; they have affected music-cultures all over the globe.
Comprehension Questions
1.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
2. 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
3. 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 versions of songs
D.it encourages people to popularize printed versions of songs
4. 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 arrival of a new generation of computes
C.has given rise to new forms of music culture
D.has led to the transformation of traditional musical instruments
5.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 generation 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 Two
Reading to oneself is a modern activity which was almost unknown to the scholars of the classical and medieval worlds, while during the 15th century the term "reading" undoubtedly meant reading aloud. Only during the 19th century did silent reading become commonplace.
One should be wary, however, of assuming that silent reading came about simply because
reading aloud is a distraction to others. Examination of factors related to the historical development of silent reading reveals that it became the usual mode of reading for most adult reading tasks mainly because the taks themselves changed in character.
The last century saw a steady gradual increase in literacy, and thus in the number of readers. As readers increased, so the number of potential listeners declined, and there was some reduction in the need to read aloud. As reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the flourishing of reading as a private activity in public places as libraries, railway carriages and offices, where reading aloud would cause distraction to other readers.
Towards the end of the century there was still considerable argument over whether books should be used for information or treated respectfully, and over whether the reading of material such as newspapers was in some way mentally weakening. Indeed this argument remains with us still in education. However, whatever its virtues, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was replaced by the printed mass media on the one hand and by books and periodicals for a specialised readership on the other
By the end of the century students were being recommended to adopt attitudes to books and use skills in reading them which were inappropriate, if not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural, and technological changes in the century had greatly altered what term "reading" implied.
Comprehension Questions
1. Reading aloud was common before 19th century because .
a. silent reading had not been discovered.
b. there were few places available for private reading
c. few people could read for themselves
d. people relied on reading for entertainment
2. The development of silent reading during the 19th century indicated .
a. a change in the status of literate people
b. a change in the nature of reading
c. an incerase iri the number of books
d. an increase in the average age of readers
3. Educationalists are still arguing about .
a. the importance of silent reading
b. the amount of information yielded by books and newspapers.
c. the effects of reading on intelligence
d. the value of different types of reading material
4. The emergence of the mass media and specialised periodicals showed that .
a. standards of literacy had declined
b.readers' interests had diversified
c.printing techniques had improved
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/991787425.html,cationalists' attitudes had changed
5.It can be inferred from the passage that the writer is attempting to .
a. explain how present-day reading habits developed
b. change people's attitudes to reading
c. show how reading methods have improved
d. encourage the growth of reading
Unit 13
Passage One
Three English dictionaries published recently all lay claim to possessing a "new" feature, the BBC English Dictionary contains background information on 1000 people and places prominent in the news since 1988; the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: Encyclopedic Edition is the OALD plus encyclopedic entries; the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture is the LDOCE plus cultural information.
The key fact is that all three dictionaries can be seen to have a distinctly "cultural" as well as language learning content. That being said, the way in which they approach the cultural element is not identical | making direct comparisons between the three difficulties.
While there is some common ground between the encyclopedic/cultural entries for the Oxford and Longman dictionaries, there is a clear difference. Oxford lays claim to being encyclopedic on content whereas Longman distinctly concentrates on the language and culture of the English-speaking world. The Oxford dictionary can therefore stand more vigorous scrutiny for cultural bias than the Longman publication because the latter does not hesitate about viewing the rest of the world from the cultural perspectives of the English-speaking world. The cultural objectives of the BBC dictionary are in turn more distinct still. Based on an analysis of over 70 million words recorded from the BBC World Service and National Public Radio of Washington over a period of four years, their 1000 brief encyclopedic entries are based on people and places that have featured in the news recently. The intended user they have in mind is a regular listener to the World Service who will have a reasonable standard of English and a developed skill in listening comprehension.
In reality, though, the BBC dictionary will be purchased by a far wider range of language learners, as will the other two dictionaries. We will be faced with a situation where many of the users of these dictionaries will at the very least socio-cultural perspectives and may have world views which are totally opposed and even hostile to those of the West. Advanced learners from this kind background will not only evaluate a dictionary on how user-friendly it is but will also have definite views about the scope and appropriateness of the various socio-cultural entries.
Comprehension Questions
1. What feature sets apart the three dictionaries discussed in the passage from traditional ones?
A.the combination of two dictionaries into one
B.the new approach to defining words
C.The inculusion of cultural content
D.The increase in the number of entries
2. The Longman dictionary is more likely to be criticized for cultural prejudice because .
A.its scope of cultural entries goes beyond the culture of the English-speaking world
B.it pays little attention to the cultural content of the non-English-speaking countries
C.it views the world purely from the standpoint of the English-speaking people
D.it fails to distinguish language from culture in its encyclopedic entries
3.The BBC dictionary differs from Oxford and Longman in that .
A.it has a wider selection of encyclopedic entries
B.it is mainly designed to meet the needs of radio listeners
C.it lays more emphasis on language than on culture
D.it is intended to help listeners develop their listening comprehension skills
4. It is implied in the last paragraph that, in approaching socio-cultural content in a .
A.dictionary, special thought should be given to
B.the language levels of its users
C.the number of its prospective purchasers
D.the different tastes of its users
E.the various cultural backgrouds of its users
5. What is the passage mainly about?
A.Different ways of treating socio-cultural elements in the three new English dictionaries.
B. A comparison of people's opinions on the cultural content in the three new English
dictionaries.
C.The advatages of the BBC dictionary over Oxford and Longman.
D.The user-friendliess of the three new English dictionaries.
Passage Two
Another thing to remember in connection with concrete is that you are not allowed very much freedom for errors in either measurements or location. Once you have a solid mass of concrete set in place, it is going to stay there. You have a difficult job ahead of you if you try to remedy a mistake. Make very sure, before you fill the form that everything is where and how you want it.
There are numerous rules regarding the proper mixing, handling, and finishing of concrete, but the essential one concerns the amount of water to use. The less water in the mix, the less the finished job will shrink. The less water used, the harder and more enduring the job after it has set.
The amateur concrete worker is plagued with two desires. One is to use enough water to have the concrete nice and soft and easy to push around. You have been warned against that. The second is to take off the wooden forms too early, to see what the job looks like. That is really fatal. If the forms are stripped off too soon, while the concrete is still "green" , two things are likely to happen—you are almost sure to break off corners or edges, and you are likely to cause a major crack or defect in the body of the work. An excellent rule is to wait until you are sure the concrete is properly hardened, and then wait another day before removing the forms.
Comprehension Questions
1.The best title for this selection would be .
A.Rules for Working with Concrete
B.Concrete and Its Uses
C.Concrete, the Homeowner's Joy
D.Concrete, a Test of Character
2. Two of the main thoughts in this passage are ( 1 ) preparation of forms for the con-crete must be thorough, and (2) forms must be allowed to remain on long enough. The third main idea is .
A.taking off forms beforehand will probably cause a crack in the body of the work
B.trying to make changes after concrete has been poured is not recommended
C.mixing concrete properly will make it very hard and strong
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/991787425.html,ing as little water as possible is recommended
3. In mixing concrete, one of the desires the amateur must resist is to .
A.break off a corner to see if the "green" has gone
B.leave the form on too long
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/991787425.html,e too much water
D.strip off the forms a day after the concrete has properly hardened
4. A human quality apparently not essential in someone who works with concrete is .
A.carefulness
B.inventiveness
C.patience
D.self-control
5. By the concrete being too " green" , the author means that the concrete has .
A.become discoloured
B.become cracked
C.not yet cured
D.not dried out
Unit 14
Passage One
As Dr. Samuel Johnson said in a different era about ladies preaching, the surprising thing about computers in not that they think less well than a man, but that they think at all. The early electronic computer did not have much going for it except a marvelous memory and some good math skills. But today the best models can be wired up to learn by experience, follow an argument, ask proper questions and write poetry and music. They can also carry on somewhat puzzling conversations.
Computers imitate life. As computers get more complex, the imitation gets better. Finally, the line between the original and the copy becomes unclear. In another 15 years or so, we will see the computer as a new form of life.
The opinion seems ridiculous because, for one thing, computers lack the drives and emotions of living creatures. But drives can be programmed into the computer's brain just as nature programmed them into our human brains as a part of the equipment for survival.
Computers match people in some roles, and when fast decisions are needed in a crisis, they often surpass them. Having evolved when the pace of life was slower, the human brain has an inherent defect that prevents it from absorbing several streams of information simultaneously
and acting on them quickly. Throw too many things at the brain at one time and it freezes up.
We are still in control, but the capabilities of computers are increasing at a fantastic rate, while raw human intelligence is changing slowly, if as all. Computer power has increased ten times every eight years since 1946. In the 1990s, when the sixth generation appears, the reasoning power of an intelligence built out of silicon will begin to match that of the human brain.
That does not mean the evolution of intelligence has ended on the earth. Judging by the past, we can expect that a new species will arise out of man, surpassing his achievements as he has surpassed those of his predecessor. Only a carbon chemistry enthusiast would assume that the new species must be man's flesh-and-blood descendants. The new kind of intelligent life is more likely to be made of silicon.
Comprehension Questions
1. What do you suppose was the attitude of Dr. Samuel Johnson towards ladies preaching?
A.He believed that ladies were born worse preachers than men.
B.He was pleased that ladies could preach, though not as well as men.
C.He disapproved of ladies preaching.
D.He encouraged ladies to preach.
2. Today , computers are still inferior to man in terms of .
A.decision making
B.drives and feelings
C.growth of reasoning power
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/991787425.html,rmation absorption
3. In terms of making quick decisions, the human brain cannot be compared with the computer because .
A.in the long process of evolution the slow pace of life didn't require such ability of the
human brain.
B.the human brain is influenced by other factors such as motivation and emotion
C.the human brain may sometimes freeze up in a dangerous situation
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/991787425.html,puters imitate life while the human brain does not imitate computers
4. Though he thinks highly of the development of computer science, the author doesn't mean that .
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/991787425.html,puters are likely to become a new form of intelligent life.
B.human beings have lost control of computers
C.the intelligence of computers will eventually surpass that of human beings
D.the evolution of intelligence will probably depend on that of electronic brains
5. Accordig to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.Future man will be made of silicon instead of flesh and blood.
B.Some day it will be difficult to tell a computer from a man.
C.The reasoning power of computers has already surpassed that of man.
D.Future intelligent life may not necessarily be made of organic matter.
Passage Two
Homing pigeons are placed in a training program from about the time they are 28 days of age. They are taught to enter the loft through a trap and to exercise above and around the loft and gradually they are taken away for short distances in wicker basket and released. They are then expected to find their way home in the shortest possible time.
In their training flights or in actual races, the birds are taken to prearranged distant points and released to find their way back to their own lofts. Once the birds are liberated, their owners, who are standing by at the home lofts, anxiously watch the sky for the return of their entries. Since time is of the essence, the speed with which the birds can be induced to enter the loft trap may make the difference between gaining a win or a second place.
The head of a homing pigeon is comparatively small but its brain is one quarter larger than that of the ordinary pigeon. The homing pigeon is very intelligent and will I persevere to the point of stubbornness E some have been known to fly a hundred miles off course to avoid a storm.
Some homing pigeon experts claim that this bird is gifted with a form of built-in radar that helps it find its own loft after hours of flight, for hidden under the head feathers are two very sensitive ears, while the sharp prominent eyes can see great distances in daytime.
Why do homing pigeons fly home? They are not Unique in this inherent skill; it is found in most migratory birds, in bees, ants, toads, and even turtles, which have been known to travel hundreds of miles to return to their homes. But in the animal world, the homing pigeon alone can be trusted with its freedom and trained to carry out the missions that people demand.
Comprehension Questions
1. The main purpose of the passage is .
A.to convince the reader to buy a homing pigeon
B.to inform the reader about the homing pigeons and their training
C.to protect homing pigeons against the threat of extinction
D.to encourage the owners of homing pigeons to set the birds free
2. According to the passage, when homing pigeons are about a month old .
A.they are kept in a trap
B.they enter their first race
C.they begin a training program
D.they get their wings clipped and marked
3. According to the passage, the difference between a homing pigeon and an ordinary one is .
A.the span of the wings
B.the shape of the eyes
C.the texture of the feathers
D.the size of the brain
4. The author mentions all of the following attributes that enable a homing pigeon to return home EXCEPT .
A.instinct
B.air sacs
C.sensitive ears
D.good eyes
5. In Paragraph 4, line 2, the word "it" most probably refers to .
A.radar
B.bird
C.loft
D.form
Unit 16
Passage One
Extraordinary creative activity has been characterized as revolutionary, flying in the face of what is acceptable and producing not what is acceptable but what will become accepted. According to this formulation, highly creative activity transcends the limits of an existing form and establishes a new principle of organization. However, the idea that extraordinary creativity transcends established limits is misleading when it is applied to arts, even though it may be valid for the sciences. Differences between highly creative art and highly creative science arise in part from a difference in their goals. For the sciences, a new theory is the goal and end result of the creative act. Innovative science produces new propositions in terms of which diverse phenomena can be related to one another in more coherent ways. Such phenomena as a brilliant diamond or a nesting bird are relegated to the role of data, serving as the means for formulating or testing a new theory. The goal of highly creative art is very different: the phenomenon itself becomes the direct product of the creative act. Shakespeare's Hamlet is not a tract about the behavior of indecisive princes or the uses of political power; nor is Picasso's painting Guernica primarily a propositional statement about the Spanish Civil War or the evils of fascism. What highly creative artistic activity produces is not a new generalization that transcends established limits, but rather an aesthetic particular. Aesthetic particulars produced by the highly creative artist extend or exploit, in an innovative way, the limits of an existing form, rather than transcend that form.
This is not to deny that a highly creative artist sometimes establishes a new principle of organization in the history of an artistic field; the composer Monteverdi, who created music of the highest aesthetic value, comes to mind. More generally, however, whether or not a composition establishes a new principle in the history of music has little bearing on its aesthetic worth. Because they embody a new principle of organization , some musical works, such as the operas of the Florentine Camerata, are of signal historical importance , but few listeners or musicologists would include these among the great works of music. On the other hand, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro is surely among the masterpieces of music even though its modest innovations are confined to extending existing means.' It has been said of Beethoven that he toppled the rules and freed music from the stifling confines of convention. But a close study of his compositions reveals that Beethoven overturned no fundamental rules. Rather, he was an incomparable strategist who exploited limits—the rules, forms, and conventions that he inherited from predecessors such as Haydn and Mozart, Handel and Bach—in strikingly original ways.
Comprehension Questions
1. The author considers a new theory that coherently relates diverse phenomena to one another to be the .
A.basis for reaffirming a well-established scientific formulation.
B.tool used by a scientist to discover a new particular.
C.synthesis underlying a great work of art.
D.result of highly creative scientific activity.
2. The author implies that Beethoven's music was strikingly original because Beethoven .
A.strove to outdo his predecessors by becoming the first composer to exploit limits.
B.fundamentally changed the musical forms of his predecessors by adopting a richly
inventive strategy.
C.manipulated the established conventions of musical composition in a highly innovative
fashion.
D.attempted to create the illusion of having transcended the musical forms of his
predecessors.
3. The passage states that the operas of the Florentine Camerata are .
A.unjustifiably ignored by musicologists.
B.not generally considered to be of high aesthetic value even though they are important
in the history of music.
C.often inappropriately cited as examples of musical works in which a new principle of
organization was introduced.
D.minor exceptions to the well-established generalization that the aesthetic worth of a
composition determines its importance in the history of music.
4.The passage supplies information for answering all-of the following questions EXCEPT:
A.Has unusual creative activity been characterized as revolutionary?
B.Did Beethoven work within a musical tradition that also included Handel and Bach?
C.Who besides Monteverdi wrote music that the author would consider to embody
new principles of organization and to be of high aesthetic value?
D.Does anyone claim that the goal of extraordinary creative activity in the arts differs
from that of extraordinary creative activity in the sciences?
5. The author regards the idea that all highly creative artistic activity transcends limits with .
A.deep skepticism
B.strong indignation
C.marked indifference
D.moderate amusement
6. The author implies that an innovative scientific contribution is one that .
A.is cited with high frequency in the publications of other scientists.
B.does not relegate particulars to the role of data.
C.presents the discovery of a new scientific fact.
D.introduces a new valid generalization
7. Which of the following statements would most logically conclude the last paragraph of the passage?
A.In similar fashion, existing musical forms were even further exploited by the next
generation of great European composers.
B.Thus, many of the great composers displayed the same combination of talents
exhibited by Monteverdi.
C.By contrast, the view that creativity in the arts exploits but does not transcend limits is
supported in the field of literature.
D.Actually, Beethoven's most original works were largely unappreciated at the time that
they were first performed.
Passage Two
Many objects in daily use have clearly been influenced by science, but their form and function, their dimensions and appearance, were determined by technologists, artists, designers, inventors, and engineers using unscientific modes o thought. Many features and qualities of the objects that a technologist thinks about cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in the mind by the visual, nonverbal process. In the development of Western technology, it has been nonverbal thinking, by and large, that has fixed the outlines and filled in the details of our material surroundings. Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist not because of geometry or thermodynamics, but because they were first the picture in the minds of those who built them.
The creative shaping process of a technologist's mind can be seen in nearly every artifact that exists. For example, in designing a diesel engine, a technologist might express individual ways of nonverbal thinking on the machine by continually using an intuitive sense of rightness and fitness. What would be the shape of the combustion chamber? Where should the valves be placed? Would it have a long or short piston? Such questions have a range of answers that are supplied by experience, by physical requirements, by limitations of available space, and not least by a sense of form. Some decisions, such as wall thickness and pin diameter, may depend on scientific calculation, but the nonscientific component design remains primary.
Design course, then, should be an essential element in engineering curricula. Nonverbal thinking, a central mechanism in engineering design, involves perceptions, the stock-in-trade of the artist, not the scientist. Because perceptive processes are not assumed to entail "hard thinking", nonverbal thought is sometimes seen as primitive stage in the development of cognitive processes and inferior to verbal or mathematical thought. But it is paradoxical that when the staff of the Historic American Engineering Record wished to have drawings made of machines and isometric views of industrial processes for the historical record of American engineering, the only college students with the requisite abilities were not engineering students, but rather students attending architectural schools.
If courses in design, which in a strongly analytical engineering curriculum provide the background required for practical problem-solving, are not provided, we can expect to encounter silly but costly errors occurring in advanced engineering systems. For example, early models of high-speed railroad cars loaded with sophisticated controls were unable to operate in a snowstorm because the fan sucked snow into the electric system. Absurd random failure that plague automatic control systems are not merely trivial aberrations, they are a reflection of the chaos that results when design in assumed to be primarily problems in mathematics.
Comprehension Questions
1.In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with .
A.identifying the kinds of thinking that are used by technologists
B.stressing the importance of nonverbal thinking in engineering design
C.contrasting the goals of engineers with those of technologists
D.proposing a new role for nonscientific thinking in the development of technology
2.Which of the following statements would best serve as an introduction to the passage?
A.The assumption that the knowledge incorporated in technological developments must
be derived from science ignores the many nonscientific decisions made by
technologists.
B.As knowledge of technology has increased, the tendency has been to lose sight of the
important role played by scientific thought in making decisions about form,
arrangement, and texture.
C. A movement in engineering colleges towards a technician's degree reflects a demand
for graduates who have the nonverbal reasoning ability that was once common among
engineers.
D.Analytical thought is no longer a vital component in the success of technological
development.
3.The author calls the predicament faced by the Historic American Engineering Record "paradoxical" (Paragraph 3) most probably because .
A.the publication needed drawings that its own staff could not make
B.college students were qualified to make the drawing while practicing engineers were
not
C.the drawings needed were so complicated that even students in architectural schools
had difficulty making them
D.engineering students were not trained to make the type of drawings needed to record
the development of their own discipline
4.According to the passage, random failures in automatic control systems are "not merely trivial aberrations" ( Paragraph 4) because .
A.automatic control systems are designed by engineers who have little practical
B.experience in the fieldthe failures are characteristic of systems designed by engineers relying
too heavily on concepts in mathematics
C.designers of automatic control systems have too little training in the analysis of mechanical
difficulties
D.designers of automatic control systems need more help from scientists who have a better
understanding of the analytical problems to be solved before such systems can work efficiently
5. The author uses the example of the early models of high-speed railroad cars primarily to .
A.support the thesis that the number of errors in modern engineering systems is likely to
increase
B.weaken the proposition that mathematics is a necessary part of the study of design
C.illustrate the idea that courses in design are the most effective means for reducing the
cost of designing engineering systems
D.support the contention that a lack of attention to the nonscientific aspects of design
results in poor conceptualization by designers
Unit 17
Passage One
World Trade Organization (WTO) is an open, non-discriminatory trading system, inaugurated on 1 , January 1995 as the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Initially composed of 81 members, the WTO will eventually be open to all 125 members of GATT upon their ratification of the Uruguay Round Final Act. WTO has a wider role than GATT, covering commercial activities beyond the operational scope of the latter body, such as intellectual property, trade in services, and arbitration of disputes.
Members of WTO follow three most important principles :
——the most-favored nation concept, i. e. , every contracting party grants all other parties any tariff advantages that it grants to any other country;
——although customs duties are recognized as a legitimate instrument of protection, they should be reduced as far as possible.
——the abolition of quantitative restrictions on imports; they are permissible, however, if necessitated by reasons relation to the balance of payments, and these exceptions are carefully supervised.
WTO was born out of GATT, which conducted such multilateral negotiations on customs tariffs as the Uruguay Round. Now WTO is also pledged to reduce tariffs and other barriers and to eliminate discriminatory treatment in international trade. Thanks to GATT and other international organizations, the protective measures taken by numerous countries during world-wide recessions are restricted to the minimum. There is no general relapse into strict protectionism such as that which followed the world economic crisis of 1929 - 1932, because the basic principles of GATT are upheld.
Comprehension Questions
1. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.Reduction of Tariffs
B. A Specialized Agency of the U. N.
C.An International Trade Organization
D. A Primer for WTO
2. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT mentioned as the common goal of the WTO members in regard to international trade?
A.To strike balance of payment.
B.To get rid of discriminatory treatments.
C.To reduce tariffs.
D.To dismantle non-tariff barriers.
3. According to the passage, the primary service of WTO is to .
A.settle the disputes between developed and developing nations
B.protect domestic industries
C.negotiate multilateral extensions of tariff reductions through the application of the
most-favored-nation clause
D.supervise non-discriminatory treatments
4. According to the passage, the most-favored nation clause is a provision in trade agreements between nations that extends .
A.to the signatories the automatic right to any tariff reduction negotiated with a third
country
B.conditionally to the signatories the right to tariff reduction negotiated with a third
country
C.to non-members the benefits equal to those accorded any third state
D.to developing countries benefits equal to those accorded any third state
5.According to the passage, what is a legitimate means to protect domestic industries?
A.Customs tariffs.
B.The most-favored-nation clause.
C.Import quotas.
D.Discriminatory treatment.
6.According to the passage , the WTO rules have exceptions which are granted to .
A.nations without discriminatory practice in world commerce
B.nations uncovered by most favored-nation clauses
C.developing nations with special concerns
D.nations with difficulties in international balance of payments
7.According to passage, GATT helped to minimize .
A.transparency of trade regulations
B.strict protectionism in international trade
C.imbalances in international payments
D.the practice of the most-favored-nation concepts
8.The word "discriminatory" as used in this passage means .
A."characterized by prejudice or bias"
B."fastidious in selection"
C."detached from others"
D."involved in an accusation"
9.The word "relapse" in the last sentence is closest in meaning to .
A.development
B.return
C.advantage
D.maneuver
10.Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the passage?
A.The author makes a general statement about WTO and elaborates on a specific
example.
B.The author quotes public opinion to support WTO.
C.The author classifies the member states in terms of eligibility to the most-fa-
vored-nation clause.
D.The author presents the basic principles of WTO and acknowledges the contribution of
its predecessor—GATT.
Passage Two
Traditionally, the study of history has had fixed boundaries and focal points—periods, countries, dramatic events, and great leaders. It also has had clear and firm notions of scholarly procedure: how one inquires into a historical problem, how one presents and documents one's findings, what constitutes admissible and adequate proof.
Anyone who has followed recent historical literature can testify to the revolution is taking place in historical studies. The currently fashionable subjects come directly from the sociology catalog: childhood, work and leisure.' The new subjects are accompanied by new methods. Where history once was primarily narrative, it is now entirely analytic. The old questions "What happened?" and " How did it happen?" have given way to the question "Why did it happen?" Prominent among the methods used to answer the question "Why" is psychoanalysis, and its use has "given rise to psychohistory.
Psychohistory does not merely use psychological explanations in historical contexts. Historians have always used such explanations when they were appropriate and when there was sufficient evidence for them. But this pragmatic use of psychology is not what psychohistorians intend. They are committed, not just to psychology in general, but to Freudian psychoanalysis. This commitment precludes a commitment to history as historians have always understood it. Psychohistory derives its "facts" not from history, the detailed records of events and their consequences, but from a view of human nature that transcends history. It denies the basic criterion of historical evidence : that evidence be publicly accessible to, and therefore assessable by, all historians. And it violates the basic tenet of historians. And it violates the basic tenet of historical method: that historians be alert to the negative instances that would refute their theses. Psychohistorians, convinced of the absolute Tightness of their own theories, are also convinced that theirs is the "deepest" explanation of any event, that other explanations fall short of the truth.
Psychohistory is not content to violate the discipline of history ( in the sense of the proper mode of studying and writing about the past) ; it also violates the past itself. It denies to the past an integrity and will of its own , in which people acted out of a variety of motives and in which events had a multiplicity of causes and effects. It imposes upon the past the same determinism that it imposes upon the present, thus robbing people and events of their ^individuality and of their complexity. Instead of respecting the particularity of the past, it assimilates all events, past and present, into | single deterministic schema that is presumed to be true at all times and in all circumstances.
Comprehension Questions
1. which of the following best states the main point of the passage?
A.The approach of psychohistorians to historical study is currently in vogue even though it
lacks the rigor and verifiability of traditional historical method.
B.Traditional historians can benefit from studying the techniques and findings of
psychohistorians.
C.The psychological assessment of an individual's behavior and attitudes is more informative
than the details of his or her daily life.
D.History is composed of unique and nonrepeating events that must be individually analyzed
on the basis of publicly verifiable evidence.
2.It can be inferred from the passage that one way in which traditional history can be distinguished from psychohistory is that traditional history usually .
A.views past events as complex and having their own individuality.
B.relies on a single interpretation of human behavior to explain historical events.
C.interprets historical events in such a way thai their specific nature is transcended.
D.turns to psychological explanations in historical context to account for events.
3.It can be inferred from the passage that the methods used by psychohistorians probably prevent them from .
A.presenting their material in chronological order.
B.producing a one-sided picture of an individual's personality and motivations.
C.uncovering alternative explanations that might cause them to question their own
conclusions.
D.offering a consistent interpretation of the impact of personality on historical e- vents.
4.The passage supplies information for answering which of the following questions?
A.When were the conventions governing the practice of traditional history first es-
tablished?
B.When do traditional historians consider psychological explanations of historical
developments appropriate?
C.What sort of historical figure is best suited for psychohistorical analysis?
D.What is the basic criterion of historical evidence required by traditional historians?
5.The author mentions which of the following as a characteristic of the practice of psychohistorians?
A.The lives of historical figures are presented in episodic rather than narrative form.
B.Archives used by psychohistorians to gather material are not accessible to other
scholars.
C. c. Past and current events are all placed within the same deterministic schema.
D. d. Analysis is focused on group behavior rather than on particular events in an
E.individual's life.
6.The author of the passage suggests that psychohistorians view history primarily as .
A.an episodic account that lacks cohesion because records of the role of childhood, work,
and leisure in the lives of historical figure are rare.
B.an uncharted sea of seemingly unexplainable events that have meaning only when
examined as discrete units.
C. a record of the way in which a closed set of immutable psychological laws seems to
have shaped events.
D. a proof of the existence of intricate causal interrelationships, between past and present
events.
7.The author of the passage puts the word "deepest" (paragraph 3 ) in quotation marks most probably in order to .
A.signal her reservations about the accuracy of psychohistorians' claims for their work.
B.draw attention to a contradiction in the psychohistorians' method.
C.emphasize the major difference between the traditional historians' method and that of
psychohistorians
D.question one usefulness of psychohistorians' insights into traditional historical
scholarship.
8.In presenting her analysis, the author does all of the following EXCEPT:
A.Describe some of the criteria employed by traditional historians.
B.Question the adequacy of the psychohistorians' interpretation of events.
C.Point out inconsistencies in the psychohistorians' application of their methods.
D.Contrast the underlying assumptions of psychohistorians with those of traditional
historians.
Unit 18
Passage One
All these islands are very beautiful, and distinguished by various qualities. They are accessible and full of a great variety of trees stretching up to the stars, the leaves of which I believe are never shed, for I saw them as green and flourishing as they are usually in Spain in the month of May. Some of them were blossoming, and some were bearing fruit, some were in other conditions. Each one was thriving in its own way. The nightingale and various other birds without number were singing, in the month of November, when I was exploring them.
There are besides seven or eight kinds of palm trees, which far excel ours in height and beauty, just as all the other trees, herbs and fruits do. There are also excellent pine trees, vast plains and meadows, a variety of birds, a variety of honey, and a variety of metals, excepting iron.
All these people lack every kind of iron. They are also without weapons, which indeed are unknown. Nor are they competent to use them , not on account of deformity of body, for they are well formed, but because they are timid and full of fear.
They carry for weapons, however, reeds baked in the sun, on the lower ends of which they fasten some shafts of dried wood rubbed down to a point. Indeed they do not venture to use these always. It frequently happened when I sent two or three of my men to some of the villages, that they might speak with the natives, a compact troop of the Indians would march out, and as soon as they saw our men approaching, they would take flight.
Comprehension Questions
1.This passage was most probably written by a (n) .
a. naturalist
b. journalist
c. explorer
d. philosopher
2.From this selection we may draw the inference that the author was bred in .
a. a cold climate
b. an uncivilized country
c. New Zealand
d. the British Isles
3.According to the description, these islands the author explored are most likely located in .
a. the Antarctic Circle
b. arid regions
c. temperate areas
d. tropical zones
4.The reason the natives are not warlike at all is that they .
A.are without weapons of any kind
B.have never been attacked by outsiders
C.have abundant food and other necessities
D.are naturally timid
5. On account of the description, the peculiar weapons of the islanders are .
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/991787425.html,ed only for hunting birds
B.only symbolic of the unique culture ,
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/991787425.html,eful in occasional adventurous activities
D.really deadly ones in repelling intruders
Passage Two
Time spent in a bookshop can be most enjoyable, whether you are a booklover or merely there to buy a book as a present. You may even have entered the shop just to find shelter from a sudden shower. Whatever the reason, you can soon become totally unaware of your surroundings. The desire to pick up a book with an attractive dust- jacket is irresistible, although this method of selection ought not to be followed, as you might end up with a rather dull book. You soon become engrossed in some book or other, and usually it is only much later that you realise you have spent far too much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment—without buying a book, of course.
This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is, I think, the main attraction of a bookshop. There are not many places where it is possible to do this. A music shop is very much like a bookshop. You can wander round such places to your art's content. If it is a good shop, no assistant will approach you with the inevitable greeting: "Can I help you, sir?" You needn't buy anything you don't want. In a bookshop an assistant should remain in the background until you have finished browsing. Then, and only then, are his services necessary. Of course, you may want to find out where a particular section is, but when he has led you there, the assistant should retire discreetly and look as if he is not interested in selling a single book.
You have to be careful not to be attracted by the variety of books in a bookshop. It is very easy to enter the shop looking for a book on, say ancient coins and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel and perhaps a book about brass- rubbing—something which had only vaguely interested you up till then. This volume on the subject, however, happened to be so well illustrated and the part of the text you read proved so interesting, that you just had to buy it. This sort of thing can be very dangerous. Apart from running up a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section. Book-sellers must be both long-suffering and indulgent.
There is a story which well illustrates this. A medical student had to read a textbook which was far to expensive for him to buy. He couldn't obtain it from the library and the only copy he could find was in his bookshop. Every afternoon, therefore, he would go along to the shope and