C
This brief book is aimed at high school students, but speaks to anyone learning at any stage of life. Its formal, serious style closely matches its content, a school-masterly book on schooling. The author, W. H. Armstrong, starts with the basics: reading and writing. In his opinion, reading doesn’t just mean recognizing each word on the page; it means taking in the information, digesting it and incorporating it into oneself just as one digests a sandwich and makes it a part of himself. The goal is to bring the information back to life, not just to treat it as dead facts on paper from dead trees. Reading and writing cannot be completely separated from each other; in fact, the aim of reading is to express the information you have got from the text. I’ve seen it again and again: someone who can’t express an idea after reading a text is just as ineffective as someone who hasn’t read it at all.
Only a third of the book remains after that discussion, which Armstrong devotes to specific tips for studying languages,math,science and history. He generally handles these topics thoroughly (透彻地) and equally, except for some weakness in the science and math sections and a bit too much passion (激情) regarding history. Well, he was a history teacher —if conveyed only a tenth of his passion to his students, that was a hundred times more than my history teachers ever got across. To my disappointment, in this part of the book he ignores the arts. As a matter of fact, they demand all the concentration and study that math and science do, though the study differs slightly in kind. Although it’s commonly believed that the arts can only be naturally acquired, actually, learning the arts is no more natural than learning French or mathematics.
My other comment is that the text aged. The first edition apparently dates to the 1960s —none of the references(参考文献) seem newer than the late 1950s. As a result, the discussion misses the entire computer age.
These are small points, though, and don’t affect the main discussion. I recommend it to any student and any teacher, including the self-taught student.
49.According to Armstrong, the goal of reading is to _____________.
A. gain knowledge and expand one’s view
B. understand the meaning between the lines
C. express ideas based on what one has read
D. get information and keep it alive in memory
50.The author of the passage insists that learning the arts ___________.
A. requires great efforts
B. demands real passion
C. is less natural than learning maths
D. is as natural as learning a language
51.What is a shortcoming of Armstrong’s work according to the author?
A. Some ideas are slightly contradictory.
B. There is too much discussion on studying science.
C. The style is too serious.
D. It lacks new information.
52.This passage can be classified as ________________.
A. an advertisement B. a book review
C. a feature storyD. a news report
D
Have you winterized your horse yet? Even though global warming may have made our climate more mild, many animals are still hibernating (冬眠). It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact, as a species, we almost did.
Apparently, at times in the past, peasants in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation. So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French peasants. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months on end.
In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed fundamentally since the invention of artificial(人造的) lighting and the electric bulb.
When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though. Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ uninterrupted sleep is a modern invention.
In the past, without the artificial light of the city to bathe in, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves around midnight. The late night period was known as “The Watch”. It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighhours.
According to some sleep researchers, a short period of insomnia (失眠) at midnight is not a disorder. It is normal. Humans can experience another state of consciousness around their sleeping, which occurs in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning. This period can be an extraordinarily creative time for some people. The impressive inventor, Thomas Edison, used this state to hit upon many of his new ideas.
Playing with your sleep rhythms can be adventurous, as anxiety may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren’s theory, it is really the opposite of what we need.
53. The example of the French peasants shows the fact that ____________.
A. people might become lazy as a result of too much sleep
B. there were signs of hibernation in human sleeping habits
C. people tended to sleep more peacefully in cold weather
D. winter was a season for people to sleep for months on end
54. The late night was called “The Watch” because it was a time for people ____________.
A. to set traps to catch animals
B. to wake up their family and neighbours
C. to remind others of the time
D. to guard against possible dangers
55. What does the author advise people to do?
A. Sleep in the way animals do.
B. Consult a doctor if they can’t sleep.
C. Follow their natural sleep rhythm.
D. Keep to the eight-hour sleep pattern.
56. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A. To give a prescription for insomnia.
B. To urge people to sleep less.
C. To analyze the sleep pattern of modern people.
D. To throw new light on human sleep.
发表于 2012-1-6 22:55:28
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