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I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could have never passed botany. This was because all botany students had to spend several hours a week in a laboratory looking through a microscope at plant cells, and I could never once see a cell through a microscope. This used to make my professor angry. He would wander around the laboratory pleased with the progress all the students were making in drawing the structure of flower cells, until he came to me. I would just be standing there. “I can’t see anything,”I would say. He would begin patiently enough, explaining how anybody can see through a microscope, but he would always end up angrily, claiming that I could too see through a microscope but just pretended that I couldn’t. “It takes away from the beauty of flowers anyway.”I used to tell him.“We are not concerned with beauty in this course,”he would say.“We are concerned with the structure of flowers.” “Well,” I’d say.“I can’t see anything.” “Try it just once again,” he’d say, and I would put my eye to the microscope and see nothing at all, except now and again something unclear and milky. “You were supposed to see a clear, moving plant cells shaped like clocks.” “I see what looks like a lot of milk.” I would tell him. This, he claimed, was the result of my not having adjusted the microscope properly, so he would readjust it for me, or rather, for himself. And I would look again and see milk.
I failed to pass botany that year, and had to wait a year and try again, or I couldn’t graduate. The next term the same professor was eager to explain cell-structure again to his classes. “Well,”he said to me, happily, “we’re going to see cells this time, aren’t we?” “Yes,sir,” I said. Students to the right of me and to the left of me and in front of me were seeing cells; what’s more, they were . Of course, I didn’t see anything.
So the professor and I tried with every adjustment of the microscope known to man. With only once did I see anything but blackness or the familiar milk, and that time I saw, to my pleasure and amazement, something like stars. These I hurriedly drew. The professor, noting my activity, came to me, a smile on his lips and his eyebrows high in hope. He looked at my cell drawing. “What’s that?”he asked.“That’s what I saw,”I said.“You didn’t, you didn’t, you didn’t!”he screamed, losing control of himself immediately, and he bent over and looked into the microscope. He raised his head suddenly. “That’s your eye!” he shouted. “You’ve adjusted the microscope so that it reflects! You’re drawn your eye!”
1.Why couldn’t the writer see the flower cells through the microscope? .
A.Because he had poor eyesight
B.Because the microscope didn’t work properly
C.Because he was not able to adjust the microscope properly
D.Because he was just playing jokes on his professor by pretending not to have seen it
2.What does the writer mean by “his eyebrows high in hope”in the last paragraph?
A.His professor expected him to have seen the cells and drawn the picture of them
B.His professor hoped he could perform his task with attention
C.His professor wished him to learn how to draw pictures
D.His professor looked forward to seeing all his students finish their drawings
3.What is the thing like stars that the writer saw in the last paragraph?
A.Real stars B.His own eye
C.Something unknown D.Milk
4.In what writing style did the writer write the passage?
A.Realistic B.Romantic C.Serious D.Humorous
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Below is a housing guide for students going to London.
University accommodation (住所) offices
Many university accommodation offices have their own list of registered landlords. Others also provide information on accommodation agencies and other housing organization. The advantage of using your university accommodation is that you can get support if you have a problem. The disadvantage is that they are unlikely to have enough registered landlords to house all their students.
Property papers: Loot and Renting
Loot is an important source of information about private housing for co-renters. The offers are from private landlords, agencies and individuals looking for other co-renters. They also have a website: www.loot.com. The advantage of using Loot is that there are some excellent bargains. The disadvantage is that there is no quality control over the offers.
Renting is another useful paper. The offers in this paper are mainly from accommodation agencies. Their website is at www.renting.co.uk.
Accommodation agencies
The majority of rented accommodation in London is probably advertised through accommodation agencies. The advantage of using accommodation agencies is that you will have a large number of accommodations to choose from. A good agent will listen to your requirements and can save you time in looking for the right accommodation. The disadvantage is that they will make a range of charges to potential renters. Noticeboards
Around the universities you will find a number of noticeboards where offers of accommodation will be posted. These will either be from landlords or from students. Some universities will also have online noticeboards where students can advertise to other students. Advertisements from students can be an excellent way to find accommodation. However, advertisements from landlords can be problematic.
Word of mouth
Some of the best housing in London is never advertised but is passed on from one group of students to another by word of mouth. It might be that you can find out about good offers from final year students. However, don’t suppose that just because you have found out about housing from a friend, it is necessarily going to be better than that found through any other source.
Family
Faced with the very high rents charged in London, some students and their parents will consider buying as an alternative. In some cases this might be a good choice.
1.What is the advantage of using Loot?
A.It has more offers from accommodation agencies than Renting.
B.It gives you personal information about other co-renters.
C.Their website is designed mainly for students.
D.There are some good bargains.
2.A good agent can help you ______.
A.know more people
B.find cheap accommodation
C.get the right accommodation quickly
D.get free information about most accommodations
3.The information passed on by word of mouth is important because ______.
A.it is better than that found through any other source
B.it helps you find some of the best housing never advertised
C.the final year students always offer better information
D.the landlords have little valuable information
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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The unquestioned role of a student is to learn as much as possible through whatever means it takes to acquire knowledge. Teachers and professors are human beings and are therefore not perfect. No one knows the correct answer to every question even when you limit the questions to a certain field of study. Having certain skepticism (质疑) about what they are being taught can help students to make the teachers even better by correcting mistakes and misinformation.
Students certainly have a huge role in their own abilities to learn. Teachers should act more as guides along the way rather than try to force each student to learn. The best teachers in the world cannot teach an unmotivated student. If the teacher, for whatever reason, cannot motivate the student, then the student must somehow find a way to motivate himself or herself.
One method of doing this is by becoming an active rather than a passive student. The more the student involves himself or herself in the act of studying, the better he or she can learn. One of the best ways to become more active is simply to ask the teacher or professor questions. Students who passively sit in a classroom and take everything that the teacher says for granted are not fully using their mental capacities to learn.
Better education comes from teachers who are able to get their students to think about a subject rather than merely absorb a certain amount of information. Having a healthy skepticism can improve a student's ability to both think and absorb knowledge in a learning situation.
Teachers are human beings and no one is one hundred percent right all of the time, even in a classroom situation. Perhaps a teacher would simply unconsciously say the wrong word or pass on some misinformation that the teacher truly believed was correct. A student's question could prevent an entire classroom from becoming confused or misinformed.
There is of course a fine balance between a student having a healthy skepticism and just being a downright skeptic. But with the proper attitude toward learning and a little skepticism, both the students and teachers can improve upon the learning process and maximize learning efficiency.
1.Which of the following is the author's main argument?
A.Passive learning results from passive teaching in class.
B.A student's ability plays a huge role in the learning process.
C.A healthy skepticism fully depends on students' motivation and ability.
D.A healthy skepticism and proper attitude contribute to effective learning.
2.Being passive learners, the students ________.
A.use little of their mental ability while studying
B.seldom involve themselves completely in learning
C.can hardly tell the right from the wrong in class
D.simply ask their teachers questions without thinking
3.According to the passage, a good teacher should ________.
A.help the unmotivated students patiently
B.instruct students in the learning process
C.make no mistakes in the teaching process
D.answer all the questions raised by students
4.The author will most probably agree that ________.
A.keeping skepticism to a certain degree is important
B.having a good attitude can ensure the learning process
C.taking everything for granted makes a student learn nothing
D.a teacher's ability can be improved by encouraging doubts
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Benefits of Cross-Country Skiing
Cross-country skiing can be enjoyed by a wide range of students, from the youngest kindergartners to those secondary students. It is really a fun activity, providing students a gentle workout outside in winter. While having fun, students can gain physical and mental benefits.
The physical benefits of cross-country skiing are well known. If we look at Olympic cross- country skiers, we can see the positive effects on the body that result from training for cross-country skiing. The average best female cross-country skier carries 11 percent body fat, and best male skiers carry 5 percent. These percentages are well below the average for people who are considered to be athletic — 17 percent for females and 10 percent for males. The high number of calories burned while skiing helps to keep skiers slim in a healthy and attractive way.
Cross-country skiing is also an efficient way to exercise a large number of muscles at once. Because skiers use ski poles as a means of propulsion, the force that drives skiers forward, the upper body gets much more of workout. Of course, the leg muscles also do their fair share. People who use cross-country skiing as a workout over several weeks will discover that the muscles of their entire body increase in strength.
Cross-country skiing on a regular basis has a tremendous effect on a person’s cardiovascular system.
In addition to gaining strength in the muscles of the upper and lower body, people who use cross-country skiing as a workout method over several weeks will also discover that their heart is stronger. A strong heart pumps more efficiently, sending out more blood to the muscles with each contraction(收缩). Through weeks of skiing, people often discover that their resting heart rate has decreased. Highly trained Olympic cross-country skiers have resting heart rates between 28 and 40 beats per minute. Compare that to the resting heart rate of the average person, which is 60 to 80 beats per minute!
The benefits of cross-country skiing extend beyond overall general health. A lot of evidence exists indicating that regular physical activity increases the release of mood-lifting endorphins (内啡肽) in the body. After one of the energetic and fun skiing lessons, students will be smiling and laughing; they will be relaxed and in a better mood than when they started class. Students will leave class with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that they have developed new skills in a fun activity.
Cross-country skiing is a great way to work the total body. Now more and more students are taking part in this exercise outside during the winter months. They are enjoying it and benefiting from it!
1.The underlined word “workout” means ______.
A.manner B.opportunity
C.application D.exercise
2.According to the passage, we can learn that cross-country skiing ______.
A.can balance out the skiers’ increased calories
B.requires the use of most muscle groups
C.can increase the athletes’ resting heart rates
D.offers students a unique way to keep fit
3.How does the author prove the benefits of skiing in the fifth paragraph?
A.By giving explanations. B.By giving data.
C.By making comparisons. D.By giving comments.
4.Which of the following shows the development of ideas in the passage?
CP: Central point P: Point Sp: Sub-point (次要点) C: Conclusion
A.
B.
C.
D.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
