I love my Blackberry mobile phone – it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also love my computer, as it holds all of my writing and thoughts. However, I know there are times when I need to move away from these things and truly communicate with others.
I teach a course called History Matters in college. My goals for the class include a deep discussion of historical subjects and ideas. Because I want students to fully study the material and discuss with each other in the classroom, I have a rule – no computers, iPads, phones, etc. When students were told my rule, some of them were not happy.
Most students think my reasons for this rule include negative experiences in the past when students made wrong use of technology. There’s a bit of truth to that. I’ve seldom had students make wrong use of technology in my classes; however, I have been e-mailed by students while they were in other teachers’ classrooms.
Some students think that I am anti-technology. There’s no truth in that at all. As I noted above, I love technology and try to keep up with it.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversations. Interruptions (中断) by technology often break students’ thoughts and make them depend too much on outside information for ideas. I want students to dig deep in themselves for ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently and to make connections between the course material and the class discussion.
I have been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations (评价) show student satisfaction with the environment that I create. Students realize with deep conversation and difficult tasks, they learn at a deeper level – a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.
I am not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change, I will continue my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.
1.The writer’s rule for his History Matters class is ____.
A.discussing historical ideas deeply
B.studying and discussing the materials
C.leaving technology out of the classroom
D.making right use of technology in class
2.The word “negative” in Paragraph 3 means ____.
A.similar B.unforgettable C.special D.unpleasant
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Students make right use of technology in other teachers’ classes.
B.The classroom is one of the good places to have deep conversations.
C.The writer encourages students to agree with others after discussion.
D.Students are unhappy with the writer’s way of teaching history.
4.The writer wants to tell us that ____.
A.technology has different influences in different classes in college
B.technology makes it difficult to have true communication in class
C.history classes can help students to develop their deep thinking
D.it is time for him to give up his teaching method in history class
Bertie was sad for weeks, months after the lion died. There was nothing I could do to cheer him or even console (安慰) him. He would sit for hours in his room, or go off on long walks all on his own. He seemed so shut away inside himself. Try as I did, I could not reach him.
Then one day I was in the kitchen here, when I saw him hurrying down the hill, waving his stick and shouting to me. “I’ve got it,” he cried, as he came in, “I’ve got it at last.” He showed me the end of his stick. It was white. “See that, Millie?” “Chalk! It’s chalk underground, isn’t it?”
“So?” I said.
“You know the famous White Horse on the hillside at Uffington, the one they carved(雕刻) out of the chalk a thousand years ago? That horse never died, did it? It’s still alive, isn’t it? Well, that’s what we’re going to do, so he will never be forgotten. We’ll carve The White Prince out on the hillside—he’ll be there forever, and he’ll be white forever too. ”
“It’ll take a bit of time, won’t it?” I said.
“We’ve got plenty, haven’t we?” he replied, with the same smile he had smiled at me when he was a ten-year-old boy asking me if he could come back and mend my kite for me.
Every spare hour we had, we were up there scraping (刨土) away with spades (铲子), and we had buckets (桶) to carry away the earth. It was hard, back-breaking work, but it was a labour (劳动) of love. We did it, Bertie and I, we did it together—paws, claws, tail, mane, until he was complete and perfect in every detail.
It was just after we’d finished that the butterflies first came. We noticed that when the sun comes out after the rain in the summer, the butterflies—Adonis Blues, they are, I looked them up – come out to drink on the chalk face. Then The White Prince becomes a butterfly lion, and breathes again like a living creature (动物).
So now you know how Bertie’s white lion became The White Prince and how The White Prince became our butterfly lion.
(Adapted from The Butterfly Lion)
1.The sentence “It took the next twenty years to do it.” should be put at the beginning of one paragraph. Where should we put it?
one paragraph. Where should we put it?
A. B. C. D.
2.The underlined word “he” in Paragraph 4 refers to (指代) ______.
A.Bertie B.butterfly C.the White Horse D.the white lion
3.The correct time order of the events about the story is ______ .
a. The lion died and Bertie was sad.
b. Butterflies flew to the chalk face.
c. Bertie decided to carve the lion on the hillside.
d. Bertie and Millie spent all the spare time carving.
A.a-c-d-b B.a-d-b-c C.d-a-b-c D.c-b-a-d
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1.The person who ________ will most probably be interested in this text.
A.wants to buy a new truck B.sells the newest truck
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2.To be a driver trainer, you should have experience.
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I keep a two-dollar bill in my wallet that was given by my mother when I was six years old. Mother gave it to me ______ luck would follow me everywhere. She looked at me and said, “I want you to carry this two-dollar bill for extra good luck.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I replied. “I will keep it close to me always.”
My mother passed away when I was seven years old. I remembered I took out my two-dollar bill and held it in my hand for the longest time, knowing that she would be ______ over me the rest of life.
On my first ______, I was thirty years old. As I sat in the ______, I noticed there were five women ahead of me. All of them were ______ and well dressed, which made me more nervous.
“What makes you feel you are fit for this job?” Mrs. Martin, the office manager asked me.
“I really need this job and there is ______ I can’t do. I know I am not as ______ as your other applicants(申请人) for the job, but please give me a chance. I learn quickly and can be a very capable(有能力的) member of your team.”
That evening I received a(n) ______ from Mrs. Martin.“Gina,” she said, “you were not the most suitable applicant, but you have so much confidence in yourself ______ we decided to give you a chance to prove yourself.” “Thank you, Mrs. Martin. You will not regret this decision.” I said excitedly and hung up the phone.
I got my ______ and took out my two-dollar bill. “Thanks, Mom. I am sure to make it,” I said out loud so that she could hear me.
1.A.even if B.because of C.even though D.so that
2.A.watching B.protecting C.teaching D.caring
3.A.business B.interview C.journey D.vacation
4.A.waiting room B.dining room C.sitting room D.living room
5.A.older B.cleverer C.younger D.earlier
6.A.everything B.something C.nothing D.anything
7.A.polite B.important C.suitable D.attractive
8.A.e-mail B.call C.letter D.telegram
9.A.as B.that C.what D.which
10.A.pocket B.wallet C.bag D.case
—Shall I help you with your heavy bag, lady?
—Thanks a lot. ________________.
A.If you like B.Of course you can
C.That couldn’t be better D.It depends
Just like that? Don’t you have a plan B? You know ___________, do you?
A.it never rains but pours
B.you’d better not burn the candle at both ends
C.he who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man
D.it’s not wise to put all your eggs in one basket
