Proper arrangement of classroom space is important to encouraging interaction. Most of us have noticed how important physical setting is to efficiency and comfort in our work. College classroom space should be designed to encourage the activity of critical thinking.
We are in the 21st century now, but step into almost any college classroom and you step back in time at least a hundred years. Desks are normally in straight rows, so students can clearly see the teacher but not all their classmates. The assumption behind such an arrangement is obvious: Everything of importance comes from the teacher.
With a little imagination and effort, unless desks are fixed to the floor, the teacher can correct this situation and create space that encourages interchange among students. In small or standard-size classes, chairs, desks, and tables can be arranged in a variety of ways: circles, U-shapes or semicircles. The primary goal should be for everyone to be able to see everyone else.
Arrangement of the classroom should also make it easy to divide students into small groups for discussion or problem-solving exercises. Small classes with movable desks and tables present no problem. Even in large lecture halls, it is possible for students to turn around and form groups of four or six. Breaking a class into small groups provides more opportunities for students to interact with each other, think out loud, and see how other students’ thinking processes operate---all these are essential elements in developing new modes of critical thinking.
In courses that regularly use a small group format, students might be asked to stay in the same small groups throughout the course. A colleague of mine, John, allows students to move around during the first two weeks, until they find a group they are comfortable with. John then asks them to stay in the same seat, with the same group, from that time on. This not only creates a comfortable setting for interaction but helps him learn students’ names and faces.
1.The final purpose of arranging desks in circles or U-shapes is __________.
A. for teachers to divide students into small groups
B. to make it possible for students to interact with each other
C. for teachers to find out how students think
D. to give students more opportunities to practice speaking
2.The expression “step back in time at least a hundred years” is intended to convey that________.
A. college classrooms often reminded people of their past
B. critical thinking was encouraged even one century ago
C. desk arrangement in a classroom was quite different from that a hundred years ago
D. today’s arrangement of college classroom space has little difference from past’s
3.The way of arranging desks in classrooms in straight rows indicates that ________.
A. students can be easily prevented from cheating during tests
B. it is convenient for teachers to monitor students
C. teachers play a significant role in a classroom
D. it is good for students to concentrate on listening to teachers
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Optimism and pessimism are both powerful forces. Each of us must choose which we want to ______ our future and our expectations. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or ______. It’s our decision: from which perspective do we want to view life? Will we look up in ______ or down in desperation?
I believe in the upward look. I choose to ______ the positive and skip right over the negative.
An optimistic attitude is not a luxury(奢侈品); it’s a(n) ______. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform, and how well you will get along with other people. ______, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations ______ themselves; they become a self-fulfilling prophecy (预言). Pessimism creates a dark place where no one wants to live.
Years ago, I drove into a service station to get some gas. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling great. As I walked into the station to pay for the gas, the attendant said to me, “How do you feel?” That seemed like a(n) ______ question, but I felt fine and told him so. “You don’t look well,” he replied. This ______ me completely by surprise. A little ______ confidently, I told him that I had ______ felt better. Without hesitation, he continued to tell me how bad I looked and that my skin appeared yellow.
By the time I left the service station, I was feeling a little ______. About a block away, I ______ over to the side of the road to look at my face in the mirror. How did I feel? Was I affected with jaundice(黄疸)? Was everything all right? By the time I got home, I was beginning to feel a little nauseous(恶心). Did I have a bad liver? Had I ______ some rare disease?
On another beautiful day, when I went into that gas station, feeling _____ again, I figured out what had happened. The place had recently been painted a bright, distasteful ______, and the light reflecting ______ the walls made everyone inside look as though they had hepatitis(肝炎)! I wondered how many other folks had ______ the way I did. I had let one short conversation with a total ______ change my attitude for an entire day. He told me I looked sick, and before long, I was actually feeling sick. That single ______ observation had a great effect on the way I felt and acted.
The only thing more powerful than negativism is a word of optimism and hope. When a whole culture adopts an upward look, incredible things can be accomplished.
1.A. shape B. decide C. preview D.transform
2.A. forgive B. curse C. praise D. regret
3.A. vain B. anger C. action D. hope
4.A. highlight B. analyze C. evaluate D.introduce
5.A. necessity B. opportunity C. quality D. identity
6.A. Actually B. Consequently C. Similarly D.Contrarily
7.A. rely on B. feed on C. go on D.take on
8.A. familiar B. ordinary C. odd D. easy
9.A. got B. took C. stopped D. made
10.A. more B. less C. quite D. too
11.A. never B. ever C. once D. always
12.A. uneasy B. unconcerned C. unsatisfied D.unaffected
13.A. got B. came C. took D. pulled
14.A. come up B. brought up C. picked up D. put up
15.A. fine B. upset C. sick D. calm
16.A. gray B. blue C. yellow D. red
17.A. in B. over C. off D. through
18.A. quit B. adapted C. answered D. reacted
19.A. liar B. onlooker C. attendant D. stranger
20.A. positive B. negative C. careful D. rigid
-- The manager of the factory wants to improve production a great deal, but he doesn’t spend much on technology.
-- I am afraid he won’t realize his dream. You know ________.
A. you can’t eat your cake and have it
B. empty vessels make the greatest sound
C. enough is as good as a feast
D. two heads are better than one
–Thank you for your assistance, without ________ I might have been in danger.
--That’s all right, anyone in my place ________ the same thing.
A. that; will do B. which; would have done
C. it, would D. which; can have done
--How do you think I can make up with Tom?
--Put aside ________ you disagree and try to find ________ you have in common.
A. what; what B. where; what
C. what; where D. what; whether
My camera can be ________ to take pictures in cloudy or sunny conditions.
A．treated B. adopted C. adjusted D. adapted
