完型填空 by 唐思宇

来自2010年10月26日Scientific American: Hearing the Music, Honing the Mind

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=hearing-the-music-honing

Music produces profound and lasting changes in the brain. Schools should add classes, not cut them. Nearly 20 years ago a small study advanced the notion that listening to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major could boost mental functioning. It was not long before trademarked “Mozart effect” products appealed to neurotic parents aiming to put toddlers on the fast track to the Ivy League. Georgia’s governor even proposed giving every newborn there a classical CD or cassette.

The evidence for Mozart therapy turned out to be flimsy, perhaps nonexistent, although the original study never claimed anything more than a temporary and limited effect. In recent years, however, scientists have examined the benefits of a concerted effort to study and prACTice music, as opposed to playing a Mozart CD or a computer-based “brain fitness” gameonce in a while.

Advanced monitoring techniques have enabled scientists to see what happens inside your head when you listen to your mother and ACTually prACTice the violin for an hour every afternoon. And they have found that music lessons can produce profound and lasting changes that enhance the general ability to learn. These results should convince public officials that music classes are a mere decoration, ripe for discarding in the budget crises that constantly trouble public schools.

Studies have shown that diligent instrument training from an early age can help the brain to process sounds better, making it easier to stay focused when absorbing other subjects, from literature to tensor calculus. The musically adept are better able toconcentrate on a biology lesson despite the racket in the classroom or, a few years later, to finish a call with a client when a colleague in the next cubicle starts screaming at an underling. They can attend to several things at once in the mental scratch pad called working memory, an essential skill in this  era of multitasking.

写作范文 by 胡平

As is shown in the picture, when a dad asks his daughter “how was school today?”, his daughter would rather tell her father to read all about it on her blog than inform him face to face. This phenomenon demonstrates that internet communication is changing the traditional face-to-face communication.

What is the impACT of the internet on interpersonal communication? Initially, it prevents people from face-to-face communication. For example, some students would better send messages to their classmates to express themselves rather than talk to them directly. Furthermore, the internet communication is making people lose their regular and necessary communication skills. Take my friend Jack as an example. He is popular online due to his insightful thought and prominent writing skill. But in his daily life, he is so shy that he cannot talk to others.  

Internet, from my perspective, does harm to our interpersonal communication. And we should place much emphasis on face-to-face communication.

仔细阅读 by 唐思宇

第一篇

来自 2009年5月7日的Penn Currents: The Dark Side of Setting Goals

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/node/4056

As anyone who has tried to lose weight knows, realistic goal-setting generally produces the best results. That’s partially because it appears people who set realistic goals ACTually work more efficiently, and exert more effort, to achieve those goals.

(52) What’s far less understood by scientists, however, are the potentially harmful effects of goal-setting.

Newspapers relay daily accounts of goal-setting run amok in industries and businesses up and down both Wall Street and Main Street, yet there has been surprisingly little research on how the long-trumpeted prACTice of setting goals may have contributed to the current economic crisis, and unethical behavior in general.

“It turns out there’s no economic benefit to just having a goal—you just get a psychological benefit Schweitzer says. (53) “But in many cases, goals have economic rewards that make them more salient or powerful.”

A prime example Schweitzer and his colleagues cite is the 2004 collapse of energy-trading titan Enron, where managers used financial incentives to motivate salesmen to meet specific revenue goals. The problem, Schweitzer says, is the ACTual trades were not profitable.

Other studies have shown that saddling employees with unrealistic goals can compel them to lie, cheat or steal. (54) Such was the case, Schweitzer says, in the early 1990s when Sears imposed a sales quota on its auto repair staff. It prompted employees to overcharge for work and to complete unnecessary repairs on a companywide basis.

Schweitzer concedes his research runs counter to a very large body of literature that extols the many benefits of goal-setting.(55) Advocates of the prACTice have taken issue with his team’s use of such evidence as news accounts to support his conclusion that goal setting is widely over-prescribed.

In a rebuttal paper, Edwin A. Locke writes: “Goal setting is not going away. Organizations cannot thrive without being focused on their desired end results any more than an individual can thrive without goals to provide a sense of purpose.”

(56) But Schweitzer contends the “mounting causal evidence” linking goal-setting and harmful behavior should be studied to help spotlight issues that merit caution and further investigation. “Even a few negative effects could be so large that they outweigh many positive effects,” he says.

“Goal-setting does help coordinate and motivate people. My idea would be to combine that with careful oversight, a strong organizational culture, and make sure the goals that you use are going to be constructive and not significantly harm the organization,” Schweitzer says.

52. What message does the author try to convey about goal-setting?

A. Its negative effects have long been neglected.

B. The goals increase people’s work efficiency.

C. Its role has been largely underestimated.

D. The goals most people set are unrealistic

答案：A

解析：由顺序原则定位至文章开篇，第二段的however意味着重点在第二段，该句在第一段列举设定目标的好处之后，提出设定目标的潜在负面后果一直未被了解，可知文章作者的中心在揭露设定目标的危害方面。

53. What does Maurice Schweitzer want to show by citing the example of Enron?

A. Setting realistic goals can turn a failing business into success.

B. Businesses are less likely to succeed without setting realistic goals.

C. Financial incentives ensure companies meet specific revenue goals.

D. Goals with financial rewards have strong motivational power.

答案：D

解析：由Maurice Schweitzer和Enron定位至六段首，该题问的是引用这个例子的目的，于是定位至引出该例子的五段末句（同时也是转折后的重点信息）。D选项即是五段末句的改写，financial改写原文的economical。

54. How did Sears’ goal-setting affect its employees?

A. They were obliged to work more hours to increase their sales.

B. They competed with one another to attrACT more customers.

C. They resorted to unethical prACTice to meet their sales quota.

D. They improved their customer service on a company wide basis.

答案：C

解析：由Seal定位至七段第二句。该题问的是Seal的行为对员工的影响。本句只介绍了行为，具体影响出现在下句，提到员工出现漫天要价(overcharge)、做无用功等不良行为，C选项即是对这种现象的总结。C选项的unethical也对应本段首句的lie, cheat or steal。

55. What do advocates of goal-setting think of Schweitzer’s research?

A. Its findings are not of much prACTical value.

B. It exaggerates the side effects of goal-setting.

C. Its conclusion is not based on solid scientific evidence.

D. It runs counter to the existing literature on the subject.

答案：C

解析：由advocates定位至八段第二句。该句提出设定目标的支持者对Schweitzer为支持自己的结论(conclusion)所使用的证据(evidence)提出了质疑(take issue with)，C选项同时包含了这三个重点。

56. What is Schweitzer contention against Edwin Locke?

A. The link between goal-setting and harmful behavior deserves further study.

B. Goal-setting has become too deep-rooted in corporate culture.

C. The positive effects of goal-setting outweigh its negative effects.

D. Studying goal-setting can throw more light on successful business prACTices.

答案：A

解析：由Schweitzer和Edwin Locke定位至文章九、十两段，题干问的是前者对后者的反驳，因此定位至第十段Schweitzer说的话中（同时也是But后的重点信息）。该句提到设定目标与有害行为之间关联性证据的增加应当被研究，A选项改写于此。deserve改写原文的should。

第二篇

来自2010年11月29日Newsweek: Asian Wisdom

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/11/29/western-economies-could-learn-from-the-east.html

For most of the 20th century, Asia asked itself what it could learn from the modern, innovating West. Now the question must be reversed: what can the West’s overly indebted and sluggish nations learn from a flourishing Asia?

Just a few decades ago, Asia’s two giants were stagnating under faulty economic ideologies. (57) However, once China began embracing free-market reforms in the 1980s, followed by India in the 1990s, both countries achieved rapid growth. Crucially, as they opened up their markets, they balanced market economy with sensible government direction. As the Indian economist Amartya Sen has wisely said, “The invisible hand of the market has often relied heavily on the visible hand of government.”

Contrast this levelheaded middle path with America and Europe, which have each gone ideologically overboard in their own ways. (58) Since the 1980s, America has been increasingly clinging to the ideology of uncontrolled free markets and dismissing the role of government—following Ronald Reagan’s idea that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” (59) Of course, when the markets came crashing down in 2007, it was decisive government intervention that saved the day. Despite this fACT, many Americans still strongly opposed to “big government,”

If Americans could only free themselves from their antigovernment straitjackets, they would begin to see that the U.S.’s problems are not insoluble. A few sensible federal measures could put the country back on the right path. A simple consumption tax of, say, 5 percent would make a significant dent in the country’s huge government deficit without damaging productivity. A small gasoline tax would help wean America from its dependence on oil imports and create incentives for GREen energy development. In the same way, a significant reduction of wasteful agricultural subsidies and other earmarks could also lower the deficit. (60) But in order to take advantage of these common-sense solutions, Americans will have to put aside their own attachment to the idea of smaller government and less regulation. American politicians will have to develop the courage to follow what is taught in all American public-policy schools: that there are good taxes and bad taxes. Asian countries have embraced this wisdom, and have built sound long-term fiscal policies as a result.

(61) Meanwhile, Europe has fallen prey to a different ideological trap: the belief that European governments would always have infinite resources and could continue borrowing as if there were no tomorrow. Unlike the Americans, who felt that the markets knew best, the Europeans failed to anticipate how the markets would reACT to their endless borrowing. Today, the EU is creating a $580 billion fund to ward off sovereign collapse. This will buy the EU time, but it will not solve the bloc’s larger problem.

57. What has contributed to the rapid economic growth in China and India?

A. Copying western-style economic behavior.

B. Heavy reliance on the hand of government.

C. Timely reform of government at all levels.

D. Free market plus government intervention.

答案：D

解析：用China和India定位至二段第二句（同时也是however后的重点信息），该句提到八十年代中国和印度先后实行市场改革之后都获得了发展，下句用crucially同时引出发展的另一个因素即政府的指引。D选项融合了这个两个重要因素。

58. What does Ronald Reagan mean by saying “government is the problem” (Line 4, Para 3)?

A. Many social ills are caused by wrong government policies.

B. Many social problems arise from government inefficiency.

C. Government ACTion is key to solving economic problems.

D. Government regulation hinders economic development.

答案：D

解析：定位至第三段第二句，该句内部已经提到美国一直坚持自由市场、忽视政府的角色，该段末两句提到尽管2007年政府干预拯救了市场、许多美国人仍然反对政府管理。结合定位句本身可推出大部分美国人不认可政府对市场和经济的作用，D选项即是此意。另外三个选项虽然都在否定政府，但具体细节是从定位句前后无从得出的。

59. What stopped the American economy from collapsing in 2007?

A. Self-regulatory repair mechanisms of the free market.

B. Cooperation between the government and businesses.

C. Abandonment of big government by the public.

D. Effective measures adopted by the government.

答案：D

解析：用2007和collapse定位至第三段倒数第二句，该句后半用强调句形式指出2007年正式政府坚决的干预拯救了经济，D选项即是此意。Effective measures意指原文的decisive intervention。

60. What is the author’s suggestion to the American public in face of the government deficit?

A. They urge the government to revise its existing public policies.

B. They develop GREen energy to avoid dependence on oil import.

C. They give up the idea of smaller government and less regulation.

D. They put up with the inevitable sharp increase of different taxes.

答案：C

解析：由deficit可定位至第四段中部。从第三句开始作者开始列举具体建议，但重点出现在第六句首的But处，其后作者强调所有这些建议都需要美国人将自己淡化政府、减少规章的想法放到一边。C选项是这句话的改写。give up改写原文的put aside。

61. What’s the problem with the European Union?

A. Conservative ideology

B. Shrinking market.

C. Lack of resources.

D. Excessive borrowing.

答案：D

解析：由European Union定位至末段。末段首句提及欧洲人陷入了一些错误的信念之中，诸如资源无限、不停借钱等等。后几句持续提到具体的借钱行为和数额。D选项即是此意。

简答题 by 唐思宇

In face of global warming, much effort has been focused on reducing GREenhouse gas emission through a variety of strategies.(47) But while much of the research and innovation has concentrated on finding less-polluting energy alternatives, it may be decades before clean technologies like wind and solar meet a significant portion of our energy needs.

In the meantime, the amount of CO2  in the air is rapidly approaching the limits proposed by the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change(IPCC).” As long as we’re consuming fossil fuels, we’re putting out CO2,” says Klaus Lackner, a geophysicist at Columbia University.” We cannot let the CO2 in the atmosphere rise indefinitely.”

That sense of urgency has increased interest in capturing and storing CO2,which the IPCC says could prove provide the more than 50% reduction in emissions thought needed to reduce global warming. (48)“We see the potential for capture and storage to play an integral role in reducing emissions,” says Kim Corley, Shell’s senior advisor of CO2 and environmental affairs. That forward thinking strategy is gaining support. The U.S. Department of energy recently proposed putting $1billion into a new $2.4billion coal-burning energy plant. The plant’s carbon-capture technologies would serve as a pilot project for other new coal-burning plants.

But what do you do with the gas once you’ve captured it? (49) One option id to put it to new uses. Dakota Gasification of North Dakota captures CO2 at a plant that converts coal into synthetic natural gas, It then ships the gas 200 miles by pipeline to Canada, where it is pumped underground in oil recovery operations. (50) In the Netherlands, Shell delivers CO2 to farmers whop pipe it into their GREenhouse, increasing their yield of fruits and vegetables.

(51) However, scientists say that the scale of CO2 emissions will require vast amounts of long term storage. some propose storing the CO2 in coal mines or liquid storage in the ocean ,Shell favors storing co2 in deep geological structures such as saline formations and exhausted oil and gas fields. that exist throughout the world.

47. What are suggested as renewable and less-polluting energy alternatives?

答案：Wind and solar.

解析：用renewable and less-polluting定位至首段第二句（同时也是转折后的重点信息），该句后半部分提出的wind and solar即是对“可再生和污染小的能源”的具体举例。

48. What does the author say is a forward thinking strategy concerning the reduction of CO2 emissions?

答案：Capturing and storing CO2.

解析：用forward thinking strategy定位至三段中部，定位句的that提示了具体答案在前两句的信息，前两句重复出现的capture and store CO2即是该两句所强调的一种方式。

49. One way of handling the captured CO2 as suggested by the author is to store it and ______.

答案：put it to new uses.

解析：用captured CO2定位至四段首句，在第二句中作者即回答了首句的问题，该句的option就是题干的way，to put it to new uses即是题干需要的具体行为。

50. Through using CO2, Dutch farmers have been able to ______.

答案：increase their yield of fruits and vegetables.

解析：用Dutch farmers定位至四段末句，题干be able to问的是荷兰农民行为的结果，该句前半部分是行为，后半部分就是结果。

51. Long-term storage of CO2 is no easy job because of ______.

答案：the large scale of CO2 emission.

解析：用long-term storage定位至末段首句，该句提出CO2的排放规模是导致长期存储CO2的量不得不很巨大的原因。

快速阅读 by 夏伟

来自2008年5月17日Newsweek

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/05/17/small-schools-rising.html

Small School Rising

①Hartwick college, a small liberal-arts school in upstate New York, makes this offer to well-prepared students: earn your undergraduate deGREe in three years instead of four, (1) and save about $43,000—the amount of one year's tuition and fees. A number of innovative colleges are making the same offer to students anxious about saving time and money. And that's both an opportunity and a warning for the best higher-education system in the world.

②The United States has almost all of the world's best universities. A recent Chinese survey ranks 35 American universities among the top 50, eight among the top 10. Our research universities have been the key to developing the competitive advantages that help Americans produce 25 percent of all the world's wealth. In 2007, 623,805 of the world's brightest students were attrACTed to American universities.

③Yet, there are signs of peril within American higher education. U.S. colleges have to compete in a marketplace. Students may choose among 6,000 public, private, nonprofit, for-profit, or religious institutions of higher learning. In addition, almost all of the $32 billion the federal government provides for university research is awarded competitively.

④ (2) But many colleges and universities are stuck in the past. For instance, the idea of the fall-to-spring "school year" hasn't changed much since before the American Revolution, when we were a nation of farmers and students put their books away to work the soil during the summer. That long summer stretch no longer makes sense. Former George Washington University president Stephen J. Trachtenberg estimates that a typical college uses its facilities for academic purposes a little more than half the calendar year. "While college facilities sit idle, they continue to generate maintenance expenses that contribute to the high cost of running a college," he has written.

⑤Within academic departments, tenure, combined with age-discrimination laws, make faculty turnover—critical for a university to remain current in changing times—difficult. (3) Instead of protecting speech and encouraging diversity and innovative thinking, the tenure system often stifles them: younger professors must win the approval of established colleagues for tenure, encouraging likemindedness and sometimes inhibiting the free flow of ideas.

⑥Meanwhile, tuition has soared, leaving graduating students with unprecedented loan debt. Strong campus presidents to manage these problems are becoming harder to find, and to keep. In fACT, students now stay on campus almost as long as their presidents. The average amount of time students now take to complete an undergraduate deGREe has stretched to six years and seven months as students interrupted by work, inconvenienced by unavailable classes, or lured by one more football season find it hard to graduate.

⑦ConGREss has tried to help students with college costs through Pell Grants and other forms of tuition support. But some of their fixes have made the problem worse. The stack of conGREssional regulations governing federal student grants and loans now stands twice as tall as I do. filling out these forms consumes 7 percent of every tuition dollar.

⑧For all of these reasons, some colleges like Hartwick are rethinking the old way of doing things and questioning decades-old assumptions about what a college deGREe means. For instance, why does it have to take four years to earn a diploma? This fall, 16 first-year students and four second-year students at Hartwick, enrolled in the school's new three-year deGREe program. According to the college, the plan is designed for high-ability, highly motivated students who wish to save money or to move along more rapidly toward advanced deGREes.

⑨By eliminating that extra year, three-year deGREe students save 25 percent in costs. (4) Instead of taking 30 credits a year, these students take 40. During January, Hartwick runs a four-week course during which students may earn three to four credits on or off campus, including a number of international sites. Summer courses are not required, but a student may enroll in them—and pay extra. Three-year students get first crack at course registration. There are no changes in the number of courses professors teach or in their pay.

⑩The three-year deGREe isn't a new idea. Geniuses have always breezed through. (5) Judson College, a 350-student institution in Alabama, has offered students a three-year option for 40 years. Students attend "short terms" in May and June to earn the credits required for graduation. Bates College in Maine and Ball State University in Indiana are among other colleges offering three-year options.

11. (6) Changes at the high-school level are also helping to make it easier for many students to earn their undergrad deGREes in less time. One of five students arrives at college today with Advanced Placement credits amounting to a semester or more of college-level work. Many universities, including large schools like the University of Texas, make it easy for these AP students to graduate faster.

12.For students who don't plan to stop with an undergraduate deGREe, the three-year plan may have an even GREater appeal. Dr. John Sergent, head of Vanderbilt University Medical School's residency program, enrolled in Vanderbilt's undergraduate college in 1959. He entered medical school after only three years as did "four or five of my classmates." My first year of medical school counted as my senior year, which meant I had to take three to four labs a week to get all my sciences in. I basically skipped my senior year." says Sergent he still had time to be a student senator and meet his wife

13.There are, however, drawbacks to moving through school at such a brisk pace. (7) For one, it deprives students of the luxury of time to roam intellectually. Compressing everything into three years also leaves less time for growing up, engaging in extracurricular ACTivities, and studying abroad. On crowded campuses it could mean fewer opportunities to get into a prized professor's class. Iowa's Waldorf College has graduated several hundred students in its three-year-deGREe programs, but is now phasing out the option. Most Waldorf students wanted the full four-year experience—academically, socially, and athletically. (8) And faculty members will be wary of any change that threatens the core curriculum in the name of moving students into the workforce.

14."Most high governmental officials who speak of education policy seem to conceive of education in this light—as a way to ensure economic competitiveness and continued economic growth," Derek Bok, president emeritus of Harvard told The Washington Post. "I strongly disaGREe with this approach." Another risk: the new campus schedules might eventually produce less revenue for the institution and longer working hours for faculty members.

15.Adopting a three-year option will not come easily to most schools. Those that wish to tackle tradition and make American campuses more cost-conscious may find it easier to take Trachtenberg's advice: open campuses year-round. "You could run two complete colleges, with two complete faculties, he says. "That's without cutting the length of students' vacations, increasing class sizes, or requiring faculty to teach more.

16.Whether they experiment with three-year deGREes, offer year-round classes, challenge the tenure system—or all of the above—(9) universities are slowly realizing that to stay competitive and relevant they must adapt to a rapidly changing world.

17.Expanding the three-year option or year-round schedules may be difficult, but it may be less difficult than asking ConGREss for additional help asking legislators for more state support, or asking students for even higher tuition payments. (10) Campuses willing to adopt convenient schedules along with more-focused, less-expensive deGREes may find that they have a competitive advantage in attrACTing bright, motivated students. These sorts of innovations can help American universities avoid the perils of success.

1. Why did Hartwick College start three-year deGREe programs?

A. To create chances for the poor.

B. To enroll more students.

C. To cut students’ expenses.

D. To solve its financial problems.

答案：C

解析：定位至首段首句后半部分。

2. By quoting Stephen Trachtenberg the author wants to say that__________.

A. American universities are resistant to change

B. the summer vacation contributes to student growth

C. college facilities could be put to more effective use

D. the costs of running a university are soaring

答案：C

解析：Stephen Trachtenberg定位至第4段。四段首句是段落中心句，后面的论据都支持这个观点即很多大学还保留着过去的模式。引言表明对于教学设施的实用也停留于过去，言下之意改变不够，可以变的更好。答案A拒绝改变有一定干扰性，但“拒绝”跟观点对应不上。

3. The author thinks the tenure system in American universities_________.

A. suppresses creative thinking

B. creates conflicts among colleagues

C. guarantees academic freedom

D. is a sign of age discrimination

答案：A

解析：tenure定位至五段，重点在段中Instead of转折之后，creative改写原文innovative，suppress改写原文stifle。

4. What is said about the new three-year deGREe program at Hartwick?

A. Its students have to earn more credits each year.

B. Non-credit courses are eliminated altogether.

C. Its faculty members teach more hours a week.

D. Some summer courses are offered free of charge.

答案：A

解析：对应第九段第二句。

5. What do we learn about Judson College’s three-year deGREe program?

A. It has been running for several decades.

B. It is open to the brightest students only.

C. It is the most successful in the country.

D. It has many prACTical course on offer.

答案：A

解析：Judson定位至第十段第二句，该句提出该学校运行三年学位计划已经40年。

6. What changes in high schools help students earn undergraduate deGREe in three years?

A. Curriculums have been adapted to students’ needs.

B. More students have Advanced Placement credits.

C. More elective courses are offered in high school.

D. The overall quality of education has improved.

答案：B

解析：high school定位至第十一段，整段就只提到一个因素即AP课程，其他选项都没有来源。

7. What is said to be a drawback of the three-year college program?

A. Students have to cope with too heavy a workload.

B. Students don’t have much time to roam intellectually.

C. Students have little time to gain prACTical experience.

D. Students don’t have prized professors to teach them.

答案：B

解析：drawbacks定位至第十三段首句，第二句开始列举drawback，即是B选项。

8. College faculty members are afraid that the pretext of moving students into the workforce might pose a threat to ____________.

答案：the core curriculum

解析：题干定位至十三段末句，该句提到收到威胁地即是the core curriculum。

9. Universities are increasingly aware that they must adapt to a rapidly changing world in order to __________.

答案：stay competitive and relevant

解析：题干定位句十六段末，答案即是该句中唯一的不定式表目的。

10. Convenient academic schedules with more-focused, less-expensive deGREes will be more attrACTive to _______.

答案：bright, motivated students

解析：题干定位至末段倒数第二句，答案即是attrACT后的内容。