Students and Technology in the Classroom
I love my blackberry—it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also love my laptop computer，as it holds all of my writing and thoughts. Despite this love of technology, I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices(设备) and truly communicate with others.
On occasion, I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers. My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas. Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom, I have a rule —no laptop, iPads, phones, etc. When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were not happy.
Most students assume that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology. There’s a bit of truth to that. Some students assume that I am anti-technology. There’s no truth in that at all. I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversions and truly engage complex ideas. Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas. I want students to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently and make connections between the course material and the class discussion.
I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create. Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge, they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.
I’m 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’m sticking to my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.Some of the students in the history class were unhappy with____
| A．the course material | B．the author’s class regulations |
| C．discussion topics | D．others’ misuse of technology |
The underlined word “engage ”in para.4 probably means ____
| A．explore | B．accept | C．change | D．reject |
According to the author, the use of technology in the classroom may ____
| A．keep students from doing independent thinking |
| B．encourage students to have in-depth conversations |
| C．help students to better understand complex themes |
| D．affect students’ concentration on course evaluation |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author ____
| A．is quite stubborn |
| B．will give up teaching history |
| C．values technology-free dialogues in his class |
| D．will change his teaching plan soon |
Until the twentieth century cigarettes were not an important threat to public health. Men used tobacco mainly in the form of cigars. They chewed tobacco, piped tobacco, and snuffed. Most women did not use tobacco at all.
The cigarette industry began in 1870s with the development of the cigarette manufacturing machine. This made it possible to produce great numbers of cigarettes very quickly, and it reduced the price.
Today cigarette smoking is a widespread habit. About forty-three percent of the adult men and thirty-one percent of the adult women in the United States smoke cigarettes regularly. It is encouraging to note, however, that millions of people have quit smoking. Seventy-five percent of the male population and forty-six percent of the female population have smoked cigarettes for some time during their lives, but twenty-six percent of these men and eleven percent of the women have stopped smoking. The number of persons who have given up smoking is increasing. Men as a group smoke more than women. Among both men and women the age group with the highest proportion of smokers is the age group 24—44.
Income, education, and occupation all play a part in determining a person’s smoking habit. City people smoke more than people living on farms. Well-educated men with high incomes are less likely to smoke cigarettes than men with fewer years of schooling and lower incomes. On the other hand, if a well-educated man with a higher income smokes, he’s likely to smoke more packs of cigarettes per day.
The situation is somewhat different for women. There are slightly more smokers among women with higher family incomes and higher education than among the lower income and lower educational groups. These more highly educated women tend to smoke more heavily.
Among teenagers the picture is similar. There are fewer teenager smokers from upper-income, well-educated families, and also fewer from families living in farm areas. High school students who are preparing for college are less likely to smoke than those who don’t plan to continue their education after high school. Children are most likely to start smoking if one or both of their parents smoke.The underlined word “picture” in the last paragraph probably means _____________.
| A．situation | B．photo | C．painting | D．teenager |
Which group of people smoked more according to the passage?
| A．The group of women. | B．The group of teenagers. |
| C．The group of men. | D．The group of old people. |
Which of the following factors will be likely to decide whether a person smokes or not?
| A．Income and sex. | B．Education and occupation |
| C．Sex and age. | D．All the above. |
According to the passage, if a teenager doesn’t plan to go to college, and if his parents both smoke, he will ________________.
| A．probably not smoke in the future. |
| B．probably start to smoke in the future. |
| C．persuade his parents to give up smoking. |
| D．hate his parents as well as other smokers. |
Which of the following isn’t true?
| A．It wasn’t until the twentieth century that cigarettes became an important threat to public. |
| B．More and more people are giving up smoking. |
| C．A poorly-educated woman with lower income is more likely to smoke than a well-educated woman with high income. |
| D．There are the most smokers in the age group of 24-44. |
Education and Training
Make sure your skills are up-to-date
If you’re looking for a new job or you want to change your career, having up-to-date skills is the key to a successful job search and your future earning power.
Choose the right training
If you need training to learn new skills or enhance（提高）existing skills, make sure you got to know the following : What training program is the best for you? How will you pay for your training? You need to consider all these and more when you choose your training.
Search for training providers
Massachusetts school information is made available by the Massachusetts career information system (CIS). This directory includes most of the training providers and colleges in the states. The data for trade schools covers programs, admissions, schedules and costs. Descriptions for two-year, four-year, and graduate schools include information about school size, setting, programs, admissions, schedules, and costs. A link to the school’s Internet home page is provided when available.
Learn about the Entrepreneurial（创业者的）training program
The Entrepreneurial training program (ETP) provides training and technical assistance to individuals with good business ideas and the desire to start their own business.
Learn about Apprenticeship(见习)programs
Division of apprentice training is a system for teaching highly technical skills through a combination of on-the-job training and related classroom instruction. Also, it is responsible for promoting, developing and providing services for apprenticeship programs in the state.
Many apprentice programs are in traditional building trade areas such as Carpentry, Electrical and Ironwork. In addition, apprentice programs are being developed in areas such as Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Childcare, Culinary Arts and Telecommunications.
Use Online Resources
Link directly to the websites of colleges and universities in the state of Massachusetts. Explore other online job databases.In order to gain new skills, you need to_____.
| A．look for a new job | B．turn to a training provider |
| C．choose the right training | D．start your own business |
According to the text, the CIS_____.
| A．designs schedules for training providers |
| B．organizes schools to do training |
| C．raises business ideas for training providers |
| D．provides information of training providers |
If you want to start your own company, you probably would turn to_____.
| A．an apprentice programs | B．the CIS | C．the Internet | D．the ETP |
Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
| A．Nobody but the unemployed will show interest in the information. |
| B．The CIS offers information about schools in Massachusetts. |
| C．Having up-to-date skills is necessary for starting one’s own business |
| D．Job hunters prefer online databases to other resources. |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．If I want to find information about a four-year school, I should consult ETP. |
| B．CIS helps to train job seekers. |
| C．Apprentice programs provide training in areas like Carpentry, Electrical and Iron work. |
| D．On-the-job training is compulsory for those who want to start their own business. |
Three Boys and a Dad
Brad closed the door slowly as Sue left home to visit her mother. Expecting a whole day to relax, he was thinking whether to read the newspaper or watch his favourite TV talk show on his first day off in months. “This will be like a walk in the park,” he’d told his wife. “I’ll look after the kids, and you can go visit your mom.”
Things started well, but just after eight o’clock, his three little “good kids”—Mike, Randy, and Alex—came down the stairs in their night clothes and shouted “breakfast, daddy.” When food had not appeared within thirty seconds, Randy began using his spoon on Alex’s head as if it were a drum. Alex started to shout loudly in time to the beat(节拍). Mike chanted “Where’s my toast, where’s my toast,” in the background. Brad realized his newspaper would have to wait for a few seconds.
Life became worse after breakfast. Mike wore Randy’s underwear on his head. Randy locked himself in the bathroom, while Alex shouted again because he was going to wet his pants. Nobody could find clean socks, although they were before their very eyes. Someone named “Not Me” had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes. Brad knew the talk show had already started.
By ten o’clock, things were out of control. Alex was wondering why the fish in the jar refused his bread and butter. Mike was trying to show off his talent by decorating the kitchen wall with his colour pencils. Randy, thankfully, appeared to be reading quietly in the family room, but closer examination showed that he was eating apple jam straight from the bottle with his hands. Brad realized that the talk show was over and reading would be impossible.
At exactly11:17, Brad called the daycare centre(日托所). “I suddenly have to go into work and my wife’s away. Can I bring the boys over in a few minutes? ” The answer was obviously “yes” because Brad was smiling.When his wife left home, Brad expected to __________.
| A．go out for a walk in the park |
| B．watch TV talk show with his children |
| C．enjoy his first day off work |
| D．read the newspaper to his children |
Which of the following did Randy do?
| A．Drew on the wall. | B．Ate apple jam. | C．Fed the fish. | D．Read in a room. |
Who is “Not Me”(underlined in Para.3)?
| A．One of the family’s neighbor | B．The father |
| C．One of the three kids | D．The text doesn’t mention |
Why did Brad ask the daycare centre for help?
| A．Because he wanted to clean up his house |
| B．Because he suddenly had to go to his office. |
| C．Because he found it hard to manage his boys. |
| D．Because he had to take his wife back home. |
This text is developed _________.
| A．by space | B．by comparison | C．by process | D．by time |
GCSEs not fit for purpose
GCSEs（General Certificate of Secondary Education，普通中等教育证书）encourage "teaching to the test" and may be past their sell-by date, according to Britain's leading business organization. The Confederation of British Industry（CBI） warns that the qualification is stopping teachers delivering an "inspirational classroom experience" and should be replaced.
John Cridland, the CBI director general, said industry faced a shortage of key skills, particularly in science and maths. The CBI（英国工业联合会）, which represents more than 240,000 companies, is also concerned about the 40% of young people who fail to achieve the benchmark of five good GCSE passes including English and maths. The percentage of pupils who reach this standard is the main measure of school success.
Speaking at the launch of a CBI inquiry into education, Cridland argued that abandoning GCSEs could help deliver a full education. "There's something about this GCSE limitation which produces a form of learning ------ teaching for the test.’’
"It frustrates teachers because it stops them delivering that inspirational classroom experience."
The CBI head suggested that raising the school leaving age to 18 – a change that comes into effect in 2015 – is an opportunity to reform the system. "It seems to me that we've raised the participation age to 18 and we're left with an education system that focuses on 16," said Cridland. More than 600,000 children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to take GCSEs this summer.
Many other countries do without a public exam at 16. Finland, the highest performing school system in Europe, has just one public exam, at 18, though children are regularly tested at younger ages. What does the author intend to tell us in paragragh1？
| A．“Teaching to the test” should be encouraged. |
| B．We should stop teachers delivering “inspirational experience”. |
| C．The current qualification is out of date and should be replaced. |
| D．The Confederation of British Industry should be replaced. |
What’s the main idea of the passage？
| A．The British GCSEs are no longer practical and should be reformed. |
| B．In the GCSEs system , teachers don’t have freedom. |
| C．Five good GCSEs is hard to achieve. |
| D．The British Education Department will reform education system. |
The meaning of the underlined word “benchmark” in paragraph 2 may be ______.
| A．success | B．target | C．standard | D．excellent grades |
Where can we find this article?
| A．TV series | B．radio news |
| C．newspaper education section | D．government report |
Bicycle lights may not exactly be a problem that needs solving, but the following can be said about most of them ---- they’re easily stolen if left on an unattended bike. People riding at dusk can forget to turn them on, and those same people can forget to turn them off when they reach their destination. Well, the makers of the Blink/ Steady Bike Light have set out to address all of those shortcomings.
The waterproof(防水的) Blink/ Steady is so far only available as a tail light, although a head light is on the way. It’s fixed onto the bike’s seat post. A built- in photosensor(感光器) tells when it’s become dark enough for the light to be required, and allows it to come on once you begin the riding. According to the producers, it isn’t fooled by things such as headlights or streetlights. The light also contains an accelerometer, also known as a motion sensor, which can tell when the bike is in motion.
Between the two sensors, this means the light will come on only once it’s dark enough, and the bike is moving. Even when stopped at red lights, the small movements of the rider will reportedly be enough to keep the light activated---- it’ll go out after 30 seconds of complete inactivity. While this does mean that the two sensors are continuously powered up, they go into a very low---- power sleep pattern when the bike is sitting, unused.
Light is provided by two5- watt LEDs, seeable over a range of 180 degrees. And power comes from two AAA batteries, which provided up to 200 hours of continuous run time. The designers and engineers behind the Blink/ Steady are now raising money for its commercial production. About US $95 will get you one if they become available.The first paragraph is mainly to mean that______.
| A．bicycle lights are worth a research |
| B．bicycle lights are not a problem at all |
| C．bicycle lights are easy to deal with |
| D．bicycle lights are difficult to turn off |
According to the text, the Blink/Steady Bike Light is sensitive to______.
| A．the weather | B．streetlights | C．headlights | D．natural light |
Why is there an accelerometer in the Blink/ Steady Bike Light?
| A．To protect the bike against water. |
| B．To tell if the bike is moving. |
| C．To make the bike easy to ride. |
| D．To judge the speed of the bike. |
What can be inferred about the Blink/ Steady Bike Light?
| A．It will be turned off immediately if the bike stops. |
| B．The traffic lights have no effect on the light. |
| C．It won’t use any power if the bike is unused. |
| D．It must meet two requirements if it comes on. |
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