This was no ordinary class. The students who came together were all science or engineering professors at Cornell University. They had interrupted their research to accept an invitation to take part in an unusual experiment: “an interesting week of poetry.” This class was part of a study to answer the questions: Why is science difficult for many nonscience students? What can teachers learn about teaching if they take a class that is not in their field? The students in the poetry class listened to lectures and took notes. They had reading tasks and had to write three short papers. All students noticed one thing—the importance of spoken words. In science and engineering classes, the instructors put tables and drawings on the blackboard. But in this poetry class, the instructors just talked. They didn’t write anything on the board. The scientists and engineers noticed one similarity between science and poetry. In both subjects, students need to find layers(层次) of meaning. Some layers are simple, clear, and on the surface；other layers are deeper and more difficult. This search for different levels of meaning doesn’t happen much in undergraduate (本科) science classes, but it is important later, in graduate school. And it is always important in humanities(人文学科)． Both the poetry instructors and their students learned something about teaching from this experience. One poetry instructor, for example, now sees the importance of using careful，clear definitions (定义)when he explains a poem. He also plans to be more informative as he teaches. Most of the scientists agreed on several points. First, humanities classes might help science students to see patterns and decide which information is important. Second, the poetry class was fun. One engineer decided, “We need to change the way we teach engineering to make it an enjoyable experience for students.”
But perhaps the most important result of the experience was this：All of the professors began to think about how they teach and how they can teach better. 1. What do we know about this unusual class? A. The teachers did lots of writing on the board. B. The teachers were invited to attend several lectures. C. The students were professors from a university. D. The students were studying science and humanities. [解析] 细节理解题。根据“This was no ordinary class.The students who came together were all science or engineering professors at Cornell University”可知C项正确。 [答案] C 2. The experiment was designed to find out________. A. how to teach the students in the science class B. whether poetry is difficult for science students C. what to be taught in the humanities class D. why many humanities students find science hard [解析] 细节理解题。根据“why is science difficult for many nonscience students？”找到答案。 [答案] D 3. Finding levels of meaning is________. A. important for graduate students in humanities B. difficult for graduate students in humanities C. common for undergraduate students in science D. easy for undergraduate students in science [解析] 细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句“And it is always important in humanities”可知选A项。 [答案] A 4. What did the science professors learn after the experiment? A. They should change the way they teach. B. A poem could be explained in clear definitions. C. A poetry class could be more informative. D. Their teaching was an enjoyable experience. [解析] 细节理解题。由“But perhaps the most important result of the experience was this：All of the professors began to think about how they teach and how they can teach better.”我们可知道全文的中心思想。 [答案] A
When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from China. When India had not opened up its markets to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans. Thankfully，we can get all these anywhere in India now. Still, her answer surprised me，“ Green tea.” As long as I can remember she didn’ t even drink Indian tea. I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story. My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses. At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian. It was a strange country. How things change! And how soon! Now every town of any size seems to have a “China Market”. And everyone is talking about China. The government of India has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done. A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment(投资) and such a step would “work wonders as it did for China”． But it’_s_a_twoway_street. I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Bangalore to train in software. Meanwhile, all the Indian IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China. No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, was expected to hit about US $15 billion for last year and US $20 billion by 2008, a goal set by both governments. No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the SinoIndian (中印)century as the two countries started on January 1 the SinoIndian Friendship Year. But what is still a wonder to me is my mother drinking Chinese tea. [语篇解读] 文章主要讲述了一个印度人对中国的印象：中国的发展令他惊讶不已。另外，中国和印度相互合作，实现了双赢。 1．Why did the mother ask for Chinese green tea? A. She was tired of Indian tea. B. She had a son working in China. C. She believed it had a curing effect. D. She was fond of Chinese products. [解析] 根据第五段最后一句话可知答案。 [答案] C 2．What does the author mean by “it’ s a twoway street” in Paragraph 10? A. China and India have different traffic rules. B. Tea trade works wonders in both India and China. C. Chinese products are popular in both China and India. D. The exchanges between India and China benefit both. [解析] 结合上下文可知，这句话的意思是“中国和印度互惠互利，共同发展”。 [答案] D 3．What do we know about the Indian IT industry? A. It will move its head office to Shenzhen. B. It is seeking further development in China. C. It has attracted an investment of US $15 billion. D. It caught up with&
