Unit 1 Task 1
【答案】
A. unusual, whatever, escape, traditions, present, grey, moulded, shape, here B.
A Chronicle of Cambridge’s Early Years Years Events 1209 Several hundred students and scholars arrived in Cambridge from Oxford. 1284 1440 Peterhouse, the oldest college in Cambridge, was founded. King Henry Ⅵ founded King‘s College. C. 1) Students were forbidden to play games, to sing (except sacred music), to hunt or fish or even to dance. 2) When people went anywhere on a visit, the pretty English girls all kissed them.
3) Erasmus, Bacon, Milton, Cromwell, and Newton (or Wordsworth, Byron, Tennyson, etc.) 【原文】
My coming to Cambridge has been an unusual experience. From whatever country one comes as a student one cannot escape the influence of the Cambridge traditions---and they go back so far! Here, perhaps, more than anywhere else, I have felt at one and the same time the past, the present and even the future. It‘s easy to see in the old grey stone buildings how the past moulded the present and how the present is giving shape to the future. So let me tell you a little of what this university town looks like and how it came to be here at all.
The story of the University began, so far as I know, in 1209 when several hundred students and scholars arrived in the little town of Cambridge after having walked 60 miles from Oxford.
Of course there were no colleges in those early days and student life was very different from what it is now. Students were of all ages and came from anywhere and everywhere. They were armed; some even banded together to rob the people of the countryside. Gradually the idea of the college developed, and in 1284, Peterhouse, the oldest college in Cambridge, was founded.
Life in college was strict; students were forbidden to play games, to sing (except sacred music), to hunt or fish or even to dance. Books were very scarce and all the lessons were in the Latin language which students were supposed to speak even among themselves.
In 1440 King Henry VI founded King‘s College, and the other colleges followed. Erasmus, the great Dutch scholar, was at one of these, Queens‘ College, from 1511 to 1513, and though he wrote that the college beer was ―weak and badly made‖, he also mentioned a pleasant custom that unfortunately seems to have ceased.
―The English girls are extremely pretty,‖ Erasmus said, ―soft, pleasant, gentle, and charming. When you go anywhere on a visit the girls all kiss you. They kiss you when you arrive. They kiss you when you go away and again when you return.‖
Many other great men studied at Cambridge, among them Bacon, Milton, Cromwell, Newton, Wordsworth, Byron and Tennyson.
Task 2
【答案】
A. 1) a) 2) b) 3) a) 4) c) B.
1) They usually wear black gowns—long gowns that hang down to the feet are for graduates, and shorter ones for
undergraduates.
2) Women students do not play a very active part in university life at Cambridge, but they work harder than men. C.
1) meadows, green, peaceful, bending into, intervals, deep coloured, reflection, contrasts, lawns 2) peace, scholarship, peace, suggest, stretches, charmingly cool, graceful 【原文】
Now let me give you some idea of what you would see if you were to talk around Cambridge. Let us imagine that I am seeing the sights for the first time. It is a quite market town and the shopping centre extends for quite a large area, but I notice more bookshops than one normally sees in country towns, and more tailors‘ shops showing in their windows the black gowns that students must wear—long gowns that hang down to the feet for graduates and shorter ones for undergraduates.
In the centre of the town is the market place where several times each week country traders come to sell their produce. Everywhere there are teashops, some in modern and many in old buildings, reached by climbing narrow stairs. There is a great deal of bicycle traffic, mainly undergraduates who race along thoughtless of safety, with long scarves (in various colours to denote their college) wound round their necks.
Continuing, I find my way to the river which flows behind the college buildings and curls about the town in the shape of a horseshoe. This narrow river is the Granta, and a little farther on changes in name to the Cam. It flows slowly and calmly. The ―Blacks‖, as this part of the town behind the colleges is called, have been described as the loveliest man-made view in English. It is indeed beautiful. To the felt, across the stream, there are no buildings, merely meadows, colleges‘ gardens and lines of tall trees. Everything is very green and peaceful. On the river bank are willow trees with their branches bending into the water and, at intervals along the river, stone bridges cross the stream and lead into the colleges which line the bank. The deep coloured brick or stone of college
walls, sometimes red and sometimes grey, is 500 years old. The walls rise out of their own reflection in the water and their colour contrasts charmingly with glimpses of the many green lawns.
Walking along the river bank, where the only sound is the noise of gentle wind in the tree tops, I came to my college, King‘s College. Across a bridge and beyond a vast carpet of green lawn stands King‘s College Chapel, the largest and most beautiful building in Cambridge and the most perfect example left of English fifteenth-century architecture.
The colleges join one another along the curve of the river. Going through a college gate one finds one is standing in an almost square space of 70 yards known as a ―court‖. Looking down into the court on all sides are the buildings where the students live. The colleges are built on a plan common to all. There is a chapel, a library, and a large dinning-hall. One court leads to another and each is made beautiful with lawns or a fountain or charming old stone path. The student gets a good impression of all the English architectural styles of the past 600 years---the bad as well as the good.
There are 28 colleges, excluding three for women students. Women students do not play a very active part in university life at Cambridge, but they work harder than men.
It is difficult to walk around the quite courts of the colleges without feeling a sense of peace and scholarship. And the sense of peace that green lawns always suggest to me is found in the town too, for often one is surprised to meet open stretches of grass in the midst of the streets and house giving a charmingly cool countryside effect and reminding one of the more graceful days of eighteenth century. I‘ll finish as I began on that note, the feeling one has here of the past in the present, of continuing tradition and firm faith.
Task 3
【答案】
A. 1) b) 2) c) B.
“Five Secrets” for Getting a Student Visa
Secret One: Get free, accurate information by visiting the US Embassy website. Secret Two: Be thoroughly prepared. Bring: I-20 form or IAP form;
Diploma(s); Standardized test score reports (TOEFL, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, etc.); All letters and e-mails from the school, esp. those discussing financial aid; Evidence of funding for the applicant‘s studies; Business cards;
Any other documents that might be important.
Secret Three: Answer the questions that are asked. Don‘t give the visa officer a prepared speech. Secret Four: Tell the truth. Secret Five: Come back to China in two ways: 1) Come back to see your family and maintain your ties to China. 2) Come back to China after graduation. 【原文】
On March 7, US Consul General David Hopper and three other officials from the Visa Section of the American Embassy met with students at Peking University. One of the officials presented ―Five Secrets‖ for getting a student visa. Secret One:
Get free, accurate information on applying for a student visa. Visit the US Embassy website. There is no charge for using these resources. Why pay to get the same information from other sources? Secret Two:
Be thoroughly prepared. Make sure you bring:
? Y I-20 form (or IAP-66 form); ?Your diploma(s);
?Your standardized test score reports (TOEFL, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, etc.);
?All letters and e-mails from the school, especially those that discuss scholarships, assistantships, fellowships and other forms of financial aid;
?Evidence of funding for your studies (bank documents, etc.); ?Your business cards (if you have a job);
?Any other documents that you think might be important. Secret Three:
Answer those questions that are asked. Don‘t give the visa officer a prepared speech! Here‘s an example of what to avoid.
Visa officer：Hi, how are you today?
Applicant：I‘m going to study chemical engineering at X University. Visa officer：X University? I've been to the campus many times.
Applicant：I will surely return to China and find a good job with a major multinational company. Visa officer：So tell me, what color is the sky?
Applicant：I was given a teaching assistantship because the school believes my test scores and credentials are
excellent．
These people are not communicating, and the applicant is not advancing his cause! Secret Four：
Tell the truth. If the visa officer thinks you‘re lying, you won‘t get a visa. Secret Five：
Come back to China. We mean that in two ways：
1. Come back to see your family and maintain your ties to China．Keep up your friendships and professional contacts here．Students returning on vacation don‘t even need to come in for an interview；they can simply use the drop-box service offered at many CITIC Bank locations.
2. Come back to China after you graduate. Use those advanced skills and theories that you learn in the US to
make China a better place．
Task 4
【答案】 A.
1) You are not well suited for it. / You do not have the necessary qualities or abilities for it. 2) You cannot go back to the previous situation. /You cannot change your mind. 3) You can‘t change halfway the subjects you choose to study. B. 1) b) 2) a) 3) c) 4) a) 5) a) 6) b) C.References:
In the text, John criticizes the British university system for being too specialized in their curriculum, and argues that the American system is a better one. But Peter, the US student, doesn‘t agree. In the debate, encourage students to refer to the points made by Peter or john in the conversation. They may also use their own experience at a Chinese university to support their viewpoints.
John‘s arguments for a broader course of study:
—Students who follow a broader course will have a better understanding of the world in general, and they
will be more flexible in their jobs, so that if things go wrong they will be able to change jobs more easily. —Things are changing so rapidly that we have to change with them. Too much emphasis on specialization
makes it difficult for us to renew or update our knowledge.
—The majority of British students never use 90 percent of what they have studied at university, because what
they learned is too academic and difficult.
Peter‘s arguments against John:
—There are too many subjects today. You won‘t be competent in anything if you don‘t focus. Life is short. You
can‘t do everything.
—People usually know what they want to do in high school.
—There are not many alternatives if students want to learn enough to be competent in their subject. —American students with a first degree don‘t have the depth of knowledge they should have. —Specialization is particularly important in sciences.
—People need to acquire a lot of pure knowledge, particularly in technical and scientific areas. The importance of pure knowledge should not be underestimated. 【原文】
John: I disagree, Peter. I don‘t think it really matters what your educational background is. Anyone who is bright
enough is going to do well whatever their education. Peter: But John, …
John: In fact, I think some people carry on with their education when they would do a lot better to get out and start
building their own careers by learning things in real life.
Peter: Yes, but the whole point is, life is getting so much more complicated these days that unless you carry on
with your studies you just can't cope.
John: For certain things, and certain people, okay. But to my mind, the big problem in education is that you
specialize too quickly. I mean, in England, you start specializing from the third year in secondary school, when you're about 14. And it gets steadily narrower until you do your A-levels in only two or three subjects. You either do languages, or natural sciences, or social sciences.
Peter: But surely these days you have to, John—you can't possibly study everything, because there's just too much. John: Yes, but how many kids at the age of 16 really know what they want to do? How many of them are
convinced that the three subjects they've chosen, or have been recommended, are the ones that will let them follow the careers they eventually decide on?
Peter: Oh, I think most young people who stay on at school have a fair idea of what they want to do.
John: I'm not so sure, Peter. And after all, that's not the end of it. When they get to university in England, the
subjects they study are so narrow that they are only good for one thing; so they are stuck with it.
Peter: But I don't really see that there is any alternative if people are going to learn enough to be competent in their
subject. They've got to specialize early, and I suppose those that realize they've made a mistake can always swap to something else.
John: Ah, but that's just it. You can't. Suppose you study languages at university and then decide that you are not
cut out for it and would like to be a doctor. You've burnt your bridges. You can't just change horses in midstream; you've got to go right back to the beginning and you lose years. I think the American system is much better.
Peter: In what way?
John: Well, for your first degree you've got to study a fairly wide range of subjects, and you can choose them
yourself, within certain limits.
Peter: Fine, but doesn't that mean that American students with a first degree don't have the depth of knowledge
they should have? John: Should have for what?
Peter: Well, they often aren't accepted for postgraduate work in England with just a first degree.
John: Maybe not, but I don't really think that's important. They come out with a pretty good general knowledge in
a wide area. After all, when you think about a lot of the stuff English students have to study, what good is it to them afterwards? I'm sure the majority of British students never use 90 percent of what they studied at university.
Peter: That may be true of some arts subjects, but what about the sciences?
John: Even there, a lot of what they do at university is so academic and abstruse that they will never be able to put
it to any practical use. I'm sure they would benefit far more from on-the-job experience. And if they've had a broader course of study they've got two advantages. Peter: How do you mean?
John: First of all, they will have a better understanding of the world in general, so they will be more flexible in
their jobs, and then if things do go wrong they will be able to switch jobs more easily.
Peter: That all sounds very simple, but I think you're still underestimating the amount of pure learning that you
need these days, particularly in technical and scientific areas. I mean even at school these days, children have to learn far more things than we did when we were at school.
John: All the more reason why we should not try to concentrate on such a few things at such an early age. Things
are changing so rapidly these days that we have to change with them. When we were younger, there was a pretty good chance that we would be able to carry on in the profession we'd chosen until we retired. But these days, people have got to be prepared to change their jobs and learn new skills as technology moves ahead. Take just the area of the office, for example. How many offices...
Task 5
【答案】
domestic, diversity, flexibility, more than 3,600, campuses, enrolled students, industries, about 3 million, Harvard, Stanford, community colleges, state universities, faculties, ethnic minorities, subjects and course options, student, consumer, flexibility, specialize, a higher education, postsecondary, a new career, retired people 【原文】
That a record 453,787 foreign students from 180 countries attended colleges and universities in the US in the past academic year is perhaps the most vivid indication that there are important advantages in American higher education.
No other country receives even half as many foreign students, yet international students represent only 3% of the total enrollment at US colleges and universities. In all, some fifteen million students attend America's institutions of higher education.
These statistics illustrate four major features of the American higher education system which make it attractive to both domestic and foreign students: size, diversity, flexibility and accessibility.
Today there are more than 3,600 institutions of higher education in the United States. Some of the large state university systems, such as those in New York, California and Texas, comprise dozens of campuses and hundreds of thousands of enrolled students. Indeed, higher education has become one of the biggest \employing some three million people.
The range and diversity of institutions and programs of study in the US are even more impressive. The system encompasses both prestigious private universities such as Harvard and Stanford, which are among the best in the world, and local publicly-funded community colleges; both huge state university campuses enrolling 40,000-50,000 students and tiny private institutes with fewer than 100 students.
American higher education is diverse in other ways, too. Not only do most colleges and universities enroll foreign students, but foreign faculty and visiting scholars play an important role on many campuses, particularly the large universities. In most comprehensive institutions, there are as many female students as male, and the numbers of students and faculty from ethnic minorities, particularly Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have been steadily increasing. As a result, the campus communities of many American universities reflect in microcosm the diversity of larger society.
Higher education in the US is also unique in offering an enormous variety of subjects and course options, ranging from Aerospace Engineering to Women's Studies and from Art to Zoology. Because it is dependent on tuition for funding, higher education in the US is student-centered and consumer-oriented; institutions teach what students want to know and what society as a whole thinks is useful. For example, the large public universities of New York, Ohio State University, and the University of Texas at Austin offer hundreds of different degree programs and have academic catalogs listing thousands of courses.
The variety of programs and courses contributes to the flexibility of the American system. Undergraduates usually begin their program taking \—in order that they might become more \—and only later select their major in many cases, not until their second year.
Because they do not specialize from the very beginning, undergraduate students have more options than their