These days we are all conditioned to accept newness, whatever it costs. Very soon, there is no doubt that Apple's tablet (平板电脑) will seem as a vital tool of modern living to us as sewing machine did to our grandparents. At least, it will until someone produces an even smarter, thinner and more essential tablet, which, if recent history is any guide, will be in approximately six months' time. Turn your back for a moment and you find that every electronic item in your possession is as old as a tombstone. Why should you care if people laugh just because you use an old mobile phone? But try getting the thing repaired when it goes wrong. It's like walking into a pub and asking for an orange juice. You will be made to feel like some sort of time-traveler from the 1970s. "Why not buy a new one?" you will get asked.

And so the mountain of electrical rubbish grows. An average British person was believed to get rid of quite a number of electronic goods in a lifetime. They weighed three tons, stood 7 feet high, and included five fridges, six microwaves, seven PCs, six TVs, 12 kettles, 35 mobile phones and so on. Even then, the calculation seemed to be conservative. Only 35 mobiles in a lifetime? The huge number of electronic items now regularly thrown away by British families is clearly one big problem. But this has other consequences. It contributes greatly to the uneasy feeling that modem technology is going by faster than we can keep up. By the time I've learnt how to use a tool it's already broken or lost. I've lost count of the number of TV remote-controls that I've bought, mislaid and replaced without working out what most of the buttons did.

And the technology changes so unbelievably fast. It was less than years ago that I spotted an energetic businessman friend pulling what seemed to be either a large container or a small nuclear bomb on wheels through a railway station. I asked. "What have you got in there? Your money or your wife?" "Neither," he replied, with the satisfied look of a man who knew he was keeping pace with the latest technology, no matter how ridiculous he looked. "This is what everyone will have soon—even you. It's called a mobile telephone."

I don't feel sorry for the pace of change. On the contrary, I'm amazed by those high-tech designers who can somehow fit a camera, music-player, computer and phone into a plastic box no bigger than a packet of cigarette. If those geniuses could also find a way to keep the underground trains running on the first snowy day of winter, they would be making real progress for human beings. What I do regret, however, is that so many household items fall behind so soon. My parents bought a wooden wireless radio in 1947, the year they were married. In 1973, the year I went to university, it was still working. It sat in the kitchen like an old friend—which, in a way, it was. It certainly spoke to us more than we spoke to each other on some mornings. When my mum replaced it with a new-style radio that could also play cassette-tapes, I felt a real sense of loss.

Such is the over-excited change of 21st-century technology that there's no time to satisfy our emotional needs. Even if Apple's new products turn out to be the most significant tablets I very much doubt if they will resist this trend.

1.When you try getting an old mobile phone repaired, ____.

A. you are travelling through time            B. you are thought to be out of date

C. you will find everything wrong            D. you have got to buy a new one

2.Throwing away so much electronic rubbish makes the writer feel quite _____.

A. lost and upset    B. unbelievably fast

C. broken or lost     D. regularly wasteful

3.The example of the businessman implies that____.

A. the businessman mastered the latest technology   

B. mobile phones used to be quite big just years ago

C. the businessman was a very ridiculous person     

D. the writer failed to follow modern technology

4.The passage is organized in the pattern of ____.

A. time and events    B. comparison and contrast   

C. cause and effect      D. examples and analysis

5.Which of the following is conveyed in the passage?

A. The fast pace of change brings us no good.     

B. We have to keep up with new technology.

C. Household items should be upgraded quickly.   

D. We should hold on for new technology to last.

 

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 the 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.
【小题1】Some of the students in the history class were unhappy with _______.

A．the course material

B．others’ misuse of technology

C．discussion topics

D．the author’s class regulations

【小题2】The underlined word “engage ”in paragraph 4 probably means _______.

A．explore

B．accept

C．change

D．reject

【小题3】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

【小题4】It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author _______.

A．is quite stubborn

B．will give up teaching history

C．will change his teaching plan soon

D．values technology-free dialogues in his class

 

One year ago, when Fiona turned four, Sam and I decided to home-school her instead of sending her to pre-school．I have always felt that the 0-5 years are an irreplaceable dreamtime．As Fiona is an inventive, observant child, sensitive and funny and great company, it would be a tragedy to find school rubbing away her uniqueness and restricting the building of her personality．

I tried not to reproduce school at home．I never had the urge to get a chalk, or a blackboard．I didn’t go and search out a curriculum(课程表)．I felt that my children would learn best if I stayed accessible (易接近的)and stayed out of their way．

Every day we worked some, relaxed some, read some and played some, but Fiona did not seem particularly happy here．She lost her temper once in a while．

How strange it was that my child who was free from school didn’t want to be free at all．Her friends all went to pre-school．She felt left out of a major part of her friends’ shared lives and experiences．I thought she was not in school for very strong, clear reasons, one of which was that the quality of learning my child did at home would be good, even better than expected．

Well, here was a situation I hadn’t expected．When we first decided to do this, Sam and I agreed that we would reassess(再评价)the situation for each child as she turned seven．Meanwhile we would offer her non-school-based opportunities to give her plenty of time with other kids-ballet lessons and swimming classes．She seemed to be enjoying all．But at times she kept asking when she was going to school．Whenever she asked this question, we told her that there would be a family meeting about it when she turned seven．She nearly always responded, “That’s when I’m going to go, then．” A fair amount of her curiosity was about school and I was afraid she was dreaming of going to school before she turned seven．

Although the advantages of home-schooling, I think, far outweigh its disadvantages, it is important for me to respect my daughter’s feelings and allow her to direct her own education．If her curiosity leads her to school, isn’t that where she should go?

Next week I’ll drive Fiona to her school．I hope that Fiona will learn to read and discover something wonderful to pursue in the world that opens up for her．I hope she will find the school activities provide her with satisfactory kid-time．

1．The writer decided to home-school her daughter, Fiona, because she thought________．

A．children aged 0-5 were too young to go to pre-school

B．Fiona may not be accepted by schools for her bad temper

C．home-schooling was much better than school education

D．children at Fiona’s age were too young to have their characters formed by school

2．In home schooling her daughter the writer tried to_______．

A．make her home just like a school

B．teach with a pointer, a piece of chalk, and a blackboard

C．be there when her child wanted her but tried not to stand in her way

D．teach according to a curriculum, which was suitable for Fiona

3．What was the writer’s biggest problem in home schooling her daughter?

A．She couldn’t decide what to teach and how to teach her daughter

B．She was not sure whether her teaching was suitable for Fiona．

C．She could not make Fiona give up the thought of going to school．

D．She didn’t know how to control Fiona’s temper

4．We can learn from the text that_______．

A．Fiona always acted against her mother’s instructions

B．it was against Fiona’s wish that she was educated at home

C．home-schooling was popular some years ago

D．Fiona’s parents would ask her opinions about school education

 

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 thought .Despite this love of technology ,I know that there are times when I need to move away from these device and truly communication 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 year 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 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 think differently and make connections between the course the material and the class discussion .
I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the educations 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 give up.
【小题1】
some of the students in the history class were unhappy with____

A．the course material	B．others’ misuse of technology
C．discussion topics	D．the author’s class regulator

【小题2】
the underlined word “engage ”in para.4 probably means ____

A．explore

B．accept

C．change

D．reject

【小题3】
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

【小题4】
it can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author ____

A．is quite stubborn

B．will give up teaching history

C．will change his teaching plan soon

D．values technology-free dialogues in his class