Universities in America

Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of all the many colleges and universities in the United States. Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were opened soon after Harvard.

In the early years, these schools were much similar. Only young men went to colleges. All the students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Little was known about science then, and one kind of school could teach everything that was known about the world. when the students left school, most of them became ministers or teachers.

In 1782, Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors, Later, lawyers could receive their training in Harvard’s law school. In 1825. besides Latin and Greek, Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German. Soon it began teaching American history.

As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects. Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interested them.

Today, there are many different kinds of colleges and universities. Most of them are made up of smaller schools that deal with (涉及) special fields of learning. There’s so much to learn that one kind of school can’t offer it all.

1.The oldest university in the US is ________.

A. Yale B. Harvard C. Princeton D. Columbia

2.Modern languages the Harvard taught in 1825 were ________.

A. Latin and Greek B. Latin, Greek, French and German

C. American history and German D. French and German

3.As knowledge increased, colleges began to teach ________.

A. everything that was known B. law and something about medicine

C. the subjects that interested students D. many new subjects

J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (《哈利·波特与密室》) was published in July 1998.

American and British people both speak English. But there are a lot of differences in the ways they speak. J. K. Rowling made some changes for American kids in the Harry Potter books. For example, she used parking lot (停车场) instead of car park.

In October 1998, J. K. Rowling travelled to the United States for the first time to sell her books. At first, J. K. Rowling was worried that American children wouldn’t like her book as much as children in the United Kingdom did. But she was wrong. “When I did public readings,” she said, “they even all laughed in the same places as British children.”

J K. Rowling was surprised that many of the children had already read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The book wasn’t even published in the United States yet. They had ordered the book from England on the Internet because they couldn’t wait.

J. K. Rowling was more successful than she had ever dreamed. In the publishing world, no children’s books had ever been as popular as the Harry Potter books. Even popular children’s book writer Dr Seuss did not sell so many books.

When she returned to America, J. K. Rowling was met by, not just children, but crowds of adults. Why were so many adults reading a book written for children? It is because a really good story attracts people of all ages.

1.What language do American and British people both speak according to Paragraph 2?

A. Chinese. B. English. C. Russian. D. Japanese.

2.In 1998, J. K. Rowling went to the United States ________.

A. for holiday B. for a visit C. to sell her books D. to visit some friends

3.What made J. K. Rowling surprised according to Paragraph 4?

A. American children liked her books

B. American children didn’t like her books

C. British children liked her books.

D. British children didn’t like her books

4.What does Dr Seuss do?

A. A worker. B. An engineer. C. A writer. D. A doctor.

5.What can we know from the passage?

A. Only children liked J. K. Rowling’s books.

B. Only adults liked J. K Rowling’s books.

C. Older people aren’t attracted by J. K Rowling’s books.

D. People of different ages are attracted by J. K. Rowling’s books.

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网