Anyone who cares about what schools and colleges teach and how their students learn will be interested in the memoir(回忆录)of Ralph W. Tyler who is one of the most famous men in American education.

Born in Chicago in 1902, brought up and schooled in Nebraska, the 19-year-old college graduate Ralph Tyler became hooked on teaching while teaching as a science teacher in South Dakota and changed his major from medicine to education.

Graduate work at the University of Chicago found him connected with honorable educators Charles Judd and W. W. Charters, whose ideas of teaching and testing had an effect on his later work. In 1927, he became a teacher of Ohio State University where he further developed a new method of testing.

Tyler became well-known nationality in 1938, when he carried his work with the Eight-Year Study from Ohio State University to the University of Chicago at the invitation of Robert Hutchins.

Tyler was the first director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a position he held for fourteen years. There, he firmly believed that researchers should be free to seek an independent spirit in their work.

Although Tyler officially retired in 1967, he never actually retired. He served on a long list of educational organizations in the United States and abroad. Even in his 80s he traveled across the country to advise teachers and management people on how to set objectives(目标) that develop the best teaching and learning within their schools.

6. Who are most probably interested in Ralph W. Tyler’s memoir?

  A. Top managers.   B. Language learners.

  C. Serious educators.   D. Science organizations.

7. The words “hooked oh teaching” underlined in Paragraph 2 probably mean ________.

  A. attracted to teaching                             B. tired of teaching

  C. satisfied with teaching                     D. unhappy about teaching

8. Where did Tyler work as the leader of a research center for over 10 years?

  A. The University of Chicago.                 B. Stanford University.

  C. Ohio State University.                     D. Nebraska University.

9. Tyler is said to have never actually retired because ________.

  A. he developed a new method of testing     

B. he called for free spirit in research

  C. he was still active in giving advice      

D. he still led the Eight-Year Study

10. What cannot we learn about Ralph W. Tyler in this article?

A. When and where he was born.

B. Where he studied and worked.

C. His devotion to American education.

D. His life with his family.


For the most part, schools are designed to produce people who fit into society, not people who set out to change it. However, schools, particularly universities, may not only spread culture; they may add to the cultural heritage(遗产). Today American society places a good deal of emphasis on the development of new knowledge, especially in the physical and biological sciences , medicine, and engineering. In the recent years, the nation’s leading universities have increasingly become research centers.
An emphasis(强调)on research has led universities to judge professors not by abilities as teachers, but as researcher. promotions(提升), salary increases , and other benefits have long been dependent on research and publication. However, the most important is no longer publishing. To be successful these days, professors have to bring in money provided by government and private industry. Critics claim that academic(学术) success is most likely to come to those who have learned to“ignore”their teaching duties to pursue research activities. Defenders say that even when students themselves are not involved in research projects they benefit from such an emphasis on research.
Major research universities like the Massachustts Institute of Technology have also cooperated with industrial companies to develop technology and products with commercial potential(潜能).With university-industry ties continuing to grow, debate(辩论)has increased about the consequences for basic science, academic openness, the control of information, the direction of research, and the influence on students.
1. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT emphasized by today’s American society?
A. Physical science.          B. Biological science.
C. Engineering.            D. Computer science.
2. In the present standard, a successful professor is one who can____.
A. teach well             
B. get financial support for research
C. get the highest salary    
D. have many publications
3. Supporters of the present emphasis on research argue that_____.
A. it involves more students in it.
B. it does good to students anyway.
C. it has a direct good effect on teaching
D. it earns a lot of money for a university
4. The author seems to be_____ the move of emphasis to research.
A. totally against   B. sorry to see      C. in favor of    D. neutral (中立) about

Although Thomas Edison created the technologies behind three major 21st century industries  electrical power,recorded music and movies—his greatest invention may have been the modern method of inventing.He basically came up with the modern system of research and development.Edison was not the only scientist doing research in his garage but someone who gathered around him a team of creative scientific minds.Edison’s 1aboratories were the forerunners(先驱)of Apple,Google and Microsoft.
Yet for a11 his scientific gifts,he was no Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.He once said,“Anything that won’ t sell,I don’ t want to invent.” But Edison,unlike Jobs or Gates,had no real sense of what the public wanted or how to change his discoveries into products that might sell.It took him years to understand that the phonograph(留声机)was not a business tool but an entertainment invention.He helped create movies but resisted the idea that people might want to go into a theater to watch one.
We chose Edison this year because we need his example now more than ever.Though we live in a time of great reformation,the U.S.is in danger of losing its advantage in science and technology.American investment(投资)in research and development has not increased as a percentage of GDP since the mid一1980s,while the government’ s share has been dropping.And this is at a time when China is rapidly increasing its money on research and development.The U.S.was once among the 1eading nations.Now it ranks near the bottom of the 23 nations that collect such data.We hope that Edison’ s story might not only encourage reformation but also inspire more
young Americans to study science and engineering.
【小题1】The first paragraph is mainly about        .

A.the number of Edison’ s great inventions
B.Edison’ s special personal characters
C.Edi son’ s modern system of research
D.Apple.Google and Microsoft and their forerunners
【小题2】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.A11 the things Edison invented sold well.
B.Edison wanted to invent things that sold well.
C.Edison’ s inventions were not valuable for being unpopular.
D.Edison had a gift for changing his discoveries into best sellers.
【小题3】The author’ s main purpose is to   
A.inform US of the danger the USA is in
B.get young Americans to study science
C.be in honor of Edison for his contributions
D.tell US how important Edison’ s inventions are
【小题4】We can infer from the text that   
A.the USA is no 10nger advanced in science and technology
B.the USA falls behind China in research and inventions
C.more and more young Americans will be interested in science
D.China is spending more and more money on research and development

It is pretty much a one-way street. While it may be common for university researchers to try their luck in the commercial world, there is very little traffic in the opposite direction. Pay has always been the biggest deterrent, as people with families often feel they cannot afford the drop in salary when moving to a university job. For some industrial scientists, however, the attractions of academia (学术界) outweigh any financial considerations.
Helen Lee took a 70% cut in salary when she moved from a senior post in Abbott Laboratories to a medical department at the University of Cambridge. Her main reason for returning to academia mid-career was to take advantage of the greater freedom to choose research questions. Some areas of inquiry have few prospects of a commercial return, and Lee’s is one of them.
The impact of a salary cut is probably less severe for a scientist in the early stages of a career. Guy Grant, now a research associate at the Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics at the University of Cambridge, spent two years working for a pharmaceutical (制药的) company before returning to university as a post-doctoral researcher. He took a 30% salary cut but felt it worthwhile for the greater intellectual opportunities.
Higher up the ladder, where a pay cut is usually more significant, the demand for scientists with a wealth of experience in industry is forcing universities to make the transition (转换) to academia more attractive, according to Lee. Industrial scientists tend to receive training that academics do not, such as how to build a multidisciplinary team, manage budgets and negotiate contracts. They are also well placed to bring something extra to the teaching side of an academic role that will help students get a job when they graduate, says Lee, perhaps experience in manufacturing practice or product development. “Only a small number of undergraduates will continue in an academic career. So someone leaving university who already has the skills needed to work in an industrial lab has far more potential in the job market than someone who has spent all their time on a narrow research project.”
【小题1】By “a one-way street” (Line 1, Para. 1), the author means ________.

A.university researchers know little about the commercial world
B.there is little exchange between industry and academia
C.few industrial scientists would quit to work in a university
D.few university professors are willing to do industrial research
【小题2】What was Helen Lee’s major consideration when she changed her job in the middle of her career?
A.Flexible work hours. B.Her research interests.
C.Her preference for the lifestyle on campus.D.Prospects of academic accomplishments.
【小题3】Guy Grant chose to work as a researcher at Cambridge in order to ________.
A.do financially more rewarding workB.raise his status in the academic world
C.enrich his experience in medical researchD.exploit better intellectual opportunities
【小题4】What contribution can industrial scientists make when they come to teach in a university?
A.Increase its graduates’ competitiveness in the job market.
B.Develop its students’ potential in research.
C.Help it to obtain financial support from industry.
D.Gear its research towards practical applications.

Sheep Smarter than Thought

London—Sheep, like turkeys and ostriches, are not considered the most clever animals. British scientists said last Wednesday humans may have underestimated the woolly creature. They could be much smarter than we think.

Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, southern England, have shown that the animals have a good memory system and are extremely good at recognizing faces—which they think is a sure sign of intelligence.

Behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick and his friends trained 20 sheep to recognize and distinguish 25 pairs of sheep faces and used electrodes (电极) to measure their brain activity , which showed they could remember 50 faces for up to two years .

“If they can do that with faces, they have to have reasonable intelligence; otherwise, what is the point of having a system for remembering faces and not remembering anything else?” Kendrick said in an interview.

So hours of seemingly mindless eating grass may not be so mindless after all.

Kendrick believes sheep got their reputation as dumb (unable to speak, unintelligent) animals because they live in large groups and do not appear to have much individuality and are frightened of just about everything.

“All animals, including humans, once they are frightened, don’t tend to show signs of intelligent action,” he explained.

In research reported in the science journal Nature, Kendrick and his team showed that sheep, like humans, have a specialized system in the brain which allows them to distinguish between many different faces which look extremely similar.

“The most important finding (of the study) is that they are able , both from a behavioral point of view and from looking at the way the brain is organized , to remember a large number of individuals for a very long time,” said Kendrick. “It is a very strange system. They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans.”

1.From the first paragraph we can find that______.         .

    A.people used to think sheep are smarter than the other animals

    B.people used to raise sheep in a wrong  way

    C.people don’t consider sheep as clever animals

    D.people have done a lot of research on sheep

2.From what Kendrick said in the interview we learn that_____.         .

    A.scientists have learned everything about sheep’s intelligence

    B.scientists have learned a little about sheep’s intelligence

    C.scientists can’t do anything more about sheep’s memory

    D.scientists do not have to research animals’ memory

3.As is known in the passage,__________.

    A.sheep are among the week animals

    B.it is not right for people to raise sheep in groups

    C.when sheep eat grass in the field their minds may be active

    D.if people feel frightened, they may become braver

 

 

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