Question

【题目】Why Don’t Students Like School?

Most of the teachers I know entered the job because they loved school as children. 【1】 However, they are understandably discouraged when they find that some of their students don’t like school much, and that they, the teachers, have great difficulty inspiring them. Why is it difficult to make school enjoyable for students?

As a matter of fact , the brain is not designed for thinking. It’s designed to ask you not to have to think, because the brain is actually not very good at thinking. Thinking is slow and unreliable. 【2】People like to solve problems, but they do not like to work on problems that cannot be solved. If schoolwork is always just a bit too difficult for a student, it should be no surprise that he doesn’t like school much.【3】

What is the nature of being human? 【4】 Many people would answer that it is our ability to reason that makes us different—birds can fly, fish can swim, and humans can think . (By thinking I mean solving problems, reasoning, reading something complex, or doing any mental work that requires some effort.) Shakespeare thought highly of our cognitive(认知) ability in Hamlet: “What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason!” Some three hundred years later, however, Henry Ford came up with a quite different opinion, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people are interested in it.” They both had a point of view. Humans are good at certain types of reasoning, especially compared to other animals, but we hardly often exercise those abilities. 【5】Thinking is not only painful, as Ford noted, it’s also slow and unreliable.

A. A cognitive scientist would add another point of view, “Humans don’t think very often because our brains are designed not for thought but for escaping from thought.”

B. What sets us apart from other species?

C. Of course you could make each decision with care and thought.

D. However, people enjoy thinking if it is successful.

E. Therefore, teachers should reconsider how they encourage their students to think, in order to make thinking enjoyable enough for students to go after.

F. If we are all so bad at thinking, how does anyone get through the day?

G. They want to help their students feel the same excitement and passion for learning that they felt.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】G

【2】D

【3】E

【4】B

【5】A

【解析】本文主要分析了学生为什么不喜欢学校，从而让教师找到处理这种情况的办法。

【1】G

考查上文和句意理解。根据上文：我认识的大多数教师进入了教师这一行业是因为他们在是孩子的时候就热爱学校。可知下文：他们想帮助学生感受到同样的兴奋和对学习的热情。此处的同样的兴奋和对学习的热情就是和他们在是孩子时对学校的热爱一样的兴奋与热情。故选G.

【2】D

考查上文和句意理解。根据下文：人们喜欢解决问题，但是人们不喜欢去在不能解决的问题上浪费时间。可知上文：然而，如果它是成功的，即，问题能解决，人们就喜欢思考。故选D.

【3】E

考查上文和句意理解。根据上文：然而，如果它是成功的，即，问题能解决，人们就喜欢思考。可知下文：因此，教师应该重新考虑如何鼓励学生思考，以便使学生的思考变得愉快。也就是让学生喜欢上思考。故选E.

【4】B

考查上文和句意理解。根据下文：许多人会回答说，这是我们的推理能力，使我们与动物有所不同，鸟可以飞，鱼可以游泳，人类可以思考。可知上文：是什么使我们与其他物种不同？下文是对上文的回答。故选B.

【5】A

考查上文和句意理解。根据下文：正如福特指出的那样，思考不仅是痛苦的，而且也是缓慢而不可靠的。可知上文：一位认知科学家会补充另一种观点：“人类不经常思考，因为我们的大脑不是为思考而设计的，而是为了逃避思考而设计的。”在此处两位科学家都在强调我们的大脑不是为思考而设计的。故选A.