Each year about a quarter of a million Americans study abroad.For many of them, a summer or a semester in a foreign country now involves more than just sitting in classrooms and hanging out with other American students.Instead, they are encouraged and sometimes required to be involved in the local communities they are studying in.
“It's absolutely important that they know something about how people in other parts of the world live and think, and how they behave,” says William Finlay, head of the sociology department at the University of Georgia.In 2008, he co-founded a study abroad program with South Africa's Stellenbosch University.It combines traditional academic in-class learning with community involvement.
“We've been working with a non-government organization in the township.Our students typically either work with little children in day care centers or work in the library and teach very basic computer skills to young children,” says Finlay.
The three-week program proved to be an unforgettable experience for Hillary Kinsey.She says, “It was interesting to learn the history of the area and then talk to these people and see what the social dynamics were, and how certain groups felt about other groups.”
When Hillary Kinsey returned home from South Africa, she and other students in the program established a non-profit group.Kinsey says the group wants to contribute to advancing education and development in South Africa.“One of the purposes of the group is that we hope to raise money and awareness about the situation where those people live and help to promote any sort of educational development that we can, ” Kinsey added.
While many study abroad programs focus on helping Americans to learn foreign languages, others take a more intensive approach.“In all of our locations, we place students with local roommates,” says Mark Lenhart, director of CEF Academic Programs, which sends more than a thousand students to China, Korea and other countries each year.
He says American students benefit from such one-on-one interactions, in spite of the challenges they face.Lenhart says, “They have to adjust to the local life.This will enable students to become more employable when they graduate.”
(1)
What is the main idea of this passage?
[ ]
A.
How non-profit groups work in South Africa.
B.
How to take part in study abroad programs.
C.
Americans studying abroad pay more attention to working with local children.
D.
Americans combine community involvement with study while studying abroad.
(2)
The purposes of Hillary Kinsey's non-profit group include all of the following EXCEPT ________.
[ ]
A.
learning more about South Africa
B.
raising money for local people
C.
helping to develop education in South Africa
D.
raising people's awareness of the local situation
(3)
Which of the following CANNOT be used to describe Hillary Kinsey's feelings about studying abroad?
[ ]
A.
Interested.
B.
Surprised.
C.
Impressed.
D.
Unforgettable.
(4)
The advantages of studying abroad mentioned in this passage include ________.
①making more friends
②being qualified for more jobs
③learning a foreign language
④having the ability to adjust to a new environment
A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at fine wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months.
The system, called Driver Alert, aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20%-40% that are caused by tiredness.Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30% of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue.
Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband.The device, worn by drivers or pilots, gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey.After each sound the driver must respond by.squeezing the steering wheel(方向盘).A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound, and the driver’s response.
Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time.Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy.
In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds, showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest.If the driver’s response continues to slow down, the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warns that the driver must stop as soon as possible.
The device has been delivered to the department’s 1aboatories for testing.If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time, are successful, the makers will bring the product to market within about a year.
(1)
According to the text, Driver Alert ________.
[ ]
A.
aims to reduce tiredness-related accidents
B.
has gone through testing at laboratories
C.
aims to prevent drivers from sleeping
D.
has been on sale for 12 months
(2)
How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?
[ ]
A.
By sounding a warning.
B.
By touching the wristband.
C.
By checking the driving time.
D.
By pressing the steering wheel.
(3)
We can learn from the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is ________
[ ]
A.
about 400 milliseconds
B.
below 500 milliseconds
C.
over 500 milliseconds
D.
about 4 minutes
(4)
When the driver gets sleepy while driving, Driver Alert ________.
[ ]
A.
moves more regularly
B.
stops working properly
C.
opens the window for the driver
D.
sounds more frequently and loudly
阅读理解:
Most animals have little connection with animals of a different kind, unless they hunt them for food.Sometimes, however, two kinds of animals come together in a partnership which does good to both of them.You may have noticed some birds sitting on the backs of sheep.This is not because they want a ride, but because they find easy food in the parasites(寄生虫)on sheep.The sheep allow the birds to do so because they remove the cause of discomfort.So although they can manage without each other, they do better together.
Sometimes an animal has a plant partner.This relationship develops until the two partners cannot manage without each other.This is so in the coral(珊瑚)of the sea.In their skins they have tiny plants which act as " dustmen", taking some of the waste products from the coral and giving in return oxygen which the animal needs to breathe.If the plants are killed, or are even prevented from light so that they cannot live normally, the corals will die.
(1)
Some birds like to sit on a sheep because ________.
[ ]
A.
they can eat its parasites
B.
they depend on the sheep for existence
C.
they enjoy travelling with the sheep
D.
they find the position most comfortable.
(2)
The underlined word "they" in the last sentence of the first paragraph refers
to ________.
[ ]
A.
birds and parasites
B.
birds and sheep
C.
parasites and sheep
D.
sheep birds and parasites
(3)
It can be learnt from the text that the coral depends on the plant for ________.