We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.

We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.

Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor(谣言).

Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.

That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

48. According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.

   A. doing a medical experiment

   B. solving a math problem

   C. visiting an exhibition

   D. doing scientific reasoning

49. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

   A. active learning

   B. knowledge

   C. communication

   D. passive learning

50. The author mentions the game Rumor to show that _____.

   A. a message may be changed when being passed on

   B. a message should be delivered in different ways

   C. people may have problems with their sense of hearing

   D. people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor

51. What can we infer from the passage?

   A. Active learning is less important.

   B. Passive learning may not be reliable.

   C. Active learning occurs more frequently.

   D. Passive learning is not found among scholars.

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers·
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor（谣言）.
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.   
This process is also found among scholars and authors：A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted（引用）by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.
【小题1】According to the passage, passive learning may occur in______________.

 With only a click of the mouse, rumours（谣言）can be forwarded between microblogs（微博）very quickly. As an example, recently, sensitive netizens discovered that some photos displayed on microblogs describing Beijing’s June rainstorm had actually been fabricated.

Sina.com is one of the major Internet portals in China with hundreds and thousands of users, and a majority of celebrities and famous citizens have their microblog accounts on this portal. As recently as six months ago, the website decided to establish a specialized team to prove rumours and provide accurate information for its users. Tan Chao is in charge of the team.

“ Before I took the job, I usually couldn’t identify what information was real and what was fake. But during the process of identification, we discovered that a lot of information was false, including fake photos, fake news stories and rumours that had been spread through microblogs.”

It’s not just website portals which are taking on fact-checking responsibilities, but also a number of civic-minded netizens, who recently set up a Rumour Identification Federation on Sina.com’s microblog system to help netizens identify fake information online.

Dian Zizheng is the team leader of the federation. He says they’ve publicized more than 150 pieces which contradict rumours, which attracted more than 10 thousand visitors within two months.

“We live in an age of new media, so we can’t use the old methods to prove rumours. We can’t wait for the media to prove the facts with related administrative（行政） departments and then release a formal announcement. We can’t allow rumours to run wild and then deal with it, we need to fight rumours while they’re spreading. I think that this is the best way to deal with rumours nowadays.”

Some experts say this displays the advantages of the internet compared to other traditional media. The open platform allows information to be examined and clarified by netizens. But experts like Ding Wengguo,President of the Journalism and Communication College at the China University of Political Science and Law says this self-correction function of the Internet is still quite limited.

“It’s still quite different to tell which information is true in such an open environment by just reading a number of different opinions on the same issue. This is something which we need to pay attention to. If society is flooded with too much false information, and it’s allowed to spread in such a fast manner, then people will be suspicious（怀疑的） of all kinds of information including important information from authorities. It also worsens problems relating to social communications and mutual-understanding, which in turn harms society as a whole.”

Experts suggest that the government should react more quickly in the Internet age. Once a rumour begins to spread, administrative departments should make announcements as early as possible to drive away rumours before they lead to bad outcomes.

1.Sina.com decided to found a specialized team to __________.

2.Which of the following is true according to the text?

3.The underlined word “fabricated” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _________.

4. What is the best way to prove rumors on microblogs?

5.The writer cited Ding Wenguo’s words in Paragraph 8 to________.

6.What’s the writer’s attitude towards the rumours from microblogs according to the passage?

One day, a train was approaching the small town of Cheekyville. On the train was a   1  man with a big suitcase. He was called William Warbler and he looked very   2  indeed. But what made him most unusual was the fact that whenever he needed to   3  , he did so by singing opera. Even if someone said “good day” to him, he would clear his throat and   4  : “Goood dayyy to youuuuuu..... toooooo!”

Almost everyone considered William unusual, since no one could get a normal   5   word out of him. As no one knew how he made his living — he lived quite   6  , always wearing the same old second-hand suit — they often had no ___7__for him and sometimes even made fun of him.

William had been in Cheekyville for some years, when one day a rumor (谣言) spread that William had received a role in a very important   8  in the nation’s capital, that there had been posters everywhere advertising the event, and that it had been a great   9 . And to everyone’s surprise, when William was being interviewed by reporters, he answered their questions by speaking with good   10 , and with a clear and pleasant voice.

From that day on, William gave up   11  at all hours. Now he sang only during his stage appearances. People wouldn’t have thought him   12  if they had seen what William kept in his big suitcase. It was a large   13 , with a hand-carved message on it.

The message said, “Practice every second, for you never know when your   14   will come.” Little did people realize that he only got the role in the opera because the   15   had heard William singing while out buying a newspaper.

1. A. tall       B. sensitive    C. handsome    D. strange

2. A. common     B. concerned   C. wealthy     D. confident

3. A. appear     B. practice     C. communicate D. debate

4. A. whisper   B. respond      C. repeat     D. tease

5. A. advised   B. printed      C. written     D. spoken

6. A. simply     B. naturally    C. calmly      D. fortunately

7. A. mercy     B.  respect     C. trust       D. money

8. A. concert    B. documentary  C. opera      D. film

9. A. experience B. benefit      C. discovery   D. success 

10. A. movements B. manners     C. efforts    D. signs

11. A. pretendingB. recording   C. singing    D. wandering

12. A. mad       B. skillful    C. artificial  D. desperate

13. A. knife     B. stone        C. medal       D. diamond

14. A. solution  B. inspiration  C. performance D. chance

15. A. neighbor  B. visitor     C. director    D. Teacher

C
We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）．We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else．Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive．Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem．It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor（谣言）.
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone．Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person．That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game．The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it．Then the two written statements are compared．Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life．The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story．Then, too, most people listen imperfectly．And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style．Yet those who hear it think they know.
This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.
49．According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.
A．doing a medical experiment        B．solving a math problem
C．visiting an exhibition          D．doing scientific reasoning
50．The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.
A．active learning     B．knowledge     C．communication    D．passive learning
51．The author mentions the game Rumor to show that _____.
A．a message may be changed when being passed on
B．a message should be delivered in different ways
C．people may have problems with their sense of hearing
D．people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor
52．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Active learning is less important.
B．Passive learning may not be reliable.
C．Active learning occurs more frequently.
D．Passive learning is not found among scholars.