Passage Three
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
Before the 1850′s the United States had a number of small colleges, most of them dating from colonial days. They were small,church-connected institutions whose primary concern was to shape the moral character of their students.
Throughout Europe, institutions of higher learning had developed, bearing the ancient name of university. In Germany a different kind of university had developed. The German university was concerned primarily with creating and spreading knowledge,not morals. Between midcentury and the end of the 1800′s, more than nine thousand young Americans, dissatisfied with their training at home, went Germany for advanced study. Some of them returned to become presidents of venerable （受人尊敬的 ） colleges—Harvard, Yale, Columbia—and transform them into modern universities The new presidents broke all ties with the churches and brought in a new kind of faculty. Professors were hired for their knowledge of a subject, not because they were of the proper faith and had a strong arm for disciplining students. The new principle was that a university was to create knowledge as well as pass it on,and this called for a faculty composed of teacherscholars. Drilling and learning by rote （死记硬背 ） were replaced by the German method of lecturing, in which the professor′s own research was presented in class. Graduate training leading to the Ph. D, an ancient German degree signifying the highest level of advanced scholarly attainment, was introduced. With the establishment of the seminar system, graduate students learned to question, analyze,and conduct their own research.
At the same time, the new university greatly expanded in size and course offerings, breaking completely out of the old, constricted curriculum of mathematics, classics, rhetoric, and music. The president of Harvard pioneered the elective system, by which students were able to choose their own courses of study. The notion of major fields of study emerged. The new goal was to make the university relevant to the real pursuits of the world. Paying close heed to the practical needs of society, the new universities trained men and women to work at its tasks, with engineering students being the most characteristic of the new regime. Students were also trained as economists, architects, agriculturalists, social welfare workers, and teachers.
11. The word "this" （sentence 8, Para. 2） refers to which of the following?
A） Creating and passing on knowledge. B） Drilling and learning by rote.
C） Disciplining students. D） Developing moral principles.
12. According to the passage, the seminar system encouraged students to .
A） discuss moral issues B） study the classics, rhetoric, and music
C） study overseasD） work more independently
13. It can be inferred from the passage that before 1850, all of the following were Characteristic of higher education EXCEPT .
A） the elective systemB） drilling
C） strict disciplineD） rote learning
14. Those who favored the new university would be likely to agree with which of the following statements?
A） Learning is best achieved through discipline and drill.
B） Shaping the moral character of students should be the primary goal.
C） Higher education should prepare students to contribute to society.
D） Teachers should select their students courses.
15. Why many students decided to study aboard?
A）Because thousands of young Americans wanted to go to Germany to study.
B）Because young Americans were not satisfied with their school system in the USA.
C）Because American professors were not as good as those abroad.
D）Because European universities were not connected with churches.
更多精彩，请登录江苏农商行招聘网 www.jsnsh.com
|
