C More than a decade ago, cognitive scientists John Bransford and Daniel Schwartz, both then at Vanderbilt University, found that what distinguished young adults from children was not the ability to retain facts or apply prior knowledge to a new situation but a quality they called "preparation for future learning." The researchers asked fifth graders and college students to create a recovery plan to protect bald eagles from extinction. Shockingly, the two groups came up with plans of similar quality (although the college students had better spelling skills). From the standpoint of a traditional educator, this outcome indicated that schooling had failed to help students think about ecosystems and extinction, major scientific ideas. The researchers decided to go deeper, however. They asked both groups to generate questions about important issues needed to create recovery plans. On this task, they found large differences. College students focused on critical issues of interdependence between eagles and their habitats. Fifth graders tended to focus on features of individual eagles ("How big are they?" and "What do they eat?"). The college students had cultivated the ability to ask questions, the cornerstone (最重要部分) of critical thinking. They had learned how to learn. Museums and other institutions of informal learning may be better suited to teach this skill than elementary and secondary schools. At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, we recently studied how learning to ask good questions can affect the quality of people's scientific inquiry. We found that when we taught participants to ask "What if?" and "How can?" questions that nobody present would know the answer to and that would spark exploration, they engaged in better inquiry at the next exhibit — asking more questions, performing more experiments and making better interpretations of their results. Specifically, their questions became more comprehensive at the new exhibit. Rather than merely asking about something they wanted to try, they tended to include both cause and effect in their question. Asking juicy questions appears to be a transferable skill for deepening collaborative inquiry into the science content found in exhibits. This type of learning is not confined to museums or institutional settings. Informal learning environments tolerate failure better than schools. Perhaps many teachers have too little time to allow students to form and pursue their own questions and too much ground to cover in the curriculum. But people must acquire this skill somewhere, Our society depends on them being able to make critical decisions about their own medical treatment, say, or what we must do about global energy needs and demands. For that, we have an informal learning system that gives no grades, takes all comers, and is available even on holidays and weekends. 1. What is traditional educators interpretation of the research outcome mentioned in the first paragraph? A: Students are not able to apply prior knowledge to new problems. B: College students are no better than fifth grader in memorizing facts. C: Education has not paid enough attention to major environmental issues. D: Education has failed to lead students to think about major scientific ideas. 2. College students are different from children in that _______? A: they have learned to think critically. B: they are concerned about social issues. C: they are curious about specific features. D: they have learned to work independently. 3. What is the benefit of asking questions with no ready answers? A: It arouses students' interest in things around them. B: It cultivates students' ability to make scientific inquiries. C: It trains students' ability to design scientific experiments. D: It helps students realize not every question has an answer. 4. At the end of the passage the author seems to encourage educators to _______. A: train students to think about global issues B: design more interactive classroom activities C: make full use of informal learning resources D: include collaborative inquiry in the curriculum

Complete the sentences with words or expressions from the box. Change the form where necessary.get along with dos and don'ts plusconsider address provide annoyedsaying appreciate toast1. Why don't you join me in a(n) ________ to our distinguished guests?2. In English, we may call somebody, for example, Dr Wang or Professor Wang, but we don't use “Teacher” ________ family names to ________ people.3. If you are going to visit a foreign country, you'd better learn about the ________ here.4. If you don't like it when a person asks you personal questions, don't get ________, just tell them.5. “冰冻三尺，非一日之寒” is a famous Chinese ________, meaning the same as “Rome wasn't built in a day.”6. A good teacher tries to ________ all the students, not just the good ones.7. If you ________ your host's hospitality, tell him that you had a wonderful time.8. People in Britain ________ it polite to say “I'm sorry” even though it is not their fault.

Directions: Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with appropriate prepositions or adverbs. Fill in each blank with only ONE word.I thought the older people would be more offended than the young people, but it was the other way (24)____.Tom played (25)____the phone message, and was excited to learn that he had got the job.After work, Alice took (26)____the cooking while I went out to walk the dog.I was frustrated when the words "hard disk failure — program adopted" popped (27)____on the screen.Try to keep (28)____a regular timetable of waking and sleeping, which can be good for your health.We can probably free (29)____£20,000 for purchasing new computer equipment.The company's response seems to have been (30)____best confused and at worst dishonest.The little boy hung (31)____outside, waiting for his classmates before they headed out to the museum together

Fill in each of the blanks in the following sentences with a suitable preposition, adverb or conjunction.1. I was about to leave the room____ the telephone rang.2. I don't expect children to be rude,____ do I expect to be disobeyed.3. She is proud____ her Chinese roots.4. With a goal in mind, you will be amazed at your potential if you strive____ that goal.5. He left____ even saying goodbye.6. Don't take____ granted what others do for you.7.____ the king's great delight, he found everything he touched turned into gold.8. We're also busy on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., and then from late afternoon____.

Unit 2Each year the respective Nobel Committees send 1)________to thousands of scientists, members of academies and university professors 2)________, asking them to nominate (提名) candidates for the Nobel Prizes forthe coming year.These prize nominations must 3)________________respective Nobel Committees of the prize-awarding institutions before February 1 of the year for which the nomination is being made. The prize-awarding 4)________for the Physics and Chemistry awards is the Swedish Academy of Sciences.The nominations received by each committee are then evaluated with the help of 5)________. When the committees have presented their recommendations to the prize-awarding institutions, a 6)________istaken for the final choice of Laureates (获奖者). The choice of that year’s Laureates is announced immediately after the vote in October each year.The prizes are awarded at the Prize Awarding Ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10(the Anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death). At the Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm, the King of Sweden hands each Laureate a 7)________and a 8)________.The Ceremony 9)________a banquet at the Stockholm City Hall for about 1 300 people, 10)________________250 students.Read andcomplete

Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words below. clamp coastal criticize deck defy haul mortgage preceding surf （1）We've seen a place we like and we're applying for a loan to buy a house. ____ （2）We stood on the top floor of the boat and watched the coast disappear into the horizon. ____ （3）I love to walk along the beach and watch the waves breaking，and the white water hitting the shore. ____ （4）In seaside areas in the north-east of the country，life is hard and fishermen have to go against the forces of nature every time they go to work. ____ （5）When I threw a stick for the dog，he ran after it， attached his jaws firmly to it，and brought it back. ____ （6）My father never questioned or found fault with my plans，but he certainly guided me in the right direction. ____ （7）We landed the boat and pulled it out of the water and up onto the beach. ____ （8）During the previous month of exams，we worked hard but now it is to relax. ____

Translate the following sentences into English using the words or expressions given in the brackets.1. 他们的一些罪行骇人听闻，简直令人毛骨悚然。(awful)2. 材料包括但不限于洋葱、奶酪、西红柿和黑胡椒。(… included but were not limited to) 3. 他认为总经理如此重视那些日常琐事很荒唐。(attach… to) 4. 我们没人打破物理定律，不然就有人获诺贝尔奖了！(or else) 5. 越来越多的医学证据表明了皮肤癌与在日光下暴露皮肤的明确关联。(mounting)

—Thank you very much.— .A. You're all rightB. You're welcomeC. You're very wellD. No, thanks

Allow me to introduce myself. - - -A. No, no need.B. Yes, you needn't.C. OK, go ahead.D. Thanks.

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