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Directions: You are expected to study this section in class. Don’t preview.
- Word Pretest
For each italicized word, choose the best meaning below.
1. After graduation, he decided on law as his profession
A. field B. skill
C. special interest D. occupation
2. Housekeeping involves cooking, washing dishes, sweeping, and cleaning.
A. ties B. includes
C. contains D. lists
3. He explored three continents by boat.
A. traveled to enjoy B. traveled to find out
C. traveled alone D. traveled with other people
4. As she turned the knob, the sound in the room diminished.
A. became sharper B. became louder
C. became weaker D. became harsher
5.I urged him to take a week off to study drawing.
A. spoke B. asked
C. advised D. tried hard to persuade
6. She won an award for her excellent academic performance.
A. acting B. speech
C. exhibition D. activity
7. The teacher couldn’t keep discipline in his classroom. The students are very noisy while he is speaking.
A. control B. silence
C. training D. punishment
8. Three railwaymen were sacked because they would not join a union.
A. employed B. dismissed
C. hired D. lost
9. They lingered over their meals.
A. finished quickly B. enjoyed
C. finished slowly D. disliked
10. I hated the big formal dances and felt very awkward.
A. pleasant B. happy
C. uncomfortable D. boring
◆Key
Text
Cultural Background:
Student: person who is learning or studying at college and, anyone who studies or who is devoted to the acquisition of knowledge.
Degree: BA, MA, Ph.D. (Doctoral Degree)
Education system: part-time, full-time, credit system
Relationship: teachers and students, teachers and college students and college, students and students, teachers and teachers.
 On Being a Student
Going up to university to study for a degree means you have decided to study professionally, rather than as an amateur, so being a student is now your profession for at least the next four years.
This involves a change of attitude in many ways. Although he process has been going on since you went to middle school, the biggest change is going to take place. Now, instead of taking several subjects, you have chosen one major subject because you find it interesting and worth exploring further. The choice was yours. You also have before you the goal of getting a degree. The degree, and the stages you have to pass through to achieve it, give you motivation, even though it may become weak from time to time, and not all parts of the course will be exciting, a sure way to lose interest is to do too little work. It is a law of diminishing returns－the less work you do, the less interest you will have and the more bored you will become. So regular work is needed to keep up your interest as well as to keep pace with new work.
Anther change is in the relationship with those who teach you. This may well have changed during middle school and high school, but now the whole context is different. You are no longer forced to stay in school all day, and apart from your class time, you organize your own time and place for studying. You are there to study (an active process ) rather than to be taught ( passive ). You teachers may or may not urge you, but they do want you to share their interest in the subject and they want you to succeed.
The teacher works as your coach or trainer. If you were becoming a professional tennis player or musician, you would expect your coach to look out for ways of improving your performance, and to criticize your work all the time, you would be silly to feel fed up about this － in fact you would sack your coach if she just said everything was fine. So if you get work back with a poorer mark than you expected and with various criticisms. don’t feel discouraged by this, if you don’t understand what is wrong and how to improve, then ask your teacher to explain and don’t be satisfied until you do understand.
Professionalism involves discipline. Nobody becomes or remains a professional pianist or football player without putting in hours of regular practice. They have to learn to use time well, and they practice to improve their skills.
Some activities, like reading, writing, note-taking, speaking and discussing are basic to studying. Make sure that you are doing these efficiently.
Efficient reading is part of your training. Many of us keep on reading the same way we did in primary school. Since it is a learned skill we can change it and relearn it. By taking this course, you will learn how to read fast—how to read with your eyes rather than your throat, how to avoid lingering lovingly over words like “of” and “the”, and how to keep what you read.
Poor handwriting is a disadvantage. It makes your own notes slower to read, and it is hard for those like teachers who have to read your work. Unless you have a physical disability, you can reform it: try practicing on the notes you make in a slow and boring lecture—it will strengthen you interest and is of more use than talking in class!
Note-taking is done for yourself, not for anyone else, so make your notes easy to read, economical and pleasing to the eye. Vary, or change, the arrangement on the page to suit the material (diagrams, columns, underlining), use colored pens to give you a color code (system) for different topics, or just to catch the eye and make things stand out. Work out your own shorthand speedwriting.
Group discussions give you a chance to train yourself to speak and discuss more effectively. They will fail in their purpose if you keep silent—and if you start off this way, the harder it will become to get out of the situation of being the non-speaking member of the group. In the future you are almost certainly going to have to be good at speaking, so get into the way of talking about your subject now. This is actually more fun than sitting being silently miserable because you are not saying anything. Nobody will think what you say is foolish. Everyone will be thankful not to face awkward silence.
Total words: 771
Total reading time: minutes seconds
The text is based on “Student Services Information,” King’s College London.
Reading Skill: Context Clues to Word Meaning
Guess what the italicized word or phrase means in each sentence. Underline the words which you think define the italicized word or phrase.
1. It is a law of diminishing return—the less work you do, the less interest you will have and the more bored you will become.
2. Use colored pens to give you a color code (system) for different topics.
3. This revision should be cumulative—adding a bit to the total at a time, covering briefly all the work done so far in the term.
4. Put it in a prominent, or noticeable, place in your room, or carry it with you.
5. A carrel is a small table with “walls” around three sides.
6. Some students prefer one kind of lighting, one kind of table or desk, and one kind of chair. Other students prefer a different kind of lighting and furniture.
7. Although there are formal lectures during which the student has a passive role (i.e., listening and taking notes), many courses are organized around classroom discussions, student questions, and informal lectures.
8. The “honor system” demands that the student be honest in all areas of school work.
Reading Comprehension
According to the text, decide whether each of the following statements is true or false. Write T in front of the true statement and F in front of the false one.
1. A university student has a major subject to study.
2. Sometimes you lose interest for a course simply because you have not done much work in it.
3. It may be a good thing to receive criticism on the homework from the teacher.
4. Sportsmen and musicians need to spend much time in practicing; students don’t need it.
5. Poor handwriting can make trouble for both the writer and the reader.
6. Sometimes students will talk in class if they are bored.
7. Sitting silently in class can be miserable.
8. In group discussion, you’d better keep silent if you are not sure about the topic because what you say may seem foolish to your classmates.
Vocabulary Building
- Word Match
Match the following words with their definitions within each group of five words.
amateur different
major sudden fear
various nonprofessional
panic strengthen
consolidate main
assignment of living thins
biological stressful, requiring effort and energy
flexible overall
strenuous not fixed
master homework
recreation rest
estimate first concern
routine calculate roughly
priority regular, usual
relaxation way of spending free time
2 Complete the sentences by using the words above. Change the forms if necessary.
1. My plans are . I can change them if necessary.
2. My friend is a(n) musician. He spends almost all his spare time playing the violin.
3. He was filled with when he saw the monster.
4. Today is a day for me. I rearranged my furniture in my bedroom.
5. As students we must give to our study. We should finish our homework before we go to the movies.
6. Doing morning exercises is part of my work.
②Suffix
Many verbs end in suffix-ize. Study the examples, and then list some verbs that end in this suffix in the space provided. Add more if you can.
Suffix Examples
-ize realize, organize, criticize, characterize
-ize 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Many adverbs end in the suffix –ly. Study the examples, and then list some adverbs that end in this suffix in the space provided. Add more if you can.
suffix examples
-ly efficiently, certainly, professionally
-ly 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Fill in each of the blanks with a given word in its proper form.
1. Before playing the new game, yourself with the rules. (familiar)
2. Can you how big this company will be in ten years’ time?(visual)
3. She did not have to be so angry, I asked her name. (mere)
4. Don’t the situation. (ideal)
5. I don’t know whether we still need to revise the plan; our boss is going to it tonight. (final)
6. Most people think that we have more natural resources than we need, but it is not true. (necessary)
7. There are people who are strong but mentally weak. (physical)
8. Tom is a good student, all his teachers speak of him. (high)
Cloze
Fill in each of the blanks with a word given below.
their respected favorable changes role help
professors expect authority need several his
Many instructors believe that an informal, relaxed classroom environment is
to learning. It is not uncommon for students to have easygoing and friendly
relationships with professors. The casual professor is not necessarily a poor one and is still by students. Although students may be in a subordinate position, some treat them as equals. However, no matter how friendly professors would like to be, they still are in a position of .
Professors may establish social relationships with students outside of the classroom, but in the classroom they keep the instructor’s . A professor may have coffee one day with students but the next day them to meet a deadline for the submission of a paper or to be prepared for a discussion or an exam. The professor may give extra attention outside of class to a student in of help but probably will not treat him or her differently when it comes to evaluating school work. Professors have roles in relation to students, they may be counselors and friends as well as teachers. Students must realize that when a teacher’s role , they must properly change their behavior and attitudes.
Keys to the exercises |
