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Reading
Activity
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is the exercise for you to practise reading for the main idea.
Sometimes the main idea can be found in the topic sentence;
sometimes you have to read the whole passage to come to your
own conclusion. Now, please follow the following reading skill
and do the exercise. |
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By "reading comprehension",
we mean how well one can read. If a student is "good at
reading comprehension," then, he or she is able to read
with a high degree of efficiency and obtain maximum information
from a text with minimum misunderstanding (误解). We are going
to suggest ways you can improve your reading comprehension.
Skill: Reading Comprehension
Skill Ⅰ
----Reading for the Main Idea (Part Ⅰ)
What is the most important element (成分) in any paragraph
or passage? Without a doubt, it is the main idea or the central
(中心的) idea, which gives the paragraph or passage a purpose and
direction. Naturally, the first step to improve your comprehension
is to practise reading a bit faster for the main idea.
Exercise A 
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Key
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Key to Exercise A
Paragraph 1. b Paragraph 2. c
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Read each of the following paragraphs a little faster than
you usually do, and answer the multiple choice question that
comes after it. See
translation
Paragraph 1
Words to Know
behavev.
检点（自己的）行为；举止端正
tend vt. 照管
Bible n. 《圣经》
barber n.
理发师
limit n. 限度；范围
alcohol n.
酒精
forbid vt. 禁止
One hundred years ago, school teachers were expected to provide
a variety of services in
addition to their teaching duties and to behave themselves
in an exemplary (serving as an example) manner. They cared
for the oil lamps, tended the fire, and supplied their
students with sharp pencils. After a long day in the classroom,
they were expected to spend some time every evening reading
the Bible. Women teachers could not marry, and barber shops
were off limits (禁止进入的)
to men teachers. Of course, alcohol and tobacco were forbidden.
Which statement best expresses the main idea?
a. Teachers performed (做) domestic (家庭的) tasks.
b. The teaching profession (职业) demanded total dedication.
c. Teachers needed the guidance (引导) of religion (宗教).
d. Teachers set good examples by not using tobacco and alcohol.
Paragraph 2
Words to Know
manufacture vt.
制造
raw a. 未加工的；生的
figure n. 数字
leather n. 皮革
harness n. 马具
wool n. 羊毛
fur n. 毛皮
Until the War of 1812, the United States had always bought
its manufactured goods, especially its fine cloth, from England.
During the war, however, the United States could neither sell
its raw materials, nor buy manufactured goods in European markets.
There was nothing to do but manufacture
its own goods. By the end of the War of 1812 there were
nearly 150,000 men and women working in cotton and woolen mills
in the United States. We have no figures on the number of workers
employed in the various stages of iron production, but we know
that the iron industry had greatly increased. Besides the cloth
and iron works, there was a great leather industry, including
shoe factories, saddle shops, and harness-making shops, while
American hatters were able to supply the market with wool hats
and fur caps.
The central idea of this paragraph is:
a. As a result of the War of 1812, Americans began to produce
better cloth than they had previously obtained from abroad (海外).
b. The War of 1812 caused large numbers of Americans to move
from the farms into the factories.
c. After the War of 1812 the United States was far less dependent
(依赖) on Europe for its manufactured goods.
d. The War of 1812 caused a temporary (暂时的) change in the pattern
of trade between the United States and Europe. |
Exercise B
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Key
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Key to Exercise B
1. c
2. b
3. b
4. a
5. my consultation at the shirt factory had not
improved production
6. consultant, suggestions, follow them
7. c
8. make workers and management seriously involved
in the problem solving
9. a good lesson
10. a
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The following Dialogue (对话) and
Epilogue (尾声) are closely related to the text Sam Adams, Industrial
Engineer. Both can be divided (划分) into several parts according
to their different controlling ideas. Read through the two pieces
first to get an overall (总体的) impression and then determine
the main idea in each part by answering the question that comes
immediately after each part.
Words to Know
exchange vt. 交换
company n. 公司
indicate vt. 表明；表示
introduction n. 介绍；引进
painter n. 画家
paint vt. 画；描绘
remind vt. 提醒
backwards ad.
向后
suitable a. 合适的
bill n. 帐单
role n. 角色；作用
solution n. 解决（办法）
improvement n. 改进
inevitable a. 必然的，不可避免的
painful a. 痛苦的
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Dialogue
Jane: Hi, Sam How's everything?
Sam: Great to see you, Jane.
Jane: I hear you got a new job with Babson Machine.
Sam: Yeah, it's true. I was really lucky. I started about six
months ago; they haven't fired me yet. How's the factory?
Jane: Ah, about the same as always.
Sam: You mean shirts are still coming out without collars or
buttons?
Jane: Sometimes it's just the collar and buttons without the
shirt. The plant isn't famous for its efficiency, you know.
1. The main idea of this part is:
a. Sam and Jane meet and greetings are exchanged.
b. Sam was lucky to get a job in Babson Machines Company.
c. The shirt factory is as inefficient as it used to be.
Sam: Well, I heard there are some changes at the factory. Something
about music and a coffe break in the afternoons.
Jane: Music? Oh yeah. Yeah, I guess there is. A lot of good
it does, though. The machines make so much noise we can't
hear it anyway. And the coffee break! They give us only five
minutes. (1) If we run at top speed we can just make it to the
coffee machine and back to our worktable.
2. Which of the following sentences indicates the main idea?
a. There appear to have been some changes at the factory, anyway.
b. Changes such as the introduction of background music and
coffee breaks do not do the workers any good.
c. The introduction of background music does the workers a lot
of good while the coffee break does little.
Sam: I can't believe this. I understood that Mr. Hobbs was all
ready to make a lot of big changes down there at the factory.
Jane: Well, a couple of things have changed. We used to have
dull gray walls to look at between operations. A couple of
weeks ago, some painter came in and painted a huge picture
of a perfect shirt…with all its buttons, sleeves, and the collar.
(2) I guess management wanted to remind us of what we are
supposed to be producing there. But can you imagine? A shirt!
We see enough shirts all day. We don't need to look up from
our work and find one painted on the walls.
Sam: You mean that big shirt doesn't make all of you want to
produce more?
Jane: A lot of pictures might make us want to produce more,
but a huge painted shirt? No way! Oh yes, one other change.
Remember Big Jim in our math class? He used to work on buttons
and he held up half the assembly line. Well, they promoted him
from buttons to sleeves, with a raise in pay. Now he sits
at the beginning of the line and holds up everybody. There's
progress for you.
Sam: Ah, yes, progress: one step forward and two steps backwards!
3. Which statement best expresses the main idea of this part?
a. The management was ready to make big changes.
b. If any, there have been changes not for the better but for
the worse.
c. All efforts to make changes have failed.
4. Choose a suitable title for the above passage:
a. One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards
b. Much Ado About Nothing
c. Music, Coffee, Painted Pictures-No Good!
Epilogue
So, I learned that my consultation at the shirt factory had
not improved production.
Well, frankly, I'm not surprised. You see, while working at
the Babson Machine Company as an industrial adviser, I took
a night class in management engineering at Northwestern University.
My company paid the bill. I like that.
5. Complete the following sentence:
A night class in management engineering made me realize why_______________________________________________________________
.
Now I have quite a different idea of what it means to be a "consultant".
(3) I used to think that the consultant goes into the factory,
studies the problems, suggests cures for the problems, and then
encourages the management to follow these suggestions.
6. Fill in the blank with suitable words:
I used to think that the role of a_____ is to make_____ and
encourage the management to______ .
I now believe that consultation doesn't work successfully
that way. In my management engineering course I learned that
first I have to listen. In the shirt factory I should have listened
to the management, the two owners. But then, together, we should
have listened to the workers themselves. What did they think
the problems were? What were their suggestions for solutions?
7. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
a. As a consultant, I should have listened to the management.
b. It is just as important to ask the workers for their suggestions.
c. It does not matter whether the management listen to the workers
or not.
I tried to force my suggestions on the owners. The suggestions
for improvement weren't theirs or the workers'. (4) If workers
and management are seriously involved in the problem solving,
change is not only possible, but inevitable.
8. Complete the following sentence:
No consultant will succeed in his job unless he can________________________________
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At any rate, although the experience was painful in many ways,
it provided a good lesson for me.
I'm thinking of sending the check for $ 100 back to Mr. Hobbs.
As for the shirts, four of the five in the box didn't fit anyway,
and the fifth one didn't have a right sleeve.
9. Complete the following statement:
Anyway, my experience at the shirt factory taught me____________________
.
10. Which title suits this passage best?
a. How to Succeed as a Consultant
b. The Management Engineering Course Is Important!
c. A Good Lesson-Don't Force Suggestions on Others! |
Exercise
C Translate
into Chinese the underlined sentences in the passage.
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Key
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Key to Exercise C
1. 要是我们用最快的速度奔跑，从工作台到咖啡机旁我们刚够跑上一个来回。
2. 我想厂方是想提醒我们在那儿该生产些什么东西。
3.我过去一向认为，当顾问就是进入工厂，研究问题，提出解决问题的对策，然后再敦促厂方按这些建议去做。
4. 如果工人和厂方都能认真参与问题的解决，那么变革不仅可能，而且是不可避免的。
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