作业一: Reading comprehension Understanding the text Answer the following questions : 1. Why do many students calculate they can ’ t major in English or history? 2. Why does the author say that a college education is more and more seen as a means for economic betterment rather than a means for human betterment? 3. How do you understand “ These days, labs are more vivid and compelling than libraries ” (Para. 3)? 4. Why does the author say that the inner aspect of our being has captured our imagination from the very beginning? 5. According to the author, what are the advantages of studying the humanities? 6. How do you understand the statement that we are liable to miss many opportunities if we study the humanities alone? 7. What are “ well-rounded human beings ” (Para. 10) according to the author? 8. Why does the author say “ Who knows how famous YOU might become!” at the end of the text? 参考答案: Unit 2 Text A Reading Comprehension 1. because English or history majors are considered less competitive when the job market is shrinking, and they have to study something that can help them more easily locate their future jobs. 2. because as the tuition is climbing higher and higher, many students have run away from studying the humanities and toward “hard” skills that they think will lead to employment. 3. since more students are now taking job-oriented courses, libraries, where students of liberal arts used to study, are getting less popular than before; in contrast, labs are getting more eye-catching because students of science and engineering do experiments and research there. 4. because this inner drive that can be either constructive or destructive is so mysterious and powerful that it has attracted many people to speculate on it. From ancient times, these men and women developed artistic “languages” in the form of story, music, myth, painting, architecture, sculpture, landscape and traditions, which from the very foundation of civilization. 5. Studying the humanities improves your ability to read and write, makes you familiar with the language of emotion and the creative process, and, more importantly, provides you with a wide scope of possibilities that are open to you. 6. Because in modern life, an ideal capacity for establishing one’s career is to have both technical knowledge and inner insight, not just one without the other. 7. “Well-rounded human beings” are those who have insight and understand the passions, hopes and dreams common to all humanity. 8. Since many people who once studied the humanities became famous in their career, the author implies that if students spend more time studying the humanities, they could surely become successful in the future as well.