2013年职称英语考试理工类A级真题及参考答案

第二篇 Students Learn Better With Touchscreen Desks

　　Observe the criticisms of nearly any major public education system in the world, and a few of the many complaints are more or less universal. Technology moves faster than the education system. Teachers must teach at the pace of the slowest student rather than the fastest. And — particularly in the United States — school children as a group don’t care much for, or excel(擅长)at, mathematics. So it’s heartening to learn that a new kind of “classroom of the future” shows promise at mitigating some of these problems, starting with that fundamental piece of classroom furniture: the desk.

　　AUK study involving roughly 400 students, mostly aged 8-10 years, and a new generation of multi-touch, multi-user, computerized desktop surfaces is showing that over the last three years the technology has appreciably boosted students’ math skills compared to peers learning the same material via the conventional paper-and-pencil method. How? Through collaboration, mostly, as well as by giving teachers better tools by which to micromanage individual students who need some extra instruction while allowing the rest of the class to continue moving forward.

　　Traditional instruction still shows respectable efficacy (效力) at increasing students fluency in mathematics, essentially through memorization and practice — dull, repetitive practice. But the researchers have concluded that these new touchscreen desks boost both fluency and flexibility — the critical thinking skills that allow students to solve complex problems not simply through knowing formulas and devices, but by being able to figure out what the real problem is and the most effective means of stripping it down and solving it.

　　One reason for this, the researchers say, is the multi-touch aspect of the technology. Students working in the next-gen classroom can work together at the same tabletop, each of them contributing and engaging with the problem as part of a group. Known as SynergyNet, the software uses computer vision systems that see in the infrared (红外线的) spectrum to distinguish between different touches on different parts of the surface, allowing students to access and use tools on the screen, move objects and visual aids around on their desktops, and otherwise physically interact with the numbers and information on their screens. By using these screens collaboratively, the researchers say, the students are to some extent teaching themselves as those with a stronger grasp on difficult concepts pull other students forward along with them.

　　36. Which of the following statements is NOT true of the public education system?

　　A. It does not catch up with the development of technology.

　　B. Teachers pay more attention to fast learners than slow learners.

　　C. Some similar complaints about it are heard in different countries.

　　D. Many students are not good at learning mathematics.

　　37. What has been found after the new tech is employed?

　　A. Teachers are able to give individualized attention to students in need.

　　B. Students become less active in learning mathematics.

　　C. Students show preference to the conventional paper-and-pencil method.

　　D. The gap between slow learners and fast learners get more noticeable.

　　38. What is the benefit students get from the new tech?

　　A. It makes them more fluent in public speech.

　　B. It offers them more flexibility in choosing courses.

　　C. It is effective in helping them solve physical problems.

　　D. It enables them to develop critical thinking ability.

　　39. What happens when students are using the desktop of the new tech?

　　A. Every student has an individual tabletop.

　　B. Students use different tools to interact with each other.

　　C. The multi-touch function stimulates students.

　　D. The software installed automatically identifies different users.

　　40. How does the new tech work to improve students’mathematical learning?

　　A. It helps fast learners to learn faster.

　　B. It makes teachers’ instruction unnecessary.

　　C. It enables them to work together.

　　D. It allows the whole class to learn at the same pace.

　　参考答案：BADCC