阅读攻略－2001年1月CET4阅读真题解读(二)（在线收听）

Passage Two

Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality, but when it comes to my college education I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any sensible student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, famous reputation and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that’s not what I did.

I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts (文科) university that doesn’t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my career. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interacting with people who weren’t studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a sensible choice. They told me I was wise and mature beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.

I headed off to college sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering “factories” where they didn’t care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical genius and sensitive humanist (人文学者) all in one.

Now I’m not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideals crashed into reality, as all noble ideals eventually do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile (协调) engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.

The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don’t mix as easily as I assumed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways; together they threaten to confuse. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult.

26. The author chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts university because he ________.

    A) intended to be a sensible student with noble ideals

    B) wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality

    C) intended to be a combination of engineer and humanist

    D) wanted to coordinate engineering with liberal-arts course in college

27. According to the author, by interacting with people who study liberal arts, engineering students can _________.

    A) broaden their horizons           B) become noble idealists

    C) receive guidance in their careers   D) balance engineering and the liberal arts

28. In the eyes of the author, a successful engineering student is expected __________.

    A) to be imaginative with a value system to guide him

    B) to be a technical genius with a wide vision

    C) to have an excellent academic record

    D) to be wise and mature

29. The author’s experience shows that he was _________.

    A) creative  B) irrational  C) ambitious  D) unrealistic

30. The word “they” in “…together they threaten to confuse.” (Line3, Para. 5) refers to ______.

    A) practicality and rationality  B) engineering and the liberal arts

    C) reality and noble ideals     D) flexibility and a value system

试题分析：

    本文作者以自身的经历说明很难做到文理兼顾，共同发展。因而自己当初想要成为通晓人文科学的杰出工程师，是不切实际的。

26. C 细节题  此题选项A和D只是停留在表象上，没有切中要点。命题者常常会利用文中经常出现的一些词汇拼凑成一个选择项，具有一定的干扰性，但考生如果仔细分析，就能发现这些选项往往都是断章取义。选项B则是张冠李戴，只是一般工科学生的做法。根据文章第三段“I was going to be a complete engineer: technical genius and sensitive humanist (人文学者) all in one.”，可以推断出选项C是作者选择在一所很小的文科院校学习的根本原因。

27. A 细节题  文章第二段“I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interacting with people who weren’t studying science or engineering.”中expand my vision 与选项A的broaden their horizons属于同义替代，所以选项A为正确选项。

28. B 推断题  文章第三段“… I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering‘factories’”（我将会拥有那些就读于名牌理工院校的学生所没有的优势）。在接下来的一句中，作者将这种优势具体化：成为文理兼顾的杰出工程师。由此都可以推断出选项B最符合题意。

29. D 推断题  文章第一段就提到“I am an idealist and a fool”，第四段中又出现“my noble ideals crashed into reality”，我们不难推断出作者原先的想法是不切实际的。

30. B 词汇题  此题考察指代关系。根据上下文，这里的they都是指前文的“engineering and the liberal arts”。