It’s very difficult to （ ） the exact meaning of an idiom in a foreign language.

A.exchange B.transfer C.convert D.convey

In Second Nature，Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Gerald Edelman argues that the brain and mind are unified, but he has little patience with the claim that the brain is a computer. Fortunately for the general reader, his explanations of brain function are accessible, reinforced by concrete examples and metaphors.Edelman suggests that thanks to the recent development of instruments capable of measuring brain structure within millimeters and brain activity within milliseconds, perceptions, thoughts, memories, willed acts, and other mind matters traditionally considered private and impenetrable to scientific scrutiny now can be correlated with brain activity. Our consciousness ( a “ first-person affair ” displaying intentionality, reflecting beliefs and desires, etc. )，our creativity, even our value systems, have a basis in brain function.The author describes three unifying insights that correlate mind matters with brain activity. First, even distant neurons will establish meaningful connections ( circuits) if their firing patterns are synchronized. Second, experience can either strengthen or weaken synapses (neuronal connections). Finally, there is reentry, the continued signaling from one brain region to another and back again along massively parallel nerve fibers.Edelman concedes that neurological explanations for consciousness and other aspects of mind are not currently available, but he is confident that they will be soon. Meanwhile, he is comfortable hazarding a guess: “All of our mental life... is based on the structure and dynamics of our brain. ” Despite this optimism about the explanatory powers of neuroscience, Edelman acknowledges the pitfalls in attempting to explain all aspects of mind in neurological terms. Indeed, culture—not biology—is the primary determinant of the brain’s evolution, and has been since the emergence of language, he notes.However, I was surprised to learn that he considers Sigmund Freud “ the key expositor of the effects of unconscious processes on behavior. ” Such a comment ignores how slightly Freud’s conception of the unconscious, with its emphasis on sexuality and aggression, resembles the cognitive unconscious studied by neuroscientists.Still, Second Nature is well worth reading. It serves as a bridge between the traditionally separate camps of “hard” science and the humanities. Readers without at least some familiarity with brain science will likely find the going difficult at certain points. Nonetheless, Edelman has achieved his goal of producing a provocative exploration of “how we come to know the world and ourselves”.1.Gerald Edelman would most probably support the idea that the brain（ ） .2.It was previously felt that perceptions and other mind matters could hardly be （ ） .3.Edelman firmly believes that （ ） .4.According to Edelman, to provide a thorough explanation of human mind, neuroscience will be （ ） .5.The author disagrees with the idea that the neuroscience-based cognitive unconscious can be （ ） .6.According to the author，Second Nature is a good book because （ ） .

A.co-functions with the mind B.works like a computer C.has an accessible function D.sends signals to the mind
问题2：
A.treated as a significant issue B.studied with scientific methods C.separated from brain activity D.handled with surgical instruments
问题3：
A.brain signals will repeatedly go from one brain region to another. B.experience will have an ill effect on neuronal connections C.distant neurons will help synchronize their firing patterns D.mind matters will be explained from a neurological perspective
问题4：
A.responsible B.insufficient C.impractical D.reliable
问题5：
A.clearly explained by Freud’s theory B.affected by language acquisition C.studied relevantly to sexual behavior D.examined concerning cultural backgrounds
问题6：
A.it interests the reader in spiritual activities B.it appeals to the reader to study bioscience C.it sets the reader probing into human cognition D.it presents the advancement of natural science

Her strength was her ability to（ ）and inspire confidence rather than fear in the people she befriended.

A.uncover B.obtain C.elicit D.produce

The argument between the two patients became so fierce that the doctor had to （ ）.

A.alleviate B.aggravate C.extinguish D.intervene

Everyone knows that English departments are in trouble, but it is difficult to appreciate just how much trouble until you read the report from the Modem Language Association (MLA).The report is about Ph. D. programs, which have been in decline since 2008. These programs have gotten both more difficult and less rewarding: today, it can take almost a decade to get a doctorate, and, at the end of your program, you’re unlikely to find a tenure-track position.The core of the problem is the job market. The MLA report estimates that only sixty per cent of newly-minted Ph. D.s will find tenure-track jobs after graduation. If anything, that’s wildly optimistic: the MLA got to that figure by comparing the number of tenure-track jobs on its job list with the number of new graduates. But that leaves out the thousands of unemployed graduates from past years who are still job-hunting.Different people will tell you different stories about where all the jobs went. Some critics think that the humanities have gotten too weird—that undergrads, turned off by an overly theoretical approach, don’t want to participate anymore, and that teaching opportunities have disappeared as a result. Others point to the corporatization of universities, which are increasingly inclined to hire part-time, “ adjunct” professors, rather than full-time, tenure-track professors, to teach undergrads. Adjuncts are cheaper ；perhaps more importantly, they are easier to hire.These trends, in turn, are part of an even larger story having to do with the expansion and transformation of American education after the Second World War. Essentially, colleges grew less elite and more vocational. Before the war, relatively few people went to college. Then, in the nineteen-fifties, the Baby Boom pushed colleges to grow rapidly, bulking up on professors and graduate programs. When the boom ended and enrollments declined, colleges found themselves overextended and competing for students. By the mid-seventies, schools were seeking out new constituencies—among them, women and minorities—and creating new programs designed to attract a broader range of students.Those reforms worked: about twice as many people attend college per capita now as they did forty years ago. But all that expansion changed colleges. In the past, they had catered to elite students who were happy to major in the traditional liberal arts. Now, to attract middle-class students, colleges have had to offer more career-focused majors, in fields like business. As a result, humanities departments have found themselves drifting away from the center of the university.1.What does the word “appreciate” mean in Paragraph 1?2.What has made Ph. D. programs unpopular?3.The MLA report about the employment rate is too optimistic because it（ ）.4.University job openings are diminishing due to the fact that （ ）.5.According to Paragraph 5, the American educational institutions （ ）over the past decades .6.The final paragraph suggests that current liberal arts majors（ ）.

A.Enjoy. B.Overlook. C.Investigate. D.Understand.
问题2：
A.They no longer save your time. B.They cannot guarantee a secure job. C.They are competitive and time-consuming. D.They are not subsidized by the government.
问题3：
A.overestimates the job market B.fails to account for former graduates C.does not include all kinds of jobs D.excludes newly-graduated Ph. D.s
问题4：
A.the scale of universities is shrinking B.adjunct professors are likely to take full-time jobs C.fewer undergraduates want to major in humanities D.some theoretical approaches have been proven wrong
问题5：
A.have resulted in tenure-track professors B.have attracted more male and elite students C.have been expanding to overseas countries D.have begun to offer a variety of vocational programs
问题6：
A.are more desirable than ever before B.will cater to middle-class students C.are less appealing than business majors D.are as competitive as business majors

She has helped thousands of men and women（ ） with things that bother them and that they could not talk about with others.

A.come to the point B.come to terms C.come into force D.come into contact