单选题 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 electri-cal engineer and, of course, any sensible student with my aims would have chosen a college witha 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 offera major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here formore noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a valuesystem to guide me in my career. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interactingwith people who weren't studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adultspraised 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 tobig engineering "factories" where they didn' t care if you had values or were flexible. I was goingto 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 allnoble ideals eventually do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineer-ing courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering stu-dents try to reconcile (协调) engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.
The reality that has blocked my path to becoming the typical successful student is that engi-neering and the liberal arts simply don't mix as easily as I assumed in high school. Individuallythey shape a person in very different ways l together they threaten to confuse. The struggle to rec-oncile the two fields of study is difficult.
单选题 The author chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts university because he______
  • A. wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality
  • B. intended to be a combination of engineer and humanist
  • C. wanted to coordinate engineering with liberal-arts courses in college
  • D. intended to be a sensible student with noble ideals
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 选项A只是一般工科学生的做法，选项D只谈及了一方面，C项有一定的干扰度，但只是表层。根据文章第2段和第3段，应选择B项。
单选题 According to the author, by interacting with people who study liberal arts, engineeringstudents can______
  • A. balance engineering and the liberal arts
  • B. receive guidance in their careers
  • C. become noble idealists
  • D. broaden their horizons
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第2段第4行正是D项(拓展视野)的意思。
单选题 In the eyes of the author, a successful engineering student is expected
  • A. to have an excellent academic record
  • B. to be wise and mature
  • C. to be imaginative with a value system to guide him
  • D. to be a technical genius with a wide vision
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 最直接的提示应该在第3段第2行，所以答案当选D。选择项A、C只分别涉及了其中的一方面，选择项B与问题无关，均应排除。
单选题 The author's experience shows that he was______
  • A. creative
  • B. ambitious
  • C. unrealistic
  • D. irrational
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 四选项的意思分别为：A．“创造性的”；B_“雄心勃勃的”；C．“不切实际的”；D．“非理性的”。作者由雄心勃勃、与众不同、理想化的选择开始，发现现实中并不容易实现，并不成功。可见这种做法是不切实际的。
单选题 The word "they"in "together they threaten to confuse" ( Line 3, Para. 5 ) refers to
  • A. engineering and the liberal arts
  • B. reality and noble ideals
  • C. flexibility and a value system
  • D. practicality and rationality
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 判断指代关系。文章第5段第3行的2个“they”都是指代前文的“engi-neering and the liberal arts”。