华理英语阅读复习

Comprehensive Questions on Reading1“This is Water”

1.What's the point of the fish story?

2. What is our natural default-setting, according to Wallace? Do you agree with him? If yes, give examples; if no, examples too, please.

3. Is it possible for us to adjust our natural default-setting? If yes, how? And by the way, why should we adjust it?

4. What does it mean by ' learning how to think'? And what is the justifiable way to think?

5. What is the meaning of college education? Do you agree? If yes, further explain please; if no, define your meaning of college education and further illustrate it.

6. What did Wallace refer to as ' the work of choosing'?

7. What is the only True matter of the long, lonely 'day in and day out'?

8. Why did Wallace suggest the graduating seniors to worship some spiritual things instead of anything else, say money and power?

9. How did Wallace define the real important freedom and if you would like to, please give your definition of freedom.

10. Finally, what is water?

Comprehension questions on Reading 2 Moon Landing Faked!

1. Why pathological explanations cannot be sufficiently used to explain conspiracy theories?

2.How do you understand contradictory conspiracy theory?

3. What is the definition of “conspiracy theory” (Para.7)? Who might those “powerful individuals and organizations” be?

4. Why do people refuse science?

Comprehensive questions on Reading 3 What Isn’t for Sale?

1.What are ‘the hidden costs’ mentioned in the leading paragraph?

2.Can you think of anything that money can’t buy nowadays?

3.How did the market thinking/market faith come into being?

4.What does ‘something bigger’ (Para.20) refer to?

5.Why is it not good that we are moving toward a society in which everything is up

for sale?

Comprehensive Questions on Reading4 Who Ruined the Humanities

1. Do you agree with writer’s view that “classroom ruins literature’s joy”? If yes, how? If not, give your reasons.

2. What’s the author’s opinion about the notion that great literature can help you with reading and thinking clearly? And what’s your view?

3. Of course it’s important to read the great poets and novelists. But not in a university classroom. Where do you think is an appropriate place?

4. How did the literature influence the author before he went to college? Take an example to describe the literature’s influence to you.

5. What is the relationship between the war and teaching literature?

6. Please summarize Lionel Trilling’s perspectives of literature educati on?

7. What is the author really against?

8. In common sense, the lack of literature education leads to pernicious personal

condition, but the author thinks it’s a sentimental fantasy. Do you agree? If yes, please give some reasons. If not, why?

9. How do you understand “a whale-ship was my Yale and my Harvard”? (Para.30)

10. ‘Literature requires only that you be human’ (Para.21). How do you understand this sentence?

Comprehensive Questions on Reading5 “Actually, practice doesn’t always make perfect”

1.What i s K. Anders Ericsson’s report about practice and success? What might be

the reasons to support his conclusion?

2.Why is “time on task” not always correct, according to the author? (Para.5)

3.How to understand “nurture over nature”? (Para.6)

4.What might be the other factors that affect the quality of performance? And how

are they related? Which one do you think is the most important?

5.How is education related with Ericsson or Macnamara’s research? Comprehension questions onReading6 Love People, Not Pleasure

1.Are happiness and unhappiness opposites?

2.An unhappy person may always blame circumstances. Can you name some of the

major sources of unhappiness?

3.Besides circumstances, what is the other possible explanation of the great emir’s

unhappiness?

4.Can you name some of the “intrinsic” goals and “extrinsic” goals?

5.Why pursuing fame, wealth and pleasure of flesh may bring unhappiness?

6.Why is the formula “Love things, use people” described as “elegant, simple and

deadly’?

7.What is the formula for happiness rendered by the author?

To apply the formula for happiness to each and everyone’s life, what psychological preparations/precautions should we be ready with?