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

　　The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is thatengineering 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.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. The author chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts university because he________.

　　A. intended to be a combination of engineer and humanist

　　B. wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality

　　C. intended to be a sensible student with noble ideals

　　D. wanted to coordinate engineering with liberal-arts courses in college

　　2. 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

　　3. 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

　　4. The author‘s experience shows that he was ________.

　　A. creative

　　B. irrational

　　C. ambitious

　　D. Unrealistic

　　5. The word“they”in“together they threaten to confuse.”(Line 3，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

　　1.[C] 事實細節題。根據文中第2段第3、4句的具體說明以及第3段末句的概括說明“我將成為一個完整的工程師：集理性的技術天才和感性的人文學者于一體。”可知C正確。

　　2.[A] 事實推理題。由文章第2段第4句“我想通過與非理工科的同學的相互交往來開闊我的視野”，可推斷出A正確。其他均無原文依據或斷章取義。

　　3.[B] 事實推理題。第3段最后一句說，“我將成為一個完整的工程師：集技術天才和人文學者于一體”，B“成為視野寬闊的技術天才”與原文相符，故選B。A、C、D均無原文支持或斷章取義。

　　4.[D] 事實推理題。根據第4段第2句“我的崇髙理想與現實發生了沖突”，以及下文對于作者在協調文理科之間的困難可知，原文的想法是不現實的，故可推斷D正確。

　　5.[B] 詞義理解題。they—般指代前一句話中的復數名詞,根據最后一段的第1、2句“…engineering and theliberal arts simply don’t mix as easily…together they threaten to confuse”可以推斷，they指的是engineering and the liberal arts。

　　Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the firsttaste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown. Quitethe opposite, just as the cook has to undergo a particular training, mastering the skills of histrade, the writer must sit at hisdesk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing,whatever its purpose is—schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication.

　　You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and themore rewarding.

　　There are still some faraway places in the world where you might find a public scribe to do yourbusiness or social writing for you, for money. There are a few managers who are lucky enoughto have the service ofthat rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letter writingwith no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to bedone, we have to do it ourselves.

　　We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called onto put words to papers. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages,letters, and reports put intomails or delivered by hand, but the daily figures must be extremelylarge. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes whatever he writes will beread, from first word to last, not just thrown into some “letters-to-be-read” files or into awastepaper basket. This is the reason we bend our efforts toward learning and practicing theskills of interesting, effective writing.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food in that _______.

　　A. both writers and cooks have to work a long time every day

　　B. both are essential to life

　　C. both are writers and cooks can earn a good living

　　D. both are enjoyable

　　2. A public "scribe" (Para 2, Line 1) is _____.

　　A.a secretary who does your business or social writing

　　B. a machine that does writing for you

　　C. a public school where writing is taught

　　D. a person who ears a living by writing for others

　　3. According to the passage, some managers don't have to do any letter writingbecause _____.

　　A. they rely on quick notes C. they have a computer to do it

　　B. they have excellent secretaries D. they prefer making phone calls

　　4. According to the author, if your letter is thrown into some "letter-to-be-read" file, ______.

　　A. it will receive immediate attention

　　B. it will be dealt with by the secretary

　　C. it is likely to be neglected

　　D. it is meant to be delivered soon

　　40. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is _____.

　　A. to explain and persuade

　　B. to comment and criticize

　　C. to interest and entertain

　　D. to argue and demonstrate

　　1.[D] 文章首句提到，如同美味的食物,我們可以從好的作品中獲得樂趣和享受，D與之相符，故為答案。

　　2.[D] 原文第2段首句提到，這種public scribe會幫你寫商業文件或社會交流文章，但他們也會收費的，D與之相符A中的secretary應該是不收貴的，故排除;D中的machine與文中的remote places不相符，故也可排除。

　　3.[B] 文章第2段第2句提到，個別幸運的經理只需寫下簡便的筆記,其秘書就會寫好所有的信件，因此B為答案。

　　4.[C] 文章第3段倒數第2句的大意是：我們希望自己寫的東西能被人從頭到尾地讀，能不被扔進“letters-to-be read” file,且根據下文的a wastepaper basket可推測這里說的是希望自己寫的東西不被忽視，故本題應選C。

　　5.[A] 由文章的結尾的this is the reason，知道作者有“解釋”的目的，同時他說“我們要盡最大的努力學習和練習有趣、有效地寫作的技巧”，可知有persuade(說服)的目的,故選A。