Question

One day, I received a call from a colleague. He was about to give a student a zero for his answer to a physical problem, while the student claimed a perfect score. I was elected as their arbiter (仲裁人). I read the examination problem: “Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer (气压计).” The student had answered, “Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower it to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of it is the height of the building.”

The student had really answered the question completely, but the answer didn’t confirm his competence in physics. I suggested the student try again. I gave him six minutes to answer the question, warning that the answer should show some knowledge of physics. Five minutes later, he said he had many answers and dashed off one, which read “Take the barometer to the top of the building and lean over the edge of the roof. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, use the physical formula (公式) to calculate the height of the building.”

At this point, my colleague had to accept it, and then the student made almost full marks. I couldn’t help asking the student what the other answers were. He listed many others and then added, “Probably the best is to take the barometer to the administrator and said to him, ‘Sir, here is a fine barometer. If you tell me the height of the building, 1 will give it to you.”‘

Then, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.

The name of the student was Bohr who later was famous all over the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922.

1.The student got a zero at the beginning because       .

A. the teacher wasn’t satisfied with him.

B. his answer wasn’t complete or correct

C. his answer didn’t show his knowledge of physics

D. the teacher didn’t fully understand his answer

2.We know from the passage that       .

A. the administrator told Bohr the height

B. the student knew the expected answer

C. the author preferred Bohr’s last answer

D. the teacher was a very stubborn person

3.We can learn from the passage that       .

A. instructors can teach students how to think

B. arbiters can help students to get high scores

C. teachers should make students use physical formulas

D. students should be given more freedom in thinking

4.What was Bohr’s attitude toward his schooling?

A. Critical    B. Optimistic

C. Objective    D. Ambiguous

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.A

【解析】本文主要讲了Bohr在一次物理测验中，虽然答案也对，但是因为没有涉及物理学的知识，起初被给予零分，他其实在一开始的时候就知道老师所期盼的答案。Bohr对学校的死板教育很厌烦，有自己的想法，最终获得了诺贝尔物理学奖。这个故事说明教育者在教育学生时，应该给予学生更多的思考自由。

1.细节理解题。由第二自然段The student had really answered the question completely, but the answer didn’t confirm his competence in physics.可知这名学生在开始的时候得了零分是因为他的回答没有表现出物理学的知识，选C。

2.细节理解题。由Then, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.可知这名学生其实在一开始的时候就知道老师所期盼的答案，选B。

3.推理判断题。由He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.The name of the student was Bohr who later was famous all over the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922.可知这名学生对学校的死板教育很厌烦，有自己的想法，最终获得了诺贝尔物理学奖，所以这篇文章告诉我们学生应该被给予更多的思考自由，故选D。

4.推理判断题。由He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors trying to teach him how to think.可推断出Bohr对学校教育持批评态度，选A。