Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A ) ,B． , C． and D ). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2. with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.
Technology can make us smarter or stupider, and we need to develop a set of principles to guide our everyday behavior and make sure that tech is improving and not hindering our mental processes. One of the big questions being debated today is: What kind of information do we need to have stored in our heads, and what kind can we leave \"in the cloud,\" to be accessed as necessary？
An increasingly powerful group within education are championing \"digital literacy\". In their view, skills beat knowledge, developing \"digital literacy\" is more important than learning mere content, and all facts are now Google-able and therefore unworthy of committing to memory. But even the most sophisticated digital literacy skills won't help students and workers navigate the world if the), don't have broad base of knowledge about how the world actually operates. If you focus on the delivery mechanism and not the content, you're doing kids a disservice.
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Indeed, evidence from cognitive science challenges the notion that skills can exist independent of factual knowledge. Data from the last thirty years leads to a conclusion that is not scientifically challengeable: thinking well requires knowing facts, and that's true not only because you need something to think about. The very processes that teachers care about most-critical thinking processes-are intimately intertwined (交织) with factual knowledge that is stored in long-term memory.
In other words, just because you can Google the date of Black Tuesday doesn't mean you understand why the Great Depression happened or how it compares to our recent economic slump. There is no doubt that the students of today, and the workers of tomorrow, will need to innovate, collaborate and evaluate. But such skills can't be separated from the knowledge that gives rise to them. To innovate, you have to know what came before. To collaborate, you have to contribute knowledge to the joint venture. And to evaluate, you have to compare new information against knowledge you've already mastered.
So here's a principle for thinking in a digital world, in two parts. First, acquire a base of factual knowledge in any domain in which you want to perform well. This base supplies the essential foundation for building skills, and it can't be outsourced (外包) to a search engine. Second, take advantage of computers' invariable memory, but also the brain's elaborative memory.
Computers are great when you want to store information that shouldn't change. But brains are the superior
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choice when you want information to change, in interesting and useful ways: to connect up with other facts and ideas, to acquire successive layers of meaning, to steep for a while in your accumulated knowledge and experience and so produce a richer mental brew.
56. What is the author's concern about the use of technology？
A． It may leave knowledge \"in the cloud\".
B． It may misguide our everyday behavior.
C． It may cause a divide in the circles of education.
D． It may hinder the development of thinking skills.
57. What is the view of educators who advocate digital literacy？
A． It helps kids to navigate the virtual world at will.
B． It helps kids to broaden their scope of knowledge.
C． It increases kids' efficiency of acquiring knowledge.
D． It liberates kids from the burden of memorizing facts.
58. What does evidence from cognitive science show？
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A． Knowledge is better kept in long-term memory.
B． Critical thinking is based on factual knowledge.
C． Study skills are essential to knowledge acquisition.
D． Critical thinking means challenging existing facts.
59. What does the author think is key to making evaluations？
A． Gathering enough evidence before drawing conclusions.
B． Mastering the basic rules and principles for evaluation.
C． Connecting new information with one's accumulated knowledge.
D． Understanding both what has happened and why it has happened.
60. What is the author's purpose in writing the passage？
A． To warn against learning through memorizing facts.
B． To promote educational reform in the information age.
C． To explain human brains' function in storing information.
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D． To challenge the prevailing overemphasis on digital literacy.
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
America's recent history has been a persistent tilt to the West--of people, ideas, commerce and even political power. California and Texas are the twin poles of the West, but very different ones. For most of the 20th century the home of Silicon Valley and Hollywood has been the brainier and trendier of the two. Texas has trailed behind: its stereotype has been a conservative Christian in cowboy boots. But twins can change places. Is that happening now？
It is easy to find evidence that California is in a panic. At the start of this month the once golden state started paying creditors in IOUs (欠条). The gap between projected outgoings and income for the current fiscal (财政的) year has leapt to a horrible $26 billion. With no sign of a new budget to close this gulf, one credit agency has already downgraded California's debt. As budgets are cut, universities will let in fewer students, prisoners will be released early and schemes to protect the vulnerable will be rolled back.
By contrast, Texas has coped well with the recession, with an unemployment rate two points below the national average and one of the lowest rates of housing repossession. In part this is because Texan banks, hard hit in the last property bust, did not overexpand this time. Texas also clearly offers a different model, based on
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small government. It has no state capital-gains or income tax, and a business-friendly and immigrant-tolerant attitude. It is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state.
Despite all this, it still seems too early to hand over America's future to Texas. To begin with, that lean Texan model has its own problems. It has not invested enough in education, and many experts rightly worry about a \"lost generation\" of mostly Hispanic Texans with insufficient skills for the demands of the knowledge economy.
Second, it has never paid to bet against a state with as many inventive people as California. Even if Hollywood has gone into depression, it still boasts an unequalled array of sunrise industries and the most brisk venture-capital industry on the planet. The state also has an awesome ability to reinvent itself--as it did when its defense industry collapsed at the end of the cold war.
The truth is that both states could learn from each other. Texas still lacks California's great universities and lags in terms of culture. California could adopt not just Texas's leaner state, but also its more bipartisan (两党的) approach to politics. There is no perfect model of government: it is America's
genius to have 50 public-policy laboratories competing to find out what works best.
61. What does the author say about California and Texas in Paragraph 17
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A． They have been competing for the leading position.
B． California has been superior to Texas in many ways.
C． They are both models of development for other states.
D． Texas's cowboy culture is less known than California's.
62. What does the author say about today's California？
A． Its debts are pushing it into bankruptcy.
B． Its budgets have been cut by $26 billion.
C． It is faced with a serious financial crisis.
D． It is trying hard to protect the vulnerable.
63. In what way is Texas different from California？
A． It practices small government.
B． It is home to traditional industries.
C． It has a large Hispanic population.
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D． It has an enviable welfare system.
. What problem is Texas confronted with？
A． Its Hispanic population is mostly illiterate.
B． Its sunrise industries are shrinking rapidly.
C． Its education cannot meet the needs of the knowledge economy.
D． Its immigrants have a hard time adapting to its cowboy culture.
65. What do we learn about American politics from the passage？
A． Each state has its own way of governing.
B． Most states favor a bipartisan approach.
C． Parties collaborate in drawing public policies.
D． All states believe in government for the people.
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