Part II Reading Task

Comprehension

Content Question

Pair Work

1.        They liked girly toys such as a miniature kitchen, and Barbies.

2.        To convert a gas-guzzling SUV into a hybrid electric vehicle.

3.        Because she didn’t know anything about cars and was afraid of being cheated by the mechanic.

4.        She was craving independence and wanted to live away from home for some time.

5.        It helped her earn six engineering credits, which of course made it easier for her to become an engineering major.

6.        Five years.

7.        In her view, if you find a subject is difficult to learn, it does not mean you’re not good at it. It just means you have to set your mind and work harder to get good at it.

8.        Because he had confidence in her abilities believing she could have done better if she had studied more.

9.        No, she wasn’t always confident. She had moments of panic, worried that as a woman she would be unable to understand thermodynamics.

10.    She considers it wrong because it is based on a faulty premise.

11.    It is flexible and more powerful than we imagine.

12.    What she means is not to accept others’ opinions blindly but to use one’s own judgment.

Text Organization

Working On Your Own

1.          

Part One: The author describes how she stumbled into engineering.

Part Two: The author writes about how she has overcome obstacles, including the bias against women, on her way to success.

Part Three: The author draws the conclusion that women can do anything men can so long as they believe in their own abilities.

2.          

1)        she was not a tomboy.

not to an engineering department.

she didn’t know the first thing about engineering.

because she craved independence from her parents.

already earned her six credits in engineering.

2)        math and design.

she participated in a national competition to convert an SUV into a hybrid electric vehicle.

work harder at it.

that she should study more.

had to work hard at courses she found difficult, which encouraged her to keep going.

Language Sense Enhancement

1.          

(1)     limit

(2)     denying

(3)     favor

(4)     others

(5)     relevant

(6)     translating

(7)     hard and fast conclusions

(8)     focus

(9)     incredibly flexible

(10) consider the possibility

Vocabulary

I

1.          

1)        cultural/culture

2)        indication

3)        miniature

4)        ironic

5)        stumbled into

6)        decent

7)        buzzing

8)        abnormal

9)        mechanical

10)    Shuddering

11)    implied

12)    leap

2.          

1)        convert RMB into US dollars in the foreign exchange office at the airport.

2)        didn’t know the first thing about cooking as she looked puzzled as to how to cook rice with the rice cooker.

3)        their faulty equipment the team had accomplished some very useful work.

4)        allowing me to work flexible hours as long as I work eight hours a day.

5)        couldn’t help thinking the book must be quite fascinating.

3.          

1)        will not panic/feel panic; ’ll be at a disadvantage

2)        hybrid; transmissions

3)        crave; One indication; to distinguish

II.    Synonyms in Context

1.        also

2.        as well/too

3.        too

4.        also

5.        as well/too

6.        too

7.        also

8.        Also

III.          Usage

1.        I’ve had enough

2.        When I was old enough to work and earn money

3.        can’t got enough sleep at night

4.        has so far collected enough of them

5.        have strong enough arms

6.        have just enough money to live on

Comprehensive Exercises

I.        cloze

1.          

(1)     stumbled into

(2)     not know the first thing about

(3)     mechanical

(4)     when it comes to

(5)     hybrid

(6)     gritted her teeth

(7)     premise

(8)     at a disadvantage

(9)     panic

(10) cultural

(11) flexible

(12) imply

2.          

(1)     chair

(2)     force

(3)     secrets

(4)     painstaking

(5)     recognized

(6)     steered

(7)     essentially

(8)     observations

(9)     women

(10) tutor

(11) inspired

(12) unless

II.    Translation

1.          

1)        He is a man of few words, but when it comes to playing computer games, he is far too clever for his classmates.

2)        Children who don’t know any better may think these animals are pretty cute and start playing with them.

3)        There is no way to obtain a loan, so to buy the new equipment, I’ll just have to grit my teeth and sell my hybrid car.

4)        The hunter would not have fired the shots if he had not seen a herd of elephants coming towards his campsite.

5)        I find it ironic that Tom has a selective memory---he does not seem to remember painful experiences in the past, particularly those of his own doing.

2.          

Nancy Hopkins is a biology professor at MIT. She craves knowledge and works hard. However, as a scientist, she could not help noticing all kinds of indications of gender inequality on campus. Men and women professors did the same work, but when it came to promotion the administrators were rather selective. It was ironic that after so much cultural progress, women were still at a disadvantage in institution of higher education. When her request for more lab space was refused, she knew she had to fight. So she gritted her teeth and complained to the President. The fight ended in victory and Nancy was converted into a gender-equity advocate.