15000 bài tập tách từ đề thi thử môn Tiếng Anh có đáp án (Phần 60)

It is said that George Washington was one of the first to realize how important tire building of canals would be to the nation’s development. In fact, before he became the President, he headed the first company in the United States to build a canal, which was to connect the Ohio and Potomac rivers. It was never completed, but it showed the nation the feasibility of canals. As the country expanded westward, settlers in western New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio needed a means to ship goods. Canals linking natural waterways seemed to supply an effective method.

In 1791, engineers commissioned by the state of New York investigated the possibility of a canal

between Albany on the Hudson River and Buffalo on Lake Eric to link the Great Lakes area with the Atlantic seacoast. It would avoid the mountains that served as a barrier to canals from the Delaware and Potomac rivers.

The first attempt to dig the canal, to be called the Eric Canal, was made by private companies but only a comparatively small portion was built before the project was halted for lack of funds. The cost of the prospect was estimated $5 million, an enormous amount for those days. There was some on-again-off-again federal funding, but this time the War of 1812 put an end to construction. In 1817, DeWitt Clinton was elected Governor of New York and persuaded the state to finance and build the canal. It was completed in 1825, costing S2 million more than expected.

The canal rapidly lived up to its sponsors’ faith, quickly paying for itself through tolls. It was far more economical than any other form of transportation at the time. It permitted trade between the Great Lake region and the East coast, robbing the Mississippi River of much of its traffic. It allowed New York to supplant Boston, Philadelphia, and other eastern cities as the chief center of both domestic and foreign commerce. Cities sprang up along the canal. It also contributed in a number of ways to the Norths victory over the South in the Civil War.

An expansion of the canal was planned in 1849. Increased traffic would undoubtedly have warranted its construction had it not been for the railroads.

In early civilization, citizens were educated informally, usually within the family unit. Education meant simply learning to live. As civilization became more complex, however, education became more formal, structured, and comprehensive. Initial efforts of the ancient Chinese and Greek societies concentrated solely on the education of males. The post-Babylonian Jews and Plato were exceptions to this pattern. Plato was apparently the first significant advocate of the equality of the sexes. Women, in his ideal state, would have the same rights and duties and the same educational opportunities as men. This aspect of Platonic philosophy, however, had little or no effect on education for many centuries, and the concept of a liberal education for men only, which had been espoused by Aristotle, prevailed.

In ancient Rome, the availability of an education was gradually extended to women, but they were taught separately from men. The early Christians and medieval Europeans continued this trend, and single-sex schools for the privileged through classes prevailed through the Reformation period. Gradually, however, education for women, in a separate but equal basis to that provided for men, was becoming a clear responsibility of society. Martin Luther appealed for civil support of schools for all children. Al the Council of Trent in the 16^th century, the Roman Catholic Church encouraged the establishment of free primary schools for children of all classes. The concept of universal primary education, regardless of sex, had been born, but it was still in the realm of the single-sex school.

In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, co-education became a more widely applied principle of educational philosophy. In Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union the education of boys and girls in the same classes became an accepted practice. Since World War II, Japan and the Scandinavian countries have also adopted relatively universal co-educational systems. The greatest negative reaction to co-education has been felt in the teaching systems of the Latin countries, where the sexes have usually been separated at both primary and secondary levels, according to local conditions. ’

A number of studies have indicated that girls seem to perform better overall and in science in particular. In single-sex classes, during the adolescent years, pressure to conform to stereotypical female gender roles may disadvantage girls in traditionally male subjects, making them reluctant to volunteer for experimental work while taking part in lessons. In Britain, academic league tables point to high standards achieved in girls’ schools. Some educationalists, therefore, suggest segregation of the sexes as a good thing, particularly in certain areas, and a number of schools are experimenting with the idea.

The three phases of human memory are the sensory memory, the short-term memory, and the long- term memory. This division of the memory into phases is based on the length of time of the memory.

Sensory memory is instantaneous memory. It is an image or memory that enters your mind only for a short period of time; it comes and goes in under a second. The memory will not last longer than that unless the information enters the short-term memory.

Information can be held in the short-term memory for about twenty seconds or as long as you are actively using it. If you repeat a fact to yourself, that fact will stay in your short-term memory as long as you keep repeating it. Once you stop repeating it, either it is forgotten or it moves into long term memory.

Long-term memory is the huge memory tank that can hold ideas and images for years and years. Information can be added to your long-term memory when you actively try to put it there through memorization or when an idea or image enters your mind on its own.