Before the 1850’s, the United States had a number of small colleges, most of them dating from colonial days. They were small, church connected institutions whose primary concern was to shape the moral character of their students.
Throughout Europe, institutions of higher learning had developed, bearing the ancient name of university. In German university was concerned primarily with creating and spreading knowledge, not morals. Between mid—century and the end of the 1800's, more than nine thousand young Americans, dissatisfied with their training at home, went to Germany for advanced study. Some of them return to become presidents of famous colleges—Harvard, Yale, Columbia-- and transform them into modern universities. The new presidents broke all ties with the churches and brought in a new kind of educational mind. Professors were hired for their knowledge of a subject, not because they were of the proper faith and had a strong arm for disciplining students. The new principle was that a university was to create knowledge as well as pass it on, and this called for teacher—scholars. Learning by repeating it again and again were replaced by the German method of lecturing, in which the professor's own research was presented in class. Graduate training leading to the PhD, an ancient German degree representing the highest level of advanced scholarly achievement, was introduced. With the establishment of the seminar system, graduate student learned to question, analyze, and conduct their own research.
At the same time, the new university greatly expanded in size and course offerings, breaking completely out of the old, constricted lessons of maths, classics, rhetoric, and music. The president of Harvard pioneered the elective system, by which students were able to choose their own course of study. The idea of major field of study emerged. The new goal was to make the university relevant to the real goals of the world. Paying close attention to the practical needs of society, the new universities trained men and women also trained to work at its tasks, with engineering students being the most characteristic of the new rules. Students were also trained as economists, architects, agriculturalists, social welfare workers, and teachers.
9. We can learn from the passage that___
A. the primary concerns of the colleges in both America and German are the same
B. it is the development of institutions of higher learning that bore the ancient name of university in the USA.
C. a complete knowledge system had already existed before universities came into being in German
D. The universities in the US originally focused on moral education before the 1850's.
10. Which of the following if TRUE according to the passage?
A. More than nine thousand young Americans went to Germany for advanced study totally up till now.
B. Presidents of Harvard, Yale, Columbia are Germany.
C. Before the transformation of the America universities, professors are hired because they were of the proper faith and had a strong arm for discipline students.
D. Thanks to the introduction of the PhD degree, graduate student learned to question, analyze, and conduct their own research.
11. What is the possible meaning of the underlined word “emerged”in paragraph 3?
A. came up B. passed away C. continued D. stopped
12. Which is the best title for the passages?
A. The Contribution of German Universities
B. Brief Introduction of American University Development
C. Great Presidents of Harvard, Yale, Columbia
D. The Relation of Germany and American Universities
9-12 DCAB
