Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality (理性), but when it comes to my college education I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any reasonable student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, many famous professors and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that’s not what I did.
I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts (文科) university that doesn’t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my job. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by communicating with people who weren’t studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a wise choice. They told me I was wise and grown-up beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.
I headed off to the college and sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering "factories" where they didn’t care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical expert and excellent humanist all in one.
Now I’m not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideas crashed into reality, as all noble ideas finally do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.
The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don’t mix as easily as I supposed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult.
小题1:Why did the author choose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts university?
A．He intended to become an engineer and humanist.
B．He intended to be a reasonable student with noble ideals.
C．He wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality.
D．He wanted to communicate with liberal-arts students.小题2:According to the author, by communicating with people who study liberal arts, engineering students can ___________.
A．become noble idealists
B．broaden their knowledge
C．find a better job in the future
D．balance engineering and liberal arts小题3: Which word below can replace the underlined word “reconcile”?
A．confuse
B．compare
C．combine
D．compete小题4:The underlined sentence in 1st paragraph means ___________.
A．he has failed to achieve his ideal aims
B．he is not a practical and rational student
C．his choice of attending to a small liberal-arts university is reasonable
D．his idea of combining engineering with liberal - arts is noble and wise小题5: The author suggests in this passage that ___________.
A．liberal-arts students are supported to take engineering courses
B．technical experts with a wide vision are expected in the society
C．successful engineering students are more welcomed in the society
D．engineering universities with liberal-arts courses are needed
