1. While stepping back was difficult

　　for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices. (CET-4, 2007年12 月)Q: What’s the author’s advice for parents?

　　A) A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.

　　B) Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.

　　C) Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.

　　D) Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.

　　2. I headed off to college 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 genius and sensitive humanist (人文學者) all in one.

　　Now I’m not so sure. Some-where along the way my noble ideals crashed into reality, as all noble ideals eventually 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 (協調) engineering with liberal arts courses in college.

　　Q: The author’s experience shows that he was _______. (CET-4, 2001年1月)

　　A) creative B) ambitious C) unrealistic D) irrational

　　3. Today I research and teach at Barnard, a women’s college in New York City. Recently, some-one asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer, 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desire for children. And I don’t dismiss those concerns. Still, I don’t tell them "war"stories. Instead, I have given them this: the visual of their physics professor heavily pregnant doing physics experiments. And in turn they have given me the image of 45 women driven by a love of science. And that’s a sight worth talking about. (CET-4, 2007年6月)