文章取自于2003年6月的阅读真题，是关于大学教学方式方面的文章，选段有点长，希望耐心看下，自己先猜下划线部分单词的意思吧

　　[文章部分]

　　The cult (推崇) of lecturing dully, like the cult of writing dully, goes back, of course, some years. Edward Shils, professor of sociology, recalls the professors he encountered at the University of Pennsylvania in his youth. They seemed “a priesthood, rather uneven in their merits but uniform in their bearing; they never referred to anything personal. Some read from old lecture notes and then haltingly explained the thumb-worn last lines. Others lectured from cards that had served for years, to judge by the worn edges ....The teachers began on time, ended on time, and left the room without saying a word more to their students, very seldom being detained by questioners .... The classes were not large, yet there was no discussion. No questions were raised in class, and there were no office hours.”

　　[单词学习]

　　dully adv.钝地, 不清楚地, 迟钝地

　　encounter v.遭遇, 遇到, 相遇

　　priesthood n.教士, 僧侣, 神父

　　merit n.优点, 价值 v.有益于

　　haltingly ad.迟疑不决地;吞吞吐吐地

　　[课后作业]

　　1.The cult (推崇) of lecturing dully, like the cult of writing dully, goes back, of course, some years.

　　2.One rainy night the policeman had a chance encounter with a gang of smugglers.

　　3.What do you think about your merit and demerit? Can you give some example? 　　

        4.Some read from old lecture notes and then haltingly explained the thumb-worn last lines.

　　参考答案如下：

　　1.自然，那种对枯燥教学法的推崇，就像对枯燥文章的推崇，这几年又回来了。

　　2.在一个雨夜,那个警察正巧碰上了一伙走私犯。

　　3.你认为你的优点和缺点是什么？能举例说明下么

　　4.一些老师读着旧讲稿，吞吞吐吐地解释着（旧讲稿里）破损的最后几行字。