1987年 Text 3

Part I 题目

 

   In science the meaning of the word “explain” suffers with civilization’s every step in search of reality. Science cannot really explain electricity, magnetism, and gravitation; their effects can be measured and predicted, but of their nature no more is known to the modern scientist than to Thales who first looked into the nature of the electrification of amber, a hard yellowish-brown gum.Most contemporary physicists reject the notion that man can ever discover what these mysterious forces “really” are.“Electricity,” Bertrand Russell says, “is not a thing, like St. Paul’s Cathedral; it is a way in which things behave.When we have told how things behave when they are electrified, and under what circumstances they are electrified, we have told all there is to tell.”Until recently scientists would have disapproved of such an idea. Aristotle, for example, whose natural science dominated Western thought for two thousand years, believed that man could arrive at an understanding of reality by reasoning from self-evident principles. He felt, for example, that it is a self-evident principle that everything in the universe has its proper place, hence one can deduce that objects fall to the ground because that’s where they belong, and smoke goes up because that’s where it belongs. The goal of Aristotelian science was to explain why things happen. Modern science was born when Galileo began trying to explain how things happen and thus originated the method of controlled experiment which now forms the basis of scientific investigation.

 

16. The aim of controlled scientific experiments is ________.

[A] to explain why things happen

[B] to explain how things happen

[C] to describe self-evident principles

[D] to support Aristotelian science

 

17. What principles most influenced scientific thought for two thousand years?

[A] the speculations of Thales

[B] the forces of electricity, magnetism, and gravity

[C] Aristotle’s natural science

[D] Galileo’s discoveries

 

18. Bertrand Russell’s notion about electricity is ________.

[A] disapproved of by most modern scientists

[B] in agreement with Aristotle’s theory of self-evident principles

[C] in agreement with scientific investigation directed toward “how” things happen

[D] in agreement with scientific investigation directed toward “why” things happen

 

19. The passage says that until recently scientists disagreed with the idea ________.

[A] that there are mysterious forces in the universe

[B] that man cannot discover what forces “really” are

[C] that there are self-evident principles

[D] that we can discover why things behave as they do

 

20. Modern science came into being ________.

[A] when the method of controlled experiment was first introduced

[B] when Galileo succeeded in explaining how things happen

[C] when Aristotelian scientist tried to explain why things happen

[D] when scientists were able to acquire an understanding of reality of reasoning

Part II 学习

【核心词汇】

magnetism ['mægnɪtɪz(ə)m] n. 磁性，磁力；磁学；吸引力

gravitation [grævɪ'teɪʃ(ə)n] n. 重力；万有引力；地心吸力

contemporary [kən'temp(ə)r(ər)ɪ] n. 同时代的人；同时期的东西adj. 当代的；同时代的；属于同一时期的

mysterious [mɪ'stɪərɪəs] adj. 神秘的；不可思议的；难解的

circumstances     n. 情况（circumstance的复数）；环境；情形

【参考译文】

①In science the meaning of the word “explain” suffers with civilization’s every step in search of reality. ②Science cannot really explain electricity, magnetism, and gravitation; their effects can be measured and predicted, but of their nature no more is known to the modern scientist than to Thales who first looked into the nature of the electrification of amber, a hard yellowish-brown gum. ③Most contemporary physicists reject the notion that man can ever discover what these mysterious forces “really” are. ④“Electricity,” Bertrand Russell says, “is not a thing, like St. Paul’s Cathedral; it is a way in which things behave. ⑤When we have told how things behave when they are electrified, and under what circumstances they are electrified, we have told all there is to tell.” ⑥ Until recently scientists would have disapproved o such an idea. ⑦Aristotle, for example, whose natural science dominated Western thought for two thousand years, believed that man could arrive at an understanding of reality by reasoning from self-evident principles. ⑦ He felt, for example, that it is a self-evident principle that everything in the universe has its proper place, hence one can deduce that objects fall to the ground because that’s where they belong, and smoke goes up because that’s where it belongs. ⑨The goal of Aristotelian science was to explain why things happen. （10）Modern science was born when Galileo began trying to explain how things happen and thus originated the method of controlled experiment which now forms the basis of scientific investigation.

 

① 在科学领域中，“解释”一词的的含义在承受来自于人类文明探索现实的进步所带来的压力。②科学无法真正解释电、磁及重力；我们可以测量并推断其效应，但对于其本质的了解，没有哪位现代科学家能够超越琥珀（一种坚硬的黄褐色橡胶）带电的首位研究者泰利斯。③当代物理学家大都否认“人类能够发现这些神秘力量‘到底’是什么”的理念。④伯特兰·罗素说“电不像圣保罗大教堂一样，是一种事物；它是事物行为的一种方式。⑤ 当我们说出了，当物质带电时，他们是如何作用的,以及在什么情况下他们是带电的,我们已经说出了所有能讲出的事情=我们所能断言的全部就是事物带电后的行为及其带电的环境”⑥不久以前，科学家们还不赞同这种观点（人类不能发现这些神秘力量的本质）。⑦例如，其自然科学主导西方研究两千年的亚里士多德认为，人类能够通过推理不证自明的原理，达到对现实的了解。⑧比如，他认为，“宇宙万物皆有其位”是一条不证自明的原理，由此可以推断，物体下落是因为它们属于地面，烟雾上升是因为它属于天空。⑨亚里士多德科学的目的是解释事情为什么会发生，当伽利略试图解释事情如何得以发生的，从而引入了现在已是科学研究基本形式的控制实验法时，现代科学应运而生了。

【试题精解】

 

21.The aim of controlled scientific experiments is ________.

21．控制科学实验的目的是______。

[A] to explain why things happen

[A] 解释事情为什么发生

[B] to explain how things happen

[B] 解释事情如何发生

[C] to describe self-evident principles

[C] 描述不证自明的原理

[D] to support Aristotelian science

[D] 支持亚里士多德科学

【题型】细节题

【答案】B

【解析】根据题干关键点controlled scientific experiments将答案锁定在文章最后一句。该句指出，当伽利略试图解释事情如何得以发生之时，这一内容便产生（originated）了，即实验的产生解释了事情如何发生。则由此可知，B选项为正确选项。

A选项中的“why”在原文中是亚里士多德科学的目的，但不是题干中询问的对象的目的，所以排除。C选项利用原文“self-evident principles”进行干扰，与目的和题干的关键点都没有关联性，故排除。D选项同样利用原文内容进行干扰，故不能选择。

 

22.What principles most influenced scientific thought for two thousand years?

22．两千年来，对科学思想影响最大的原理是______。

[A] the speculations of Thales

[A] 泰利斯推测

[B] the forces of electricity, magnetism, and gravity

[B] 电、磁、重力等力量

[C] Aristotle’s natural science

[C] 亚里士多德的自然科学

[D] Galileo’s discoveries

[D] 伽利略的发现

【题型】细节题

【答案】C

【解析】题干中关键点“two thousand years”在第七句中出现。该句用“dominate”说明了亚里士多德的科学地位。即“支配”一词恰好看作题干中“most”的同义内容，所以C选项“亚里士多德”的内容符合原文，应为正确选项。

A选项的人物出现在第二句，但是不符合题干中的“two thousand years”的表达，故排除。B选项的内容也是出现在第二句，但是不符合题干。D选项的内容则出现在最后一句，但不符合题干要求，故也予以排除。

 

 

23.Bertrand Russell’s notion about electricity is ________.

23．伯特兰·罗素关于电的理念______。

[A] disapproved of by most modern scientists

[A] 为大多数现代科学家所否认

[B] in agreement with Aristotle’s theory of self-evident principles

[B] 和亚里士多德的不证自明原理理论相一致

[C] in agreement with scientific investigation directed toward “how” things happen

[C] 和旨在解释事情“如何”发生的科学研究相一致

[D] in agreement with scientific investigation directed toward “why” things happen

[D] 和旨在解释事情“为什么”发生的科学研究相一致

【题型】细节题

【答案】C

【解析】根据题干的关键点“Bertrand Russell”将答案锁定在第四句。该句描述了罗素对于电的解释：电不是一种物质，而是物质的一种行为方式。后一句在其基础上进一步给出说明，所以“how things behave when they are electrified”应该被理解为对how things happen的具体阐述，故C选项正确，同时排除D选项。

A选项是利用前文中的“现代物理学家”和后文中的“不认同”，拼凑的选项内容，故排除。B选项中“亚里士多德”在后文中是作为古代的代表出现，其“不证自明的原理理论”与伯特兰·罗素没有联系，故排除。

 

24.The passage says that until recently scientists disagreed with the idea ________.

24．本文提到，直到最近，科学家开始不同意____的观点。

[A] that there are mysterious forces in the universe

[A] 宇宙中存在神秘力量

[B] that man cannot discover what forces “really” are

[B] 人类无法发现力量“到底”是什么

[C] that there are self-evident principles

[C] 确实存在不证自明原理

[D] that we can discover why things behave as they do

[D] 我们能够发现事物为什么表现出特定的行为

【题型】细节题

【答案】B

【解析】题干中的关键点“until recently scientists”出现在第六句。该句说明，科学家只是最近才开始同意“such an idea”。对“such an idea”的理解就成了本题的解题关键。“such”应该是对上文的指代，则解题重点应在上文中。在本段第三句出现了“idea”的同义词“notion”，故可以该句作为解题重点。在本句中，当代科学家是拒绝“man can ever discover what these mysterious forces “really” are”这一观点的, 而题干中“until recently”作为句子状语，这种“直到最近地不同意”就是在说科学家在“过去”与当代现代科学家观点之间的区别。即在过去，科学家们应该不同意这些现代的科学家的观点。第三句的“notion”内容实际上就是第六句中的“idea”，只是当代科学家所“reject”，就应该是“过去”科学家们所同意的。结合以上的分析，可将B选项的内容与题干连接，构成一个双重否定结构，从而表达“直到最近以前，科学家是同意人类能够发现力量“到底”是什么的观点”的含义。符合文意，为正确选项。

A选项中“神秘力量”，无论是当代科学家，还是“直到最近地”科学家的观点中，都有该内容。但在原文中，说明科学家们的争论内容不是在于选项中“there be”所表达的“有无”，而是人类与其的关系，故排除。C选项中“self-evident principles”的内容是文中亚里士多德的观点。而亚里士多德的观点明显是科学家在过去所持有的观点，不是题干中不同意的内容，因此予以排除。D选项的内容是罗素的观点，其属于当代科学家的观点内容，并不是题干中不同意的内容，因此也予以排除。

 

25.Modern science came into being ________.

25．现代科学形成于____时。

[A] when the method of controlled experiment was first introduced

[A] 最初引入控制实验法

[B] when Galileo succeeded in explaining how things happen

[B] 伽利略成功地解释事情如何发生

[C] when Aristotelian scientist tried to explain why things happen

[C] 亚里士多德派科学家试图解释为何事情会发生时

[D] when scientists were able to acquire an understanding of reality of reasoning

[D] 科学家通过推理了解了现实

【题型】细节题

【答案】A

【解析】关键点“Modern science”出现在本文最后一句中。该句用定语从句说明了现代科学形成于伽利略引入控制实验法以试图解释事情如何发生之时，所以A选项为正确选项。

B选项利用伽利略作为干扰，但是在原文中只是提及“trying”，即为尝试，而选项中的“succeeded”为成功，与原文不一致，因此予以排除。C选项中的亚里士多德的内容没有出现在关键点出现的句子中，其内容明显不是现代科学家的观点，而是两千年来的“支配”性内容，不符合题干要求，故排除。D选项中的“reasoning”的内容也是亚里士多德的观点内容，也予以排除。