12月大學英語四級仔細閱讀習題（四）答案

　　It is hard to predict howscience is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossibleto predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they are by definitionunknown in advance. You cannot make choices in this matter. You either havescience or you dont, and if you have it you are obliged to accept thesurprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat andpromptly useful bits.

　　The only solid piece ofscientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundlyignorant about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the pasthundred years of biology. It is, in its way, an illuminating piece of news.It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment to be told byany of us how little we know and how bewildering seems the wayahead. It is this sudden confrontation with the depth and scopeof ignorance that represents the most significant contribution of the 20th centuryscience to the human intellect. In earlier times, we either pretended tounderstand how things worked or ignored the problem, or simply made up storiesto fill the gaps. Now that we have begun exploring in earnest, we are gettingglimpses of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered.Because of this, we are depressed. It is not so bad being ignorant if you aretotally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality ofignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-bad spots, but no truelight at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted.

　　But we are making abeginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction. There are probably noquestions we can think up that cant be answered, sooner or later, includingeven the matter of consciousness. To be sure, there may well be questions wecant think up, ever, and therefore limits to the reach of human intellect, butthat is another matter. Within our limits, we should be able to work our waythrough to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention.

　　1. According to the author, really good science_______ .

　　A) wouldsurprise the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment

　　B) willproduce results which cannot be foreseen

　　C) will helppeople to make the right choice in advance

　　D) willbring about disturbing results

　　2. It can be inferred from the passage thatscientists of the 18th century .

　　A) thought that they knew a great deal andcould solve most problems of science

　　B) wereafraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research

　　C) knew thatthey were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature

　　D) did moreharm than good in promoting mans understanding of nature

　　3. Which of thefollowing statemcnts is NOT true of scientists in earlier times?

　　A) Theyinvented false theories to explain things they didnt understand.

　　B) Theyfalsely claimed to know all about nature.

　　C) They didnot believe in results from scientific observation.

　　D) They paidlittle attention to the problems they didnt understand.

　　4. What is theauthors attitude towards science?

　　A) He isdepressed because of the ignorance of scientists.

　　B) He isdoubtful because of the enormous difficulties confronting it.

　　C) He is confidentthough he is aware of the enormous difficulties confronting it.

　　D) He is delighted because of theilluminating scientific findings.

　　5. The authorbelieves that ______ .

　　A) man canfind solutions to whatever questions concerning nature he can think up

　　B) man can not solve all the problems he canthink up because of the limits of human intellect

　　C) sooner or later man canthink up all the questions concerning nature and answer them

　　D) questions concerningconsciousness are outside the scope of scientific research

　　1.B 推理題，答題依據在本文第1句：科學的前景如何?這個問題實難預測。如果是真正的科學，就不能進行預測。

　　2.A 推理題，答題依據在本文第2段前半部分。這一部分提到，我們對自然界所知甚少，作者認為這是過去一百年以來生物學的重大發(fā)現。從這一方面講，這是一個具有啟發(fā)意義的消息。如果18世紀最聰明的啟蒙運動者被告知我們現在是多么無知，多么對人類的未來感到茫然，他一定會驚訝不已。由此可以推斷，他們當時自認為所知很多，能夠解決大部分的科學問題。

　　3.C 設題區(qū)在第2段后半部分。A、B、D項在該部分都有涉及，只有C項沒有提到。

　　4.C 作者對科學所持的態(tài)度可以從本文最后兩句看出來：雖然他意識到科學面臨著巨大的困難，但還是很有信心。

　　5.A 推理題，依據見末段第2句：只要是人們能想到的問題，遲早都會得到解答。B項的意思是，由于人的智力有限，他并非能解決他能夠想到的所有問題，這與原文意思不符。

　　It is hard to predict howscience is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossibleto predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they are by definitionunknown in advance. You cannot make choices in this matter. You either havescience or you dont, and if you have it you are obliged to accept thesurprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat andpromptly useful bits.

　　The only solid piece ofscientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundlyignorant about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the pasthundred years of biology. It is, in its way, an illuminating piece of news.It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment to be told byany of us how little we know and how bewildering seems the wayahead. It is this sudden confrontation with the depth and scopeof ignorance that represents the most significant contribution of the 20th centuryscience to the human intellect. In earlier times, we either pretended tounderstand how things worked or ignored the problem, or simply made up storiesto fill the gaps. Now that we have begun exploring in earnest, we are gettingglimpses of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered.Because of this, we are depressed. It is not so bad being ignorant if you aretotally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality ofignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-bad spots, but no truelight at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted.

　　But we are making abeginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction. There are probably noquestions we can think up that cant be answered, sooner or later, includingeven the matter of consciousness. To be sure, there may well be questions wecant think up, ever, and therefore limits to the reach of human intellect, butthat is another matter. Within our limits, we should be able to work our waythrough to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention.

　　1. According to the author, really good science_______ .

　　A) wouldsurprise the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment

　　B) willproduce results which cannot be foreseen

　　C) will helppeople to make the right choice in advance

　　D) willbring about disturbing results

　　2. It can be inferred from the passage thatscientists of the 18th century .

　　A) thought that they knew a great deal andcould solve most problems of science

　　B) wereafraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research

　　C) knew thatthey were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature

　　D) did moreharm than good in promoting mans understanding of nature

　　3. Which of thefollowing statemcnts is NOT true of scientists in earlier times?

　　A) Theyinvented false theories to explain things they didnt understand.

　　B) Theyfalsely claimed to know all about nature.

　　C) They didnot believe in results from scientific observation.

　　D) They paidlittle attention to the problems they didnt understand.

　　4. What is theauthors attitude towards science?

　　A) He isdepressed because of the ignorance of scientists.

　　B) He isdoubtful because of the enormous difficulties confronting it.

　　C) He is confidentthough he is aware of the enormous difficulties confronting it.

　　D) He is delighted because of theilluminating scientific findings.

　　5. The authorbelieves that ______ .

　　A) man canfind solutions to whatever questions concerning nature he can think up

　　B) man can not solve all the problems he canthink up because of the limits of human intellect

　　C) sooner or later man canthink up all the questions concerning nature and answer them

　　D) questions concerningconsciousness are outside the scope of scientific research

　　1.B 推理題，答題依據在本文第1句：科學的前景如何?這個問題實難預測。如果是真正的科學，就不能進行預測。

　　2.A 推理題，答題依據在本文第2段前半部分。這一部分提到，我們對自然界所知甚少，作者認為這是過去一百年以來生物學的重大發(fā)現。從這一方面講，這是一個具有啟發(fā)意義的消息。如果18世紀最聰明的啟蒙運動者被告知我們現在是多么無知，多么對人類的未來感到茫然，他一定會驚訝不已。由此可以推斷，他們當時自認為所知很多，能夠解決大部分的科學問題。

　　3.C 設題區(qū)在第2段后半部分。A、B、D項在該部分都有涉及，只有C項沒有提到。

　　4.C 作者對科學所持的態(tài)度可以從本文最后兩句看出來：雖然他意識到科學面臨著巨大的困難，但還是很有信心。

　　5.A 推理題，依據見末段第2句：只要是人們能想到的問題，遲早都會得到解答。B項的意思是，由于人的智力有限，他并非能解決他能夠想到的所有問題，這與原文意思不符。