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  3. Children’s enthusiasm for dinosaurs and space rockets could lead them into eminent(杰出的)careers if only Britain had more decent s

Children’s enthusiasm for dinosaurs and space rockets could lead them into eminent(杰出的)careers if only Britain had more decent s

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问题     Children’s enthusiasm for dinosaurs and space rockets could lead them into eminent(杰出的)careers if only Britain had more decent science teachers, the astronomer royal has said.
    Sir Martin Rees, a cosmologist(宇宙学家), astrophysicist(天体物理学家)and Cambridge academic, said generations of children were being failed and schools must do better. "Today, children are captivated by science, whether it’s dinosaurs, tadpoles(蝌蚪)or space. But then that spark is often lost, rather than nourished, because many schools don’t have a single teacher who is passionate about physics or maths. ""What’s especially sad is how many bright youngsters fail to qualify for university because they’ve been unlucky in their schooling," Sir Martin told the Sunday Times.
    Sir Martin was appointed astronomer royal in 1995. He was master of Trinity College, Cambridge until 2012 and is still involved with the university although "quasi-retired". "I advise students that it’s better to read first-rate science fiction than second-rate science. It is more stimulating and no more likely to be wrong. ""Science fiction is seldom fine literature but the concepts and ideas are fascinating, even visionary."
    His comments on nurturing young children’s passion for science echo those of David Willetts, the former science and universities minister, who said in his first keynote speech in that post: "There are two things that get kids into science—dinosaurs and space. Well, dinosaurs are the past, and space is the future."
    Mr. Willetts was mocked for his comments. One blogger, a lecturer in biology at a further education college, said the minister’s words were "at best, simplistic and naive, and at worst, downright(显而易见的)patronizing(以高人一等的态度对待)to the students... I teach a lot of refugees and immigrants in my GCSE classes—very few of them know what dinosaurs are. Yet many will make excellent scientists."
    A 2013 Ofsted report was highly critical of science teaching in schools, finding that many pupils are denied the opportunity to carry out practical experiments. Engaging science lessons are now largely the preserve of fee-paying schools, the report concluded, saying that in many state schools "opportunities for illustrative and investigative scientific enquiry were limited, and so was the achievement of students".
    The study found that some primary schools staged one-off "science days". It also noted that secondary school teachers "often do not see the need" to teach practical science skills because it is possible to pass a GCSE examination without them. This leads to too many pupils being "poorly prepared for any science learning or for any job that involves science".
Why does Sir Martin recommend reading science fiction?
选项 A、Because it is first-rate creations.
B、Because it is fine literature.
C、Because it cultivates interest.
D、Because it contains novel ideas.
答案C
解析 细节题。由题干中的science fiction定位至第三段。由该段第三、四句可知，马丁爵士建议学生读科幻小说的原因是因为它"more stimulating"，再联系上段中他对教师们扼杀学生热情的批评，可知他在此处提及科幻小说是因为它可以培养兴趣，激发热情，故[C]为答案。
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