The remarkable progress of science and technology in the 20th century has brought enormous benefits to humankind. Long and healt

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问题     The remarkable progress of science and technology in the 20th century has brought enormous benefits to humankind. Long and healthy lives, economic prosperity and a pleasant and convenient living environment have resulted from technological progress based on advances in scientific knowledge. This progress will continue or may even accelerate in the future, because both the number of scientists and their activities are expanding throughout the world. We may expect, therefore, that science and technology will continue to contribute to the development of human society.
    At the same time, rapid scientific advances may raise some difficult problems. First of all, the disparity in scientific knowledge between those in scientific and technical professions and those in other areas will continuously expand. This may create a communications gap between the two groups that could affect obtaining public consent on important issues, such as the use of genetically engineered plants or human embryonic stem cells. Secondly, the 21st century will be characterized by a knowledge-based society and a knowledge of science will be required for many professions. Those who lack scientific knowledge will have fewer opportunities for good jobs. Thirdly, the enormous increase in scientific information will become a burden for children who must study science. Already young people seem to be losing interest in science, and this trend may increase in the future. Over the past several years, enrollment in high-school physics courses in Japan has been decreasing, which suggests that many young people are losing interest in physics or avoiding subjects that require diligent study. Finally, scientific research in the next century will require increasing levels of public investment because sophisticated research is usually expensive. If the public loses interest in science or does not understand the importance of research, it will become difficult for scientists to obtain sufficient financial support.
    Because of these considerations, I think that we need to carefully review present science education at different levels and to improve it in order to meet the expected rapid progress of science in the 21st century. At the level of primary education, the most important task is to stimulate children’s interest in nature. Naive surprise at the wonders of nature will hopefully lead to a later interest in science. During their secondary education, students must learn logic and the principles of natural phenomena. They will gradually separate into groups of those who like and those who dislike science. It will be difficult to provide the latter students with the scientific basics that would be useful throughout their lives. This is also the case in university education.
    It is becoming a goal of general university education to give students who are not majoring in natural science and engineering some level of scientific literacy. In the future, all citizens, especially those expected to lead diverse areas of society should have a sound basis for understanding the progress of science. Because the pace of progress will accelerate further, continuing science education for the public is also of great importance.
The best title for the passage might be "_____".

选项 A、Science and Technology in the 21st Century
B、Science Education for the Public
C、Scientific Advances and Ensuing Problems
D、The Goal of Primary, Secondary and Higher Education

答案B

解析 这是一道主旨题。文章第一段指出:科学的进步为人类创造了无数的财富。第二段说明了科技的迅速发展可能引发的几个问题。第三段指出:我们有必要重新认真审视当前不同层次的科学教育状况,并分别说明了这些教育状况。文章最后一段指出:所有公民都应该有一个坚实的科学文化基础,以便理解科学的进步,因为科学进步的步伐将进一步加快,所以对公众实施继续科学教育十分重要。这说明,本文主要讲的是公众的科学教育问题。B说“面向公众的科学教育”,这可以表达文章的主题。“21世纪的科技”只是文中提到的一个细节,不能表达文章的中心意思,所以A不对。“科学进步以及随后引发的问题”只是文章第二段的重点,也不能表达文章的中心意思,所以C不对。“小学、中学以及高等教育的目的”只是文章第三段的重点,也不能表达文章的中心意思,所以D也不对。
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