2. 外语
  3. It is hard to predict how science is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossible to predict. If the thi

It is hard to predict how science is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossible to predict. If the thi

admin2008-10-11  42
问题    It is hard to predict how science is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossible to predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they are by definition unknown in advance. You cannot make choices in this matter. You either have science or you don’t, and if you have it you are obliged to accept the surprising and disturbing pieces of informantion, along with the neat and promptly useful bits.
   The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the past hundred 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 by any of us how little we know and how bewildering seems the way ahead. It is this sudden confrontation with the depth and scope of ignorance that represents the most significant contribution of the 20th century science and the human intellect, In earlier times, we either pretended to understand how things worked or ignored the problem, or simply made up stories to fill the gaps. Now that we have begun exploring in earnest, we are getting glimpses of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered. Be- cause of this, we are depressed. It is not so bad being ignorant if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality of ignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-bad spots, but no true light at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted but we are making a beginning and there ought to be some satisfaction. There are probably no questions we call think up that can’t be answered, sooner or later, including even the matter of consciousness.  To be sure, there may well be questions we can’t think up, ever, and therefore limits to the reach of human intellect, but that is another matter. Within our limits, we should be able to work our way through to all our answers if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention.
It can be inferred from the passage that scientists of the 18th century ______.
选项 A、thought that they knew a great deal and could solve most problems of science
B、did no more than good in promoting man’s understanding of nature
C、knew that they were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature
D、were afraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research
答案A
解析 从第2段“It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century...be told...how little we know and how bewildering seems the way ahead”可以看出18世纪的科学家自以为了解很多，所以听说现代人类觉得无知迷茫会觉得惊奇。
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