北京大学博士英语真题2003年

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C

18.

______ the passage of light, many new plastics are processed using

technologies rivaling those used in the manufacture of computer chips.

A For the better of

B Permitting better

C To better permit

D It is better for

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A

19.

The Flower Market in San Francisco is ______, and it was established in

the 1930's.

A home of the second largest flower market in the country

B home to the country's second largest flower market

C the second flower market in the country's home

D the home to the second country's large flower market

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B

20.

The

loyalty

of

dogs

to

their

masters

has

earned

______

best

friend

A the nickname of

B them the nickname

C a nickname

D nicknames

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B

Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

Section A

Directions:

Each

of

the

passages

is

followed

by

some

questions.

For

each

question

four answers are given. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer

to each question. Put your choice in the ANSWER SHEET.

Passage One

(1) Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so

far as to declare that

accomplished.

thing remaining for daring intellectual adventurers to whittle away at

Feinberg, for one, thought that

(2) It was a point worth considering. How many times in the past had

certain

things

been

said

to

be

impossible,

only

to

have

it

turn

out

shortly

thereafter that the item

in question had

already been done

or soon

would

be.

What

greater

cliche

was

there

in

the

history

of

science

than

the

comic

litany

of

false

it- couldn't-be-dones;

the

infamous

case

of

Auguste

Comte

saying in 1844 that it would never be known what the stars were made of,

followed in a few years by the spectroscope being applied to starlight

to reveal the stars' chemical composition; or the case of Lord

Rutherford, the

man

who

discovered

the

structure

of

the

atom,

saying

in

1933

mat

dreams

of

controlled

nuclear

fission

were

And

those

weren't even the worst examples. No, the huffiest of all

it-couldn't-be-done

claims

centered

on

the

notion

that

human

beings

could

actually fly, either at all, or across long distances, or to the moon,

the stars, or wherever else.

(3) There had been so many embarrassments of this type that about

mid-century

Arthur

C.

Clarke

came

out

with

a

guideline

for

avoiding

them,

which

he

termed

Clarke's

Law:

a

distinguished

but

elderly

scientist

states

that

something

is

possible,

he

is

almost

certainly

right.

When

he

states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

(4) Still, one had to admit there were lots of things left that were

really and truly impossible,

even if it

took some ingenuity

in coming up

with

a

proper

list

of

examples.

Such

as.

camel

cannot

pass

through

the

eye of a needle.

On

(Well, unless of course it was a revolving door.)

(5)

Indeed,

watertight

examples

of

the

really

and

truly

impossible

were

so exceptionally hard to come by that paradigm cases turned out to be

either

trivial

or

absurd.

know

I

will

never

play

the

piano

like

Vladimir

Horowitz,

try

Or,

from

Scott

Lankford,

a

mountaineer

on

roller

skates.

21.

The false it- couldn't-be-dones in science are comic because ______.

A they are cliches, repeated too often by scientists

B they are almost always proved to be wrong by later scientific

research

C they are mocked at by later generations

D they provide material for good comedies

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B

22.

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A The author uses the case of a camel passing through the eye of a

needle to prove his point that there are things impossible to accomplis

B That

a

scientist

cannot

play

the

piano

like

one

of

the

best

pianists

is not a proper illustration to prove that in science there are things

impossible to accomplis

C Scott

Lankford

challenges

the

idea

that

mountaineers

can

never

climb

the Everest on roller skate

D People now

laugh at their

predecessors

for denying the

possibility

of human fligh

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B

23.

Through this passage, the author wants to ______.

A show us that scientists in the past years have made a lot of

misjudgments

B praise those scientists who dared to challenge the impossible

C emphasize the great potential of the scientific research made by

human beings

D analyze what

is possible and

what

is impossible through

scientific

efforts

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C

Passage Two

(1) Since the lineage of investigative journalism is most directly

traceable

to

the

progressive

era

of

the

early

1900's,

it

is

not

surprising

that the President of the United States at the time was among the first

to articulate its political dimensions. Theodore Roosevelt called

investigative reporters

Bunyan's

Pilgrim's

Progress

who

humbly

cleaned

filth

off

the

floor.

Despite the misgivings implied by the comparison, Roosevelt saw the

muckrakers as

(2)

There

are

in

the

body

politic,

economic

and

social,

many

and

grave

evils,

and

there

is

urgent

necessity

for

the

sternest

war

upon

them.

There

should

be

relentless exposure

of

and

attack

upon

every

evil

man,

whether

politician or businessman.

(3) Roosevelt recognized the value-laden character of investigative

journalism. He perceived correctly that investigative reporters are

committed to unearthing wrongdoing. For these journalists, disclosures

of

morally

outrageous

conduct

maximize

the

opportunity

for

the

forces

of

(4) So, the current folklore surrounding investigative reporting

closely resembles the American ideal of popular democracy. Partly a

product of its muckraking roots, this idealized perspective is also an

outgrowth of the commonly perceived effects of exposes published in the

early

1970's.

The

most

celebrated

of

these

exposes

were

the

news

stories

that

linked

top

White

House

officials

to

Watergate

crimes.

These

stories

were widely held responsible for the public's loss of confidence in the

Nixon administration, ultimately forcing the President's resignation.

24.

When

the

author

talks

about

the

political

dimensions

of

the

investigative

journalism he refers to ______.

A John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and one of its characters

B its function of cleaning the dirt off the floor in public places