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Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Scientists, like other human beings, have their hopes and fears, their passions and disappointments and their strong emotions may sometimes interrupt the course of clear thinking and sound practice. But science is also self-correcting. The most fundamental principles and conclusions may be challenged. The steps in a reasoned argument must be set out for all to see.
Experiments must be capable of being carried out by other scientists. The history of science is full of cases where previously accepted theories have been entirely overthrown, to be replaced by new ideas which more adequately explain the data.
While there is an understandable inertia-usually lasting about one generation-such revolution in scientific thought are widely accepted as a necessary and desirable element of scientific progress. Indeed, the reasoned criticism of a prevailing belief is a service to the supporters of that belief; if they are incapable of defending it, they are well-advised to abandon it. This self-questioning and error-correcting aspect of the scientific method is its most striking property and sets it off from many other areas of human endeavor, such as religion and fine arts.
The idea of science as a method rather than as a body of knowledge is not widely appreciated outside of science, or indeed in some corridors inside of science. Vigorous criticism is constructive in science more than in some other areas of human endeavor because in it there are adequate standards of validity which can be agreed upon by competent scientists the world over.
The objective of such criticism is not to suppress but rather to encourage the advance of new ideas: those which survive a firm skeptical (怀疑的) examination have a fighting chance of being right, or at least useful.
31. Science is self-correcting because its theories ________.
A) have to be revised constantly to conform with ideas which explain the data better
B) have reflected the most fundamental principles of nature
C) are, more often than not, based on inadequate data
D) must be set out for all to see
32. It can be learned from the context that the word “inertia” (Para. 2, Line 1) most probably means ________.
A) strong resolution
B) unwillingness to change
C) a period of time
D) prevailing belief
33. The “revolution in scientific thought” (Para. 2, Lind 2) refers to ________.
A) acceptance of the reasoned criticisms of prevailing scientific theories
B) the continuous overthrow of existing scientific theories
C) the adequate explanation of the data in prevailing scientific theories
D) the major discoveries that represent breakthroughs in the history of scientific progress
34. The author says that the most striking property of the scientific method is its self-questioning and error-correcting aspect, because it is this aspect that ________.
A) is indispensable to the advance of science
B) is most widely appreciated by scientists
C) helps scientists to abandon anything they cannot defend
D) sets science off from many other areas of human endeavor
35. The word “it” (Para. 3, Line 4) refers to “________.”
A) vigorous criticism
B) scientific method
C) human endeavor
D) science
Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.
My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenues in New York City was immediate and definite: “You won’t catch me putting my money in there!” he declared. “Not in that glass box!”
Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money.
In his generation money was thought of as a real commodity (实物) that could be carried, or stolen. Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a building’s design made it appear impenetrable the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol dwelt in the prevailing attitude toward money.
But that attitude toward money has of course changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit.
A deficit (赤字) economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as a product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service
-a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavy-walled hank.
Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of its imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion (人们的说法) begins.
36. The main idea of this passage is that ________.
A) money is not as valuable as it was in the past
B) changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept or banks
C) the architectural style of the older bank is superior to that of the modern bank
D) prejudice makes the older generation think that the modern bank is unreliable
37. What are the attitudes of the older generation and the younger generation toward money?
A) The former thinks more of it than the latter.
B) The younger generation values money more than the older generation.
C) Both generations rely on the imaginative power of bankers to make money.
D) The former regards it as a real commodity while the latter considers it to be a means to produce more money.
38. The word “tangible” (Para. 4 Line 3) refers to something ________.
A) that is precious
B) that is usable
C) that can be touched
D) that can be reproduced
39. According to this passage, a modern banker should be ________.
A) ambitious and friendly
B) reliable and powerful
C) sensible and impenetrable
D) imaginative and creative
40. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s attitude towards the new trend in banking is ________.
A) cautious
B) regretful
C) positive
D) hostile
