37. The article was written to explain _________.
○A. the greenhouse effect
○B(yǎng). the solar effects on the earth
○C. the models of solar-weather in traction’s
○D. the causes affecting weather
38. Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere, temperatures there seem to be falling. This is ________.
○A. mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising
○B(yǎng). possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting
○C. exclusively due to the effect of the inertia of the earth’s climate
○D. partly due to variations in the output of solar energy
39. On the basis of their models, scientists are of the opinion that __________.
○A. the climate of the world should be becoming cooler
○B(yǎng). it will take thousands of years for the inertia of the earth’s climate to take effect
○C. the man-made warming effect helps to increase the solar effects
○D. the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect
40. If the assumption about the delay of a new Ice Age is correct, __________.
○A. the best way to overcome the cooling effect would be to burn more fuels
○B(yǎng). ice would soon cover the northern hemisphere
○C. the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could warm up the earth even more quickly
○D. the greenhouse effect could work to the advantage of the earth
Passage 2
For me, scientific knowledge is divided into mathematical sciences, natural sciences or sciences dealing with the natural world (physical and biological sciences), and sciences dealing with mankind (psychology, sociology, all the sciences of cultural achievements, every kind of historical knowledge). Apart from these sciences is philosophy, about which we will talk later. In the first place, all this is pure or theoretical knowledge, sought only for the purpose of understanding, in order to fulfill the need to understand what is intrinsic (內在的) and consubstantial (同體的) to man. What distinguishes man from animal is that he knows and needs to know. If man did not know that the world existed, and that the world was of a certain kind, that he was in the world and that he himself was of a certain kind, he wouldn’t be man. The technical aspects or applications of knowledge are equally necessary for man and are of the great importance, because they also contribute to defining him as man and permit him to pursue a life increasingly more truly human.
But even while enjoying the results of technical progress, he must defend the primacy (第一位)and autonomy of pure knowledge. Knowledge sought directly for its practical applications will have immediate and foreseeable success, but not the kind of important result whose revolutionary scope is in large part unforeseen, except by the imagination of the Utopians (空想家). Let me recall a well-known example. If the Greek mathematicians had not applied themselves to the investigation of conic (圓椎形的) sections, zealously and without the least suspicion that it might someday be useful, it would not have been possible centuries later to navigate far from shore. The first men to study the nature of electricity could not imagine that their experiments, carried on because of mere intellectual curiosity, would eventually lead to modern electrical technology, without which we can scarcely conceive of contemporary life. Pure knowledge is valuable for its own sake, because the human spirit cannot resign itself to ignorance. But, in addition, it is the foundation for practical results that would not have been reached if this knowledge had not been sought disinterestedly (公正無私地).
41. The most important advances made by mankind come from __________.
○A. technical applications
○B(yǎng). apparently useless information
○C. the natural sciences
○D. philosophy
○A. the greenhouse effect
○B(yǎng). the solar effects on the earth
○C. the models of solar-weather in traction’s
○D. the causes affecting weather
38. Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere, temperatures there seem to be falling. This is ________.
○A. mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising
○B(yǎng). possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting
○C. exclusively due to the effect of the inertia of the earth’s climate
○D. partly due to variations in the output of solar energy
39. On the basis of their models, scientists are of the opinion that __________.
○A. the climate of the world should be becoming cooler
○B(yǎng). it will take thousands of years for the inertia of the earth’s climate to take effect
○C. the man-made warming effect helps to increase the solar effects
○D. the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect
40. If the assumption about the delay of a new Ice Age is correct, __________.
○A. the best way to overcome the cooling effect would be to burn more fuels
○B(yǎng). ice would soon cover the northern hemisphere
○C. the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could warm up the earth even more quickly
○D. the greenhouse effect could work to the advantage of the earth
Passage 2
For me, scientific knowledge is divided into mathematical sciences, natural sciences or sciences dealing with the natural world (physical and biological sciences), and sciences dealing with mankind (psychology, sociology, all the sciences of cultural achievements, every kind of historical knowledge). Apart from these sciences is philosophy, about which we will talk later. In the first place, all this is pure or theoretical knowledge, sought only for the purpose of understanding, in order to fulfill the need to understand what is intrinsic (內在的) and consubstantial (同體的) to man. What distinguishes man from animal is that he knows and needs to know. If man did not know that the world existed, and that the world was of a certain kind, that he was in the world and that he himself was of a certain kind, he wouldn’t be man. The technical aspects or applications of knowledge are equally necessary for man and are of the great importance, because they also contribute to defining him as man and permit him to pursue a life increasingly more truly human.
But even while enjoying the results of technical progress, he must defend the primacy (第一位)and autonomy of pure knowledge. Knowledge sought directly for its practical applications will have immediate and foreseeable success, but not the kind of important result whose revolutionary scope is in large part unforeseen, except by the imagination of the Utopians (空想家). Let me recall a well-known example. If the Greek mathematicians had not applied themselves to the investigation of conic (圓椎形的) sections, zealously and without the least suspicion that it might someday be useful, it would not have been possible centuries later to navigate far from shore. The first men to study the nature of electricity could not imagine that their experiments, carried on because of mere intellectual curiosity, would eventually lead to modern electrical technology, without which we can scarcely conceive of contemporary life. Pure knowledge is valuable for its own sake, because the human spirit cannot resign itself to ignorance. But, in addition, it is the foundation for practical results that would not have been reached if this knowledge had not been sought disinterestedly (公正無私地).
41. The most important advances made by mankind come from __________.
○A. technical applications
○B(yǎng). apparently useless information
○C. the natural sciences
○D. philosophy