北京师范大学考博英语真题回顾

4

Inscience the meaning of the word “explain” suffers with civilization’s everystep in search of reality. Science can not really explain electricity,magnetism, and gravitation; their effects can be measured and predicted, but oftheir nature no more is known to the modern scientist than to Thales who firstspeculated on the electrification of amber. Most contemporary physicists rejectthe notion that man can ever discover what these mysterious forces “really”are. Electricity, Bertrand Russell says, “is not a thing, like St. Paul’sCathedral; it is a way in which things behave. When we have told how thingsbehave when they are electrified, we have told all thee is to tell.” Until recentlyscientists would have disapproved of such an idea. Aristotle, for example,whose natural science dominated Western thought for two thousand years,believed that man could arrive at an understanding of reality by reasoning fromself-evident principles. He felt, for example, that it is a self-evidentprinciple that everything in the universe has its proper place, hence one canconclude that objects fall to the ground because that is where they belong, andsmoking goes up because that is where it belongs. The goal of Aristotelianscience was to explain why things happen. Modern science was born when Galileobegan trying to explain how things happen and thus originated the method ofcontrolled experiment which now forms the basis of scientific investigation.

31. The aim of controlled scientificexperiments is .

A. to explain why things happen

B. to explain how things happen

C. to describe self-evident principles

D. to support Aristotelian science

32. what principles most influencedscientific thought for two thousand years?

A. The speculations of Thales

B. The forces of electricity, magnetism,and gravity

C. Aristotle’s natural science

D. Galileo’s discoveries

33. Bertrand Russell’s notion aboutelectricity is .

A. disapproved of by most modern scientists

B. in agreement with Aristotle’s theory ofself-evident principles

C. in agreement with scientificinvestigation directed toward “how” things happen

D. in agreement with scientificinvestigation directed toward “why ” things happen

34. The passage says that until recentlyscientists disagreed with the idea .

A. that there are mysterious forces in theuniverse

B. that man can not discover what forces “really”are

C. that there are self-evident principles

D. that we can discover why things behaveas they do

35. Which of the following is the topicmost likely to be discussed right after the passage?

A. The most recent definition of “explain”

B. The relationship between science andreligion

C. The limitations of science

D. Galileo and the birth of modern science.

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Someweeks ago, riding in a cab from Boston to Cambridge, my driver turned and askedme what I did for a living . “Teach English”, I said. “Is that so? ” The youngman continued. “I was an English major” But then, instead of chatting idlyabout Joyce or dropping the subject altogether, this driver caught me short. “Youguys,” he said, turning back so that his furry face pressed into the glasspartition, “ought to be shot” I think he meant it .

Theguilty party in this present state of affairs is not really the academicdiscipline. It is not the fault of English and philosophy and biology thatengineering and accounting and computer science afford students better jobopportunities and increased flexibility in career choice. Literature and anunderstanding of, say, man’s evolutionary past are as important as ever. Theysimply are no longer perceived in today’s market as salable. That is a harsheconomic fact. And it is not only true in the United States. Employmentprospects for liberal arts graduates in Canada, for example, are said to be theworst since the 1930s.

Whatto do? I think it would be shortsighted for colleges and universities to advisestudents against majoring in certain subjects that do not appear linked (atleast directly) to careers. Where our energies should be directed instead istoward the development of educational programs that combine course sequences inthe liberal arts with course in the viable professions. Double majors---one forenrichment, one for earning one’s bread---have never been promoted veryseriously in our institutions of higher learning, mainly because liberal artsand professional-vocational faculties have long been suspicious or contemptuousof one another. Thus students have been directed to one path or the other, tothe disadvantage of both students and faculty.

Ahopeful cue could be taken, it seems to me, from new attempts in the healthprofession(nursing and pharmacy, for example), where jobs are still plentiful,to give the humanities and social sciences a greater share of the curriculum. Whycould not the traditional history major in the college of arts and sciences bepointed toward additional courses in the business school, or to engineering, orto physical therapy? This strategy requires a new commitment from both theinstitution and the student and demands a much harder look at the allocation oftime and resources. But in an age of adversity, double majors are one wayliberal arts students can more effectively prepare for the world outside.

36. What is the chief purpose of doublemajors?

A. To help graduates of history majorbecome successful businessmen.

B. To provide liberal arts graduates with amethod of meeting effectively the challenge in employment.

C. To extend their knowledge learnt in thecollege.

D. To moderate the tension between liberalarts and vocational faculties.

37. In paragraph 1, the sentence “You guysought to be shot” shows that at heart the driver .

A. felt greatly regretted about the majorhe had chosen

B. felt a deep hatred for all the Englishteachers in his former college

C. complained that his teachers hadn’ttaught him how to survive in this competitive society.

D. held a deep contempt in the authorbecause of his scholastic manner

38. It can be inferred from the passagethat the blame for the present state of affairs lies in the fact that .

A. the course sequences themselves areunreliable.

B. more and more students start to selectscience majors

C. almost none of the specialties thestudents major in might be salable in today’s market

D. the opportunities of employment arescarce for graduates of non-science majors

39. The obstacles in course sequences inacademic schooling are indicated in all of the following EXCEPT .

A. the misguidance of major-selection insome of the institutions of higher learning

B. the current curriculum couldn’t keep upwith the development of the society

C. the inharmonious relation among theteaching faculties

D. the authorities of higher learningattach only little importance to course sequences

40. This passage can best be titled as .

A. Harsh Economic Fact

B. Double Majors, a Way Out

C. Careers, Schooling fro Better

D. Market for Graduates

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