The twentieth century saw greater changes than any century before: changes for the better,
changes for the worse; changes that brought a lot of benefits to human beings, changes that put man in danger. Many things caused the changes, but, in my opinion, the most important was the progress in science.
Scientific research in physics and biology has vastly broadened our views. It has given us a deeper knowledge of the structure of matter and of the universe; it has brought us a better understanding of the nature of life and of its continuous development. Technology m the application of science m has made big advances that have benefited us in nearly every part of life.
The continuation of such activities in the twenty-first century will result in even greater advantages to human beings: in pure science -- a wider and deeper knowledge in all fields of learning; in applied science -- a more reasonable sharing of material benefits, and better protection of the environment.
Sadly, however, there is another side to the picture. The creativity of science has been employed in doing damage to mankind. The application of science and technology to the development and production of weapons of mass destruction has created a real danger to the continued existence of the human race on this planet. We have seen this happen in the case of nuclear weapons, Although their actual use has so far occurred only in the Second World War, the number of nuclear weapons that were produced and made ready for use was so large that if the weapons had actually been used, the result could have been the ruin of the human race, as well as of many kinds of animals.
William Shakespeare said, “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn (纱线), good and ill together.” The above brief review of the application of only one part of human activities----- science seems to prove what Shakespeare said. But does it have to be so? Must the ill always go together with the good? Are we biologically programmed for war?
【小题1】Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?A．B．C．D．
【小题2】From the fourth paragraph, we can infer that .A．a great many nuclear weapons were actually used for warB．a large number of nuclear weapons should have been used for warC．the author is doubtful about the ruin of human beings by nuclear weaponsD．the author is anxious about the huge number of nuclear weapons on the earth【小题3】The underlined word mingled in the last paragraph most probably means .A．simpleB．mixedC．sadD．happy【小题4】What do you think the author is most likely to suggest if he continues to write?A．Further application of science to war.B．More reading of William Shakespeare.C．Proper use of science in the new century.D．Effective ways to separate the good from the ill.A
网友回答
(答案→)A
解析：
【小题1】考查考生对文章整体结构的把握能力。综观全文，第一段引出话题，第二和第三段讲述科学上的进步给人类带来的好处(good)，而第三段则讲述了科学上的进步给人类带来的伤害（ill），第五段对全文进行了概括总结。
【小题2】考查考生的逻辑推理判断能力。从本段可以推断出作者认为大量核武器的生产和准备投入使用将会给人类和地球上很多动物带来灭顶之灾，作者对此感到担忧。
【小题3】考查考生猜测词义的能力。根据下文的good and ill together（好坏并存）进行猜测。
【小题4】考查考生领会作者写作臆态并进行推理判断的能力。通过文章结尾的三个反问句可以看出作者在此问题上的观点，即如果人们正确的运用科学，它只会给人类带来好处，不一定会带来害处。据此，接下来作者必然围绕如何正确运用科学这一话题来展开。