For many centuries，countless scholars have asked the question：What is beauty? As designers update the latest fashions and artists create their masterpieces, what is considered beautiful changes at an alarming pace.
Fifty years ago，the full-figured Marilyn Monroe was a symbol of the American aesthetic(美学的)value；today，many Hollywood actresses different in appearance from Marilyn’s have taken her place. However，aesthetic values not only differ from generation to generation，but do so along cultural lines as well. Often, what is considered disgusting to one civilization is just the aesthetic appeal in another. Thus it is difficult to give an absolute definition(定义)of beauty.
As fundamental(基础的)physicists，my colleagues and I like to believe that we are involved in a search for a beauty that affects definition. The beauty that we search for is not what is set up through the work of people and subject to the tastes, but rather what has been laid down by nature Physics allows its students to look past outer appearances，into a deeper beauty. As a human being，I am attracted by the visual appeal of a wave crashing on the beach. As a physicist, however I am able to see the deeper beauty of the physical laws that govern such a phenomenon.
In truth，since Albert Einstein put forward the idea that there might be one main physical theory that governs the universe，aesthetics have bee a driving force in modern physics. Einstein and other later physicists have discovered that：Nature, as its most fundamental level，is beautifully constructed. The extraordinary simplicity of the laws that govern the universe is really breathtaking . As Einstein said, it would seem more likely that we should find ourselves living in a“chaotic(无秩序曲)world，in no way graspable through thinking”. Yet we are now closer than ever to a full understanding of the universe’s beautiful clockwork. As new discoveries and technologies allow us to examine the physical world on deeper and deeper levels，we find that the beauty itself bees much deeper.
【小题1】The reference to“Marilyn Monroe”in Paragraph 2 mainly serves to .A．provide an example of today’s beauty standardsB．show there is no fixed definition of aestheticsC．pare traditions of the East to the WestD．discuss her abilities as an actress【小题2】When appreciating a wave crashing on the beach，a physicist sees the beauty of .A．the visual attractionB．the powerful soundsC．the physical laws behindD．the lovely creatures【小题3】Why are Albert Einstein’s words mentioned in Paragraph 3?A．To detail the functions of physical laws.B．To highlight the range of Einstein’s influence.C．To show that Einstein doubted the beauty of physics.D．To stress the very simplicity of the laws of the universe.【小题4】The passage is mainly to .A．present a special way of seeing beautyB．emphasize the influence of physicsC．discuss the awareness of cross-cultureD．argue the traditional ideas on valueB
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(答案→)B
解析：主旨大意题。作者在本文中主要讨论的是在不同的年代中人们对于美的定义是有所区别的，并且在文章最后一段告诉我们一种很特殊的定义美的方法simplicity of the laws of the universe.
【小题1】B 推理题。根据Fifty years ago，the full-figured Marilyn Monroe was a symbol of the American aesthetic(美学的)value；today，many Hollywood actresses different in appearance from Marilyn’s have taken her place.可知对于美学的标准在不同的年代有不同的标准，是在不断变化的。所以作者以此为例主要是说明美学标准是没有确定的定义的。故B正确。
【小题2】C 推理题。根据第二段后3行As a human being，I am attracted by the visual appeal of a wave crashing on the beach. As a physicist, however I am able to see the deeper beauty of the physical laws that govern such a phenomenon.可知物理学家看到的海浪的美是背后的物理学原理，和我们所见到的是完全不一样的东西。故C正确。
【小题3】D 推理题。根据文章第3段的Einstein and other later physicists have discovered that：Nature, as its most fundamental level，is beautifully constructed. The extraordinary simplicity of the laws that govern the universe is really breathtaking .可知作者用爱因斯坦的例子来说明真正的美是simplicity of the laws of the universe.故D正确。
【小题4】A 主旨大意题。作者在本文中主要讨论的是在不同的年代中人们对于美的定义是有所区别的，并且在文章最后一段告诉我们一种很特殊的定义美的方法simplicity of the laws of the universe.故A正确。