preface

Science is a dominant theme in our culture. Since it touches almost every facet of our life, educated people need at least some acquaintance with its structure and operation. They should also have an understanding of the subculture in which scientists live and the kinds of people they are. An understanding of general characteristics of science as well as specific scientific concepts is easier to attain if one knows something about the things that excite and frustrate the scientist.

This book is written for the intelligent student or lay person whose acquaintance with science is superficial; for the person who has been presented with science as a musty storehouse of dried facts; for the person who sees the chief objective of science as the production of gadgets; and for the person who views the scientists as some sort of magician. The book can be used to supplement a course in any science, to accompany any course that attempts to give an understanding of the modern world, or - independently of any course - simply to provide a better understanding of science. We hope this book will lead readers to a broader perspective on scientific attitudes and a more realistic view of what science is, who scientists are, and what they do. It will give them an awareness and understanding of the relationship between science and our culture and an appreciation of the roles science may play in our culture. In addition, readers may learn to appreciate the relationship between scientific views and some of the values and philosophies that are pervasive in our culture.

We have tried to present in this book an accurate and up-to-date picture of the scientific community and the people who populate it. That population has in recent years come to comprise more and more women. This increasing role of women in the scientific subculture is not an unique incident but, rather, part of the trend evident in all segments of society as more women enter traditionally male-dominated fields and make significant contributions. In discussing these changes and contribution, however, we are faced with a language that is implicitly sexist, one that uses male nouns or pronouns in referring to unspecified individuals. To offset this built-in bias, we have adopted the policy of using plural nouns and pronouns whenever possible and, when absolutely necessary, alternating he and she. This policy is far form being ideal, but it is at least an acknowledgment of the inadequacy of our language in treating half of the human race equally.

We have also tried to make the book entertaining as well as informative. Our approach is usually informal. We feel, as do many other scientists, that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. As the reader may observe, we see science as a delightful pastime rather than as a grim and dreary way to earn a living.

1. According to the passage, ‘scientific subculture’ means

［A］cultural groups that are formed by scientists.

［B］people whose knowledge of science is very limited.

［C］the scientific community.

［D］people who make good contribution to science.

2. We need to know something about the structure and operation of science because

［A］it is not easy to understand the things that excite and frustrate scientists.

［B］Science affects almost every aspect of our life.

［C］Scientists live in a specific subculture.

［D］It is easier to understand general characteristics of science.

3. The book mentioned in this passage is written for readers who

［A］are intelligent college students and lay person who do not know much about science.

［B］are good at producing various gadgets.

［C］work in a storehouse of dried facts.

［D］want to have a superficial understanding of science.

4. According to this passage.

［A］English is a sexist language.

［B］only in the scientific world is the role of women increasing rapidly.

［C］women are making significant contributions to eliminating the inadequacy of our language.

［D］male nouns or pronouns should not be used to refer to scientists.

5. This passage most probably is

［A］a book review.

［B］the preface of a book.

［C］the postscript of a book.

［D］the concluding part of a book.

Vocabulary

1.subculture 　亞文化群（指在一個(gè)社會(huì)或一種文化內(nèi)具有獨(dú)特性的一群人）

2.superficial　 膚淺的，淺薄的，表面的

3.lay person　 外行，門外漢，俗人

4.musty 　發(fā)毒的，老朽的，陳腐的

5.gadget 　小玩意兒，小配件，新發(fā)明

6.pervasive 　滲透的，彌漫的，遍布的

7.populate　 居住于……中，在……中占一席之地

8.implicit 　含蓄的，內(nèi)含的

9.unspecified 　未特別提出的

10.offset　 抵消，補(bǔ)償

寫作方法與文章大意

這是一篇書的序言，作者用夾敘夾議的寫作方法介紹了書的涉及面及其功能。首先提出科學(xué)是我們文化的重大主題，但人們也該了解科學(xué)家生活的亞文化群，只有懂得一些激勵(lì)和挫傷科學(xué)家的種種情況，才能理解科學(xué)的一般特征及其特殊概念。第二方面指出書的讀者對(duì)象是對(duì)科學(xué)一知半解的學(xué)生及門外漢。書可作理工科課程的輔助（補(bǔ)充）讀物，又可獨(dú)立自成體系。它可開闊人們科學(xué)的視野，真正了解科學(xué)、科學(xué)家及其工作，理解科學(xué)和文化的關(guān)系，科學(xué)觀點(diǎn)和哲學(xué)的關(guān)系。第三方面指出亞文化群中婦女增多，貢獻(xiàn)巨大，而我們的語(yǔ)言卻隱含這性別的歧視，難以充分平等地反映婦女。最后指出書信息量大又具娛樂性，寓教于樂。

答案詳解

1. C　科學(xué)社區(qū)。答案在第一段第二句，人們也該了解科學(xué)家生活在其中的亞文化群以及他們是什么樣的人。第三段又講到，有關(guān)科學(xué)社區(qū)的畫面以及婦女對(duì)科學(xué)亞文化的貢獻(xiàn)。可見科學(xué)社區(qū)即亞文化。

A. 科學(xué)家所組成種種文化群體。

B. 科學(xué)知識(shí)有限的一些人。

C. 對(duì)科學(xué)作出很大貢獻(xiàn)的人。

2.B　因?yàn)榭茖W(xué)幾乎影響到我們生活的各個(gè)方面。文章開綜明旨點(diǎn)出：科學(xué)是我們文化中的重要主題，由于它幾乎涉及到我們生活的每一方面，有知識(shí)的人至少需要熟悉一些結(jié)構(gòu)和作用。

A. 了解激發(fā)和挫傷科學(xué)家的事情可不太容易。（比較難）

C. 科學(xué)家生活在特定的亞文化群中。

D. 了解科學(xué)的一般特性比較容易。

3.A　不太了解科學(xué)的大學(xué)生或門外漢。第二段首句就點(diǎn)出了這本書為對(duì)科學(xué)一知半解的大學(xué)生和門外漢所寫，為某些人，一直把科學(xué)看作干巴巴的事實(shí)堆砌的發(fā)霉的石屋的人；為那種把科學(xué)的主要目的視為生產(chǎn)小配件的人；為那些把科學(xué)視為某種魔術(shù)的人而寫。這說(shuō)明主要為A項(xiàng)人所寫，對(duì)科學(xué)了解不多的大學(xué)生和普通人。

B. 善于生產(chǎn)各種小配件。

C. 在干巴巴的事實(shí)堆砌的石屋中工作。

D. 相對(duì)科學(xué)有膚淺了解的人。

4.D　不應(yīng)當(dāng)用陽(yáng)性的名詞和代詞去指科學(xué)家。第三段集中講了這本書提供精確而又現(xiàn)代的有關(guān)科學(xué)社區(qū)（社會(huì)）和居住在其中的人的畫卷。近年來(lái)，越來(lái)越多的婦女包括進(jìn)來(lái)，原因是許多婦女進(jìn)入傳統(tǒng)上為男人統(tǒng)治的領(lǐng)域，并作出巨大貢獻(xiàn)，所以婦女在科學(xué)亞文化群中的增多并不是罕見的偶然事件，而是社會(huì)各部門明顯趨勢(shì)的組成部分。在討論其變化和貢獻(xiàn)時(shí)，我們面臨著隱含性別歧視的語(yǔ)言――用陽(yáng)性名詞和代詞來(lái)指未指定人物，為了消除這種偏頗，我們?cè)诳赡芎捅匾獣r(shí)采用了復(fù)數(shù)名詞和代詞來(lái)取代他或她。

A. 英語(yǔ)是一種性別語(yǔ)言。

B. 只有在科學(xué)領(lǐng)域中，婦女的作用增長(zhǎng)很快。

C. 婦女在曉民我們語(yǔ)言中的不適當(dāng)性作出了巨大的貢獻(xiàn)。根據(jù)此題注釋說(shuō)明這三項(xiàng)都不對(duì)。英語(yǔ)不能說(shuō)成是有性別的語(yǔ)言，其中雖有些詞性表示男性或女性。文內(nèi)明確指科學(xué)界婦女增多是整個(gè)社會(huì)的趨勢(shì)的組成部分。由于婦女在科學(xué)界的貢獻(xiàn)，所以不能再用陽(yáng)性名詞或代詞去指科學(xué)界，并不是在消滅語(yǔ)言……

5.B　書的前言，見文章大意。

A. 書的評(píng)論。

C. 書跋、書的附錄。

D. 書的結(jié)論部分。

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