张剑经典英语真题,讲解超级详细

which a new arrangement transmits a new idea.”

When all these shaping forces—schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking —interacted with one another on the rich U.S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence.

23. According to the author, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a .

［A］ elementary schools ［B］ enthusiastic workers

［C］ the attractive premium system ［D］ a special way of thinking ［A］ benefited a lot from their mathematical knowledge.

［B］ shed light on disciplined school management.

［C］ was brought about by privileged home training.

［D］ owed a lot to the technological development.

25. A technologist can be compared to an artist because ［A］ they are both winners of awards.

［B］ they are both experts in spatial thinking.

［C］ they both abandon verbal description

［D］ they both use various instruments .

［A］ Inventive Mind ［B］ Effective Schooling

［C］ Ways of Thinking ［D］ Outpouring of Inventions

Passage 5

Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism/evolution are in the publisher s pipelines. A few have already appeared. The goal of all will be to try to explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life. Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened. “Scientific” creationism, which is being pushed by some for “equal time” in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science. Virtually all scientists and the majority of nonfundamentalist religious leaders have come to regard “scientific” creationism as bad science and bad religion.

The first four chapters of Kitcher s book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating. He describes their programmes and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may come as an unpleasant surprise. When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior.

Kitcher is a philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments. The non-specialist will be able to obtain at least a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory. The final chapters on the creationists will be extremely