单选题 Albert Einstein may have made the discoveries that led to nuclear and solar power, lasers and even a physical description of space and time, but Sir Isaac Newton had a greater impact on science and mankind, according to a poll.
Newton, the 17th-century English scientist most famous for describing the laws of gravity and motion, beat Einstein in two polls conducted by distinguished London-based scientific academy, the Royal Society.
More than 1,300 members of the public and 345 Royal Society scientists were asked separately which famous scientist made a bigger overall contribution to science and which made a bigger positive contribution to humankind.
Newton was the winner on all counts, though he beat the German-born Einstein by only 0.2 of a percentage point (50. 1 percent to 49. 9 percent) in the public poll on who made the bigger contribution to mankind. The margin was greater among scientists: 60.9 percent for Newton and 39. 1 percent for Einstein.
The results were announced ahead of the "Einstein vs. Newton" debate, a public lecture at the Royal Society on Wednesday evening. "Many people would say that comparing Newton and Einstein is like comparing apples and oranges, but what really matters is that people are appreciating the huge amount that both these physicists achieved, and that their impact on the world stretched far beyond the laboratory," said Royal Society president Lord Peter May.
Pro-Newton scientists argue he led the transition from an era of superstition and dogma (教条、宗教) to the modern scientific method. His greatest work, the "Principia Mathematica", showed that gravity was a universal force that applied to all objects in the universe, finally ruling out the belief that the laws of motion were different for objects on Earth and in the heavens.
Einstein's supporters point out that his celebrated theory of relativity disproved Newton's beliefs on space and time and led to theories about the creation of the universe, black holes and parallel universes. He also proved mathematically that atoms exist and that light is made of particles called photons (光子), setting the theoretical foundations for nuclear bombs and solar power.
单选题 What is the attitude of the author towards the two scientists?
  • A. Pro-Newton
  • C. skeptical
  • B. Pro-Einstein
  • D. objective
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】本题问“作者对两位科学家的态度是怎样的?”文章陈述发英国皇家学会为评价谁的影响意义更重大而策划的两次民意测验的过程、结果，并分别对各自支持者的观点作出陈述。自始至终作者都没有表明个人的观点和看法，陈述的语气是客观的。所以[D]“客观的”正确。 A、B、C三项均与文中表述的态度不一致。 [A]“支持牛顿的”。 [B]“支持爱因斯坦的”。 [C]“怀疑的”。
单选题 What didn't happen during the polls conducted by the Royal Society?
  • A. The Royal Society conducted the survey among both the scientists and the common people.
  • B. The surveys designed were based on the contribution the two scientists made to science.
  • C. The surveys designed were based on the contribution the two scientists made to mankind.
  • D. The Royal Society evaluated the contribution of the two scientists to science and mankind.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】此题问“有关英国皇学会进行的民意投票哪一项不对?”文章第一段指出，“Albert Einstein may have made the discoveries that led to nuclear and solar power，lasers and even a physical description of space and time，but Sir Isaac Newton had a greater impact on science and mankind，according to a poll.”由此可知民意投票显示，牛顿对科学和人类的影响更大，这是大众的观点而不是英国皇家学会的评价，故[D]“英国皇家学会评估了两位科学家对科学和人类的贡献”为本题的答案。 从第三段可知：研究人虽询问了超过1300名普通民众和345名皇家学会的科学家，分别问他们哪个科学家对于科学的贡献更大、对于人类有更积极的贡献。因此，A、B、C都是正确判断。 [A]“英国皇家学会在科学柬和普通大众中进行了调查”。 [B]“调查是根据两位科学家对科学的贡献来制定的”。 [C]“调查是根据两位科学家对人类的贡献来制定的”。
单选题 What does the word "margin" refer to in the last sentence of Paragraph 4?
  • A. The difference in the number of votes or points.
  • B. The agreements of opinions.
  • C. The empty space at the side of a page.
  • D. The inclination of the scientists' favorite.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】此题问“第四段最后一句话中margin一词是什么意思?”从第四段可知牛顿仅以0.2%的微弱优势险胜爱因斯坦，而在科学家投票中，两位科学家的差距就大多了：60.9%选择牛顿，39.1%选择爱因斯坦。因此margin应指的是“差别”，即投票百分比的差额，故[A]“投票、分值等的差额”正确。 [B]“观点意见的一致”。与margin的本意无关。 [C]“纸的空白边缘”。虽然margin含有这个意思，但不符合上下文的意义。 [D]“科学农偏爱的倾向”。科学家们对两位科学家有偏爱倾向的差异，是以投票数值表现出来，比较的是数据的不同和差异。故[D]也不正确。
单选题 Which statement about Newton and Einstein is NOT true?
  • A. They both committed to the study of space and time and put forward their own theories.
  • B. Einstein's theory of relativity preceded the theories about the black holes.
  • C. Newton believed that the laws of motion are different for objects on Earth and in space.
  • D. Einstein's theory of relativity proved that some of the Newton's beliefs were wrong.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】此题问“关于牛顿和爱因斯坦的哪一项陈述不正确?”从第六段可知牛顿最著名作品是《数学原理》，解释了重力是一种普遍的力量，适用于宇宙中的所有物体，最终否定了物体运动规律在地球上和宇宙中有所不同的理论，rule out 意思是“使…不可能”，即否定了这个理论。因此选项[C]“牛顿的《数学原理》证明了物体运动规律在地球上和宇宙中有所不同”是关于牛顿理论的错误论述，[C]为本题的答案。从最后一段可知爱因斯坦的支持者则指出他最著名的相对论证明牛顿有关空间和时间的理论是错误的，并且指引我们发展宇宙起源、黑洞和平行宇宙等理论，因此选项A、B、D都是正确的判断，可排除。 [A]“两者却对空间和时间作出研究并有各自的理论”。 [B]“爱因斯坦的相对论先于黑洞理论”。 [D]“爱因斯坦的相对论理论证明牛顿的某些理论是不正确的”。
单选题 Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
  • A. Newton vs. Einstein
  • B. The two greatest scientists in the history
  • C. The contribution of Newton and Einstein
  • D. The founders of modern physics
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】此题问“哪一题目是全文的最佳标题?”文章首先描述了民意调查的结果，即牛顿在民众和科学家中均比爱因斯坦享有更高的声誉，之后又分别阐述了牛顿和爱因斯坦的支持者的观点。对牛顿和爱因斯坦的比较贯穿了全文，由此可见[A]“牛顿对爱因斯坦”正确。 [B]“历史上的两位最伟大科学农”。此概括过于广泛。 [C]“牛顿和爱因斯坦的贡献”。较为片面，这只是文章比较的内容。 [D]“现代物理学的奠基人”。此概括过于广泛，没有提及全文对两者贡献影响的比较。