单选题 If we accept that we cannot prevent science and technology from changing our world, we can at least try to 1 that the changes they make are in the right directions. In a democratic society, this means that the public needs to have a basic understanding of science 2 it can make informed decisions and not 3 them in the hands of experts. At the moment, the public has a rather ambivalent attitude 4 science. It has come to expect the steady increase in the standard of 5 that new developments in science and technology have brought to continue, but it also distrusts science because it doesn"t understand it. This distrust is evident in the cartoon 6 of the mad scientist working in his laboratory to produce a Frankenstein. It is also an important 7 behind support for the Green parties.
What can be done to 8 this interest and give the public the scientific background it needs to make informed decisions on subjects like acid rain, the greenhouse effect, nuclear weapons, and genetic engineering? Clearly, the basis must lie in what is taught in schools. But in schools science is often 9 in a dry and uninteresting manner. Children learn it by rote to pass examinations, and they don"t see its 10 to the world around them. Moreover, science is often taught in terms of equations. Although equations are a concise and accurate way of describing mathematical ideas, they frighten most people.