阅读理解 This issue of Science contains announcements for more than 100 different Gorgon Research Conferences, on topics that range from atomic physics to developmental biology. The brainchild(某人的主意) of Nell Gordon of Johns Hopkins University, these week-long meetings are designed to promote intimate, informal discussions of frontier science. Often confined to fewer than 125 attendees, they have traditionally been held in remote places with minimal distractions. Beginning in the early 1960s, I attended the summer Nucleic Acids Gordon Conference in rural New Hampshire, sharing austere (简朴的) dorm facilities in a private boy's school with randomly assigned roommates. As a beginning scientist, I found the question period after each talk especially fascinating, providing valuable insights into the personalities and ways of thinking of many senior scientists whom I had not encountered previously. Back then, there were no cell-phones and no Internet, and all of the speakers seemed to stay for the entire week. During the long, session-free afternoons, graduate students mingled freely with professors. Many lifelong friendships were begun, and—as Gordon intended—new scientific collaborations began. Leap forward to today, and every scientist can gain immediate access to a vast store of scientific thought and to millions of other scientists via the Internet. Why, nevertheless, de in-person scientific meetings remain so valuable for a life in science?
Part of the answer is that science works best when there is a deep mutual trust and understanding between the collaborators, which is hard to develop from a distance. But most important is the critical role that face-to-face scientific meetings play in stimulating a random collision of ideas and approaches. The best science occurs when someone combines the knowledge gained by other scientists in non-obvious ways to create a new understanding of how the world works. A successful scientist needs to deeply believe, whatever the problem being tackled, that there is always a better way to approach that problem than the path currently being taken. The scientist is then constantly on the alert for new paths to take in his or her work, which is essential for making breakthroughs. Thus, as much as possible, scientific meetings should be designed to expose the attendees to ways of thinking and techniques that are different from the ones that they already know.

单选题 Assembled at Gordon Research Conference are those who ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】 细节题。题目问的是聚集在高登研究会议的人是______。A项“物理学家和生物学家”；B项“刚刚开始科学研究的人”；C项“站在科学前沿的人”；D项“有成就的科学大师们”。根据第一段第五句“作为刚起步的科学工作者，我发现每次讨论会后的提问阶段是最吸引人的，因为这为我了解我之前从未见过的科学大师们的性格和思考方式提供了有价值的视角。”可知，参会的人既有刚起步的人，也有科学大师，因此B和D因为不全面被排除。同样在第一段第二句“这些历时一周的会议是由来自约翰霍普金斯大学的尼尔·高登倡议的，旨在推动前沿科学研究中非正式的密切的讨论。”可知，参会的人都是研究前沿科学的人，所以C项最符合，故选C。

单选题 Speaking of the summer Nucleic Acids Gordon Conference, the author thinks highly of ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】 细节题。题目问的是说到夏季核酸主题高登会议，作者对______给予高度评价。A项“科学大师们的个性”；B项“会后的提问时间”；C项“周围朴素的设施”；D项“持续一周的会议时间”。根据第一段第五句“作为刚起步的科学工作者，我发现每次讨论会后的提问阶段是最吸引人的”可知，作者给予高度评价的是会后的提问时间，故选B。

单选题 It can be inferred from the author that the value of the in-person scientific conference ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】 推断题。题目问的是从文中，可以得出作者认为直接会面的科学会议______。A项“没有随着时间而改变”；B项“可利用网络进行”；C项“着重交换科学研究中的进步”；D项“因为提出了大量的思想而受到质疑”。根据第一段最后的反问句“那么，在科学人生中，直接会面的科学会议为什么还有着如此重要的作用呢?”可知，虽然过了这么多年，大家已经习惯了互联网的作用，但是直接会面的科学会议仍然很重要，和从前一样，故选A。

单选题 The author believes that the face-to-face scientific conferences can help the attendees better ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】 推断题。题目问的是作者相信面对面的科学会议可以帮助参会者更好地______。A项“理解进行突破对他们意味着什么”；B项“接触新思想和新方法”；C项“培养做科研的热情”；D项“处理科学中相同的问题”。根据第二段最后的总结句“科学会议应该尽可能多地向参会者展示不同于他们已经知道的思考方式和技术。”可知，科学会议最重要的就是提供给参会者新的思想和方法，故选B。