单选题
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 Neil 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 cellphones 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, do 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】解析:推理题。从首段中designed to promote intimate,informal discussions of frontier science可知,与会者都是前沿科学的参与人。C为正确答案。
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】解析:细节题。首段中讲到“I found the question period after each talk especially fascinating”,他发现提问环节非常棒,因为他可以充分了解未曾谋面的科学家们的思想和个性。因此B为正确答案。
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】解析:推理题。从第一段中的最后一句“Why, nevertheless,do in-person scientific meetings remain so valuable for a life in science.”可知,无论在过去还是在互联网时代,现场会议的价值是保持不变的。因此正确答案为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】解析:细节题。从第二段中“But most important is the critical role that face-to-face scientific meetings play in stimulating a random collision of ideas and approaches.”可知,面对面的科学会议在刺激思想和方法的随机碰撞方面发挥关键作用,B选项是符合文意的。
单选题
What would the author most probably talk about in the following paragraphs?