阅读理解 The decline of traditional religion in the West has not removed the need for men and women to find a deeper meaning behind existence. Why is the world way it is and how do we, as conscious individuals, fit into the great scheme? There is a growing feeling that science, especially what is known as the new physics, provides answers where religion remains vague and faltering. Many people in search of a meaning to their lives are finding enlightenment in the revolutionary developments at the frontiers science. Much to the bewilderment of professional scientists, quasi — religious cults are being formed around such unlikely topics as quantum physics, space—time relativity, black holes and the big bang. How can physics, with its reputation for cold precision and objective materialism, provide such fertile soil for the mystical? The truth is that the spirit of scientific enquiry has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past 50 years. The twin revolutions of the Theory of Relativity, with its spacewarps and timewarps, and the quantum theory, which reveals the shadowy and unsubstantial nature of atoms, have demolished the classical image of a clockwork universe slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway. Replacing this sterile mechanism is a world full of shifting indeterminism and subtle interactions which have no counterpart in daily experience. To study the new physics is to embark on a journey of wonderment and paradox, to glimpse the universe in a novel perspective, in which subject and object, mind and matter, force and field, become intertwined. Even the creation of the universe itself has fallen within the province of scientific enquiry. The new cosmology provides, for the first time, a consistent picture of how all physical structures, including space and time, came to exist out of nothing. We are moving towards an understanding in which matter, force, order and creation are unified into a single descriptive theme. Many of us who work in fundamental physics are deeply impressed by the harmony and order which pervades the physical world. To me the laws of the universe, from quarks to quasars, dovetail (吻合) together so felicitously that the impression there is something behind it all seems overwhelming. The laws of physics are so remarkably clever that they can surely only be a manifestation of genius.

单选题 The author says people nowadays find that traditional religion is________.

单选题 Scientists find the new cults bewildering because they are________.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】细节推理题。由于宗教不能满足人们的精神需要，很多人把精神寄托转向科学，特别是现代物理学，围绕着物理学上的一些范畴正形成新的崇拜，如量子物理学、相对论、宇宙大爆炸等。科学家们之所以感到困惑是因为这些新的崇拜产生的源头是不合适的，它们是科学不是宗教。短文第二段的最后一句谈到了这一点：Much to the bewilderment of professional scientists，quasi-religious cults are being formed around such unlikely topics as quantum physics，space-time relativity，black holes and the big bang．

单选题 Which phrase in paragraph 3 suggests that the universe is like a machine?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】细节推理题。只有通过短语所在的上下文来理解：．．．and the quantum theory，which reveals the shadowy and unsubstantial nature of atoms，have demolished the classical image of a clockwork universe slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway．(量子理论，揭示了原子有阴影、薄弱的本质，粉碎了宇宙像个时钟一样奴隶般地沿着预定的轨道铺开的经典形象。)从这段话中可以很清楚看出(slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway)暗示宇宙像台机器。

单选题 The new physics is exciting; because it________.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】细节推理题。短文倒数第二、三两段详细介绍了新物理学的内容：它以全新的视角来看宇宙，如主体与客体、意识与物质、力与场等，甚至还包括了宇宙本身起源的问题。To study the new physics is to embark on a journey of wonderment and paradox，to glimpse the universe in a novel perspective，in which subject and object，mind and matter，force and field，become intertwined．Even the creation of the universe itself has fallen within the province of scientific enquiry．