单选题
Man has been storing up useful knowledge about himself and the universe at the rate which has been spiraling upward for 10,000 years.
The
1
took a sharp upward leap with the invention of writing, but even
2
it remained painfully slow for several centuries. In Europe the next great leap forward
3
knowledge acquisition did not occur
4
the invention of movable type in the 15th century by Gutenberg and others.
5
to 1,500, by the most optimistic
6
, Europe was producing books at a rate of 1,000 titles per year. This means that it
7
a full century to produce a library of 100,000 titles. By 1950, four and a half
8
later, the rate had accelerated so sharply that Europe was producing 120,000 titles a year.
9
once took a century now took only ten months. By 1960, a
10
decade later, the rate had made another significant jump,
11
a century"s work could be finished in seven and a half months.
12
, by the mid-sixties, the output of books on a world
13
, Europe included, approached the prodigious figure of 900 titles per day.
One can
14
argue that every book is a net gain for the advancement of knowledge. Nevertheless we find that the accelerative
15
in book publication does, in fact, crudely
16
the rate at which man discovered new knowledge. For example, prior to Gutenberg
17
11 chemical elements were known. Antimony, the 12th, was discovered
18
about the time he was working on his invention. It was fully 200 years since the 11th, arsenic, had been discovered.
19
the same rate of discovery continued, we would by now have added only two or three additional elements to the periodic table since Gutenberg.
20
, in the 450 years after his time, certain people discovered some seventy additional elements. And since 1900 we have been isolating the remaining elements not at a rate of one every two centuries, but of one every three years.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] the rate“速率”,全文自始至终都在谈存储知识——出版书的速率问题。
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] even so“即使这样”。
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] in knowledge acquisition“在知识的获得方面”。“在…方面”应用in。
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] not…until“直到…才”,固定搭配。
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] prior to“在…之前”,固定搭配。
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] by the most optimistic estimates“依最乐观的估计”。estimate“估计,猜测”,如It is estimated that the painting was worth of $20,000 at that time。evaluation“评估”,如risk evaluation“风险评估”。