单选题   Will there ever be another Einstein? This is the undercurrent of conversation at Einstein memorial meetings throughout the year. A new Einstein will emerge, scientists say. But it may take a long time. After all, more than 200 years separated Einstein from his nearest rival, Isaac Newton.
    Many physicists say the next Einstein hasn't been born yet, or is a baby now. That's because the quest for a unified theory that would account for all the forces of nature has pushed current mathematics to its limits. New math must be created before the problem can be solved.
    But researchers say there are many other factors working against another Einstein emerging anytime soon.
    For one thing, physics is a much different field today. In Einstein's day, there were only a few thousand physicists worldwide, and the theoreticians who could intellectually rival Einstein probably would fit into a streetcar with seats to spare.
    Education is different, too. One crucial aspect of Einstein's training that is overlooked is the years of philosophy he read as a teenager—Kant, Schopenhauer and Spinoza, among others. It taught him how to think independently and abstractly about space and time, and it wasn't long before he became a philosopher himself.
    'The independence created by philosophical insight is—in my opinion—the mark of distinction between a mere artisan (工匠) or specialist and a real seeker after truth,' Einstein wrote in 1944.
    And he was an accomplished musician. The interplay between music and math is well known. Einstein would furiously play his violin as a way to think through a knotty physics problem.
    Today, universities have produced millions of physicists. There aren't many jobs in science for them, so they go to Wall Street and Silicon Valley to apply their analytical skills to more practical—and rewarding—efforts.
    'Maybe there is an Einstein out there today,' said Columbia University physicist Brian Greene, 'but it would be a lot harder for him to be heard.' Especially considering what Einstein was proposing.
    'The actual fabric of space and time curving? My God, what an idea!' Greene said at a recent gathering at the Aspen Institute. 'It takes a certain type of person who will bang his head against the wall because you believe you'll find the solution.'
    Perhaps the best examples are the five scientific papers Einstein wrote in his 'miracle year' of 1905. These 'thought experiments' were pages of calculations signed and submitted to the prestigious journal Annalen der Physik by a virtual unknown. There were no footnotes or citations.
    What might happen to such a submission today?
    'We all get papers like those in the mail,' Greene said. 'We put them in the junk file.'
单选题     What do scientists seem to agree upon, judging from the first two paragraphs?
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】主旨题。要总结前两段的主旨大意，其实文章的第一段就给出了A new Einstein will emerge, scientists say. But it may take a long time即科学家说一个新的爱因斯坦会出现，但是这要很长的时间，所以可以得知主要讲的是距下一个爱因斯坦的出现还要一段时间，A、B、C的意思不是前两段的，而是后面的，因此，正确答案是D。
单选题     What was critical to Einstein's success?
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。根据题干中的critical to Einstein's success可以定位到文中第五段第二句话，即爱因斯坦所受的教育中一个长期被忽视的方面，那就是他在青年时代读了大量的哲学著作——其中包括康德、叔本华、斯宾诺莎。这些教会了他独立地、抽象地思考空间和时间的问题。可以推断出，是他的独立的、抽象的思考造就了他的成功，A选项不是最关键的原因，C、D文中没有提及，因此，正确答案是B。
单选题     What does the author tell us about physicists today?
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干中的physicists today可以定位到文中第八段第二句话，即所以他们就去华尔街和硅谷在一些更实际、回报更高的职业上发挥他们的分析能力，可知他们都转去能产生更大经济效益的行业了。A、B、C在文中都没有提到，因此，正确答案是D。
单选题     What does Brian Greene imply by saying '...it would be a lot harder for him to be heard' (Line 2, Para.9)?
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推断题。文章讲完了今天像爱因斯坦这样的人出名更难之后紧接着说道，爱因斯坦的论文，特别是他论文没有脚注、引用，还出自无名之手，最后格林说道“每天我们的邮箱里都会收到这样的论文”，格林说，“我们会把它们扔进垃圾文件夹里。”由此可以推断：像爱因斯坦那样的论文在今天将无法发表。A、D文中没有讲到，C意思有偏差，短文主要是讲没有规范格式的论文很难发表，因此，正确答案是C。
单选题     When he submitted his papers in 1905, Einstein ______.
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。根据题干中的he submitted his papers in 1905可以定位到文中倒数第三段，可以推知，爱因斯坦投稿时，在学术界还是无名小卒。C选项与事实不符，A、D在文中没有明确说明，只说没有脚注和引用，没有说是他忘了，或是不知道论文格式，不能主观猜测，因此，正确答案是B。