Is there something as truth? For a good many centuries "the search for truth" has been
(31) the noblest activity of the human mind, but the seekers after truth have come to such
(32) conclusions that it often seems that very little progress has been made. (33) ,there are many people who reel that we are actually going backward. They (34) , often contemptuously, that we have accumulated more "knowledge" than our ancestors, but they think we are farther from the truth than ever, or even that we have (35) the truth that we once possessed.
If people look for anything long enough without finding it, the question naturally arises
(36) the thing is really there to find. You have seen a picture of an animal with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail—and maybe an eagle's wings for good (37) . There is plenty of evidence that each part of this animal (38) —but there is no (39) evidence that the parts ever occur in this combination. It is at least conceivable that the seekers after "truth" have made a similar mistake and invented an (40) combination.

【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[注释] 只有considered的宾语后面可以直接跟形容词或名词做宾语补足语。本句为被动语态，意为“多少世纪以来，寻求真理被看做人类最高尚的思想活动”。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[注释] 连词词组such…that表示因果关系，其余选项都不合逻辑：illegal意为“不合法的，非法的”；identical意为“相同的，一模一样的”；profound意为“深刻的，渊博的，深远的”。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[注释] 本句“许多人认为我们实际上是在倒退”与上文为逻辑上的递进关系。however (然而)和nevertheless(尽管如此，然而，不过)都表示转折；in contrast意为“与之相反”。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[注释] 本句主语“他们”(They)是不情愿地“承认我们比祖先知识多”这一事实的， confess主要用于对坏事、错误的承认，即“坦白”；realize(认识到，意识到)与reveal(揭露，暴露)均不合文义。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[注释] 定语从句表明我们已不再拥有那些真理，只有lost(丢失，失去)符合逻辑；found意为“找到，发现”；missed意为“错过，未见到，遗漏”；maintained意为“保持，维持”。
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[注释] 此处如选连词while或when引导状语从句，则主句主语the question含义不明； that和whether都可以引导同位语从句，但此处其同位语是the question，故只有whether是正确答案。
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[注释] for good measure是固定词组，意为“此外，另外”；for good luck意为“为了好运”；reason(原因，理由)前要加冠词；sense(感官，意义)前介词一般不用for。
单选题 A．endures B. exists C. prevails D. emerges
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[注释] 本句意为“有大量证据表明这些动物的每一部分都实际存在着”，exists意为“存在”；endures意为“忍受，忍耐，持久”；prevails意为“流行，占优势”；emerges意为“出现，显露”。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[注释] reliable意为“可靠的”，在此符合文义。本句意为“但没有可靠的证据表明这些部分曾这样结合在一起”。appropriate意为“恰当的，合适的”；unique意为“唯一的，独特的”；dependent意为“附属的，依靠的”。
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[注释] 上文讲人们凭想象拼凑出不存在的动物。imaginary意为“想象的，虚构的”；unbelievable意为“无法相信的，不可信的”；imitable意为“可模仿的”；idealized意为“理想化的”。