单选题 Given journalists" penchant for sticking the suffix "gate" onto anything they think smells of conspiracy, a public-relations consultant might have suggested a different name. But ResearchGate, a small firm based in Berlin, is immune to such trivia. It is ambitious, too—aiming to do for the academic world what Mark Zuckerberg did for the world in general, by creating a social network for scientists. And it is successful. About 1.4 million researchers have signed up already, and that number is growing by 50,000 a month.
Non-scientists might be surprised that such a network is needed. After all, the internet was originally created mainly by academics for academics and Mr. Zuckerberg"s invention, Facebook, got its start on college campuses. But though the internet has speeded things up, it has not fundamentally changed how researchers are connected. Academic communities are still pretty fragmented, frequently making it hard for scientists to find others doing similar research. And results often are not shared across disciplines.
To make things more efficient and interdisciplinary, ResearchGate wants to help the academic world to grow more connective tissue, as Ijad Madisch, one of the firm"s founders, puts it. As on Facebook, users create a profile page with biographical information, list their interests and research skills, and join groups. They can see what others with similar interests are up to and post comments. They can also upload their papers and create invitation-only workgroups.
At the moment, most of those users are in their 20s. Their favourite activity is to ask each other questions about practical research problems, from DNA-sequencing techniques to statistical tricks. They are also busy reading each other"s papers: more than 10 million have been uploaded. The service certainly saves these young researchers trial and error, and therefore time and money. They will probably also like a new feature ResearchGate is planning to introduce in April: a feedback system which lets users rate each other"s contributions. This would allow them to build a reputation other than by publishing papers.
Scientists whose reputations are established may be more hesitant, though, and not just because they are set in their ways. Science is not only about collaboration but also about competition. This limits what people are willing to share. But Dr. Madisch is optimistic. Those who have grown up with Facebook, he says, know that sharing will improve their research. And their older colleagues will eventually come around—or retire.
单选题 Scientists need such a social network because ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据题干关键词scientists，need，social network定位到第二段。第二段主要论述科学家们需要社交网络的原因。最后一句为全段的中心句，意为“学术社区之间然相当零散，科学家们时常很难找到其他同他们做相似研究的人，取得的成果也很难在学术界内得以分享”。故A项“他们需要一个渠道找到其他科学家及分享研究成果”，符合题意。为正确答案。B项“互联网没有给学术界带来根本性的变化”是对第二段第三句的误解。C项“学术社区仍然非常零散”和D项“他们想让事情变得更高效并加强学术间的联系”属于断章取义，故排除。
单选题 According to Ijad Madisch, ResearchGate is aimed to ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据题干关键词Ijad Madisch，ResearchGate定位到第三段第一句To make things more efficient and interdisciplinary, ResearchGate wants to help the academic world to grow more connective tissue, as Ijad Madisch, one of the firm"s founders, puts it。此句意为“为了让事情变得更高效并加强学术间的联系，作为公司的创始人之一，Ijad Madisch成立了Researchgate公司以帮助学术界增加更多方面的联系”。故B项“加强学术界的联系”符合题意，为正确答案。A项“为科学家建立一个网络”，C项“改善科学家的研究状况”和D项“鼓励科学家分享他们的研究成果”，均不符合题意，故排除。
单选题 ResearchGate"s new feature probably will be popular among users because ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据题干关键词ResearchGate"s new feature定位到第四段最后两句They will probably also like a new feature ResearchGate is planning to introduce in April: a feedback system which lets users rate each other"s contributions. This would allow them to build a reputation other than by publishing papers。此句意为“他们可能也会喜欢Researchgate将在4月份发布的一项新功能：反馈机制——允许用户对他人的成绩评分。这会让他们在社交网络里树立一个良好的名声而不用出版论文。”故A项“帮助用户树立好的名声而不用出版论文”符合题意，为正确答案。B项“允许用户问一些实用的研究问题”，C项“帮助年轻用户省时、省钱”和D项“允许用户对他人的成绩评分”均属于断章取义，故排除。
单选题 All of the following statements are true EXCEPT ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据选项关键词定位到最后一段。最后一段主要在讲述ResearchGate网站可能遇到的问题。D项“老同事为了表达他们的不满，可能退休”是对And their older colleagues will eventually come around—or retire的误解。故D项为正确答案。A项“著名科学家不愿意在Researchgate这个网站上分享”与最后一段第一句相符。B项“人们不愿意分享是由于竞争”与最后一段二、三句意思相符。C项“Madisch博士认为分享是一件有意义的事”与最后一段“sharing will improve their research”相符。故此三项说法正确，故排除。
单选题 What is the author"s attitude towards social networking for scientists?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 态度题。态度题要求考生对全文内容和语言基调有一个整体的把握。本文主要围绕科学家的社交网络展开论述，首段引出话题，第二、三段阐明为科学家建立社交网络的原因，第四段讲述了ResearchGate的用户及他们能从社交网络中获得的好处。最后一段对ResearchGate这个社交网站可能遇到的问题展开论述。全文整体上以一种客观的态度对此事进行了论述，虽然文章最后提到“Madisch博士对此表示乐观”，但这并非是作者的态度，故C项“客观的”为正确答案。A项“悲观的”，B项“模棱两可的”和D项“不感兴趣的”均不符合题意，故排除。