单选题 {{B}}Passage Two{{/B}}

It is hard to predict how science is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossible to predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they are by definition unknown in advance. You cannot make choices in this matter. You either have science or you don't, and if you have it you are obliged to accept the surprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat and promptly useful bits.
The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the past hundred years of biology. It is, in its Way, an illuminating piece of news. It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18^th century Enlightenment to be told by any of us how little we know and how bewildering seems the way ahead. It is this sudden confrontation with the depth and scope of ignorance that represents the most significant contribution of the 20^th century science to the human intellect. In earlier times, we either pretended to understand how things worked or ignored the problem, or simply made up stories to fill the gaps. Now that we have begun exploring in earnest, we are getting glimpses of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered. Because of this, we are depressed. It is not so bad being ignorant if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality of ignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-bad spots, but no true light at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted.
But we are making a beginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction. There are probably no questions we can think up that can't beanswered, sooner or later, including even the matter of consciousness. To be sure, there may well be questions we can't think up, ever and therefore limits to the reach of human intellect, but that is another matter. Within our limits, we should be able to work our way through to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention.

单选题 According to the author, really good science ______.

A、 would surprise the brightest minds of the 18^th century Enlightenment
B、 will produce results which cannot be foreseen
C、 will help people to make the right choice in advance
D、 will bring about disturbing results

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】文章开篇，作者指出“很难预测科学将会带来什么”，if it is really goods science it is impossible to predict“如果它是真正的科学，那就不能被预测”，故选项 B正确。

单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that scientists of the 18^th century ______.

A、 thought that they knew a great deal and could solve most problems of science
B、 were afraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research
C、 knew that they were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature
D、 did more harm than good in promoting man's understanding of nature

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】文章第2段讲到“如果18世纪的智者得知我们所知甚少，而且对未来的发展也无法预知，他们会感到amazed(十分惊讶)”，可以判断，18世纪的科学家们认为自己知道的很多，能够解决很多问题。故选项A正确。

单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true of scientists in earlier times?

A、 They invented false theories to explain things they didn't understand.
B、 They falsely claimed to know all about nature.
C、 They did not believe in results from scientific observation.
D、 They paid little attention to the problems they didn't understand.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】第2段，作者指出，早期科学家们either pretended to understand how things， worked or ignored the problem，or simply made up stories to fill the gaps“要么假装知道事物如何发展，要么忽略这些问题，或者编造一些故事来进行解释”，选项A、 B、D的内容分别与之对应，只有选项C的内容未提到。

单选题 What is the author's attitude towards science?

A、 He is depressed because of the ignorance of scientists.
B、 He is doubtful because of enormous difficulties confronting it.
C、 He is confident though he is aware of the enormous difficulties confronting it.
D、 He is delighted because of the illuminating scientific findings.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】第2段，作者指出科学研究中，人们意识到自己的无知后感到depressed；第3段作者又指出我们才刚刚开始，and there ought to be some satisfaction，以及在我们力所能及的范围内能够work our way through to all our answers，可见虽然研究中有诸多困难，但作者还是很有信心的。故选项C正确。

单选题 The author believes that ______.

A、 man can find solutions to whatever questions concerning nature he can think up
B、 man can not solve all the problems he can think up because of the limits of human intellect
C、 sooner or later man can think up all the questions concerning nature and answer them
D、 questions concerning consciousness are outside the scope of scientific research

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】最后一段，作者明确指出there are probably no questions we can think up that can't be answered“不会存在我们能想到但却无法解决的问题”，sooner or later， including even the matter of consciousness“迟早，甚至是与意识有关的问题也能得到解决”。故选项A正确。