单选题 Just because you" re better educated doesn" t mean that you" re any more rational than everyone else, no matter how hard you may try to give that impression. Take the selection of lottery numbers. A survey in Florida described at this year" s annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science shows that better educated people try to use random number systems to pick their lottery numbers. Despite the apparent logic of choosing random numbers, however, their chances of winning are no better than those of ordinary folk who use birthdays, anniversaries and other "lucky" dates. Nor are they better off than those who draw on omens and intuitions, picking numbers seen on car number-plates and in dreams. But no doubt they feel a lot more rational. That appearance of "rationality" may be a dangerous thing. Scientists are not immune to subtle and subjective influences on their judgements. Take the data from a survey of the public and member of the British Society of Toxicology discussed at the same meeting. The survey showed that most people agree with the view that animals can be used to help predict how human will react to chemicals, and that if a chemical causes cancer in an animal, we can be "reasonably sure" it will cause cancer in humans. The toxicologists, however, are more circumspect. They accept the fast statement but less likely to agree that if a chemical causes cancer in an animal, it will do so in a human. Can this difference be attributed to their expertise? Perhaps. But consider the considerable variation among toxicologists: those who were young, female, working in academia rather than industry or who felt that technology is not always used for the good of all, were more likely to agree that what causes cancer in an animal will cause cancer in a human. Maybe we need to think more about how who we are affects our "rational" decisions.
单选题 According to the Florida-based survey, those who are better educated feel a lot more rational about the way they______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:根据文章第二三段可知,很多受过教育的人认为他们随机抽取数字的方法更合理。然而事实不是。
单选题 Actually, the selection of random numbers______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:根据第三段可知,受过教育的人自认为随机抽取数字比普通人用纪念日、幸运数字、或预兆、直觉等方法更合理,然而事实并非如此。
单选题 What are the survey data suggesting in the passage?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析:第二三段提出,受过教育的人认为他们抽取彩票时主观感受他们的做法更合理,第五六段提出,虽然貌似很多毒理专家处理在动物身上引起癌症的药物是否会在人身上也引发癌症这个问题十分谨慎,以求合理,但是事实上那些年轻的、女性、在学术界工作的毒理专家依然十分认同这个观点,可知他们自认为的合理感,是受其主观感觉影响的。
单选题 What the author is trying to say in the passage______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:在这篇文章中,作者列举了两个例子来表明受过教育程度越高,他们的决定不一定越合理,这已经被毒理专家们所证明,由于两个例子都是科学界的例子,故在科学界中,文章的观点可以被接受。
单选题 Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:本文主要批判了人们觉得受教育程度越高,决定越合理的错误观念,而这个观念常常被人们当作理所当然的事,故A项(一个舒服的谬见)符合文章大意;而B正是文章两个例子中的一个,有失偏颇;C项意为关于教育和合理性的调查,显然没有A生动;D项意为科学家和其他人的不同,这并不是文章的主题,而是一个引例。