阅读理解
Following the explosion of creativity in Florence during the 14th century known as the Renaissance, the modern world saw a departure from what it had once known. It turned from God and the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and instead favoured a more humanistic approach to being. Renaissance ideas had spread throughout Europe well into the 17th century, with the arts and sciences flourishing extraordinarily among those with a more logical disposition. 46 With the Church's teachings and ways of thinking being eclipsed by the Renaissance, the gap between the Medieval and modern periods had been bridged, leading to new and unexplored intellectual territories. During the Renaissance, the great minds of Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei demonstrated the power of scientific study and discovery. 47 Before each of their revelations, many thinkers at the time had sustained more ancient ways of thinking, including the geocentric view that the Earth was at the centre of our universe. Copernicus theorized in 1543 that all of the planets that we knew of revolved not around the Earth, but the Sun, a system that was later upheld by Galileo at his own expense. Offering up such a theory during a time of high tension between scientific and religious minds was branded as heresy, and any such heretics that continued to spread these lies were to be punished by imprisonment or even death. 48 Despite attempts by the Church to suppress this new generation of logicians and rationalists, more explanations for how the universe functioned were being made at a rate that the people could no longer ignore. It was with these great revelations that a new kind of philosophy founded in reason was born. The Church's long-standing dogma was losing the great battle for truth to rationalists and scientists. This very fact embodied the new ways of thinking that swept through Europe during most of the 17th century. 49 As many took on the duty of trying to integrate reasoning and scientific philosophies into the world, the Renaissance was over and it was time for a new era——the Age of Reason. The 17th and 18th centuries were times of radical change and curiosity. Scientific method, reductionism and the questioning of Church ideals was to be encouraged, as were ideas of liberty, tolerance and progress. 50 Such actions to seek knowledge and to understand what information we already knew were captured by the Latin phrase 'sapere aude' or 'dare to know', after Immanuel Kant used it in his essay 'An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?' It was the purpose and responsibility of great minds to go forth and seek out the truth, which they believed to be founded in knowledge.
【答案解析】 本句主干为the gap had been bridged，意义是鸿沟被弥合了。with the Church's teachings and ways of thinking being eclipsed by the Renaissance是介词短语作伴随状语，其中being eclipsed在with短语中作宾补，同时是被动语态。句末的leading to new and unexplored intellectual territories是现在分词短语作结果状语，表明前面的现象所导致的结果。 [参考译文] 佛罗伦萨的创造力在14世纪大爆发，也就是人们所说的文艺复兴时期，之后现代世界看到的东西与它曾经所知道的背道而驰。它背离了上帝和罗马天主教会的权威，而倾向于一种更人性化的存在方式。文艺复兴的思想在整个欧洲一直传播到17世纪，艺术和科学在那些更有逻辑思维的人中间格外盛行。由于教会的教义和人们的思维方式在文艺复兴时期黯然失色，中世纪和现代时期之间的鸿沟被弥合了，也随之出现了崭新的、未被探索的知识领域。 在文艺复兴时期，Nicolaus Copernicus、Johannes Kepler和Galileo Galilei这些伟人展示了科学研究和发现的力量。在他们各自的发现揭晓之前，当时的许多思想家都保持着更古老的思维方式，包括地心说这一观点，即地球是我们宇宙的中心。Copernicus在1543年提出一个理论，我们所知道的所有行星都不是围绕着地球转的，而是围绕着太阳转的，后来Galileo支持了这个理论，并为此付出了代价。在科学思想和宗教思想碰撞高度激烈的时期，这样的理论被认为是异端邪说，任何继续传播这些谎言的异端分子都将受到监禁甚至死亡的惩罚。 尽管教会试图压制新一代的逻辑学家和理性主义者，但还是出现了更多对宇宙运转方式的解释，其速度之快让人们无法忽视。正是由于这些伟大的启示，一种建立在理性基础上的新哲学诞生了。 教会长期存在的教条在争取真理的伟大战斗中输给了理性主义者和科学家。这一事实体现为17世纪大部分时间里风靡欧洲的新的思维方式。当许多人承担起试图将推理和科学哲学融入世界的责任时，文艺复兴时代结束了，一个崭新的时代到来了——理性时代。 17世纪和18世纪是充满巨变和好奇心的时代。它们鼓励科学方法、简化论和对教会理念的质疑，以及自由、容忍和进步的思想。这种寻求知识和理解我们已知信息的行为可以用拉丁文“sapere aude”或英文“dare to know”来充分表达，即“敢于求知”。在此之前，Immanuel Kant在他的论文《回答这个问题：什么是启蒙?》中使用过。这是伟大人物寻求真理的目的和责任，他们相信真理是建立在知识的基础之上的。
【答案解析】 本句主干为many thinkers had sustained more ancient ways of thinking，意思为当时的许多思想家都保持着更古老的思维方式。before each of their revelations在句中作时间状语，at the time作后置定语修饰many thinkers。including the geocentric view that the Earth was at the centre of our universe为表示所属关系的介词短语，对ways of thinking进行解释说明，其中that后面是同位语从句修饰geocentric view。
【答案解析】 本句主干为more explanations were being made，意思为出现了更多的解释。despite attempts by the Church to suppress this new generation of logicians and rationalists为介词短语作状语，表示一种让步关系，其中to suppress...作后置定语修饰attempts。for引导的介词短语作more explanations的后置定语，that people could no longer ignore是定语从句，修饰先行词rate。
【答案解析】 本句为复合句，as many took on the duty of trying to integrate reasoning and scientific philosophies into the world是一个由as引导的时间状语从句，the Renaissance was over and it was time for a new era为主句，由两个并列的简单句构成。integrate...into...为固定搭配，意为“将……融入……”，took on the duty of...为固定短语，意为“承担起……的责任”。
问答题
【正确答案】这种寻求知识和理解我们已知信息的行为可以用拉丁文“sapere aude”或英文“dare to know”来充分表达，即“敢于求知”。
【答案解析】 本句主干为Such actions were captured，为被动语态。to seek knowledge and to understand what information we already knew为不定式短语用作后置定语修饰such actions，其中what information we already knew为what引导的宾语从句，作understand的宾语。captured是本句翻译的难点，capture作动词时除了意为“捕获，俘获”，还有“表达，描述”的意思，用在这里符合语境。