Many objects in daily use have clearly been influenced by science, but their form and function, their dimensions and appearance were determined by technologists, artisans, designers, inventors, and engineers--using nonscientific modes of thought. Many features and qualities of the objects that a technologist thinks about cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in the mind by a visual, nonverbal process. ①In the development of Western technology, it has he en nonverbal thinking, by and large, that has fixed the outlines and filled in the details; and rockets exist not because of geometry or thermodynamics (热力学), but because they were first a picture in the minds of those who built them. The creative shaping process of a technologist’s mind can be seen in nearly every artifact that exists. For example, in designing a diesel engine, a technologist might impress individual ways of nonverbal thinking on the machine by continually using an intuitive sense of rightness and fitness. What would be the shape of the combustion chamber Where should the valves be placed Should it have a long or short piston Such questions have a range of answers that are supplied by experience, by physical requirements, by limitations of available space, and not least by a sense of form. Some decisions, such as wall thickness and pin diameter, may depend on scientific calculations, but the nonscientific component of design remains primary. Design courses, then, should be an essential element in engineering curricula. Nonverbal thinking, a central mechanism in engineering design, involves perceptions, the stock in trade of the artist, not the scientist. ②Because perceptive processes are not assumed to entail. "hard thinking", nonverbal thought is sometimes seen as a primitive stage in the development of cognitive processes and infeiror to verbal or mathematical thought, ③But it is paradoxical that when the staff of the Historic American Engineering Record wished to have drawings made of machines and isometric(等比例 的)views of industrial processes for its historical record of American engineering, the only college students with the requisite abilities were not engineering students, but rather students attending architectural schools. ④If courses in design, which in a strong]y analytial engineering curriculum provide the backgound required" for practical problem solving, are not provided, we can expect to encounter silly but costly enors gccurring in advanced engineering systems. For example, early models of high-speed railroad cars loaded with high-tech controls were unable to operate in a snowstorm because the fan sucked snow into the electrical system. ⑤Absurd random failures that plague automatic control systems are not merely trivital aberrations(失常); they are a reflection of the chaos that results when design is assumed to be primarily a prgblem in mathematics: Which of the following does the author seem to be in agreement with
A. Mathematical thinking is essential to any design course.
B. Nonverbal thinking has its advantage over other perceptive processes.
C. Engineering design demands scientific thought.
D. Artists play a primitive role in engineering design.
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In the 1962 movie Lawrence of Arabia, one scene shows an American newspaper reporter eagerly snapping photos of men looting a sabotaged train. One of the looters, Chief Auda abu Tayi of the Howe tat clan, suddenly notices the camera and snatches it. "Am I in this" he asks, before smashing it open. To the dismayed reporter, Lawrence explains, "He thinks these things will steal his virtue. He thinks you’re a kind of thief." As soon as colonizers and explorers began taking cameras into distant lands, stories began circulating about how indigenous peoples saw them as tools for black magic. The "ignorant natives" may have had a point. When photography first became available, scientists welcomed it as a more objective way of recording faraway societies than early travelers’ exaggerated accounts. But in some ways, anthropological photographs reveal more about the culture that holds the camera than the one that stares back. Up into the 1950s and 1960s, many ethnographers sought "pure" pictures of "primitive" cultures, routinely deleting modem accoutrements such as clocks and Western dress. They paid men and women to re-enact rituals or to pose as members of war or hunting parties, often with little regard for veracity. Edward Curtis, the legendary photographer of North American Indians, for example, got one Makah man to pose as a whaler with a spear in 1915--even though the Makah had not hunted whales in a generation. These photographs reinforced widely accepted stereotypes that indigenous cultures were isolated, primitive, and unchanging. For instance, National Geographic magazine’s photographs have taught millions of Americans about other cultures. As Catherine Lutz and Jane Collins point out in their 1993 book Reading National Geographic, the magazine since its founding in 1888 has kept a tradition of presenting beautiful photos that don’t challenge white, middle-class American conventions. While dark-skinned women can be shown without tops, for example, white women’s breasts are taboo. Photos that could unsettle or disturb such. as areas of the world torn asunder by war or famine, are discarded in favor of those that reassure, to conform with the society’s stated pledge to present only "kindly" visions of foreign societies. The result, Lutz and Collins say, is the depiction of "an idealized and exotic world relatively free of pain or class conflict". Lutz actually likes National Geographic a lot. She read the magazine as a child, and its lush imagery influenced her eventual choice of anthropology as a career. She just thinks that as people look at the photographs of other cultures, they should be alert to the choice of composition and images. The phrase "one that stares back" (Lines 6-7, Par
A. 2) refers to ______.A. the indigenous cultureB. the Western cultureC. the academic cultureD. the news business culture
Do you really have to ask Open your eyes. The problem isn’t that the next mass murderer may be sitting right next to you, sleeping in your house, eating at your table, giving you every signal of desperation a person can give. The problem is you don’t want to see it. How else could a child become a psychologically twisted and emotionally alienated mass murderer, unnoticed by everyone Nobody gets that far gone without anyone noticing. We all recognize behavior that raises our concern. We all know when someone is exceeding just weird. We see it happening and yet we ignore it, because if we don’t, we’ll have to take responsibility for doing something about it. We go to movies filled with violent portrayals of ourselves more as animals than as humans. We know it is the wrong message, but we ignore it, because if we don’t, we’ll have to take responsibility for doing something about it. We watch television shows that portray us as vapid, meaningless cretins (白痴) incapable of intelligence or kindness. We know it is the wrong message, but we ignore it, because if we don’t, we’ll have to take responsibility for doing something about it. We clap our hands and stamp our feet to the beat of songs whose lyrics would, if we saw them written on a piece of paper, scare the hell out of us. We know it is the wrong message, but we ignore it, because if we don’t, we’ll have to take responsibility for doing something about it. We trust movie stars whom we have confused with their movie roles when they tell us that owning handguns is patriotic. We know handguns serve only one purpose--to rid human beings of their lives, but we ignore it, because if we don’t, we’ll have to take responsibility for doing something about it. We read books that tell us discipline equals love. So we demonstrate our "love" by suffocating (使窒息) our kids with a million rules and regulations. Instead of respecting them as individuals, we control them. Instead of getting to know them, we criticize everything they say and do. Instead of loving them unconditionally, we judge them. Children who are loved and respected are not emotionally alienated. Children who are loved and respected do not murder people. As parents, teachers, and human beings, we are responsible for the messages we send, the violence we condone(宽恕), and the children we raise. Why does the author use quotation marks (Line 1, Par
A. 4) to refer to loveA. Because love is always hidden behind strict rules and regulations.B. Because kids can’t appreciate their parents’ affection yet.C. Because there is an evident generation gap in interpreting it.D. Because such love does more harm than benefit to the kids.
A big focus of the criticism of computer games has concerned the content of the games being played. When the narratives of the games are analyzed they can be seen to fall into some genres. The two genres most popular with the children I interviewed were "Platformers" and "Beat-them-ups". Platform games such as Sonic and Super Mario involve leaping from platform to platform, avoiding obstacles, moving on through the levels, and progressing through the different stages of the game. Beat-them- ups are the games which have caused concern over their violent content. These games involve fights between animated characters. In many ways this violence can be compared to violence within children’s cartoons where a character is hit over the head or falls off a cliff but walks away unscathed. Controversy has occurred in part because of the intensity of the game play, which is said to spill over into children’s everyday lives. There are worries that children are becoming more violent and aggressive after prolonged exposure to these games. Playing computer games involves feelings of intense frustration and anger which often expresses itself in aggressive "yells" at the screen. It is not only the "Beat-them- up" games which produce this aggression, platform games are just as frustrating when the characters lose all their "lives" and "die" just before the end of the level is reached. Computer gaming relies upon intense concentration on the moving images on the screen and demands great hand-to-eye coordination. When the player loses and the words "Game over" appear on the screen, there is annoyance and frustration at being beaten by the computer and at having made an error. This anger and aggression could perhaps be compared to the aggression felt when playing football and you take your eye off the ball and enable the opposition to score. The annoyance experienced when defeated at a computer game is what makes gaming addictive: the player is determined not to make the same mistake again and to have "one last go" in the hope of doing better next time. Some of the concern over the violence of computer games has been about children who are unable to tell the difference between fiction and reality and who act out the violent moves of the games in fight on the playground. The problem with video games is that they involve children more than television or films and this means there are more implications for their social behavior. Playing these games can lead to anti-social behavior, make children aggressive and affect their emotional stability. What does "unscathed" (Line 10, Par
A. 1 ) probably meanA. Unsettled.B. Unbeaten.C. Unharmed.D. Unhappy.
Women’s rights establish the same social, economic and political status for women as for men. Women’s rights guarantee that women will not face discrimination on the basis of their sex. Until the second half of the 20th century, women in most societies were denied some of the legal and political rights accorded to men. Although women in much of the world have gained significant legal rights, many people believe that women still do not have complete political, economic, and social equality with men. Throughout much of the history of Western civilization, deep-seated cultural beliefs allowed women only limited roles in society. Many people believed that women’s natural roles were as mothers and wives. These people considered women to be better suited for childbearing and homemaking rather than for involvement in the public life of business or politics. Widespread belief that women were intellectually inferior to men led most societies to limit women’s education to learning domestic skills. Well educated, upper-class men controlled most positions of employment and power in society. Until the 19th century, the denial of equal rights to women met with only occasional protest and drew little attention from most people. Because most women lacked the educational and economic resources that would enable them to challenge the prevailing social order, women generally accepted their inferior status as their only option. At this time, women shared these disadvantages with the majority of working class men, as many social, economic, and political rights were restricted to the wealthy elite. In the late 18th century in an attempt to remedy these inequalities among men, political theorists and philosophers asserted that all men were created equal and therefore were entitled to equal treatment under the law. In the 19th century, as governments in Europe and North America began to draft new laws guaranteeing equality among men, significant numbers of women--and some men--began to demand that women be accorded equal rights as well. At the same time, the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America further divided the roles of men and women. Before the Industrial Revolution most people worked in fanning or crofts-making, both of which took place in or near the home. Men and women usually divided the numerous tasks among themselves and their children. Industrialization led male workers to seek employment outside of the home in factories and other large-scale enterprises. The growing split between home and work reinforced the idea that women’s rightful place was in the home, while men belonged in the public world of employment and politics. Up to Industrialization, women ______.
A. had more equality than ever before
B. because much closer to the equality
C. were required to engage in social activities
D. were generally believed to be in the home