题目内容
At this point we raise the troublesome methodological question, "What is a fact？" While the word looks deceptively simple, it is not easy to distinguish a fact from a widely shared illusion. Suppose we define a fact as a descriptive Statement upon which all qualified observers are in agreement. By this definition, medieval ghosts were a fact, since all medieval observers agreed that ghosts were real. There is, therefore, no way to be sure that a fact is an accurate description and not a mistaken impression. Research would be easier if facts were dependable, unshakable certainties. Since they are not, the best we can do is to recognize that a fact is a descriptive statement of reality which scientists, after careful examination and cross-checking, agree in believing to be accurate.
Since science is based on verifiable evidence, science can deal only with questions about which verifiable evidence can be found. Questions like "Is there a God？" "What is the purpose and destiny of man？" or "What makes a thing beautiful？" are not scientific questions because they can not be treated factually. Such questions may be terribly important, but the scientific method has not tools for handling them. Scientists can study human beliefs about God, or man's destiny, or beauty, or anything else, and they may study the personal and social consequences of such beliefs; but these are studies of human behavior, with no attempt to settle the truth or error of the beliefs themselves.
Science then does not have answers for everything, and many important questions are not scientific questions. The scientific method is our most reliable source of factual knowledge about human behavior. and the natural universe, but science with its dependence upon verifiable factual evidence cannot answer questions about value, or esthetics, or purpose and ultimate meaning, or supernatural phenomena. Answers to such questions must be sought in philosophy, metaphysics, or religion.
Each scientific conclusion represents the most reasonable interpretation of all the available evidence—but new evidence may appear tomorrow. Therefore science has no absolute truths. An absolute truth is one which will hold true for all times, places, or circumstances. All scientific truth is tentative, subject to revision in the light of new evidence. Some scientific conclusions (e.g., that the earth is a spheroid; or that innate drives are culturally conditioned) are based upon such a large and consistent body of evidence that scientists doubt that they will ever be overturned by new evidence. Yet the scientific method requires that all conclusions be open to reexamination whenever new evidence is found to challenge them.
The central idea of the passage is
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PART A
Directions: For Questions 1-5, you will hear a conversation. While you listen, fill out the table with the information you have heard. Some of the information has been given to you in the table. Write only 1 word in each numbered box. You will hear the recording twice. You now have 25 seconds to read the table below.
听力原文：Keet: Dr. Thomas？ This is Keet Bradley from the daily news. I'd like to ask you some questions about the new official standard weight that you purchased.
Thomas: I'd be happy to help you. What would you like to know'？
Keet: First of all, bow is the standard weight used？
Thomas: Well, the people in our department use it to check the scales all over the country. The department of weights and measures is a government agency. It's our responsibility to see that all the scales measure a kilogram accurately so this is the way we use to adjust the scales.
Keet: How did you check the scales before？
Thomas: We have an old standard weight that we used to use. It had to be replaced because it was imprecise. You see it was made of poor quality metal that was too porous. It absorbed too much moisture.
Keet: Oh. So when the weather was humid it weighed more and when it was dry it weighed less.
Thomas: Exactly. And that variation can affect the standards of the whole country.-So our department had the new weight made out of higher quality metal.
Keet: How much does it cost？
Thomas: About 45,000 dollars.
Keet: 45,000 dollars？ For a one kilogram weight？ That's more expensive than gold. Is it really worth that much？
Thomas: I'm sure it is. Industries depend on our government agency to monitor the accuracy of scales so that when they buy and sell their products there is one standard. Think of the drug industry, for example, those companies rely on high accuracy scales to manufacture and package medicine.
What is Keet's occupation？
Television has transformed politics in the United States by changing the way in which information is disseminated, by altering political campaigns, and by changing citizens' patterns of response to politics. By giving citizens independent access to the candidates, television diminished the role of the political party in the selection of the major party candidates. By centering politics on the person of the candidate, television accelerated the citizen's focus on character rather than issues.
Television has altered the forms of political communication as well. The messages on which most of us rely are briefer than they once were. The stump speech, a political speech given by traveling politicians and lasting 1.5 to 2 hours, which characterized nineteenth-century political discourse, has given way to the 30 second advertisement and the 10 second "sound bite" in broadcast news. Increasingly the audience for speeches is not that standing in front of the politician but rather the viewing audience who will hear and see a snippet (片断) of the speech on the news.
In these abbreviated forms, much of what constructed the traditional political discourse of earlier ages has been lost. In 15 or 30 seconds, a speaker cannot establish the historical context that shaped the issues in question, cannot detail the probable causes of the problem, and cannot examine alternative proposals to argue that one is preferable to others. In snippets, politicians assert but do not argue.
Because television is an intimate medium, speaking through it required a changed political style. that was more conversational, personal, and visual than that of the old-style. stump speech. Reliance on television means that increasingly our political world contains memorable pictures rather than memorable words. Schools teach us to analyze words and print. However, in a world in which politics is increasingly visual, informed citizenship requires a new set of skills.
Recognizing the power of television's pictures, politicians craft televisual, staged events, called pseudo-events, designed to attract media coverage. Much of the political activity we see on television news has been crafted by politicians, their speechwriters, and their public relations advisers for televised consumption. Sound bites in news and answers to questions in debates increasingly sound like advertisements.
What is the main point of the passage？
Sleep and wakefulness, once considered to be the light and dark of consciousness, no longer seem to differ so sharply. To sleep does not mean to drown in an ocean of darkness. Actually, sleep is not a unitary state; it involves many shades or degree of detachment from the surrounding world. While sleep may feel like a blanket of darkness punctuated by dreams—a time when the mind is asleep—nothing could be less true. All night long a person drifts down and up through different levels of consciousness, as if on waves. With laboratory methods, researchers have been able to chart the typical stages of the journey into sleep.
The journey starts while the subject is still awake but beginning to relax. His brain waves, which have been low, rapid, and irregular, begin to show a new pattern. This new pattern, which is known as alpha rhythm, is an even electrical pulsation of about nine to 12 cycles per second. Most people do not know what the alpha state feels like, but during the last few years researchers have been able to teach subjects how to recognize and control their alpha rhythm.
When their EEG shows an alpha rhythm, the subjects are notified, either by a sound or by the appearance of a color on a screen. Because the alpha state tends to be pleasant and relaxed, the ability to sustain it can help tense people ease their passage into sleep. A moment of tension, a loud noise, an attempt to solve a problem, however, and the alpha rhythm may vanish.
As the subject passes through the gates of the unconsciousness, his alpha waves grow smaller, and his eyes roll very slowly. For a moment, he may wake up during this early part of the descent, alerted by a sudden spasm that causes his body to jerk. Like the brain waves, this spasm is a sign of neural changes within. Known as the myoclonic jerk, it is caused by a brief burst of activity in the brain. Although it is related to epileptic seizures, the myoclonic jerk is normal in all human sleep. It is gone in a fraction of a second, after which descent continues. The subject has not felt the peculiar transformation, but now he is said to be truly asleep.
This passage states that a person is really asleep only
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.
The rebuilding of the World Trade Center is in many ways a memorial to those who lost their lives in the 2001 September 11 attacks and it is a tribute that these buildings will also be built to the highest green building standards. N.Y. Governor George Pataki announced that the Freedom Tower, World Trade Center Office Towers 2, 3, and 4, as well as the World Trade Center Memorial and Memorial Museum will all be designed to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED Gold certification requirements.
This groundbreaking announcement was made five years after the devastating attacks and includes an entire package of energy and environmental measures that will be incorporated into the design of the World Trade Center redevelopment. Plans for the Freedom Tower and other facilities at the World Trade Center site will feature state-of-the-art energy technologies to better protect environmental resources; utilize renewable energy sources, and maximize energy efficiency.
These buildings join over half a billion square feet of construction projects already involved with the LEED program, including World Trade Center 7, which was certified as LEED Gold in March 2006. These facilities will also be built to a design standard that is 20 percent more efficient than the New York Energy Conservation Construction Code.
"The decision to achieve LEED Gold is a fitting tribute to the importance of the reconstruction of Ground Zero. Using LEED sends a clear message that our buildings must be safe, healthy places for us to live and work," said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. "New York is to be commended for its leadership; the World Trade Center buildings will stand as a symbol of New York's Courage and commitment to a healthy and sustainable future."
Governor Pataki also announced an agreement with Silverstein Properties that calls for the Freedom Tower and each of the World Trade Center Office Towers to utilize cutting edge fuel cell technology to increase efficiency and provide secure clean on-site power generation. These fuel cell installations, totaling 4.8 MW of power generation, will together constitute one of the largest fuel cell installations in the world.
"The redevelopment will be a global example of green building design and a constant reminder of our commitment to break the cycle of dependence on foreign energy," said the Governor. "By moving forward with state-of-the-art design and guidelines, New York will once again show the world our ingenuity, innovation and commitment to building a stronger, brighter future for all."
"LEED certification for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center complex demonstrates the resiliency (恢复) of the United States," Fedrizzi continued. "Not only is our nation restoring the areas devastated by the terrorist attacks, but we are also doing so in a way that highlights our commitment m—and belief in—the future."
LEED Gold certification requires ______.
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