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Let’s begin with the story: King Hiero c...

    Let’s begin with the story: King Hiero contracts the ancient Greek polymath Archimedes (阿基米德) to detect fraud in the manufacture of a golden crown. Archimedes accepts the challenge and, during a subsequent trip to the public baths, realizes that the more his body sinks into the water, the more water is displaced — making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume.

Realizing he has hit upon a method to determine whether the King’s crown was made of gold or silver, the young Greek leaps out of the bath and rushes home naked crying “Eureka! Eureka!” Or, translated: “I’ve found it! I’ve found it!”

Too bad, however, Archimedes probably never uttered the phrase in that way.

First and foremost, Archimedes himself never wrote about this episode, although he spent plenty of time detailing the laws of buoyancy (浮力). The oldest authority for the naked-Archimedes eureka story is Vitruvius, a Roman writer, who included the tale in his introduction to his ninth book of architecture. “Vitruvius may have gotten it wrong,” says Chris Schmitt, a mathematician at the University of Berlin and a self-described Archimedes fan. “The method attributed to Archimedes in the story works in theory so it sounds right, but when you actually try it, you find that the real world gets in the way.”

In fact, Schmitt is one of a long line of scientists, including Galileo, who have read the account and thought, “That can’t be right.” As Galileo wrote, Archimedes could have achieved a far more precise result using his own law of buoyancy and an accurate scale. In fact, the surface tension of water can make the volume of a light object like a crown immeasurable. “There may be some truth to it,” Schmitt adds. “Archimedes did measure the volume of things but the eureka moment was maybe due to his original discovery concerning buoyance, not to sitting in the bathtub and then running through the streets naked.”

Much like Newton’s apple, the exclamation persists because of the enduring power of the story: a golden crown, a life in the balance, a naked mathematician. The suspect foundations of the eureka moment take nothing away from the word’s ability to uniquely and concisely convey the flash of inspiration.

1.According to the first paragraph, how would Archimedes measure the volume of the crown?

A.He would weigh himself with and without the crown.

B.He would weigh the crown first and then put it into water.

C.He would go to the public baths wearing the crown on his head.

D.He would sink the crown into water and measure the water displaced.

2.What did Galileo probably think of the naked-Archimedes eureka story?

A.He believed the word “eureka” was said in another situation.

B.He suspected Archimedes didn’t run through the street naked.

C.He doubted Archimedes carried out the experiment independently.

D.He thought Archimedes would not have used the method described.

3.What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A.The word “eureka” is still widely used today.

B.The word “eureka” is now a formal scientific term.

C.Most people accept the authenticity of the original story.

D.People are still inspired by the achievements of Archimedes.

4.What is the purpose of this text?

A.To introduce the famous scientist Archimedes.

B.To examine the credibility of the eureka story.

C.To explain how the word “eureka” was created.

D.To urge people not to use the word “eureka” anymore.

 

1.D 2.D 3.A 4.B 【解析】 这是一篇说明文。文章主要为论证阿基米德灵感迸发故事的可信度,文章从不同的角度来说明这个故事不一定是真的。而故事的可疑性,并不影响“eureka”一词独特而简明地表达灵感闪现的能力。 1.推理判断题。根据第一段中Archimedes accepts the challenge and, during a subsequent trip to the public baths, realizes that the more his body sinks into the water, the more water is displaced — making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume.可知,阿基米德接受了挑战,在随后的一次公共浴室之行中,他意识到,他的身体越往水里沉,排出的水就越多——这使得排出的水成为他身体体积的精确量度。由此可推知,阿基米德会将王冠沉入水中,再测排出的水的重量来测量皇冠的重量。故选D。 2.细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中As Galileo wrote, Archimedes could have achieved a far more precise result using his own law of buoyancy and an accurate scale.可知,正如伽利略所写的,阿基米德本可以利用他自己的浮力定律和精确的比例尺得到更精确的结果。由此可知,伽利略认为阿基米德不会使用所描述的方法。故选D。 3.推理判断题。根据上文Much like Newton’s apple, the exclamation persists because of the enduring power of the story: a golden crown, a life in the balance, a naked mathematician.可知,就像牛顿的苹果一样,这个感叹词之所以能持续存在,是因为这个故事有一种经久不衰的力量:一顶金色的王冠,一个生命的平衡,一个赤身裸体的数学家。由此从最后一段带下划线的句子中可以推断出“eureka”这个词至今仍被广泛使用。故选A。 4.推理判断题。根据第三段Too bad, however, Archimedes probably never uttered the phrase in that way.可知,可惜的是,阿基米德可能从来没有这样说过。以及最后一段中The suspect foundations of the eureka moment take nothing away from the word’s ability to uniquely and concisely convey the flash of inspiration.可知,“eureka”一词的可疑基础,丝毫不影响这个词独特而简明地表达灵感闪现的能力。结合文章主要内容为论证历史上阿基米德灵感迸发故事的可信度。由此可知,本文的目的是来检验eureka故事的可信度。故选B。
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