Question

“The British government will offer ￡1,000,000 to anyone who can solve the world’s biggest problem—whatever it might be,” said Prime Minister(首相) David Cameron at a science conference. In an unusual competition, the Government will ask people to find out the greatest challenge(挑战) today, such as finding a replacement(替代) for oil, producing low cost food or curing AIDS/HIV. When the toughest problem has been decided, the Prime Minister will give away ￡1,000,000 to the person who successfully works out the answer. The competition follows the example of the Longitude Prize started by the government in 1714, which offered ￡20,000 (worth ￡6,000,000 today) to anyone who could discover how far east or west ships had sailed. Sailors could work out their location north and south, and were able to decide their local time from the sun. However, they needed to know the time at a reference(参照) point in order to find out how far they had travelled east or west. Many people thought the problem was impossible to solve, but the prize was finally won by John Harrison, an ordinary worker. He did this by designing a clock that kept accurate(准确的) time at sea and made it possible for sailors to work out their location.        Almost exactly 300 years on, Mr Cameron will have a group of scientists collect suggestions and draw up a short list of problems facing the world. He will then start a race to solve the most difficult problem. A government officer said, “We want people to think big: what does the world need and how can we achieve that? We are looking for the next penicillin(青霉素), airplane or World Wide Web. Something that is going to really change what we do and how we live our lives—sending us ahead in the global race. ”According to Mr Cameron, it is important to “encourage new ideas” and “attract back the best and the brightest” to Britain.

1. The British government promises ￡1,000,000 to any person who .

A. can solve the biggest challenge facing the world

B. can find how the next penicillin works on illnesses

C. can think of the most difficult problem in the world

D. can help the Prime Minister run his government better

2. The Longitude Prize is mentioned mainly to .

A. explain why the government set up the prize in 1714

B. show John Harrison was a great success as an inventor

C. show that the government is very grateful to John Harrison

D. explain what gave Mr Cameron the idea of starting the competition

3. We can infer(推断) from Paragraphs 4 and 5 that .

A. ships no longer get lost at sea with Harrison’s invention

B. clocks on ships kept good time before Harrison’s invention

C. sailors found it hard to work out their location north and south

D. the sailing industry was very important in Britain around the 1700s

4. Which of the following is true according to the text?

A. John Harrison was sure that he would win the prize.

B. The million pound prize will go to a British scientist.

C. The British government pays special attention to the nation’s creativity.

D. A replacement for oil is considered as the toughest problem by the scientists.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.D

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：这篇短文讲述的是英国政府在设立经度奖300年后，重新设置了百万奖项，给那些能破解世界难题的人。短文中还给我们讲述了第一届经度奖，以及Cameron重设这一奖项的目的。

1.细节理解题。根据短文的开头第一句话“The British government will offer ￡1,000,000 to anyone who can solve the world’s biggest problem—whatever it might be,”可知，英国政府提供1,000,000英镑，给那些能解决世界最大问题的人，不管什么问题都可以。故选A。

2.推理判断题。短文中提到了经度奖，这是一个英国政府用来奖励能在海上确定准确方位的人的奖项，是在1714年设立的。现在300年后，受经度奖的影响，Cameron又重新设立奖项，奖励那些能解决世界难题的人。根据文章中The competition follows the example of the Longitude Prize started by the government in 1714可知D选项符合文意。

3.推理判断题。根据短文第四、五段的内容可知，在1714年，英国政府提供20,000英镑的奖金，奖励能在海上准确定位的人。由此我们可见，当时航海业对于英国是多么的重要。故选D。

4.推理判断题。根据短文内容可知，第一个经度奖被Harrison获得，文章中并没有提到说他就确定自己一定能得到这个奖项，故A不对；根据短文内容可知，这个奖项是给那些能破解世界难题的人，不一定是科学家；根据短文中such as finding a replacement(替代) for oil, producing low cost food or curing AIDS/HIV.可知，找到石油的替代品只是世界上难题之一，故D表述与文章内容不一致；根据短文的内容可知，it is important to “encourage new ideas” and “attract back the best and the brightest” to Britain.，英国政府奖励百万英镑给那些有创新能力，能解决世界难题的人，故C是正确的。

考点：科普类短文阅读。