Question

    Though people have discussed the relationship between science and nature for many years, there is no consensual(统一的) explanation. While some view science as a powerful tool in ______ nature’s source of power, others view it as a danger. One example is Barry Commoner’s article, Unraveling(解开) the DNA Myth, which explains the recent developments in DNA technology and expresses ______. Another example is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, The Birthmark. It is a tale about a famous scientist, Aylmer, who seems to be unraveling nature’s deepest secrets one by one. Despite all of his ______ and vast understanding of science, Aylmer is unable to direct that knowledge into ______ free from nature’s grasp. He was unable to rid his wife of her birthmark and, in the end, killed her.

Despite the different presentations of the concepts, though time separated the two men, both pieces express a similar view on the relationship between science and nature. Both pieces suggest that nature is ______ and holds wonders, secrets, and powers that many scientists constantly dream about discovering. Although there is a gap of one hundred and sixty years, Commoner still shares and gives evidence to Hawthorne’s beliefs that there is a unique ______ in nature that cannot be discovered or understood through science and that the ______ to uncover nature’s secrets are ______ and can lead to disaster. According to Commoner, nature’s universal power continues to prevent and control their discoveries. Commoner criticizes and ______ doubt on the true power of science.

As Commoner’s article suggests, nature only allows science to have limited power and success. Both men believe that complete trust in science is ______, however wonderful and groundbreaking some scientific discoveries are. Commoner believes that people only seem to focus on the few achievements, while avoiding and ignoring all of the laws. For example, “most clones exhibit developmental failure before or soon after birth”. By stressing all of the ______ and shortcomings of science, he conveys the notion that nature’s secrets are well kept and far from being understood and ______ by man. The government and private companies have invested billions of dollars in mapping the human genome, but we still have no ______ for it. Such a discovery is useless, however interesting it might be.

Commoner’s article clearly represents science as weak and useless, but more importantly, dangerous. It gives evidence to support the suggested dangers ______ with science’s attempts to discover nature’s power. If the result is not ______ dangerous, it can still have harmful side effects.

1.A.building B.defining C.showing D.uncovering

2.A.concerns B.views C.findings D.achievements

3.A.interests B.ambitions C.discoveries D.thoughts

4.A.preventing B.earning C.destroying D.breaking

5.A.mysterious B.powerful C.fantastic D.special

6.A.prosperity B.perfection C.improvement D.integrity

7.A.beliefs B.experiences C.actions D.attempts

8.A.disappointing B.meaningful C.useless D.significant

9.A.throws B.expresses C.holds D.casts

10.A.improper B.unbelievable C.dangerous D.unwise

11.A.reforms B.failures C.experiments D.changes

12.A.controlled B.digested C.shared D.applied

13.A.question B.doubt C.hope D.use

14.A.provided B.supplied C.associated D.compared

15.A.directly B.especially C.definitely D.necessarily

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.D

5.A

6.B

7.D

8.C

9.D

10.D

11.B

12.A

13.C

14.C

15.A

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了一些人对科学和自然界之间的关系的态度——自然界有一种独特的完美，是无法通过科学发现或理解的。

1.考查动词词义辨析。句意：有人认为科学是揭开自然力量来源的有力工具，也有人认为科学是一种危险。A. building建造；B. defining定义；C. showing展示；D. uncovering揭开。上文说虽然人们多年来一直在讨论科学与自然的关系，但并没有达成共识的解释，因此有人认为科学是揭示自然力量来源的有力工具，也有人认为科学是一种危险，故D项正确。

2.考查名词词义辨析。句意：一个例子是布朗纳的文章《解开DNA之谜》，它解释了DNA技术的最新发展并表达了人们的担忧。A. concerns关心、担忧；B. views观点；C. findings发现；D. achievements成就。上文说有人认为科学是一种危险，因此DNA技术引起了一些人的担忧，故A项正确。

3.考查名词词义辨析。句意：尽管艾尔默有了诸多发现，对科学也有了广博的理解，但他却无法引导这些知识从大自然的掌握中挣脱出来。A. interests兴趣；B. ambitions抱负；C. discoveries发现；D. thoughts想法。空前说著名科学家艾尔默似乎在一个接一个地解开大自然最深处的秘密，他自然是有很多发现，故C项正确。

4.考查动词词义辨析。句意同上。A. preventing防止；B. earning赢得；C. destroying破坏；D. breaking打破。根据表示让步的Despite可知，艾尔默无法将这些知识从大自然的掌握中解放出来，break free from表示“挣脱”，故D项正确。

5.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：这两个例子都表明，大自然是神秘的，蕴藏着许多科学家梦寐以求的奇迹、秘密和力量。A. mysterious神秘的；B. powerful有力的；C. fantastic极好的；D. special特别的。根据空后的“and holds wonders, secrets, and powers that many scientists constantly dream about discovering.”可知，大自然是神秘的，故A项正确。

6.考查名词词义辨析。句意：虽然相隔一百六十年，但布朗纳仍然认同并证明了霍桑的观点，即自然界有一种独特的完美，无法通过科学发现或理解，而揭开自然界秘密的努力毫无用处，可能导致灾难。A. prosperity繁荣；B. perfection完美；C. improvement改进；D. integrity正直。空后说自然界是无法通过科学发现或理解的，下文又说自然的秘密被很好地保存着，并且远离人类的理解和控制，因此此处是说自然界是完美的，故B项正确。

7.考查名词词义辨析。句意同上。A. beliefs信仰；B. experiences经历；C. actions行动；D. attempts尝试、努力。上文说一直以来科学家都努力解开大自然的秘密，故D项正确。

8.考查形容词词义辨析。句意同上。A. disappointing令人失望的；B. meaningful有意义的；C. useless无用的；D. significant重要的。上文说自然界是无法通过科学发现或理解的，因此想要揭开自然界秘密的努力是没有用的，故C项正确。

9.考查动词词义辨析。句意：布朗纳批判和怀疑科学的真正力量。A. throws扔；B. expresses表达；C. holds持有；D. casts铸造、投。上文说布朗纳认为自然界有一种独特的完美，是无法通过科学发现或理解的，因此他对科学的真正力量表示怀疑，cast doubt on表示“对……表示怀疑”，故D项正确。

10.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：两人都认为，无论某些科学发现多么精彩和有突破性，完全相信科学是不明智的。A. improper不正确的；B. unbelievable难以置信的；C. dangerous危险的；D. unwise不明智的。空前说正如布朗纳的文章所说，自然只允许科学拥有有限的力量和成功，所以他认为完全相信科学是不明智的，故D项正确。

11.考查名词词义辨析。句意：通过强调科学的所有失败和缺点，他传达了这样一种观念：自然的秘密被很好地保存着，并且远离人类的理解和控制。A. reforms履行；B. failures失败；C. experiments试验；D. changes改变。空前的举例说大多数克隆体在出生前或出生后不久就表现出发育失败，这是科学上的失败，故B项正确。

12.考查动词词义辨析。句意同上。A. controlled控制；B. digested消化；C. shared分享；D. applied应用。自然界的秘密被很好地保存着，是人类不能理解和控制的，故A项正确。

13.考查名词词义辨析。句意：政府和私人公司在绘制人类基因组图上投入了数十亿美元，但我们仍然没有希望。A. question问题；B. doubt怀疑；C. hope希望；D. use用途。空后说无论多么有趣，这样的发现都是无用的，因此在绘制人类基因组图上投入再多，我们仍然没有希望，故C项正确。

14.考查动词词义辨析。句意：它提供了证据来支持科学努力揭开自然力量所带来的危险。A. provided提供；B. supplied供给；C. associated联系；D. compared比较。上文说用科学解开自然的力量是危险的，此处指“与科学努力揭开自然的力量相关的”，故C项正确。

15.考查副词词义辨析。句意：如果结果不是直接的危险，它仍然会有有害的副作用。

A. directly直接地；B. especially尤其；C. definitely 肯定地；D. necessarily必要地。与空后提到的“有害的副作用”相对的自然是“直接的（危险）”，故A项正确。