Question

Can you believe everything that you read? It seems as if every day, some new articles come out about a new discovery about this or that. For example, water is bad for you, or good for you. The answer depends on which scientific study has just come out. People cannot decide which food items are healthy, how pyramids were constructed, and why dinosaurs disappeared. When we look for answers we sometimes can believe persuasive researches and scientists. But how trustworthy are they really? Here are two examples of scientific hoaxes (骗局).

As far back as 1726, Johann Beringer was fooled by his fellow scientists into thinking he had made an amazing discovery. The fossils of spiders, lizards, and even birds with the name of God written on them in Hebrew were unlike anything that had been found before. He wrote several papers on them and was famous for those only to have it revealed that they were planted by jealous colleagues to ruin his reputation.

When an early human being was discovered in 1912, scientists at this time were wild with excitement over the meaning it had for the theory of evolution. There were hundreds of papers about this Piltdown man over the next fifty years until it was finally discovered to be a complex hoax. The skull (头骨) of a man had been mixed with the jawbone of an orangutan (猩猩) to make the ape (猿) man.

The next time you read the exciting new findings of a study of the best scientist, do not automatically assume that it is true. Even qualified people can get it wrong. Though we certainly should not ignore scientific research, we do need to take it with a grain of salt. Just because it is accepted as the truth today does not mean it will still be trustworthy tomorrow.

1.What is the reason why Johann Beringer was fooled?

A.His fellow scientists wanted to make fun of him.

B.His workmates are eager to become famous too.

C.These scientists made a mistake because of carelessness.

D.His colleagues was jealous of him and did so to destroy his fame.

2.The excited scientists thought that this Piltdown man ________.

A.was in fact a complex hoax

B.was a great scientific invention

C.contributed to the theory of evolution

D.had the skull like that of an ape

3.What does the underlined phrase “with a grain of salt” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A.Happily. B.Generally.

C.Doubtfully. D.Completely.

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A.Hebrew is probably a kind of language.

B.Truths of science will never be out of time.

C.People believe scientists because they are persuasive.

D.We are advised to believe famous scientists.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.C

4.A

【解析】

本文是一篇夹叙夹议文。每天报纸上都会出现一些关于科学新发现的文章，那么这些文章的可信度究竟是多少呢？在文中作者通过几个例子向读者说明：新发现有时候只是一种骗局，或者是一种假象，所以我们对待任何事情都要持有一种怀疑的态度。

1.D 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句He wrote several papers on them and was famous for hose only to have it revealed that they were planted by jealous colleagues to ruin his reputation. 可知实际上这是那些嫉妒他的同事有意毁坏他的名声。故D正确。

2.C 推理判断题。根据文章第三段第一句When an early human being was discovered in 1912, scientists at this time were wild with excitement over the meaning it had for the theory of evolution. 可知科学家很兴奋，是因为这个古代人的分析可以证明进化论的意义。故C正确。

3.C 猜测词义题。根据前面一句The next time you read the exciting new findings of a study of the best scientist, do not automatically assume that it is true.下次当你读到最好的科学家的新发现的时候，不要想当然地认为那就是真的。也就是说要有所怀疑。根据本句Though we certainly should not ignore scientific research, we do need to take it with a grain of salt. 尽管我们不应该忽视科学家的研究，但是我们的确需要有所怀疑。所以本句中的 with a grain of salt就是指doubtfully。故C正确。

4.A 推理判断题。根据第二段第二句The fossils of spiders, lizards, and even birds with the name of God written on them in Hebrew were unlike anything that had been found before. 可知用Hebrew写在蜘蛛、蜥蜴甚至鸟类化石身上的文字和以前被发现的并不一样。句中的in表示“用某种语言”，例如in English，那么Hebrew就应该是指一种语言。故A正确。