专业学位硕士研究生英语教程Unit-14词汇及课后答案.doc

unit 14 ScienceWord Bankastronomy: the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole天文学bewildering: confusing, especially because there are too many choices or things happening at the same time让人困惑的，令人费解的comedown: n. a feeling of disappointment or depression失望，沮丧complicated: consisting of many interconnecting parts or elements复杂的，混乱的configuration: an arrangement of parts or elements in a particular form, figure, or combination构造，配置confine: to keep or restrict someone or something within certain limits of限制，使局限determinism: the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will【哲】宿命论，决定论discount: to regard (a possibility, fact, or person) as being unworthy of consideration because it lacks credibility对(可能性、事实、人)不全信，对不予考虑fertility: producing or capability of producing abundant vegetation or crops丰产，多产infinite: limitless or endless in space, extent无限的，无边无际的initial: existing or occurring at the beginning最初的，开始的inquiry: an act of asking for information询问，打听investigate: to carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts调查，研究observational: being closely and constantly watched or monitored观察的，观测的placate: to make sb. less angry or hostile安抚，抚慰postulate: to suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of sth. as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief假定，假设precise: marked by exactness and accuracy of expression or detail精确的，准确的rotation: the action of rotating around an axis or center循环，交替sacrifice: an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to god or to a divine or supernatural figure献祭，供奉scope: the extent of the area or subject matter that something deals with or to which it is relevant范围，领域self-consistent: not having parts or aspects which are in conflict or contradiction with each other自相一致的，一贯的string: a length of catgut or wire on a musical instrument, producing a note by vibration(乐器的)弦triumph: a great victory or achievement胜利，成功ultimate: being or happening at the end of a process最后的，最终的unified: become united, uniform, or whole统一的，一元化的Phrases and Expressionsa set of: a group of similar things that belong together or are related in some way一套，一伙in advance: ahead in time预先，事先in effect: in fact, in practice实质上，实际上make sense of: to find meaning or coherence in理解，弄懂Reading ComprehensionI. Choose the best for each of the following.1. According to the author, which theory has been well accepted by all? ( D )A. The tortoise theory. B. The theory of superstrings.C. Laplaces determinism. D. Not mentioned.2. Based on the earliest theoretical attempts, what is the nature of the universe? ( B )A. There is a world picture.B. The whole world was controlled by spirits with human emotions who acted in a very humanlike and unpredictable manner.C. An infinite tower of tortoises supported the flat earth.D. Gods obeyed strict laws, apparently without any exceptions.3. Who did people believe control the world in the early time? ( A )A. Spirits with human emotions. B. The sun god.C. The river and mountain. D. Celestial bodies.4. The authors aim by quoting Einsteins question is to show that _C_.A. God can create the world by different choicesB. the world is always controlled by spirits with human emotions who acted in a very humanlike and unpredictable mannerC. Even the God has no power to create the initial lawsD. Human can can investigate the laws of the universe and ask about the nature of God5. What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant! in Para. 8. Here the word comedown means _D_.A. in effect, God was confined to the areas that nineteenth-century science did not understandB. the sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of languageC. philosophers have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theoriesD. most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question whyII. Complete the following summary of the text by filling in the blanks with words. The initial letter of each word has been given to you. Space and Time is just one part of the book, A Brief History of Time. In it, the author has (1) displayed some well-known theories of universe to stir our imagination to think about the answers to the (2) permanent questions about how the world comes into being. They are the (3) infinite tower of tortoises, the (4) superstring theory and Laplace s (5) determinism. Although the first one is obviously ridiculous, the latter two are also (6) incomplete. They all lack (7) observational evidences. Einstein even once asked the question: How much (8) choice did God have in constructing the universe? because even his theory of universe is just a hypothesis. On the one hand, the author has criticized the present scientists for paying too much attention to finding what the universe is and ignoring the reason why it is like that. On the other hand, he has also indicated that philosophers have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theories. They have reduced the scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstein has pointed out that the sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language. This is a truly (9) comedown in philosophy. But this doesnt mean that the author (10) discounts our humans cant find the nature of the universe and truly know the mind of God.VocabularyI. Choose the answer that best completes each sentence. 1. In _B_ were earning less than last year because of inflation.A. blossom B. effect C. practice D. between 2. Currently there is a _C_ variety of software available and my first task will be to suggest a simple classification.A. confused B. obvious C. bewildering D. understandable 3. Its difficult to be _D_ about the number of deaths caused by smoking.A. vague B. accurate C. absolute D. precise 4. The noise control law could _A_ airport neighbors, who oppose growth because of the noise.A. placate B. comforted C. anger D. stimulate 5. Scientists _B_ his method of predicting earthquakes.A. discounting B. discounted C. has discounted D. discount 6. All the illegal immigrants were _C_ to a small island in the harbour.A. confected B. confided C. confined D. confederated 7. The brain is like a very powerful, very _A_ computer.A. complicated B. simple C. careful D. trouble-free 8. Teaching eighth-grade English must be a big _C_ for a man with two PhDs.A. satisfaction B. disappointing C. comedown D. success 9. An _A_ will be held to discover why the schools educational record is so bad.A. inquiry B. suspicion C. enquire D. question10. Darwin _D_ the modern theory of evolution.A. hypothesized B. invented C. created D. postulatedII. Fill in the blanks with the words or phrases given below. Change the form where necessary. rotationally finite fertile configurational confinement preciseness count bewilder unify postulation determine observation self-consistency complication initially 1. Changes in society are happening so fast, and they sometimes seem bewildering. 2. Eggs are a symbol of fertility and people traditionally decorated eggs with paint then gave them as presents. 3. He had been confined to a wheelchair for some time. 4. A natural language contains a(n) infinite number of grammatical sentences. 5. It takes 243 Earth days for Venus to complete one rotation. 6. Not all the members of European Union support the idea to construct a unified EU import market. 7. Contrary to popular belief, there is a great deal of observational evidence for the existence of two types of black holes, those with masses of a typical star, and those with masses of a typical galaxy. 8. After the initial shock, people adjusted to the new circumstances. 9. Experts discounted the accuracy of the polls.10. To begin with, it postulates that the hero of your story is in danger.TranslationPut the following paragraph into English.亚里士多德和牛顿都相信绝对时间。也就是说，他们相信人们可以毫不含糊地测量两个事件之间的时间间隔，只要用好的钟，不管谁去测量，这个时间都是一样的。时间相对于空间是完全分开并独立的。这就是大部分人当作常识的观点。然而，我们必须改变这种关于空间和时间的观念。虽然这种显而易见的常识可以很好地对付运动甚慢的诸如苹果、行星的问题，但在处理以光速或接近光速运动的物体时却根本无效。参考译文：Both Aristotle and Newton believed in absolute time. That is, they believed that one could unambiguously measure the interval of time between two events, and that this time would be the same whoever measured it, provided they used a good clock. Time was completely separate from and independent of space. This is what most people would take to be the commonsense view. However, we have had to change our ideas about space and time. Although our apparently commonsense notions work well when dealing with things like apples, or planets that travel comparatively slowly, they dont work at all for things moving at or near the speed of light.ExerciseTranslate the following sentences by using emphasis1正是因为这个贫困的加勒比海国家遭遇了两百年来最严重的地震，世界各国纷纷伸出援手。(offer help)2正是今年4月至ll月中旬，美国约有4 700万人患甲型HINl流感。(be sickened with)3正是三鹿奶粉事件使中国政府修改了食品安全法，并承诺加大透明度。(pledge transparency)4正是由于中国众多影迷的热情，该片短短几天票房便超过人民币1亿元。(thanks to)5裁缝是正是按我自己的尺寸做了一套衣服。(to my own measure)6直到2009年中国汽车总销量才首次超过美国，成为世界第一。(take the top spot)7这部影片到底给中国那些面临拆迁的民众的教训是什么呢?(under the sun)8这两起劫持事件表明索马里海盗问题确实没有被解决。(Somali piracy)9定期健身确实帮助抵抗流感、降低患某些癌症和慢性病的风险并延缓衰老。(fight off)10尽管我们早就知道辐射会增加人体的患癌风险，但根本不清楚这些扫描的确切风险。(increases chance of)参考译文：1. It was because the biggest earthquake in two centuries hit this impoverished Caribbean nation that countries around the world scrambled to offer their help.2. It was from April to mid-November that approximately 47 million Americans were sickened with swine flu. 3. It was the Sanlu milk scandal that prompted authorities to revise food safety laws and pledge more transparency.4. It was thanks to the enthusiasm of huge number of Chinese movie fans that the box offices across the country have gone beyond 100 million yuan. 5. It was to my own measure that the tailor made a suit.6. It was not until 2009 that automobile sales in China raced past the US market for the first time to take the top spot.7. What lessons under the sun does the film hold for people in China facing eviction?8. The double hijacking shows that Somali piracy does remain a problem. 9. Regular workouts do help fight off flu