TEXT D Science has long had an uneasy relationship with other aspects of culture. Think of Gallileo’s 17th century trial for his rebelling belief before the Catholic Church or poet William Blake’s harsh remarks against the mechanistic worldview of Isaac Newton. The schism between science and the humanities has, if anything, deepened in this century. Until recently, the scientific community was so powerful that it could afford to ignore its critics-but no longer. As funding for science has declined, scientists have attacked "anti-science" in several books, notably Higher Superstition, by Paul R. Gross, a biologist at the University of Virginia, and Norman Levitt, a mathematician at Rutgers University; and The Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan of Cornell University. Defenders of science have also voiced their concerns at meetings sucas "The Flight from Science and Reason", held in New York City in 1995, and "Science in the Age of Misinformation", which assembled last June near Buffalo. Anti-science clearly means different things to different people. Gross and Levitt find fault primarily with sociologists, philosophers and other academics who have questioned science’s objectivity. Sagan is more concerned with those who believe in ghosts, creationism and other phenomena that contradict the scientific worldview. A survey of news stories in 1996 reveals that the anti-science tag has been attached to many other groups as well, from authorities who advocated the elimination of the last remaining stocks of smallpox virus to Republicans who advocated decreased funding for basic research. Few would dispute that the term applies to the unabomber, whose manifesto, published in 1995, scorns science and longs for return to a pre-technological utopia. But surely that does not mean environmentalists concerned about uncontrolled industrial growth are anti-science, as an essay in US News & World Report last May seemed to suggest. The environmentalists, inevitably, respond to such critics. The true enemies of science, argues Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University, a pioneer of environmental studies, are those who question the evidence supporting global warming, the depletion of the zone layer and other consequences of industrial growth. Indeed, some observers fear that the anti-science epithet is in danger of becoming meaningless. "The term ’anti-science’ can lump together too many, quite different things," notes Harvard University philosopher Gerald Holton in his 1993 work Science and Anti-science. "They have in common only one thing that the tend to annoy or threaten those who regard themselves as more enlightened." Paragraphs 2 and 3 ale written to ______.
A. discus the cause of the decline of science’s power
B. show the author’s sympathy with scientists
C. explain the way in which science develops
D. exemplify the division of science and the humanities
In common with many countries, Britain has serious environmental problems. In 1952, more than 4,000 people died in London because of the smog. The government (26) new laws to stop smog from coal fires and factories and the (27) improved a lot. Today, London is much cleaner (28) there is a new problem: smog from cars. In December 1991, there was very (29) wind in London and pollution (30) a lot, which led to 160 deaths in just four days. (31) of the problem is the new "out of town" shopping centers. In the past, people often (32) to shops near their home or went by bus. Today, many people drive to the new shopping centers. (33) , the small shops have (34) and more people have to go a long way to (35) their shopping. Critics say that Britain needs better and cheaper public (36) . Many people are trying to (37) the use of cars in Britain. Some cities now have special bicycle (38) and many people ride to work. Some people also (39) to work together in one car to reduce the pollution and the (40) . Sometimes people take "direct (41) ." In 1995, for example, many people wanted to (42) a new road near Newbury. They built houses (43) trees and lived there for many months. It (44) a long time to force the people out of the trees (45) work on the road could continue.
A. lights
B. paths
C. parks
D. signs
What do we learn from the woman’s reply
A. She is too weak to see a film.
B. She enjoys neither Indian nor American films.
C. She prefers American to Indian films.
D. She is sick of all films.
To get a chocolate out of a box requires a considerable amount of unpacking: the box has to be taken out of the paper bag in which it arrived, the cellophane wrapper has to be torn off, the lid opened and the paper removed, the chocolate itself then has to be unwrapped from its own piece of paper. But this overuse of wrapping is not confined to luxuries. It is now becoming increasingly difficult to buy anything that is not done up in beautiful wrapping. The package itself is of no interest to the shopper, who usually throws it away immediately. Useless wrapping accounts for much of the refuse put out by the average London household each week. So why is it done Some of it, like the cellophane on meat, is necessary, but most of the rest is simply competitive selling. This is absurd. Packaging is using up scarce energy and resources and messing up the environment. Recycling is already happening with milk bottles which are returned to the dairies, washed out, and refilled. But both glass and paper are being threatened by the growing use of plastic. More dairies are experimenting with plastic bottles. The trouble with plastic is that it does not rot. Some environmentalists argue that the only solution to the problem of ever increasing plastic containers is to do away with plastic altogether in the shops, a suggestion unacceptable to many manufactures who say there is no alternative to their handy plastic packs. It is evident that more research is needed into the recovery and re-use of various materials and into the cost of collecting and recycling containers as opposed to producing new ones. Unnecessary packaging, intended to be used just once, and make things look better so more people will buy them, is clearly becoming increasingly absurd. But it is not so much a question of doing away with packaging as using it sensibly. What is needed now is a more advanced approach to using scarce resources for what is, after all, a relatively unimportant function. The author thinks that ______.
A. packing is actually useless and could be ignored
B. people will soon stop using packaging altogether
C. enough research has been done into recycling
D. it is better to produce new materials than to re-use old ones