新视界大学英语综合教程3-unit-7

TalkingpointWarmingupSkimmingDiggingCriticalthinkingLanguageinuseUnfamiliarwordsInterpretingCanbadluckbeexplained?Warmingup➊Readthereflectionsmadebygreatscientiststhroughtheages.Thenworkinpairsandexplainwhatthequotationsmean.1Thisonlyiscertain,thatthereisnothingcertain.PlinytheElder,1st-centuryRomannaturalistTheonlythingweknowisdefinitelytrueisthatwearenotsureaboutanything.Plinyistakingapositionofscepticism.Warmingup2Experimentalscienceisthequeenofsciencesandthegoalofallspeculation.RogerBacon,13th-centuryEnglishphilosopherandscientistBaconlivedatatimewhenpeoplethoughtitmoreimportanttoreasonandapproachproblemsthroughtheoryandlogicthanthroughexperiment.Baconisdaringlyturningthisaroundandannouncingthatfindingoutthefactsisfarmoreimportantthantheorizing.Warmingup3IdonotknowwhatImayappeartotheworld;buttomyselfIseemtohavebeenonlylikeaboyplayingontheseashore,anddivertingmyselfinnowandthenfindingasmootherpebbleoraprettiershellthanordinary,whilstthegreatoceanoftruthlayallundiscoveredbeforeme.SirIsaacNewton,17th-centuryEnglishphysicistandmathematician,whodiscoveredthelawsofgravityNewtonisacclaimedasagreatgeniuswhohasopenedupunderstandingofnature,buthehumblypointsouthowverylittlehedoesactuallyknowespeciallywhencomparedwithallthatthereistoknow.Newtonwasveryreligiousaswellasagreatmathematiciansohewouldhavebeenreferringtogreatmysteriesaswellasunderstandingofthecosmos.Warmingup4Themostincomprehensiblethingaboutouruniverseisthatitcanbecomprehended.AlbertEinstein,perhapsthegreatestscientisttheworldhaseverknownEinsteinthinksthatthegreatestwonderisthattheuniversedoesoperateonmathematicallawswhichoneofitsby-products–us–canunderstandalittle.Warmingup➋Workinpairsanddiscussthequestions.1Howwouldyoudefinescience?Scienceisthestudyandknowledgeofthephysicalworldanditsbehaviourthatisbasedonexperimentsandfactsthatcanbeproved,andisorganizedintoasystem.Warmingup2Shouldsciencebeacompulsorysubjectuntilthelastyearatschool?•Yes,itissoimportanttoourmodernworld.Itisalsoawayofthinkingthatweneedtodevelopinpeople.•Iamnotsureeveryoneneedstoknowsomuchscience.Differentpeoplehavedifferentskills;perhapssomecouldspendmoretimeonartssubjects.Warmingup3Inwhatareasofcontemporarylifeisscientificresearchmostimportant?Frankly,itisimportantforalmosteverything:medicine,developingnewenergysources,dealingwithpollution,newmaterials,agriculture,informationtechnology,transport,defence,andevenmore.Warmingup4Issomescientificresearchuseless?Yesandno–itmaynothaveanyuseatthetimeitiscarriedout,butitissurprisinghowthingscanlaterturnouttobeuseful.Theresearchjoinsthegreatdatabaseofhumanknowledgeandmayonedayprovevaluable.Warmingup➊Lookatthetitleofthepassageandanswerthequestions.1Isitpossibletodefinebadluck?Badluckreferstothingshappeninginwaysyoudonotwant.Aneventinitselfisnotbadluck,butbadlucktosomeone.Mylosingmoneymaybesomeoneelse’sgoodluck.2Doesbadluckleadtomorebadluck?Iguessitcan.Onceyouhavelostyourjob,yourfamilymaybreakupandyoumightfallillfromstressandsoondownwards.Warmingup3Isbadluckmorecommonthangoodluck?Itcertainlyfeelslikeitattimes,butIguessifmissingthebusisbadluck,catchingitisgoodluck.ButIthinkweregardthingsgoingsmoothlyasnormalsowedon’tcallitgoodluck.Wehaveahigherstandardforgoodthanbadluck.4Canbadluckbeexplainedbyscience?Idon’treallyseehow.There’snoreasonwhyonepersontakesaplanethatcrashes,andsomeoneelsetakesanotherandissafe.Skimming◇Browsethepassagewithin8minutestogetaroughideaaboutit.◇AnswerthequestionsofActivity2and3onpage147.TaskSkimming➋Choosethebestwaytocompletethesentences.1Murphy’sLawis_____.(a)apopularbelief(b)ascientificlaw(c)aclassicaltheory(d)astatisticalcalculation2Badluck_____.(a)canbeexplainedbyscience(b)canbepartlyblamedonstrangecoincidences(c)onlyreallyexistsinpeople’sminds(d)isimpossibletoexplainabSkimming3“Badluck”isaproblematicconceptbecause_____.(a)itisrelative;somethingsaremore“bad”thanothers(b)itsuggestsaconnectionbetweenscienceandmorality(c)luckcan’tbydefinitionbe“good”or“bad”(d)itencouragespeoplenottotakeresponsibilityfortheirownactionsaSkimming4Unluckyeventsseemtocomeinthreesbecause_____.(a)threeisanunluckynumberinmostcultures(b)themindwantstomakeaconnectionbetweenevents(c)wedon’tnoticesingleunluckyevents(d)wecan’tremembermorethanthreeconnectedeventsbSkimming5Forsomepeople,unluckyeventsareconnectedbecause_____.(a)theyarepsychologicallyweakerthanotherpeople(b)theyhavebettermemoriesthanotherpeople(c)theydefinebadluckdifferentlyfromotherpeople(d)thefirstunluckyeventhasaneffectonthemwhichmakesthesecondeventmorelikelydSkimming6Thewritersaysmapreadingisfrustratingbecause_____.(a)thedestinationwilloftenbemarkedveryneartheedgeofthemap(b)itisdifficulttoconsultastreetatlaswhenyouareinacar(c)thedestinationisunlikelytobeinthemiddleofthemap(d)modernroadmapshavenotbeenwelldesignedaSkimming7Thewritersayswebelievethetrafficlightsarealwaysredwhenwe’reinahurrybecause_____.(a)trafficlightsspendmoretimeonredthanongreen(b)wehardlynoticewhenthelightsaregreen(c)redlightsareasourceofstress(d)redlightsappearmoreoftenwhenadriverisinahurrybSkimming8Theexamplesofmapreadi