SAT试题——长篇阅读练习SAT Reading Comprehension Test 110 mins - 7 questionsThe extract is taken from a book written sixty years ago by a British scientist in which he considers the relationship between science and society.The pioneers of the teaching of science imagined that itsintroduction into education would remove the conventionality,artificiality, and backward-lookingness which were characteristic;of classical studies, but they were gravely disappointed. So, too, in5 their time had the humanists thought that the study of the classicalauthors in the original would banish at once the dull pedantry and superstition of mediaeval scholasticism. The professionalschoolmaster was a match for both of them, and has almostmanaged to make the understanding of chemical reactions as dull10 and as dogmatic an affair as the reading of Virgil's Aeneid.The chief claim for the use of science in education is that itteaches a child something about the actual universe in which he is living, in making him acquainted with the results of scientific15 discovery, and at the same time teaches him how to think logicallyand inductively by studying scientific method. A certain limitedsuccess has been reached in the first of these aims, but practically none at all in the second. Those privileged members of thecommunity who have been through a secondary or public school20 education may be expected to know something about theelementary physics and chemistry of a hundred years ago, but they probably know hardly more than any bright boy can pick up from an interest in wireless or scientific hobbies out of school hours.As to the learning of scientific method, the whole thing is palpably25 a farce. Actually, for the convenience of teachers and therequirements of the examination system, it is necessary that thepupils not only do not learn scientific method but learn precisely the reverse, that is, to believe exactly what they are told and toreproduce it when asked, whether it seems nonsense to them or30 not. The way in which educated people respond to such quackeriesas spiritualism or astrology, not to say more dangerous ones such as racial theories or currency myths, shows that fifty years ofeducation in the method of science in Britain or Germany hasproduced no visible effect whatever. The only way of learning the35 method of science is the long and bitter way of personalexperience, and, until the educational or social systems are altered to make this possible, the best we can expect is the production of aminority of people who are able to acquire some of the techniques of science and a still smaller minority who are able to use and40 develop them.1. The author implies that the 'professional schoolmaster' (line 7) hasA. no interest in teaching scienceB. thwarted attempts to enliven educationC. aided true learningD. supported the humanistsE. been a pioneer in both science and humanities.2. The author’s attitude to secondary and public school education in the sciences isA. ambivalentB. neutralC. supportiveD. satiricalE. contemptuous3. The word ‘palpably’(line 24) most nearly meansA. empiricallyB. obviouslyC. tentativelyD. markedlyE. ridiculously4. The author blames all of the following for the failure to impart scientific method through the education system exceptA. poor teachingB. examination methodsC. lack of direct experienceD. the social and education systemsE. lack of interest on the part of students5. If the author were to study current education in science to see how things have changed since he wrote the piece, he would probably be most interested in the answer to which of the following questions?A. Do students know more about the world about them?B. Do students spend more time in laboratories?C. Can students apply their knowledge logically?D. Have textbooks improved?E. Do they respect their teachers?6. Astrology (line 31) is mentioned as an example ofA. a science that needs to be better understoodB. a belief which no educated people holdC. something unsupportable to those who have absorbed the methods of scienceD. the gravest danger to societyE. an acknowledged failure of science7. All of the following can be inferred from the text exceptA. at the time of writing, not all children received a secondary school educationB. the author finds chemical reactions interestingC. science teaching has imparted some knowledge of facts to some childrenD. the author believes that many teachers are authoritarianE. it is relatively easy to learn scientific method.SAT阅读:Reading Comprehension Test 1参考答案1.Correct Answer: BExplanation:When we look back to line 7, we read, "The professional schoolmaster was a match for both of them, and has almost managed to make the understanding of chemical reactions as dull and as dogmatic an affair as the reading of Virgil's Aeneid."This tells us that the schoolmaster has made learning dull. And so we eliminate answers C and E which imply he has done something good.But to be sure of the answer we should also read the previous sentences. We learn that, "The pioneers of the teaching of science imagined that its introduction into education would remove the conventionality, artificiality, and backward-lookingness which were characteristic of classical studies......" This section tells us that otherpeople tried to alter the nature of education, but the "professional schoolmaster was a match for both of them". He therefore prevented (thwarted) these attempts, and the answer is B.2.Correct Answer: EExplanation:To find the attitude, try asking yourself whether the author is positive, negative or neutral to the subject. Then look for the evidence. Here, it is obvious that he thinks that nothing very valuable is learned in school about science and scientific method. He is therefore negative. Eliminate the neutral (A and B) words, and the positive (C), and then decide between D and E. He seems to be expressing contempt rather than mocking. And so E is the best choice.3.Correct Answer: BExplanation:Go back to the text and find a word of your own to replace‘palpably’before you even look at the choices. We read, "As to the learning of scientific method, the whole thing is palpably a farce." Here, I could substitute ‘obviously’or ‘clearly’. As it happens, one of the words is there in the choices. (B). If it had not been there, there would have been something sufficiently similar to make a choice.4.Correct Answer: EExplanation:Be careful on ‘except’questions. You are looking for something the author does not do.He does blame poor teaching, (lines 7-10), exams (line 26), social and education systems (line 36), lack of direct experience (lines 34-38), but he never blames the students. Hence answer E.5.Correct Answer: CExplanation:This is an ‘inference’question. We need to find out what the author’s main complaint is. This concern of the author will tells us what he would like to see. From lines 11 to 18 in particular we learn that he is especially interested in whether a student can apply his or her knowledge. So, we conclude that answer C is best.6.Correct Answer: CExplanation:Astrology is mentioned as a ‘quackery’. Quackery is something that claims to be true but is actually based on falsity. He implies that people are fooled by astrology, but he also implies that there are other more ‘dangerous’ideas. So we eliminate A, B and D. It is not likely that astrology is a ‘failure of science’, but it is something that scientists would not approve of. Hence answer C.7.Correct Answer: EExplanation:This is an ‘except’question. Be careful! You are looking for something that cannot be inferred from the text. We can find evidence that the author finds reactions interesting (line 9), and that children have learnt some facts (beginning of the second paragraph), and that he thinks teachers are strict (line 10 and part of paragraph 2). We can also infer from the use of the phrase ‘privileged members’(line 18) that he believes that not all received secondary education. But we find that he thinks it is hard to learn scientific method- ‘The only way of learning the method of science is the long and bitter way of personal experience". And so we choose E.。