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  3. In the end, it got a bit tedious, queuing to see the millionaire. As befitted our colour, marshals waved us through the outer ga

In the end, it got a bit tedious, queuing to see the millionaire. As befitted our colour, marshals waved us through the outer ga

admin2012-06-10  56
问题     In the end, it got a bit tedious, queuing to see the millionaire. As befitted our colour, marshals waved us through the outer gates into the court of preliminary investigation; but here we waited for some hours with perhaps a thousand others until, eventually, there were checks on the authenticity of our displays.
    After that it was the whole day progressing along an upward-spiralling ramp, rehearsing answers to hypothetical questions, eyeing each other until we reached the first level platform and presented ourselves. Tests continued throughout the night; but I experienced no difficulty in producing correct responses. As the sun rose, the other eleven of my group were on the downward ramp, while I rejoined the slow onward climb.
    The second level was reached, once again, some time towards evening. Here the questioning was more indeterminate. But my preparations were adequate. And so I rose to the third and final level. The thousands which had presented themselves at the outer gate had been winnowed down to some twenty. It was possible, indeed, that we might be the last. We then began the last stage of the journey: a spiral ramp leading to the viewing platform. I made myself ready.
    Looking down at the millionaire in its envelope of support machinery, I found it difficult to believe that such a misshapen, pallid being was of any cosmic significance. Yet its race had at one time dominated our space, not through force, but through the irresistible spread of its freely-shared technologies and cultures. And now, here was the last of them. The natural ageing of the species had at some point deprived it of fertility; but its biology had been engineered to give each individual effective immortality.
    Yet, in the end, they could not defeat the grindstone of time. Accident, conflict, the wear-and-tear of existence had cut the numbers down: from trillions to billions, and then to millions, thousands, hundreds, tens; and at last to one, who, according to the records, was over a million years old. The millionaire.
    My moment had come. Reciting the codes, I focused energies on the being below, and watched as the radiance flowed from its body, turning the liquids in the surrounding tubes to vapour, the metals and synthetics to liquid. Attendants reached out for me; but it was over. The light below ended as suddenly as it had come, leaving only black dust.
    So ended the last of the human beings. A thousand civilizations, smothered in infancy by human benevolence, had been avenged.
What has led to the extinction of the former dominants of the space?
选项 A、Wide spread of technologies and cultures.
B、Development against the laws of nature.
C、Biology engineering to make them immortal.
D、Vulnerability to accidents and conflicts.
答案B
解析 推断题。对人类灭绝的原因，在第四段和第五段中有大致的说明。这个物种依赖科学技术的发展，一味延长自身寿命，追求永生，但意外、冲突等最终还是导致种群数量下降，直至行将灭绝。可见自然法则是不能违背的，因此B是这个物种走向灭绝的直正原因。
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