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  3. With the unemployment rate topping 8% and the government $ 16 trillion in debt, it’s easy to question why taxpayers are spending

With the unemployment rate topping 8% and the government $ 16 trillion in debt, it’s easy to question why taxpayers are spending

admin2014-05-30  2
问题     With the unemployment rate topping 8% and the government $ 16 trillion in debt, it’s easy to question why taxpayers are spending $2.5 billion on an SUV-sized Mars rover(探测车)named Curiosity, which landed successfully on the red planet in the early hours of Monday. Couldn’t this money go toward something closer to home, such as providing shelter for the homeless or building roads? Yes, it could. But this kind of thinking is shortsighted.
    The Mars project is the latest manifestation of America’s restless desire to answer previously unanswerable questions and take on new challenges. To paraphrase President John F. Kennedy, America does things like this not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
    Getting the probe down safely on Mars, after a 350 million mile journey, was certainly no easy feat. Virtually all the technology used in the approach and landing was new, or used in new ways. Once settled in, Curiosity should be a particularly awe-inspiring project. It is designed to shed light on big questions; Could life forms have ever existed on Mars? Might they still exist? And are we alone in the universe?
    When budgets are tight, space projects such as Curiosity come in for particular abuse. They are often portrayed as complicated flights of odd ideas. They are not. They are both inspirational and immensely practical. Technology is, after all, an engine of economic growth. If that is a goal, as well it should be, why not support a program that makes science exciting and showcases some of the most interesting things that technology can do? One of the main benefits of projects like this one is to promote a confident America. Throughout history, nations that explore, and engage in science, lead the world. Beginning in the 15th century, for example, European nations sent sailors around the globe and provided the impetus for thinkers such as Copernicus, Galileo and Newton to invent modern physics and astronomy. Not coincidentally, Europe came to dominate the world until the dawn of the 20th century.
    Those who would slash space program budgets apparently haven’t learned history’s lessons and don’t see the great possibilities that the future presents—possibilities reflected in every image transmitted back from the rover.
The author uses Europe from 15th century to 20th century as an example to suggest that______.
选项 A、nations which send sailors around the globe will be stronger
B、nations which develop physics and astronomy will be stronger
C、nations which support science exploration will be stronger
D、nations which dominate the world will be stronger
答案C
解析 推理判断题。在定位句中，作者列举了15世纪到20世纪初期之间欧洲的状况。从15世纪开始，欧洲国家就派出水手探索世界，并鼓励支持诸如哥白尼、伽利略和牛顿这样的思想家们去开创现代物理学和天文学。之后作者进一步指出，欧洲能够在此期间主导世界绝非偶然。作者以此为例，是为了证明定位句的前一句：有史以来，探索科学并参与科学的国家都处于世界领先地位，故C)“支持科学探索的国家会变得更强大”为本题答案。A)“派出水手探索世界的国家会更强大”和B)“发展物理学和天文学的国家会更强大”都是片面的说法；无论是派出水手探索世界，还是发展物理学和天文学，实际上都是进行科学探索的一个表现，而不是本质，故排除；D)“主导世界的国家会更强大”属于本末倒置，一个国家强大之后才能主导世界，故排除。
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