首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
"Physics Class" What can be inferred about the students?
"Physics Class" What can be inferred about the students?
admin
2012-01-14
88
问题
"Physics Class"
What can be inferred about the students?
Narrator: Listen to part of a discussion in a physics class.
Professor Blake:
Okay, you’ll remember that when Einstein was doing his research, uh, the strong and weak forces-they hadn’t been identified yet, but still, he had some questions about the two forces that were generally
accepted at the time-electromagnetism and gravity. You see, Einstein thought that nature, or rather a
theory of nature, a good theory of nature had to be much simpler and, to use his term, more "elegant."
So he spent the next thirty years in an effort to arrive at a... a unified field theory that he assumed...
that.., that would demonstrate how these two forces were really defined by one underlying principle.
So, today, and that would be about sixty years later; a group of physicists believe that they are close Q46
to finding that principle in something called the theory of everything.
[Laughter]
That’s okay. A lot of other equally distinguished physicists are also laughing at this idea. But, anyway,
for the first time in the history of our field, we have, uh, at least, uh, a structure, a framework, with
the potential to explain every fundamental characteristic of the universe. You see, until fairly recently,
we’ve been conceptualizing the particles, that is, the protons, neutrons, electrons, quarks, and everything
else.., we’ve been viewing them as points-very tiny points. But string theory assumes that if we
could really take a look at the particles, and uh, that would have to be with technology that we haven’t
yet discovered, but if we could, then we’d see that the particles aren’t points at all but.., but strings and
these strings are looped back into themselves. Look, think of the strings like a very thin rubber band. Q47
Oh, and.., and these strings vibrate
Jim:
So everything in the universe is made up of the same thing then? It’s all a combination of... of strings?
Professor Blake:
According to the theory, yes. But of course.., we see differences, and those differences, uh, they’re
accounted for because the vibrations of the strings are different.
Jim: So in physics, you buy into the theory of everything or... or what? Professor Blake:
Well, Jim, the choice isn’t that clear. Um, not at all. There are a lot of scientists in between, and by that
I mean that they see the theory of everything in a more limited way. They think that string theory, and
understand that string theory is incorporated into the theory of everything.., um, that string theory can
explain all of the properties of the forces that cause the particles to interact and influence each other.
Yes, Ellen. Did you have a comment?
Ellen:
Well, a question, really. Wouldn’t it be true that if you understand everything about the... I think you
called it the fundamental characteristics of the universe.., so if you understand that, don’t you understand everything?
Jim:
Wait a minute. So that would mean that we know it all now and there isn’t anything else to discover,
right? Because, uh, everything is physics.., everything is just a reaction between vibrating strings.
Ellen:
I see your point, but you could.., you might look at it as a... as a... starting place to, uh, to build our
knowledge. Dr. Blake, you said that it’d be a structure, didn’t you? So we’d have to fill in a lot of information
but.., we’d have a structure to start with. In my math class we were talking about string theory
because some of the recent advances in mathematics have been possible because of string theory.
Professor Blake:
True enough. And, string theory isn’t finished by any means. It’s evolved from the beginning when we
first started to think about it and, uh, the early models that included both open strings and the closed
strings that I just described to you-the ones that look like a thin rubber band. And there’s a lot of
discussion about vibration or rather various types of vibration. Then there’s the possibility of branes-
b-r-a-n-e-s-which are kind of like closed strings with a membrane over them.
Jim:
But all of this is theoretical, right? Because we don’t have the technology to observe strings-closed or
open-and we certainly can’t verify that there are branes out there.
Ellen:
Sure. But there are some very complex and.., and.., persuasive, uh, mathematical formulas, and
they’re presented in support of the theories. It isn’t like someone’s just dreaming this up without calculations.
Jim:
But I don’t see why we should accept calculations when some of those calculations require us to think
beyond what we can observe.
Professor Blake:
And many physicists would agree with you, Jim. String theory’s unverified. Richard Feynman wrote a
very interesting book, The Character of Physical Law, and to Feynman, to him, the test of any scientific
theory has to be whether the consequences agree with the measurements we take in experiments. Of
course, that assumes that the experiment was performed correctly and, uh, that the calculations were
done without error, but anyway, I think you see the point. Ellen: So you’re saying that string theory requires further developments? Q48
Professor Blake: What do you think?
Jim:
Well, I tend to be an empirical scientist. I’m a biology major, and I just Want to take something into the Q49
lab and dissect it,
Professor Blake: Fair enough.
Ellen:
But I’m a physics major and...the idea of a theory of everything appeals to me. I know that we can’t Q50
observe strings.., yet.., but maybe that’s just a problem with the technology and.., and eventually,
we may be able to observe strings in the laboratory or... or we could find a way to observe strings in a
natural setting and...
Jim: Come on. It’s just conjecture.
Professor Blake:
Well, in fairness, any new theory has to begin as conjecture, but the real question is, can string theory
pass through the developmental stages to a point where it can be verified or rejected. And, uh, these
developments could be in the area of technology like Ellen suggests or perhaps they could be new
methods of performing calculations and, uh, deriving the mathematical predictions. What I’m going to
suggest is that we take a look at the web site that supplements your textbook. There are videos as well
as animations and it includes a really good history of string theory, uh, but that’s not why I want you to
see it. I think the site demonstrates where we need to go from here if we’re going to pursue an ultimate
theory, a... a theory of everything, if you will. And it’s fairly objective so it should provide us with some Q51
interesting data for both sides of the debate.
选项
A、They have not formed opinions about the theory.
B、They do not agree with the professor’s point of view.
C、They have reached different conclusions about the theory.
D、They have changed their minds during the discussion.
答案
C
解析
They have reached different conclusions about the theory.
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/1HyO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Accordingtothewriter,whatviewaboutvideogamesdoesSusanGreenfieldputforwardinhernewbook?
AccordingtoMrSingh,onwhichthingdomanypeoplemakesuperficialobservations?MrSinghbelievesthatWesternmethodsplus
AccordingtoMrSingh,onwhichthingdomanypeoplemakesuperficialobservations?AccordingtoMrSingh,whatareyoungIndia
Whatpercentageofthestudentsaremature?Arelativelyhighproportionofstudentsdecideto______inNewtownaftergraduati
Whatpercentageofthestudentsaremature?Howarethesuburbsdescribed?
Whatwasthestudentsurprisedtodiscoverhehadalotof?Theprofessorsuggeststhatthestudent______.
Whatwasthestudentsurprisedtodiscoverhehadalotof?Theprofessorpointsoutthattheuniversitylanguagecentre______
TheprofessoralreadyknowssomethingaboutClarefromher______.
随机试题
A、呼吸困难和窒息B、饮水呛咳C、声音嘶哑D、手足抽搐E、甲状腺危象甲状腺手术误将甲状旁腺切除,则术后可出现()
女性,33岁。平素健康,2年前于分娩后感疲劳,未就诊,近1个月劳累后症状加重。化验:血常规正常,尿常规提示红细胞管型,红细胞沉降率35mm/1h,ANA1:320;胸片提示双侧肋膈角变钝。下列检查对明确诊断最有帮助的是
奶牛,4岁。症见排尿时拱腰努责,淋漓不畅,表现疼痛,尿量少但频频排尿,尿色赤黄。口色红,苔黄腻,脉滑数。该病可首选针刺
下列关于ANUG的主要临床表现。说法错误的是
企业提供劳务的开始和完成分属于不同的会计期间,在资产负债表日,判断提供劳务交易的结果能够可靠估计,必须同时满足的条件包括()。
下列属于债券所规定的资金借贷双方权责关系的是()。Ⅰ.所借贷货币资金的数额Ⅱ.在借贷时间内的资金成本或应用的补偿Ⅲ.借贷的时间Ⅳ.借贷货币资金的币种
甲公司与乙保险公司发生财产保险合同纠纷,保险标的物为运输工具。双方就合同纠纷管辖权未作约定。根据民事诉讼法律制度的规定,甲公司在起诉乙公司时,可以选择的人民法院有()。
阅读下列材料,回答问题。孙老师为某高校研究生,毕业后到某中学任教。先是因为住房问题与单位领导发生口角,后又在职称评定时,因未过三分之二多数票而被否决。孙老师非常气愤,认为是校领导有意整她,故到校办大吵大闹。因倍感委屈,上课时控制不住自己而声泪俱下
简述违约责任的概念和构成要件。
社会主义时期民族问题的实质是()
最新回复
(
0
)