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
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America-breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America-breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and
admin
2015-05-29
51
问题
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America-breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine?
Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country’s excellent elementary schools; a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, "spatial" thinking about things technological.
Why mention the elementary schools? Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry.
Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage.As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, "With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman."
A further stimulus to invention came from the "premium" system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it.This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives.
In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities.Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance.
Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology.As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, "A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process...The designer and the inventor...are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist."
This nonverbal "spatial" thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing.Robert Fulton once wrote, "The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc., like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea."
When all these shaping forces-schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking-interacted with one another on the rich U.S.mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation.Today that word implies mere imitation.But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence.
According to the author, the great outburst of major inventions in early America was in a large part due to______.
选项
A、elementary schools
B、enthusiastic workers
C、the attractive premium system
D、a special way of thinking
答案
D
解析
本题中,A、B、C三项都只是一般原因,不是主要原因。从文章第2段的内容可知,在许多决定性因素中,作者特别提到美国优秀的初等学校、欢迎新技术的劳动力以及奖励发明者的做法这些因素;最重要的是美国人的天赋——处理技术性事务的非语言的“立体”思维。据此可知,D项与文中的意思相符,因此D项为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/HeLO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Anewbiotechnologyprocedurethatcouldbecomecommerciallyavailableinaslittleastwotofouryearsis"transgenosis",whic
ClimaticconditionsaredelicatelyadjustedtothecompositionoftheEarth’satmosphere.Iftherewereachangeintheatmosphe
TheAmericaneconomy,whetheringovernmentorprivateindustry,hasfoundretirementaconvenientpracticeformanagingthelab
Whenitcomestotheslowingeconomy,EllenSperoisn’tbitinghernailsjustyet.Butthe47-year-oldmanicuristisn’tcutting,
Comparisonsweredrawnbetweenthedevelopmentoftelevisioninthe20thcenturyandthediffusionofprintinginthe15thand1
TheearlyretirementofexperiencedworkersisseriouslyharmingtheU.S.economy,accordingtoanewreportfromtheHudsonIn
Accordingtoonesurveyof12,000people,about30percentofthosemakingNewYear’sresolutionssaytheydon’tevenkeepthem
Forgetfootball.Atmanyhighschools,thefiercestcompetitionisbetweenCokeandPepsioverexclusive"pouringrights"tosel
Here,soprofligatehasitsusebecometheairconditionerisalmost______theautomobileofthenationaltendencytooverindulge
IworkasanofficeassistantinasmallbutgrowinggardenequipmentmanufacturingcompanyinCalifornia.Afewmonthsago,my
随机试题
论述离婚与无效婚及可撤销婚的区别。
小儿风热咳嗽治疗宜用
根据《消防给水及消火栓系统技术规范》(GB50974—2014)的规定,室内消火栓系统管网安装完成后,对其进行水压试验和冲洗的正确的顺序是()。
2004年5月,中国证监会正式批准深圳证券交易所设立()。
对关联企业或有密切关系的主要客户的交易事项,注册会计师所作的专门核查的内容包括()。
能够作为记账凭证编制依据的必须是()的原始凭证和有关物料。
根据以下资料。回答以下题。2008年上半年,全社会固定资产投资68402亿元,同比增长26.3%。其中,城镇固定资产投资58436亿元,增长26.8%;农村投资9966亿元,增长23.2%。在城镇投资中,国有及国有控股投资23554亿元,同比增长1
现代社会中,人们是在相对统一的时间里交往活动,这有利于节约社会成本,提高社会效率,推动社会发展。但全社会的“步调一致”容易导致交通的堵塞,由此引发的一系列社会问题不容忽视。从另一方面来看,人们的需要、社会发展的需求,又对作息时间提出了不同的要求。但作息时间
Thisbook,CychgeographybyJonDay,tacklestwoneeds,onerelativelyunder-addressed,andtheotherwellcateredfor:【F1】the
"Ofalltheginjointsinallthetownsinalltheworld,shewalksintomine."It’saclassicquotefromthefilmCasablanca,b
最新回复
(
0
)