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
(1) Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so far as to declare that "everything possible will eventually
(1) Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so far as to declare that "everything possible will eventually
admin
2013-01-12
49
问题
(1) Gerald Feinberg, the Columbia University physicist, once went so far as to declare that "everything possible will eventually be accomplished." Well, that of course left only the impossible as the one thing remaining for daring intellectual adventurers to whittle away at Feinberg, for one, thought that "they’d succeed even there."
(2) It was a point worth considering. How many times in the past had certain things been said to be impossible, only to have it turn out shortly thereafter that the item in question had already been done or soon would be. What greater cliche was there in the history of science than the comic litany of false it-couldn’t-be-dones; the infamous case of Auguste Comte saying in 1844 that it would never be known what the stars were made of, followed in a few years by the spectroscope being applied to starlight to reveal the stars’ chemical composition; or the case of Lord Rutherford, the man who discovered the structure of the atom, saying in 1933 mat dreams of controlled nuclear fission were "moonshine." And those weren’t even the worst examples. No, the huffiest of all it-couldn’t-be-done claims centered on the notion that human beings could actually fly, either at all, or across long distances, or to the moon, the stars, or wherever else.
(3) There had been so many embarrassments of this type that about mid-century Arthur C. Clarke came out with a guideline for avoiding them, which he termed Clarke’s Law: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."
(4) Still, one had to admit there were lots of things left that were really and truly impossible, even if it took some ingenuity in coming up with a proper list of examples. Such as. "A camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle." (Well, unless of course it was a very large needle.) On "It is impossible for a door to be simultaneously open and closed." (Well, unless of course it was a revolving door.)
(5) Indeed, watertight examples of the really and truly impossible were so exceptionally hard to come by that paradigm cases turned out to be either trivial or absurd. "I know I will never play the piano like Vladimir Horowitz," offered Milton Rothman, a physicist, "no matter how hard I try". Or, from Scott Lankford, a mountaineer "Everest on roller skates."
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
选项
A、The author uses the case of a camel passing through the eye of a needle to prove his point that there are things impossible to accomplish.
B、That a scientist cannot play the piano like one of the best pianists is not a proper illustration to prove that in science there are things impossible to accomplish.
C、Scott Lankford challenges the idea that mountaineers can never climb the Everest on roller skates.
D、People now laugh at their predecessors for denying the possibility of human flight.
答案
B
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/cg9O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Inthepastfewdecades,remarkablefindingshavebeenmadeinethology,thestudyofanimalsocialbehavior.Earlierscientists
Inthepastfewdecades,remarkablefindingshavebeenmadeinethology,thestudyofanimalsocialbehavior.Earlierscientists
Whatthewitnesssaidincourtwasnot______withthestatementhemadetothepolice.
Mostofthemhadvisitedtheinvalidoftenduringthepastfewmonths,marvelingathis______spiritandhisunfailinggoodtem
Therehavebeenmanytechnologicaldevelopmentsinthe20th.century,forexample,computersandelectricpower.Chooseeithero
Thecapturedcriminalswere______inchainsthroughthestreets.
Ofthethousandsofknownvolcanoesintheworld,the______majorityareinactive.
Doyouhaveany______aboutwhatlivingbeingsonotherplanetswouldbelike?
Thisteachingmethodisa______ofmanymethodswhichhavebeenusedfordecadesinthecountry.
Agoodmodernnewspaperisanextraordinarypieceofreading.Itisremarkablefirstforwhatitcontains:therangeofnewsfro
随机试题
下列有关老年痴呆患者的叙述不正确的是
TAR与PDD的关系
简述民法总则的绿色原则(生态原则)。[华侨大学2018年研]
()不包括在宗地调查资料按宗进行立卷的内容内。
获准认证后的质量管理体系,维持与监督管理的内容包括()。
(2005年真题)有权决定全国或个别省、自治区、直辖市进入紧急状态的国家机关是
(2014年单选43)为了规范国家机关的组织活动,加强行政管理,清政府仿效明朝,将各级国家机关的职掌、事例、活动规则等有关制度编撰成集,称为()。
若(BX)=1000H,(DS)=2000H,(21000H)=12H,(21001H)=34H,执行LEASI,[BX]指令后,SI寄存器中的内容是______。
Itisnowclearthattheterminologyusedbyacultureprimarilyreflectsthatculture’sinterestsandconcerns.Forinstance,
A、Yes,sheis.B、Yes,shewill.C、No,shedoesn’t.D、No,shewon’t.A
最新回复
(
0
)