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—breakthrough such as the telegraph, the steamboat and
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America—breakthrough such as the telegraph, the steamboat and
admin
2016-02-04
61
问题
What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America—breakthrough 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.
Questions:
The best title for this passage might be______.
选项
A、Outpouring of Inventions
B、Ways of Thinking
C、Inventive Mind
D、Effective Schooling
答案
C
解析
第5题问本文的最佳标题是什么。本文第一段就提出了文章的主题:美国重大发明大量涌现的原因是什么。随后内容都是解释其原因的,最主要的原因是美国人的创造性思维方式,所以,正确答案应选C:创造性思维。选项D:有效的学校教育,这只是文章中提到的培养创造性思维的一个方面,作为标题不全面。选项B:思维方式,作为本文的标题太过笼统。选项A:发明的大量涌现,与本文的主旨不符,因为文章并未具体谈论哪些发明的大量涌现。所以,A、B和D均为错误答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/mPPO777K
0
在职攻硕英语联考
相关试题推荐
Personalityistolargeextentinherent.A-typeparentsusuallybringA-typeoffspring.Buttheenvironmentmustalsohaveapro
Hepurposelyignoredhercallbecausehejustdidn’tfeellike______.
Expertshave______witheffectivemeasurestopreventthediseasefromfromspreading.
Withunemploymentrisingandhousingcostsstillhigh,citiesaroundthecountryareexperiencinganewandsuddenwaveofhomel
NewYorkisidealforthisstudybecause______high-risebuildings.
TheUnitedStatesiswell-knownforitsnetworkofmajorhighwaysdesignedtohelpadrivergetfromoneplacetoanotherinthe
It’struethattheoldroadislessdirectandabitbumpy.Wewon’ttakethenewone______becausewefeelassafeonit.
Nowcustomhasnotbeencommonlyregardedasasubjectofanygreatimportance.Theinnerworkingsofourownbrainswefeelto
IfEuropeansthoughtadroughtwassomethingthathappenedonlyinAfrica,theyknowbetternow.Afterfouryearsofbelownorma
Weallassociatecolorswithfeelingsandattitudes.Inpoliticsdarkblueoftenmeans"tradition",andredmeans"socialchange
随机试题
旨在说明调查者的身份、研究目的和内容、对象选择方法、保密原则等内容的是问卷()部分。
热能不是一种营养素,而是食物中的产热营养素在体内代谢过程中释放出的能量。()
[*]
2016年12月31日,甲企业“预收账款”总账科目贷方余额为45万元,其明细科目余额如下:“预收账款——乙企业”科目贷方余额为80万元,“预收账款——丙企业”科目借方余额为35万元。假定不考虑其他因素,甲企业年末资产负债表中“预收款项”项目的期末余额为(
沿着新修的国道从呼伦市出发一直向北,如果是在冬季,沿途草原大雪覆盖,松林点缀、白雪皑皑。间或有驯鹿从密林中迁徙、______雪原。黑白相间,宛如格林童话的冰雪世界。车行敖鲁古雅的布冬霞部落,驻足静听阵阵哨笛,鄂温克族人驯养的角鹿从四方密林中飞疾汇聚,场面_
所谓盛世,是指中国社会发展中一些特定的历史阶段,是在较长时间内保持繁荣昌盛的历史时期。盛世期间,一个国家内政外交均有建树:内政方面体现为经济繁荣、科技发达、思想活跃、文化昌盛;外交方面体现为军事实力强大、贸易繁荣、世界影响力大;等等。以下选项中,古代盛世与
企业管理分成高、中、基三个层次,不同的管理层次需要不同的信息。下述描述中正确的是()。
局域网的英文简称为()。
Completethesentencesbelow.WriteONEWORDAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.Payattentiontothe______ofthefinalreport.
Medicalstudiesareprovidingincreasingevidencethatalternativetherapiesarebeneficialandpatientsaregraduallydemanding
最新回复
(
0
)