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
One day a group of people walked into a cave and painted handprints all over the walls. Ten thousand years later, archaeologists
One day a group of people walked into a cave and painted handprints all over the walls. Ten thousand years later, archaeologists
admin
2016-07-10
48
问题
One day a group of people walked into a cave and painted handprints all over the walls. Ten
thousand years later, archaeologists have no idea why.
【R1】______
But this is the kind of challenge now facing a group of scientists, historians and futurists who are trying to send a message to the people of the distant future. In what has been called the first ever attempt at "reverse archaeology" , they are designing a sign that will last at least 10, 000 years. The message: Don’t dig here, we buried nuclear waste.
The repository in question, the Waste Isolation Pilot Project, or WIPP, was constructed in the 1970s and 80s in a disused salt mine near Carlsbad, New Mexico. In 1999, it became the first underground repository in the world licensed to house waste from the production of nuclear weapons. Once it reaches full capacity in 2033, it will be monitored by the US Department of Energy for 1000 years before being abandoned. Computer models predict that within 1000 years the mine will collapse in on itself, sealing the chemical sludge, toxic waste and contaminated lab equipment inside.
【R2】______
This is a major challenge. In 10, 000 years our descendants may have no recollection of our culture, languages or technologies. They may be more technologically advanced than we can imagine , or civilisation as we know it may have long since crashed and burned.
Clearly the survival of the WIPP message depends on more than paper or digital records. Maps and technical details will be stored in libraries around the world, but the warning signs on the site itself will need to be big, obvious and permanent. They will need to survive over thousands of years without eroding, being looted or being destroyed by vandals.
【R3】______
But making sure the message remains legible is only half the battle. It will also need to be understood, and, equally critically, believed. This is where things get tricky. Chances are the people of the future will no longer use language in the same way that we do. Even if they do use the spoken and written word to communicate, there is no guarantee their language will bear any relation to ours.
In the early 1990s, Nelson gathered two teams of historians, anthropologists and semioticians—experts in signs—and challenged them to come up with the perfect warning sign.
【R4】______
Anthropologists say there is no universal symbol that will convey danger to any human past, present or future. Interpretations of colours vary between cultures, and while depictions of animals like spiders and snakes may inspire fear, they don’t tell you what you should be frightened of.
【R5】______
So if the symbols no longer mean anything to our descendants, will the two faces be enough to get the message across? "Both are relevant, I suppose, " says Robert Aunger, "although we argue that disgust is a response to threat only of infectious disease: radioactivity is not contagious. Fear is more relevant than disgust. " Barring extreme genetic modification, chances are faces will look much the same in 10, 000 years.
A. All things going well it should stay that way for the 250, 000 years it will take for most of the waste to become safe. However, according to legislation drawn up in 1985 by the US Department of Energy, a repository must be safeguarded for at least 10, 000 years, and that means it must be marked.
B. All we know is that nuclear waste is dangerous now and is likely to stay that way for a very long time, and that means we have to try.
C. To be fair to the artists in question, they probably didn’t set out to create something that would make sense in 400 generations’ time. Even if thoughts of the future had crossed their minds, how could they possibly have imagined what would have become of the human race? Since that day, mankind has invented the wheel, developed hundreds of languages and got through several major civilisations, not to mention remodelled the planet and its climate.
D. Facial expressions, though, are universally understood. "Fear is the most basic of emotions, and so would survive any cultural evolution, " says Robert Aunger, a biological anthropologist. With this in mind, the WIPP designers came up with two symbols: a human face showing fear and another showing revulsion and disgust. There will also be a description of the site in seven languages, plus the word "Danger" and today’s symbols for biohazards and radioactivity.
E. The biggest challenge was choosing an image. Symbols do exist to illustrate radiation and biohazards, but symbols have a habit of changing their meanings over time. The swastika, for example, was first used by European tribes in 4000BC and was a Hindu holy symbol long before the Nazis got hold of it.
F. The plan is literally to set the warnings in stone, by carving them onto 8-metre-tall monoliths. A study of ancient rock carvings commissioned by WIPP in 2000 found that deep carvings on basalt survived well, as, surprisingly, did those on sandstone. The team is now testing other rock types against freeze/thaw cracking and wind abrasion, as well as working on cheaper artificial alternatives.
【R3】
选项
答案
F
解析
本题考查对前三段的理解。前三段主要介绍设立警示标志的必要性和作用,因此这段自然应该围绕如何设立标志而展开,故选F。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/pzWd777K
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
Multidisciplinaryscienceisalltheragethesedays.Even(31),theoverlapbetweenarchaeologyandpharmacologyisnot,atfir
Multidisciplinaryscienceisalltheragethesedays.Even(31),theoverlapbetweenarchaeologyandpharmacologyisnot,atfir
Whatdoes"commonsense"(Para.3,firstsentence)referto?Whocanbecalled"marriagesurvivors"?
Peoplewhohavealotofstressaremorelikelytobecomesick.
______itisthemostcommonformofmelanomainpeopleofcolor?______itlookslikeafrecklethatisspreadingsidewayson
Accordingtothepassage,whatdistinguishesmanypresent-daytheatersfromthosebuiltpriortothenineteenthcentury?Inlin
Theauthorofthepassageisprimarilyconcernedwith______.Theauthorsuggeststhatimplementingconventionalcost-cuttinga
WhenschoolofficialsinKalkaska,Michigan,closedclasseslastweek,themediaflockedtothestory,portrayingthetown’s2,
Sincethedawnofhumaningenuity,peoplehavedevisedevermorecunningtoolstocopewithworkthatisdangerous,boring,burd
InpartsofBrazil’spoornortheast,snakesandparrotsareonsalebytheroadsideforafewreais.InBrazil,aselsewherein
随机试题
简述企业实行横向一体化战略的优点与缺点。
回眸一笑百媚生,________。(白居易《长恨歌》)
大定风珠证的病机是
急性颅内压增高,有脑疝征象时:应立即使用下列哪种药物最佳
20×2年1月1日,甲公司持有乙公司30%的股权,能够对乙公司施加重大影响。投资当日,乙公司除有一批存货的公允价值大于账面价值100万元外,其他各项资产、负债的账面价值等于公允价值。20×2年度乙公司实现净利润8000万元。当年6月20日,甲公司将成本为6
根据《导游人员管理条例》规定,导游人员是指()
2000年3月,在公安部发布的《关于加强公安队伍建设的十二项措施》中,赋予了“110”报警服务台受理人民群众投诉公安机关和民警违法违纪问题的新职能。()
所有与甲流患者接触的人都被隔离了,所有被隔离的人都与小王接触过。如果以上命题是真的,以下哪个命题也是真的?
数据信息可以有数字量、模拟量和开关量三种类型。数字量是以二进制形式提供的信息,通常是8位或16位数据;开关量是用二个状态表示的量,只用一位二进制数表示,而模拟量是指由传感器等提供的物理量转换成相应的电信号,而这些电信号的数值在一定区间内是连续变化的。模拟量
Manyinstructorsbelievethataninformal,relaxedclassroomenvironmentis【1】tolearningandinnovation.Itisnotuncommon
最新回复
(
0
)