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
The British philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell once wrote: "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but su
The British philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell once wrote: "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but su
admin
2014-06-20
37
问题
The British philosopher and logician Bertrand Russell once wrote: "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty—a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture. "
【R1】______
This seems curious, since it is clear that artists have long found inspiration in mathematics. Greek architects appear to have used a number known as the golden ratio when designing the Parthenon, and Leonardo De Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, which depicts an outstretched figure encompassed by square and a circle, is an attempt to link human beauty with geometry.
And in the 20th century, artists have been exposed even more to mathematical ideas, initially because Victorian mathematicians found ways of visualizing formulae and functions in physical form. Now computers have made it possible to visualize even more complex functions such as fractal patterns, and then mathematical objects like the Mandelbrot set have become a household image.
【R2】______
What, then, constitutes beautiful mathematics? This is rarely debated among mathematicians, but there are some generally accepted tests that a piece of work must pass to be deemed beautiful— it must employ a minimal number of assumptions, for example, or give some original and important insight, or throw other work into new perspective. Elegance is perhaps a better term for it. There is a flip side, of course, a piece of mathematics laden with unnecessary assumptions and offering no new insights is deemed ugly.
The most famous example of a function that meets all the requirements of beauty is Euler’s formula(e
m
+1=0), which links some of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics and draws together two entirely separate branches of the science—geometry, the study of space, and algebra, the study of structure and quantity. I have never seen a physical model of Euler’s formula, but it would be impossible to get a sense of the function’s power and majesty from such a thing.
【R3】______
Yet it need not be like that ten years ago, I began assembling the most beautiful examples of mathematics and exhibiting them as digital prints. My latest exhibition opens next week in London. I imagined the task an intellectual diversion, like hunting for shells on the seashore. Instead, I have found it a profoundly creative experience, and laden with emotional undertones.
【R4】______
Most people’s reaction to all this is fascination. They ask questions and demand explanations and answers. I cannot tell them what to think, but now when I display the images I write a commentary for each exhibit—not an explanation of the mathematics, but a snapshot of the ideas and emotions that the mathematics inspires me.
【R5】______
Which is why I have come to disagree with Russell. The beauty of mathematics can be cold and austere, when viewed in a particular way. But viewed in another, it can be rich and warm, funny and sad, romantic and profound. Just like sculpture—he was right about that.
A. But mathematicians are not usually thinking of images, models and sculptures when they talk about beauty. Mathematical beauty is not a visual quality. Judging a piece of mathematics by the way it looks when printed on paper is like judging a book by its typeface—it is an absurd notion.
B. For example, it is hard not to be awestruck by the language of symmetry, a branch of mathematics called group theory. Likewise, who could fail to be inspired by the mathematical description of the birth of stars? There are rich veins of inspiration wherever you look. And thus, for me, mathematical photography has become an art.
C. It is the equation that everybody knows, but it is just part of a theory. How you go about proving E really does equal mc
2
? The short answer is, with a great deal of care. A multinational team has just published the most accurate ever test of Einstein’s equation.
D. The best way I can describe it is to compare it with photography. Just as an ordinary photograph is a snapshot of natural beauty, an equation is a snapshot of mathematical beauty, or indeed ugliness or some other aesthetic. My "photographs" are simply mathematical statements that I have chosen. But like conventional images, making the choice can imbue them with emotion.
E. Sculpture is widely admired in our societies—there is hardly a public space in our cities that does not boast a sculpture of some sort. But mathematical beauty is barely recognized beyond the confines of academia, and it is never celebrated.
F. So why has mathematical beauty failed to make a cultural impact? One reason could be that this spectrum of aesthetics, with beauty at one end and ugliness at the other, sounds horribly one-dimensional. And having rules for mathematical beauty feels, as Russell put it, cold and austere: this is beauty devoid of emotion, profoundly different to that which we experience and admire in the physical world.
【R5】
选项
答案
F
解析
根据下一段的“Which is why I have come to disagree withRussell.”可知,文章里说的是作者与罗素观点不同的地方。前面应该提到罗素的观点。故选F。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/qMXd777K
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
WhatarethecharacteristicsofStandardEnglish?Intermsofgrammarandvocabulary,StandardEnglish
Whydopeoplealwaysspendmoremoneythanplannedinsupermarkets?
WhatfoodisnotprovidedformostBritishchildrenatschool?
During1958theWestGermangovernmentcausedsomedisappointmenttotheBritishandFrenchaircraftindustriesbyfailingtoor
During1958theWestGermangovernmentcausedsomedisappointmenttotheBritishandFrenchaircraftindustriesbyfailingtoor
______providesexercisesforwriting?______iscompliedonlyforthosewhosemothertongueisnotEnglish?
______providesexercisesforwriting?______isspecificallydesignedforEnglishforspecificpurposes?
Accordingtothetext,whatistheStockExchange?Accordingtoparagraph3,whathappenedon16thNovember,1971?
______islocatedinthecountryside?______offerscoursesinEnglishandsociology?
随机试题
《始得西山宴游记》中,作者描写西山之高峻时所运用的表现手法主要是()
Whichofthefollowingwouldbethebesttitleforthepassage?WhichofthefollowingstatementsisNOTtrueaccordingtothe
新时期爱国主义教育的基本指导思想是()
患者,男,80岁。慢支肺气肿病史30年。近1周来出现咳嗽,咳大量黏液脓痰,伴心悸、气喘。查体:呼吸急促、发绀明显,颈静脉怒张、下肢水肿。该患者氧疗时,给氧浓度和氧流量应为
患者,女性,22岁。体检时发现缺铁性贫血。最常见的原因是()
根据《水利工程设计概(估)算编制规定》,水利工程设计概(估)算中的施工用水水价系指()的水价。
A方案在3年中每年年初付款500元,B方案在3、年中每年末付款500元,若利率为10%,则第三年末两个方案的终值相差( )元。
2019年中国居民李某与4个朋友合伙经营一个酒吧,年底酒吧将50万元生产经营所得(未扣除投资者费用)在合伙人中进行平均分配,不考虑专项附加扣除。李某分得的经营所得应缴纳个人所得税()元。
软件危机出现于20世纪60年代末,为了解决软件危机,人们提出了______的原理来设计软件,这就是软件工程诞生的基础。
Lookatthegraphsbelow.Theyshowtheclosingsharepricesattheendofeachday’stradingofeightdifferentcompaniesfrom
最新回复
(
0
)