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  3. Specialization can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge. By splitting up t

Specialization can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge. By splitting up t

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问题     Specialization can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge. By splitting up the subject matter into smaller units, one man could continue to handle the information and use it as the basis for further research. But specialization was only one of a series of related developments in science affecting the process of communication. Another was the growing professionalisation of scientific activity.
    No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science: exceptions can be found to any rule. Nevertheless, the word "amateur" does carry a connotation that the person concerned is not fully integrated into the scientific community and, in particular, may not fully share its values. The growth of specialization in the nineteenth century, with its consequent requirement of a longer, more complex training, implied greater problems for amateur participation in science. The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training, and can be illustrated in terms of the development of geology in the United Kingdom.
    A comparison of British geological publications over the last century and a half reveals not simply an increasing emphasis on the primacy of research, but also a changing definition of what constitutes an acceptable research paper. Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geological studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate, and reflect on, the wider geological picture. Amateurs, on the other hand, have continued to pursue local studies in the old way. The overall result has been to make entrance to professional geological journals harder for amateurs, a result that has been reinforced by the widespread introduction of refereeing, first by national journals in the nineteenth century and then by several local geological journals in the twentieth century. As a logical consequence of this development, separate journals have now appeared aimed mainly towards either professional or amateur readership. A rather similar process of differentiation has led to professional geologists coming together nationally within one or two specific societies, whereas the amateurs have tended either to remain in local societies or to come together nationally in a different way.
    Although the process of professionalisation and specialization was already well under way in British geology during the nineteenth century, its full consequences were thus delayed until the twentieth century. In science generally, however, the nineteenth century must be reckoned as the crucial period for this change in the structure of science.  
The author writes of the development of geology to demonstrate______.
选项 A、the process of specialization and professionalisation
B、the hardship of amateurs in scientific study
C、the change of policies in scientific publications
D、the discrimination of professionals against amateurs
答案A
解析 从文章第2段的最后一句话可知，这一趋势在以数学或实验室培训为基础的科学领域里自然表现得尤为突出。英国地质学的发展可以阐明这种趋势；从第3段的内容可知，比较一下英国最近一个半世纪的地质学方面的刊物，人们发现，不仅研究的重要性愈来愈受到强调，并且，学术论文的出版标准亦在不断改变。在19世纪，区域地质学研究本身象征着有价值的科研活动；但是，在20世纪，区域研究只有收编并仔细考虑更广泛地地质学问题，才会逐渐被专业人员接受。另一方面，业余人员继续以其熟悉的的方式从事区域研究。其结果导致了业余人员在专业地质刊物上发表论文更加困难。19世纪的国家级杂志和20世纪的几家地方地质杂志评审制度先后地广泛引进，促使该问题表现得更为明显。这一发展的必然结果是，导致分别出现了以专业读者或业余读者为主要对象的刊物。另一相似的分化进程是，全国专业地质学者会聚一堂，组成一两个专业协会，与之相反，业余人员要么倾向于占据地方学会，要么就以其他方式在全国范围内联合。据此可知，作者利用地质学发展的例子是为了说明业余人员与专业学者之间的分化过程。A项与文章的意思相符，因此A项为正确答案。
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