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Section Three: Reading Comprehension
Questions 1-9
Glass fibers have a long history. The Egyptians made coarse fibers by 1600 B.C., and
fibers survive as decorations on Egyptian pottery dating back to 1375 B c. During the
Renaissance (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries A.D.), glassmakers from Venice used glass
Line fibers to decorate the surfaces of plain glass vessels. However, glassmakers guarded their
(5) secrets so carefully that no one wrote about glass fiber production until the early
seventeenth century.
The eighteenth century brought the invention of "spun glass" fibers. Rene-Antoine de
Reaumur, a French scientist, tried to make artificial feathers from glass. He made fibers
by rotating a wheel through a pool of molten glass, pulling threads of glass where the hot
(10) thick liquid stuck to the wheel. His fibers were short and fragile, but he predicted that
spun glass fibers as thin as spider silk would be flexible and could be woven into fabric.
By the start of the nineteenth century, glassmakers learned how to make longer, stronger
fibers by pulling them from molten glass with a hot glass tube. Inventors wound the
cooling end of the thread around a yarn reel, then turned the reel rapidly to pull more fiber
(15) from the molten glass. Wandering tradespeople began to spin glass fibers at fairs, making
decorations and ornaments as novelties for collectors, but this material was of little
practical use; the fibers were brittle, ragged, and no longer than ten feet, the circumference
of the largest reels. By the mid-1870's, however, the best glass fibers were finer than silk
and could be woven into fabrics or assembled into imitation ostrich feathers to decorate
(20) hats. Cloth of white spun glass resembled silver; fibers drawn from yellow-orange glass
looked golden.
Glass fibers were little more than a novelty until the 1930's, when their thermal and
electrical insulating properties were appreciated and methods for producing continuous
filaments were developed. In the modern manufacturing process, liquid glass is fed
(25) directly from a glass-melting furnace into a bushing, a receptacle pierced with hundreds
of fine nozzles, from which the liquid issues in fine streams. As they solidify, the streams
of glass are gathered into a single strand and wound onto a reel.
1. Which of the following aspects of glass fiber does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) The major developments in its production
(B) Its relationship with pottery making
(C) Important inventors in its long history
(D) The variety of its uses in modern industry
2. The word "coarse" in line 1 is closest in meaning to
(A) decorative
(B) natural
(C) crude
(D) weak
3. Why was there nothing written about the making of Renaissance glass fibers until the seventeenth century?
(A) Glassmakers were unhappy with the quality of the fibers they could make.
(B) Glassmakers did not want to reveal the methods they used.
(C) Few people were interested in the Renaissance style of glass fibers.
(D) Production methods had been well known for a long time.
4. According to the passage, using a hot glass tube rather than a wheel to pull fibers from molten glass made the fibers
(A) quicker to cool
(B) harder to bend
(C) shorter and more easily broken
(D) longer and more durable
5. The phrase "this material" in line 16 refers to
(A) glass fibers
(B) decorations
(C) ornaments
(D) novelties for collectors
6. The word "brittle" in line 17 is closest in meaning to
(A) easily broken
(B) roughly made
(C) hairy
(D) shiny
7. The production of glass fibers was improved in the nineteenth century by which of the following
(A) Adding silver to the molten glass
(B) Increasing the circumference of the glass tubes
(C) Putting silk thread in the center of the fibers
(D) Using yam reels
8. The word "appreciated" in line 23 is closest in meaning to
(A) experienced
(B) recognized
(C) explored
(D) increased
9. Which of the following terms is defined in the passage?
(A) invention (line 7)
(B) circumference (line 17)
(C) manufacturing process (line 24)
(D) bushing (line25)
Questions 20-28
The interrelationship of science, technology, and industry is taken for granted
today—summed up, not altogether accurately, as "research and development." Yet
historically this widespread faith in the economic virtues of science is a relatively recent
Line phenomenon, dating back in the United States about 150 years, and in the Western world
(5) as a whole not over 300 years at most. Even in this current era of large scale, intensive
research and development, the interrelationships involved in this process are frequently
misunderstood. Until the coming of the Industrial Revolution, science and technology
evolved for the most part independently of each other. Then as industrialization became
increasingly complicated, the craft techniques of preindustrial society gradually gave way
(10) to a technology based on the systematic application of scientific knowledge and scientific
methods. This changeover started slowly and progressed unevenly. Until late in the
nineteenth century, only a few industries could use scientific techniques or cared about
using them. The list expanded noticeably after 1870, but even then much of what passed
for the application of science was "engineering science" rather than basic science.
(15) Nevertheless, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the rapid expansion of scientific
knowledge and of public awareness-if not understanding-of it had created a belief that the
advance of science would in some unspecified manner automatically generate economic
benefits. The widespread and usually uncritical acceptance of this thesis led in turn to the
assumption that the application of science to industrial purposes was a linear process, starting
(20) with fundamental science, then proceeding to applied science or technology, and through
them to industrial use. This is probably the most common pattern, but it is not invariable. New
areas of science have been opened up and fundamental discoveries made as a result of
attempts to solve a specific technical or economic problem. Conversely, scientists who mainly
do basic research also serve as consultants on projects that apply research in practical ways.
(25) In sum, the science-technology-industry relationship may flow in several different ways, and
the particular channel it will follow depends on the individual situation. It may at times even
be multidirectional.
20. What is the author's main purpose in the passage?
(A) To show how technology influenced basic science
(B) To describe the scientific base of nineteenth-century American industries
(C) To correct misunderstandings about the connections between science, technology, and industry
(D) To argue that basic science has no practical application
21. The word "altogether" in line 2 is closest in meaning to
(A) completely
(B) realistically
(C) individually
(D) understandably
22. The word "intensive" in line 5 is closest in meaning to
(A) decreased
(B) concentrated
(C) creative
(D) advanced
23. The "list" mentioned in line 13 refers to
(A) types of scientific knowledge
(B) changes brought by technology
(C) industries that used scientific techniques
(D) applications of engineering science
24. The understanding of research and development in the late nineteenth century is based on which of the following?
(A) Engineering science is not very important.
(B) Fundamental science naturally leads to economic benefits.
(C) The relationship between research and development should be criticized.
(D) Industrial needs should determine what areas fundamental science focuses on.
25. The word "it" in line 16 refers to
(A) understanding
(B) public awareness
(C) scientific knowledge
(D) expansion
26. The word "assumption" in line 19 is closest in meaning to
(A) regulation
(B) belief
(C) contract
(D) confusion
27. Why does the author mention "consultants" in line 24 ?
(A) To show how new areas of science have given rise to new professions
(B) To distinguish between scientists who work in industry and those who do not
(C) To explain the ways in which scientists find financial support for their work
(D) To show how scientists who work in basic research contribute to applied science
28. Which of the following statements does the passage support?
(A) The development of science and of industry is now interdependent.
(B) Basic scientific research cannot generate practical [1] [2] [3] 下一页 |
