2016年12月英语四级阅读200篇：科学探索的方法思维导图

MethodofScientificInquiry

Whytheinductiveandmathematicalsciences,aftertheirfirstrapiddevelopmentattheculminationofGreekcivilization,advancedsoslowlyfortwothousandyears—andwhyinthefollowingtwohundredyearsaknowledgeofnaturalandmathematicalsciencehasaccumulated,whichsovastlyexceedsallthatwaspreviouslyknownthatthesesciencesmaybejustlyregardedastheproductsofourowntimes—arequestionswhichhaveinterestedthemodernphilosophernotlessthantheobjectswithwhichthesesciencesaremoreimmediatelyconversant.Wasittheemploymentofanewmethodofresearch,orintheexerciseofgreatervirtueintheuseoftheoldmethods,thatthissingularmodernphenomenonhaditsorigin?Wasthelongperiodoneofarresteddevelopment,andisthemoderneraoneofnormalgrowth?Orshouldweascribethecharacteristicsofbothperiodstoso-calledhistoricalaccidents—totheinfluenceofconjunctionsincircumstancesofwhichnoexplanationispossible,saveintheomnipotenceandwisdomofaguidingProvidence?

Theexplanationwhichhasbecomecommonplace,thattheancientsemployeddeductionchieflyintheirscientificinquiries,whilethemodernsemployinduction,provestobetoonarrow,andfailsuponcloseexaminationtopointwithsufficientdistinctnessthecontrastthatisevidentbetweenancientandmodernscientificdoctrinesandinquiries.Forallknowledgeisfoundedonobservation,andproceedsfromthisbyanalysis,bysynthesisandanalysis,byinductionanddeduction,andifpossiblebyverification,orbynewappealstoobservationundertheguidanceofdeduction—bystepswhichareindeedcorrelativepartsofonemethod;andtheancientsciencesaffordexamplesofeveryoneofthesemethods,orpartsofonemethod,whichhavebeengeneralizedfromtheexamplesofscience.

Afailuretoemployortoemployadequatelyanyoneofthesepartialmethods,animperfectionintheartsandresourcesofobservationandexperiment,carelessnessinobservation,neglectofrelevantfacts,byappealtoexperimentandobservation—thesearethefaultswhichcauseallfailurestoascertaintruth,whetheramongtheancientsorthemoderns;butthisstatementdoesnotexplainwhythemodernispossessedofagreatervirtue,andbywhatmeansheattainedhissuperiority.Muchlessdoesitexplainthesuddengrowthofscienceinrecenttimes.

Theattempttodiscovertheexplanationofthisphenomenonintheantithesisof“facts”and“theories”or“facts”and“ideas”—intheneglectamongtheancientsoftheformer,andtheirtooexclusiveattentiontothelatter—provesalsotobetoonarrow,aswellasopentothechargeofvagueness.Forinthefirstplace,theantithesisisnotcomplete.Factsandtheoriesarenotcoordinatespecies.Theories,iftrue,arefacts—aparticularclassoffactsindeed,generallycomplex,andifalogicalconnectionsubsistsbetweentheirconstituents,haveallthepositiveattributesoftheories.

Nevertheless,thisdistinction,howeverinadequateitmaybetoexplainthesourceoftruemethodinscience,iswellfounded,andconnotesanimportantcharacterintruemethod.Afactisapropositionofsimple.Atheory,ontheotherhand,iftruehasallthecharacteristicsofafact,exceptthatitsverificationispossibleonlybyindirect,remote,anddifficultmeans.Toconverttheoriesintofactsistoaddsimpleverification,andthetheorythusacquiresthefullcharacteristicsofafact.

1.Thetitlethatbestexpressestheideasofthispassageis

2.Accordingtotheauthor,onepossiblereasonforthegrowthofscienceduringthedaysoftheancientGreeksandinmoderntimesis

3.Thedifferencebetween“fact”and“theory”

4.Accordingtotheauthor,mathematicsis

5.Thestatement“Theoriesarefacts”maybecalled.

1.D.科学研究/探索的方法。文章一开始就提出问题，为什么从希腊文化顶峰时期后两千年来归纳法和数学科学发展如此缓慢，而后的两百年又超越了前人，是应用新，旧方法关系还是其它(见难句译注1，2)。第二段讲埃及古代在科学探索中运用了演绎推理法，而现在应用了归纳法。这种解释太狭隘，经仔细审核，难以很清晰地点明古代和现代科学教义和探究上明显的差别。因为一切知识都基于观察，通过分析，综合，或综合分析，归纳演绎推理，有可能的话，经过校正或经由演绎指导下再观察而向前推进。第三段进一步阐明不用这些方法观察，实验;忽略相关事实，推理不慎;不能答出理论的结论，再用实验或观察来检验等或用得不全，不论在古代还是现代都会失败。但这不能说明为什么现代科学具有较高的功效，通过什么方式方法，超越了前人，更不用说说明最近科学突飞猛进的原因。第四，五段涉及事实和理论的关系。

2.B.是上天的安排，这是作家在用方法论等失败后得出的结论。见难句译注4，第一段最后一句话。

3.A.后者需要证实。答案在第四，五段，死段试图在事实的对立面和理论，或事实和思想中发现上述现象的解释看起来有饿太狭隘，也会因模糊不清遭批评。因为，对立面不全面，事实和理论不是同类的事物。理论，如果是真正的理论，就是事实——一种特殊类别的事实，一般复杂，但仍是事实。而事实，从词的狭义来说，如果很复杂，如果各成分中存在着逻辑的联系，就具有理论的一切主要特征。第五段第二句，事实是一个提议，通过运用知识的源泉和经验而证实的提议直接而又简单。而理论，若是真理论，就有事实的一切特性(除非其证实只能通过非直接的，遥远的和困难的方式方法)，把理论转成事实必须用简单的核实，理论因此具有事实的一切特性。

4.C.是推理演绎科学，这个问题常识就能回答。

5.B.是一个悖论，见第四，五段注释。

大学英语四六级考试CET46