文章原貌。请将答案涂在答题卡相应的位置上。 Ruining the Ruins
Acid rain (酸雨)is now a familiar problem in the industrialized countries in Europe. Harmful gases are produced by power stations and cars. They dissolve in rainwater and this makes acid rain, which damages trees, rivers and streams.
Acid rain is also capable of dissolving some rocks. And buildings made of soft rock, such as limestone (石灰石), are particularly badly affected. The acid rain attacks the rock, and so carvings and statues are eroded (受腐蚀) more quickly.
__________(46) According to a report in the New Scientist, acid rain is being blamed for the rapid decay of ancient ruins in Mexico. The old limestone buildings in places like Chichen Itza, Tulum and Palenque are wearing away very quickly indeed. These sites are the remains of the buildings built by the Mayas between 250 BC and AD900, and the spectacular ruins of Mayan civilization are visited by thousands of tourists every year.
But those ruins are in danger of being seriously damaged by
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pollution. At many sites the stone has been covered with a layer of black substance. ________________(47).
Scientists estimate that about one millimeter of stone is worn away every twelve years. ________________(48) The acid rain is said to be caused by pollution from oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Car exhaust gases are also a problem. Local volcanic eruptions make the problem even worse. Nevertheless, with enough money and effort, researchers say that many of the problems could be solved and the rate of erosion reduced. ____________ (49).
Mexico’s current lack of funds is also partly due to oil. The country has rich oil fields and a few years ago, when oil was expensive, Mexico was selling large quantities of oil to the USA and earning a lot of money. __________ (50) However, the price of oil then dropped, and Mexico has been left owing enormous sums of money and with not enough income from oil sales to pay back the loans. So unless the price of oil rises, it is unlikely that Mexico will be able to afford to clean up the pollution and save its Mayan ruins from destruction.
A At others the painted surfaces inside temples are lifting
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and flaking off () and the stone is being eaten away. B That is enough to have caused some of the ancient carvings to become seriously damaged already.
C These measures would reduce the pollution, but would not stop it completely.
D The government was therefore able to borrow huge sums of money from banks around the world, thinking they would have no problem repaying their debts.
E The problem, however, is not just a European one. F However, the Mexican government does not have enough money to do the work, and needs to spend what money it has on the Mexican people.
第6部分：完形填空 （第51—65题，每题1分，共15分） 阅读下面的短文，文中有15处空白，每处空白给出了4个选项，请根据短文的内容从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案，涂在答题卡相应的位置上。 Science and Truth
“FINAGLE”() is not a word that most people associate with science. One reason is that the image of the scientist is of one who always __________ (51) data in an impartial () search for truth. In any debate- ___________
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(52)intelligence, schooling, energy – the phrase “science says” usually disarms opposition.
But scientists have long acknowledged the existence of a “finagle factor” – a tendency by many scientists to give a helpful change to the data to __________ (53) desired results. The latest of the finagle factor in action comes from Stephen Jay Gould, a Harvard biologist, who has ___________ (54) the important 19th century work of Dr. Samuel George Morton. Morton was famous in his time for analyzing the brain ____________ (55) of the skulls as a measure of intelligence. He concluded that whites had the largest brains, that the brains of Indians and blacks were smaller, and _______ (56), that whites constitute a superior race.
Gould went back to Morton’s original data and concluded that the ____________ (57) were an example of the finagle at work. He found that Morton’s “discovery” was made by leaving out embarrassing data, ___________ (58) incorrect procedures, and changing his criteria – again, always in favour of his argument. Morton has been thoroughly
discredited by now and scientists do not believe that brain
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size reflects __________ (59).
But Gould went on to say Morton’s story is only an example of a common problem in ____________(60) work. Some of the leading figures in science are ________________ (61) to have used the finagle factor. Gould says that Isaac Newton fudged out () to support at least three central statements that he could not prove. And so _____________ (62)Laudius Ptolemy, the Greek astronomer, whose master work, Almagest, summed up the case for a solar system that had the earth as its center. Recent _____________ (63) indicate that Ptolemy either faked some key data or resorted heavily to the finagle factor.
All this is important because the finagle factor is still at work. For example, in the artificial sweetener
controversy, for example, it is ________ (64) that all the studies sponsored by the sugar industry find that the artificial sweetener is unsafe, ________ (65) all the studies sponsored by the diet food industry find nothing wrong with it.
51 A collects B invents C misuses D enables 52 A of B over C in D with
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2003年职称英语等级考试试题真题-理工类A级(含答案)
