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Ⅱ.阅读理解 Edison and His Experiments Thomas Edison was interested in science at an early age.In order to earn money for books and for his scientific experiments，Thomas sold vegetables from the family garden.This work did not make enough money，and so he began to sell newspapers.He traveled on trains to sell his newspapers.He began to do experiments on the trains too，and he brought a lot of instruments and chemicals on them.The railway line was not very good，and one day a train suddenly shook a lot during a turn.Edison had a piece of phosphorus(磷) among his chemicals.Everything in the train shook，and the phosphorus fell on the floor.It began to burn，as phosphorus often does.The train was soon burning.The conductor of the train was so angry that he threw Thomas and all his equipment off the train at the next station. After that Edison worked as a telegraph operator.As an operator he had to work at night.During the day he read books and did experiments.The result was that he was very tired.Sometimes he slept at night so the other operators got angry with him.When they sent a message，Edison did not give an answer.The y found that he was often asleep.They soon found a way to keep him awake.They told him to telegraph the letter “A”every hour.In order to do this，he had to stay awake. Edison did not like this at all.He was too tired，so he invented a new instrument which sent the letter “A”every hour.It never failed，for instruments are not like people and they never forget to do what they are told to.The other operators received the letter “A”every hour. They could not believe it.They also could not believe that Edison was such a foolish man.One night they went quietly to his room.When they looked inside，they found that Edison was there sleeping，and his instrument was sending the letter “A”! 阅读短文填空，每空一词。 1.Edison sold vegetables he could earn money for books and for his scientific experiments. 2.The conductor was angry because Edison’s phosphorus set the train . 3.When Edison invented a new which sent ,he had enough time to sleep at night. 4.Edison’s colleagues didn’t believe Edison was such a man so they went to Edison’s room.And they found that Edison was . 答案：1.so that 2.on fire 3.instrument;the letter “A” 4.foolish;sleeping 拓展视野 The twentieth century saw greater changes than any century before：changes for the better，changes for the worse;changes that brought a lot of benefits to human beings，changes that put man in danger.Many things caused the changes，but，in my opinion，the most important was the progress in science. Scientific research in physics and biology has vastly broadened our views.It has given us a deeper knowledge of the structure of matter and of the universe;it has brought us a better under- standing of the nature of life and of its continuous develop- ment.Technology in the application of science has made big advances that have benefited us in nearly every part of life. The continuation of such activities in the twenty-first century will result in even greater advantages to human beings：in pure science—a wider and deeper knowledge in all fields of learning;in applied science—a more reasonable sharing of material benefits，and better protection of the environment. Sadly，however，there is another side to the picture.The creativity of science has been employed in doing damage to mankind.The application of science and technology to the develo- pment and production of weapons of mass destruction has created a real danger to the continued existence of the human race on this planet.We have seen this happen in the case of nuclear weapons.Although their actual use has so far occurred only in the Second World War，the number of nuclear weapons that were produced and made ready for use was so large that if the weapons had actually been used，the result could have been the ruin of the human race，as well as of many kinds of animals. William Shakespeare said，“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn (纱线)，good and ill together.”The above brief review of the application of only one part of human activities—science seems to prove what Shakespeare said.But does it have to be so? Must the ill always go together with the good? Are we biologically programmed for war? 【个性思考】 Does scientific development have great effect on your life? Give some examples. My view: 人生启迪 随着社会的发展，人们越来越重视人与自然的问题，越来越强调人与自然和谐发展。其中，人与动物的关系问题也越来越引起人们的重视。我们应该对动物采取什么态度呢? Could the use of animals in scientific experiments be justified? Well you may get totally different answers when you are in different positions. Suppose you are a pet owner.When someone asks to take away your lovely dog for a scientific experiment，certainly you will cry out and claim that he or she is a devil.This is just the reaction we are expecting for it is love and concern for others that make human beings human，and this kind of love and care are not only existing among ourselves，but also between us and the nature.Can you imagine living in a world where people kill animals for any purpose they like? Can you expect people loving each other in that kind of world? It must be a nightmare(噩梦). However，to get a fuller view of such a controversial issue(矛盾的问题)，you should put yourself in another position.Scientific experiments using animals have contributed a lot in medical development.Thanks to that，cures for many kinds of disease，which have killed thousands of people in the past few decades，have been found now and many lives are saved.If you are one of those with that kind of disease，will you support usi ng animals in scientific experiments that can save you or will you give up your hope of life? The majority chooses the former and it is reflecting(反映)the rule of the nature—the fittest survives(适者生存). Every creature on the earth is a gift.We should love and protect them while at the same time make good use of them，since it is not only for our own sake(原因) but also for the sake of the harmony(和谐) that existing in the nature world. (责任编辑：admin) |