2012考研英语真题与参考答案第二部分

  　Text 2

　　A deal is a deal-except, apparently ,when Entergy is involved. The company, a major energy supplier in New England, provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations.

　　Instead, the company has done precisely what it had long promised it would not challenge the constitutionality of Vermont's rules in the federal court, as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. It's a stunning move.

　　The conflict has been surfacing since 2002, when the corporation bought Vermont's only nuclear power plant, an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale, the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006, the state went a step further, requiring that any extension of the plant's license be subject to Vermont legislature's approval. Then, too, the company went along.

　　Either Entergy never really intended to live by those commitments, or it simply didn't foresee what would happen next. A string of accidents, including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 207 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage, raised serious questions about both Vermont Yankee's safety and Entergy's management– especially after the company made misleading statements about the pipe. Enraged by Entergy's behavior, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 last year against allowing an extension.

　　Now the company is suddenly claiming that the 2002 agreement is invalid because of the 2006 legislation, and that only the federal government has regulatory power over nuclear issues. The legal issues in the case are obscure: whereas the Supreme Court has ruled that states do have some regulatory authority over nuclear power, legal scholars say that Vermont case will offer a precedent-setting test of how far those powers extend. Certainly, there are valid concerns about the patchwork regulations that could result if every state sets its own rules. But had Entergy kept its word, that debate would be beside the point.

　　The company seems to have concluded that its reputation in Vermont is already so damaged that it has noting left to lose by going to war with the state. But there should be consequences. Permission to run a nuclear plant is a poblic trust. Entergy runs 11 other reactors in the United States, including Pilgrim Nuclear station in Plymouth. Pledging to run Pilgrim safely, the company has applied for federal permission to keep it open for another 20 years. But as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission （NRC） reviews the company's application, it should keep it mind what promises from Entergy are worth.

　　26. The phrase “reneging on”（Line 3.para.1） is closest in meaning to

　　[A] condemning.

　　[B] reaffirming.

　　[C] dishonoring.

　　[D] securing.

　　27. By entering into the 2002 agreement, Entergy intended to

　　[A] obtain protection from Vermont regulators.

　　[B] seek favor from the federal legislature.

　　[C] acquire an extension of its business license .

　　[D] get permission to purchase a power plant.

　　28. According to Paragraph 4, Entergy seems to have problems with its

　　[A] managerial practices.

　　[B] technical innovativeness.

　　[C] financial goals.

　　[D] business vision

　　29. In the author's view, the Vermont case will test

　　[A] Entergy's capacity to fulfill all its promises.

　　[B] the mature of states' patchwork regulations.

　　[C] the federal authority over nuclear issues .

　　[D] the limits of states' power over nuclear issues.

　　30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that

　　[A] Entergy's business elsewhere might be affected.

　　[B] the authority of the NRC will be defied.

　　[C] Entergy will withdraw its Plymouth application.

　　[D] Vermont's reputation might be damaged.

　　Text 3

　　In the idealized version of how science is done, facts about the world are waiting to be observed and collected by objective researchers who use the scientific method to carry out their work. But in the everyday practice of science, discovery frequently follows an ambiguous and complicated route. We aim to be objective, but we cannot escape the context of our unique life experience. Prior knowledge and interest influence what we experience, what we think our experiences mean, and the subsequent actions we take. Opportunities for misinterpretation, error, and self-deception abound.

　　Consequently, discovery claims should be thought of as protoscience. Similar to newly staked mining claims, they are full of potential. But it takes collective scrutiny and acceptance to transform a discovery claim into a mature discovery. This is the credibility process, through which the individual researcher's me, here, now becomes the community's anyone, anywhere, anytime. Objective knowledge is the goal, not the starting point.

　　Once a discovery claim becomes public, the discoverer receives intellectual credit. But, unlike with mining claims, the community takes control of what happens next. Within the complex social structure of the scientific community, researchers make discoveries; editors and reviewers act as gatekeepers by controlling the publication process; other scientists use the new finding to suit their own purposes; and finally, the public （including other scientists） receives the new discovery and possibly accompanying technology. As a discovery claim works it through the community, the interaction and confrontation between shared and competing beliefs about the science and the technology involved transforms an individual's discovery claim into the community's credible discovery.

　　Two paradoxes exist throughout this credibility process. First, scientific work tends to focus on some aspect of prevailing Knowledge that is viewed as incomplete or incorrect. Little reward accompanies duplication and confirmation of what is already known and believed. The goal is new-search, not re-search. Not surprisingly, newly published discovery claims and credible discoveries that appear to be important and convincing will always be open to challenge and potential modification or refutation by future researchers. Second, novelty itself frequently provokes disbelief. Nobel Laureate and physiologist Albert Azent-Gyorgyi once described discovery as “seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” But thinking what nobody else has thought and telling others what they have missed may not change their views. Sometimes years are required for truly novel discovery claims to be accepted and appreciated.

　　In the end, credibility “happens” to a discovery claim – a process that corresponds to what philosopher Annette Baier has described as the commons of the mind. “We reason together, challenge, revise, and complete each other's reasoning and each other's conceptions of reason.”

　　31. According to the first paragraph, the process of discovery is characterized by its

　　[A] uncertainty and complexity.

　　[B] misconception and deceptiveness.

　　[C] logicality and objectivity.

　　[D] systematicness and regularity.

　　32. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that credibility process requires

　　[A] strict inspection.

　　[B]shared efforts.

　　[C] individual wisdom.

　　[D]persistent innovation.

　　33.Paragraph 3 shows that a discovery claim becomes credible after it

　　[A] has attracted the attention of the general public.

　　[B]has been examined by the scientific community.

　　[C] has received recognition from editors and reviewers.

　　[D]has been frequently quoted by peer scientists.

　　34. Albert Szent-Gy?rgyi would most likely agree that

　　[A] scientific claims will survive challenges.

　　[B]discoveries today inspire future research.

　　[C] efforts to make discoveries are justified.

　　[D]scientific work calls for a critical mind.

　　35.Which of the following would be the best title of the test?

　　[A] Novelty as an Engine of Scientific Development.

　　[B]Collective Scrutiny in Scientific Discovery.

　　[C] Evolution of Credibility in Doing Science.

　　[D]Challenge to Credibility at the Gate to Science.

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