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Unit 3
Understanding Science
Part I Pre-reading Task
Listen to the recording two or three times and then think over the following questions:
1. Who is it about?
2. What questions interest him?
3. What makes his achievements so remarkable?
The following words in the recording may be new to you:
universe
n. 宇宙
muscle
n. 肌肉
engage
v. 与…订婚
Part II
Text A
Professor Hawking thinks it important to keep everybody in touch with what science is about. In this article he explains why.
PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD SCIENCE
Whether we like it or not, the world we live in has changed a great deal in the last hundred years, and it is likely to change even more in the next hundred. Some people would like to stop these changes and go back to what they see as a purer and simpler age. But as history shows, the past was not that wonderful. It was not so bad for a privileged minority, though even they had to do without modern medicine, and childbirth was highly risky for women. But for the vast majority of the population, life was nasty, brutish, and short.
Anyway, even if one wanted to, one couldn't put the clock back to an earlier age. Knowledge and techniques can't just be forgotten. Nor can one prevent further advances in the future. Even if all government money for research were cut off (and the present government is doing its best), the force of competition would still bring about advances in technology. Moreover, one cannot stop inquiring minds from thinking about basic science, whether or not they are paid for it. The only way to prevent further developments would be a global state that suppressed anything new, and human initiative and inventiveness are such that even this wouldn't succeed. All it would do is slow down the rate of change.
If we accept that we cannot prevent science and technology from changing our world, we can at least try to ensure that the changes they make are in the right directions. In a democratic society, this means that the public needs to have a basic understanding of science, so that it can make informed decisions and not leave them in the hands of experts. At the moment, the public is in two minds about science. It has come to expect the steady increase in the standard of living that new developments in science and technology have brought to continue, but it also distrusts science because it doesn't understand it. This distrust is evident in the cartoon figure of the mad scientist working in his laboratory to produce a Frankenstein. It is also an important element behind support for the Green parties. But the public also has a great interest in science, particularly astronomy, as is shown by the large audiences for television series such as The Sky at Night and for science fiction.
What can be done to harness this interest and give the public the scientific background it needs to make informed decisions on subjects like acid rain, the greenhouse effect, nuclear weapons, and genetic engineering? Clearly, the basis must lie in what is taught in schools. But in schools science is often presented in a dry and uninteresting manner. Children learn it by rote to pass examinations, and they don't see its relevance to the world around them. Moreover, science is often taught in terms of equations. Although equations are a brief and accurate way of describing mathematical ideas, they frighten most people. When I wrote a popular book recently, I was advised that each equation I included would halve the sales. I included one equation, Einstein's famous equation, E=mc2. Maybe I would have sold twice as many copies without it.
Scientists and engineers tend to express their ideas in the form of equations because they need to know the precise values of quantities. But for the rest of us, a qualitative grasp of scientific concepts is sufficient, and this can be conveyed by words and diagrams, without the use of equations.
The science people learn in school can provide the basic framework. But the rate of scientific progress is now so rapid that there are always new developments that have occurred since one was at school or university. I never learned about molecular biology or transistors at school, but genetic engineering and computers are two of the developments most likely to change the way we live in the future. Popular books and magazine articles about science can help to put across new developments, but even the most successful popular book is read by only a small proportion of the population. Only television can reach a truly mass audience. There are some very good science programmes on TV, but others present scientific wonders simply as magic, without explaining them or showing how they fit into the framework of scientific ideas. Producers of television science programmes should realize that they have a responsibility to educate the public, not just entertain it.
The world today is filled with dangers, hence the sick joke that the reason we have not been contacted by an alien civilization is that civilizations tend to destroy themselves when they reach our stage. But I have sufficient faith in the good sense of the public to believe that we might prove this wrong.
(812 words)
New Words and Expressions
attitude
n. 看法；态度
likely
a. probable 可能的
ad. probably 可能
privileged
a. having a special advantage 有特权的
privilege
n. 特权
minority
n. 少数
do without
没有…而设法对付过去
highly
ad. very 很，非常
risky
a. full of danger; full of the possibility of failure, loss, etc. 危险的；有风险的
nasty
a. very unpleasant 令人难受的
brutish
a. 野兽般的，野蛮的
anyway
ad. (used to change the subject of a conversation or to support an idea or argument) anyhow 不管怎么说
put/turn the clock back
倒退，开倒车
cut off
stop providing (sth.); remove (sth.) by cutting 切断，中断；切下，剪下
competition
n. 竞争；比赛
bring about
make (sth.) happen 引起，导致
technology
n. 技术
moreover
ad. 而且，再者
inquiring
a. showing an interest in knowing about things 好问的，爱探索的
inquire
v. 询问
global
a. worldwide, of the whole earth 世界的，全球的
suppress▲
vt. keep from appearing 抑制；压制
initiative
n. 首创精神；主动
inventiveness
n. 发明才能，创造力
slow down
make slower 减慢
rate
n. 速度；比率
ensure
vt. make sure 保证，确保
democratic
a. 民主的
informed
a. 有知识的，了解情况的；明智的
inform
vt. 告诉，通知
expert
n. 专家
at the moment
now 此刻，目前
in two minds
犹豫不决；三心二意
steady
a. constant; firm 平稳的；稳定的
evident
a. clear, obvious 明显的
cartoon
n. 漫画；动画片
element
n. 成分；元素
astronomy▲
n. 天文学
audience
n. 观众；听众；读者
series
n. 连续；系列；系列节目
fiction
n. 小说；虚构
harness
vt. control and make use of 驾驭；利用
background
n. 背景
acid
a., n. 酸（性的）；酸味的（物质）
greenhouse
n. 温室
nuclear
a. 原子核的；核心的
weapon
n. 武器
genetic▲
a. 基因的；遗传（学）的
engineering
n. 工程；工程学
basis
n. 基础
lie in
exist or be found in 在于
rote
n. 死记硬背
learn by rote
死记硬背地学习
relevance
n. 相关，关联
in terms of
从…方面（或角度）来说；按照，根据
equation
n. 等式，方程（式）
brief
a. short; quick 简洁的；短暂的
accurate
a. exact 准确的，精确的
mathematical
a. 数学的
halve
vt. 将…减半
tend
vi. be likely to happen or have a particular characteristic or effect 倾向，趋向
in the form of
having the shape of; existing in a particular form 呈…的形状；以…形式
precise
a. exact 精确的
qualitative
a. 定性的；性质上的
grasp
n. understanding 掌握，了解
concept
n. 概念
sufficient
a. as much as is needed, enough 充分的，足够的
convey
vt. make (ideas, feelings, etc.) known to another 传达；表达
diagram
n. 图表；图解
framework
n. 框架；结构
molecular
a. 分子的
biology
n. 生物学
transistor
n. 晶体管；晶体管收音机
put across
cause to be understood 解释清楚，使被理解
proportion
n. 比例；部分
truly
ad. 真正地；确实地
magic
n. 魔术；魔力
fit into
be part of a situation, system, etc.；be part of a group of people or things 适合；符合；属于
responsibility
n. 责任
educate
vt. teach or train 教育
entertain
vt. give pleasure to; have as a guest 给…以欢乐；招待
hence
ad. as a result, therefore; from this time 因此；从此
contact
vt. get in touch with 与…接触
alien▲
a. foreign; strange 外国的；陌生的
civilization
n. 文明
Proper Names
Stephen Hawking
斯蒂芬·霍金
Einstein
爱因斯坦（1879—1955,美籍德国理论物理学家） |