题目内容
Uncertainty spreads through our lives so thoroughly that it dominates our language，Our everyday speech is made up in large part of words like probably, many, soon,great,little.What do these words mean?
Such verbal imprecision is not necessarily to be criticized. Indeed, it has a value Just because it allows uw to express judgments when a precise quantitative statement is out of the question.
We have been trying to pin down by experiments what people meari by these expressions in specific contexts, and how the meanings change with age. For instance,a subject is told "There are many trees in the park" and is asked to say what number the word may mean to him. Or a child is invited to take "some" sweets from a bowl and we then count how many he has taken. We compare the number he takes when he is alone with the number when one or more other children are present and are to take some sweets after him, or with the number he takes when told to give
“some" sweets to another child.
First, we find that the number depends, of course, on the items involved. To most people some friends means about five, while some trees means about twenty. However, unrelated areas sometimes show parallel values. For instance, the language of probability seems to mean about the same thing in predictions about the weather and about politics: the expression is certain to( rain,or be elected)signifies to the average person about a 70 percent chance; is likely to, about a 60 percent chance; probably will, about 55 percent.
Secondly, the size of the population of items influences the value assigned to an expression.Thus, if we tell a subject to take "a few" or“a lot of" glass balls from a box, he will take me if the box contains a large number of glass balls than if it has a small number, But not proportionately more: if we increase the number of glass balls eight times, the subject takes only half as large a percentage of the total.
Thirdly, there is a marked change with age. Among children between six and fourteen years old, the older the child, the fewer glass balls, he will take. But the difference between a lot and a few widens with age. This age effect is so consistent that it might be used as a test of intelligence.
51. What's the right attitude towards the words like probably, any and soon ?
A. They are inaccurate and we should avoid them.
B. They are necessary since we cannot be always precise.
C. They should be criticized because there are too many of them.
D. Their value is not yet clear since we don't know their meaning.
52. Why do we do experiments with the words many and some?
A. To prove that people are insensitive to these words.
B. To prove that the words dominate our everyday speech.
C. To find out how the meanings vary with age and contexts.
D. To find out whether the words can mean a precise quantity.
53. Which of the following expressions means a larger chance in weather broadcast?
A. Possible. B. Probable. C. Be likely to. D. Be certain to.
54. Which of the following is similar to the underlined word signifies in its meaning?
A. makes B. means C. predicts D. indicates
55. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Uncertainty in the Language Use.
B. How to Use Language in an Uncertain Way
C.Uncertain Words and their Use in Specific Contexts
D. Experiments on Relationship between Uncertainty and Language Use
【小题1】B
【小题2】C
【小题3】D
【小题4】D
【小题5】A
解析
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Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from the list A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.?
| A. The description of using amateur records to encourage the public. B. The description of old records kept by amateur naturalists. C. Concerns over amateur data for lacking objectivity and precision. D. The necessity of encouraging amateur collection. E. How people react to their involvement in data collection. F. The application of amateur records to phonology. |
Tim Sparks slides a small leather-bound notebook out of an envelope. The book’s yellowing pages contain beekeeping notes made between 1941 and 1969 by the late Walter Coates of Kilworth, Leicestershire. He adds it to his growing pile of local journals, birdwatchers’ lists and gardening diaries. "We’re uncovering about one major new record each month," he says, "I still get surprised." Around two centuries before Coates, Robert Marsham, a landowner from Norfolk in east of England, began recording the life cycles of plants and animals on his estate. Successive Marshams continued recording these notes for 211 years.
【小题2】_______________
Today, such records are being put to uses that their authors couldn’t possibly have expected. These data sets, and others like them, are proving valuable to ecologists interested in the timing of biological events, or phonology. By combining the records with climate data, researchers can reveal how, for example, changes in temperature affect the arrival of spring, allowing ecologists to make improved predictions about the impact of climate change.
【小题3】_______________
But not all professionals are happy to use amateur data. "A lot of scientists won’t touch them, they say they’re too full of problems," says Root. Because different observers can have different ideas of what forms, for example, an open snowdrop. "The biggest concern with ad hoc (临时的) observations is how carefully and systematically they were taken,” says Mark Schwarts of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, who studies the interactions between plants and climate. "We need to know pretty precisely what a person’s been observing—if they just say ‘I noted when the leaves came out’, it might not be that useful.” Measuring the onset of autumn can be particularly problematic because deciding when leaves change color is a more subjective process than noting when they appear.
【小题4】_______________
Overall, most phrenologists arc positive about the contribution that amateurs can make. "They get the raw power of science: careful observation of the natural world," says Sagarin. Others suggest that the right statistics can iron out some of the problems with amateur data. Together with colleagues at Wageoingen University in the Netherlands, environmental scientist Arnold van Vliet is developing statistical techniques to account for the uncertainty in amateur phonological data. Besides, the data are cheap to collect, and can provide breadth in space, time and range of species," It’s very difficult to collect data on a large geographical scale without enlisting an army of observers, says Root.
【小题5】_______________
Phonology also helps to drive home messages about climate change. “Because the public understand these records, they accept them,” says Sparks. It can also illustrate potentially unpleasant consequences, he adds, such as the finding that more rat infestations are reported to local councils in warmer years. And getting people involved is great for public relations. "People are excited to think that the data they have been collecting as a hobby can be used for something scientific—it empowers them” says Root.