【题目】Bigger isn’t always better. People who are skeptical about this argument just need to look at personal computers. It is the continual shrinkage of components that have brought about the explosion of computing power and enabled these computers to be accessible to people across the world.
Inspired by this, researchers have been working on areas where making things small may mean big results. And this year, the Nobel Prize has challenged the convention of celebrating big by presenting the biggest prizes to discoveries on the smallest scales.
The committee presented the Nobel Prize for medicine to Yoshinori Ohsumi of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, for his research on “autophagy”, which is a “self-eating” process seen in cells.
What’s more, in recognition of their working on the unique nature of matter in extreme states and taking their research all the way down to an atomic scale, the Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to three British-born scientists who presently work in the US.
Another exceptional new field is that of nanotechnology（纳米技术）. The Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to a scientist who managed to build the world’s tiniest machines out of molecules（分子）, including a nano-sized car, which are so small that they are not seen by the human eye.
Small as the subjects are, the benefits of the scientists’ research are set to be huge. More importantly, their inventions may even eventually be turned into products that benefit mankind.
Ohsumi’s research on “autophagy” shines a light on common diseases such as Parkinson’s and diabetes. As for the molecular motors, they’re preparing to bring huge potential to the fields of medicine and energy. “The ground-breaking discoveries in physics have lighted a firestorm of research, and it’s only a matter of time before their research leads to advances as unimaginable to us now as computer chips were a hundred years ago,” Laura H. Greene, president-elect of the American Physical Society told The New York Times.
【1】The underlined word “shrinkage” in Paragraph 1 probably means .
A. reducing the size B. cutting down the cost
C. improving the quality D. strengthening the function
【2】What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Nano-sized cars are now popular all over the world.
B. Ohsumi's research has helped cure some common diseases.
C. Three scientists have made a great breakthrough in atomic energy.
D. The Nobel Prize used to have a preference for findings on big scales.
【3】What is Laura H. Greene’s attitude to the new discoveries in physics?
A. Positive B. Doubtful
C. Reserved D. Concerned.
【4】What is the message the passage conveys?
A. Great minds think alike.
B. Small things make a big difference.
C. Many small streams make a great river.
D. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
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