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Passage Two

　　Many objects in daily use have clearly been influenced by science. However, their form and function, their dimensions and appearance, were determined by technologists, designers, inventors, and engineers using nonscientific modes of thought. Many features and qualities of the objects that a technologist thinks about cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in the mind by a visual, nonverbal process, pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist not because of geometry or thermos-dynamics (热动力学), because they were first the picture in the minds of those.

　　The creative shaping process of a technologist's mind can be seen in nearly every artifact that exists. For example, in designing a diesel engine, a technologist might express individual ways of nonverbal thinking on the machine by continually using an intuitive sense of rightness and fitness. What would be the shape of the combustion chamber? Where should the valves be placed? Would it have a long or short piston? Such questions have a range of answers that are supplied by experience, by physical requirement, by limitations of available space, and not in the least by a sense of form. Some decisions, such as wall thickness and pin diameter, may depend on scientific calculations, but the nonscientific component design remains primary.

　　Design courses, then should be an essential element of engineering curricula. Nonverbal thinking, a central mechanism in engineering design, involves perceptions, which is the special technique of the artists, not the scientist. Because perceptive processes are not assumed to need "hard thinking", nonverbal thought is sometimes seen as a primitive stage in the development of cognitive processes and inferior to verbal mathematical thought.

　　If courses in design, which in a strongly analytical engineering curriculum provide the background required for practical problem-solving, are not provided, we can expect to encounter silly but costly errors occurring in advanced engineering systems. For example, early modes of high-speed railroad cars loaded with sophisticated controls were unable to operate in a snowstorm because the fan sucked snow into the electrical system. Absurd random failures that plague automatic control systems are a reflection of the chaos that results when design is assumed to be primarily a problem in mathematics.

　　57. In the passage, what is the writer primarily concerned with?

　　A) Identifying the kinds of thinking that are used by technologists.

　　B) Stressing the importance of scientific thinking in engineering design.

　　C) Proposing a new role for nonscientific thinking in engineering.

　　D) Contrasting the goals of engineers with those of technologists.

　　58. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an example of nonverbal thinking in Paragraphs 1 and 2?

　　A) Building cathedrals. B) Creating rockets.

　　C) Designing diesel engines. D) Making automobiles.

　　59. It can be inferred that the writer thinks engineering curricula are ______.

　　A) strengthened when they include courses in design

　　B) weakened by the courses designed to develop mathematical skills

　　C) weak because they include some non-scientific components

　　D) strong despite the absence of nonscientific modes of thinking

　　60. Why is the example of diesel engine used in the passage?

　　A) To challenge the argument that errors in engineering design are unavoidable.

　　B) To support the idea that engineering design involves more than a sense of form.

　　C) To criticize the view that mathematics is a necessary part of the study of design.

　　D) To questions the idea that design courses form a part of engineering curricula.

　　61. What contributes to random failures in automatic control systems?

　　A) Using too many inexperienced engineers in the field.

　　B) Relying too heavily on the role of mathematics in design.

　　C) Attaching too much importance to nonverbal thinking in Engineering.

　　D) Depending very little on verbal mathematical thought.

阅读答案

　　57--61 CDABB

　　57.主旨题。通读本篇文章，第一段中提到日常生活中很多物品被科学所影响，然而也有很多被nonscientific thinking所影响;第二段中提到nonscientific thinking在生活中处处可见，并举例说明;第三段中提到设计课程本来是纯科学的，但电应该引进nonscientific thinking;最后一段用一个反面例子论证如果设计小引入nonscientific thinking in engineering后果，因此正确答案为C项。

　　58.细节查找题。从第一、二段中找出在论述nonverbal thinking 时“未提及的例证”，阅读并比对发现作者提及了pyramids，cathedrals，rockets和diesel engine，因而此正确答案为D项。

　　59.推断题。由最后一段第一句“If courses in design...are not provided，we can expect to encounter silly but costly errors occurring in advanced engineering system.”可见设计是一门强分析的工程科目，能提供解决实际问题所需的背景知识。如果工程学里不引入设计课，则大的工程系统很可能面临愚蠢、巨大的错误。由此可以推断作者认为工程学是一门科学，工程学里必须有设计科目，设计科目必须有nonscientific thinking。引入了nonscientific thinking的设计课将会更好，引入了设计科目的工程学将会更强，因此正确答案为A项。

　　60.因果推断题。第二段中引用柴油发动机例子是为了说明，由“supplied by experience，by physical requirement，by limitations of available space，and not in the least by a sense of form”可知其构造主要由经验、物理条件、有限空间和对形态把握的感觉决定。因此正确答案为B项。

　　61.理解判断题。由文章最后一句“Absurd random failures that plague automatic control systems are a reflection of the chaos that results when design is assumed to be primarily a problem in mathematics.”可知正确答案为B项。