閱讀理解Passage Eight
閱讀理解Passage Eight
在現實學習生活中，大家都沒少背知識點吧？知識點也可以通俗的理解爲重要的內容。爲了幫助大家更高效的學習，以下是小編精心整理的閱讀理解Passage Eight ，歡迎閱讀與收藏。
Greece, economically, is in the black. With very little to export other than such farm products as tobacco, cotton and fruit, the country earns enough from invisible earnings to pay for its needed, growing imports. From the sending out of things the Greeks, earn only $285 million; from tourism, shipping and the remittances of Greeks abroad, the country takes in an additional #375 million and this washes out the almost $400 million by which imports exceed exports.
It has a balanced budget. Although more than one drachma out of four goes for defense, the government ended a recent year with a slight surplus -- $66 million. Greece has a decent reserve of almost a third of a billion dollars in gold and foreign exchange. It has a government not dependent on coalescing incompatible parties to obtain parliamentary majorities.
In thus summarizing a few happy highlights, I dont mean to minimize the vast extent of Greeces problems. It is the poorest country by a wide margin in Free Europe, and poverty is widespread. At best an annual income of $60 to $70 is the lot of many a peasant, and substantial unemployment plagues the countryside, cities, and towns of Greece. There are few natural resources on which to build any substantial industrial base. Some years ago I wrote here:
Greek statesmanship will have to create an atmosphere in which home and foreign savings will willingly seek investment opportunities in the back ward economy of Greece. So far, most American and other foreign attempt have bogged down in the Greek governments red tape and shrewdness about small points.
拓展：職稱英語閱讀理解
Where Have All the Bees Gone? Scientists who study insects have a real mystery on their hands. All across the country, honeybees are leaving their hives and never returning. Researchers call this phenomenon colony-collapse1 disorder. According to surveys of beekeepers across the country, 25 to 40 percent of the honeybees in the United States have vanished from their hives since last fall. So far, no one can explain why. Now, a group of scientists and beekeepers have teamed up to try to figure out whats causing the alarming collapse of so many colonies. By sharing their expertise in honeybee behavior, health, and nutrition, team members hope to find out whats contributing to the decline and to prevent bee disappearances in the future. Another cause of colony-collapse disorder may be certain chemicals that farmers apply to kill unwanted insects on crops, says Jerry Hayes, chief bee inspector for the Florida Department of Agriculture3. Some studies, he says, suggest that a certain type of insecticide affects the honeybees nervous system and memory. It seems like honeybees are going out and getting confused about where to go and what to do, he says.
詞彙： hive n. 蜂巢; 蜂箱 digestive adj. 消化的 beekeeper n. 養蜂人 insecticide n. 殺蟲劑 註釋： United States Department of Agriculture Bee Research Laboratory：美國農業部蜜蜂研究實驗室。
練習：
A) Honeybees are flying all across the country.
C) Honeybees are leaving their hives and do not return.
2. Why are researchers seriously concerned with the phenomenon of colony-collapse disorder? A) Worsening environment.
B) Because honeybees feed on flowers.
C) Dwindling number of flowers around.
D) Both B and C.
科技類英語閱讀理解
A blue dress divided the Internet----and put the science of visual perception in the spotlight.
I ①The influence on science and the arts of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe----poet,playwright, novelist, proto-scientist, philosopher and general all-round egghead----is profound. ②His view about the physiological nature of colors, however, have never really caught on, in part because he proposed that colors are more an invention of the mind than a physical reality. ③One thing, however, rings true: the appearance of objects is not objective, but a conversation between the observer and observed.
II ①Neuroscientists have long recognized that the perception of color and shade depends strongly on context. ②Illusions exist, for example, in which one can be utterly convinced that black is white, depending on the surrounding patterns or the conditions in which an object is lit. ③But it is also true that all other things being equal, the perception of color differs between people.
III ①One editor of this journal, for example, once owned a car that was, in his opinion, quite clearly green. ②It remained green in all conceivable circumstances of context, shade and illumination other than complete darkness. ③Except, however, that everyone else was equally convinced that it was blue----including the vehicle-licensing authority. ④The car was not only blue----it was officially blue.
IV ①Recently, the Internet was deluged with strongly held opinion about color, specifically of a dress. ②The dress was advertised as being blue and black. ③But if illuminated in a certain way, the dress appeared white and gold. ④People were absolutely convinced of its color combination, one way or the other. ⑤The web exploded with chromatic debate after various celebrities bruited their opinions on Twitter. ⑥A straw poll of Nature’s editors (including the owner of the blue car) was roughly split down the middle, and convictions were strong----one way or the other.
V ①The explanation for the illusion lies in the color of the light in which the dress was photographed. ②The brain of people who read the overall ambience as too blue willovercompensate, seeing the dress as white and gold. ③Others, whose visual systems read that the lighting was not blue enough, saw the dress as blue and black.
VI①Wired magazine hosted a full discussion on the effect, and the consternation in that publication’s office seemed to reflect the brouhaha that briefly reigned in the otherwise serene halls of Nature. ②(The wheels of this international weekly journal of science briefly ground to a halt as so:” I can’t read any more manuscripts until I find out WHY? ”)
VII ①On being told of the illusion, some people—but not all—could just about force themselves to see the dress as black and blue rather than white and gold. ②The picture is a clear demonstration that color perception varies between individuals, and according to the conditions of illumination. ③Such perception is distinct from the genetic conditions that predispose people to the various syndromes known as color blindness.
VIII ①Had the ghost of Goethe been watching ‘dressgate’, he might have allowed himself a rueful smile, given the brickbats thrown in his direction by his scientific critics even in his own time, who, he said, “forgot that science arose from poetry, and did not see that when times change the tow can meet again on a higher level as friends.”
【翻譯】
色調與喊聲
一件藍色的裙子將互聯網分爲兩個陣營，視覺感知成爲了人們關注的焦點。
作爲一個詩人、劇作家、小說家、哥德對科學和藝術的影響是很深刻的。他關於顏色的生理屬性的觀點卻從來沒有引起注意，一部分是因爲他提出，顏色是思維干預的結果，而不是客觀的現實。其中一件事情聽起來像是真的：物體的外表並不是客觀的，而是觀察者和被觀察物對話的結果。
神經科學家很久以前就意識到，對顏色和濃淡的感知取決於背景。幻覺會存在，例如，當一個人完全確信黑就是白時，依據的是物體身處其中的環境模式或者條件。但是，事實是，當其他條件都相同時，對顏色的感知仍會因人而異。
例如，這本期刊的一位編輯曾經擁有一部他認爲是綠色的車。它在所有可以設想的場合裏都是綠的，不管是在陰影中、光亮下或者完全黑暗裏。除了一種情況：其他的每個人都確信這是藍色的車——包括車輛執照當局。這輛車不僅僅是藍色的---它被官方承認是藍色的。
最近，互聯網到處都是堅定的關於顏色的意見，具體來說是關於一件裙子的。這件裙子被宣揚爲藍黑色的，但如果以某種方式用燈照亮，裙子似乎是白色和金色的。人們都非常確信它的顏色搭配，不管是哪一派。網上辯論激烈，特別是在各色名人在上傳播他們的觀點之後。一項關於《自然》編輯的民意調查（包括那位藍車車主）顯示支持傾向爲一半一半，不管是哪一派的，他們都對自己那方深信不疑。
對這一錯覺的解釋關鍵在於裙子被拍攝時燈光的顏色上。人們的大腦在讀取綜合的氛圍格調時，如果覺得太藍會矯枉過正，將裙子看做白色和金色。其他人，他們的視覺系統讀取燈光不夠藍，看到的裙子就會是藍色和黑色的。
互聯網雜誌主持了一場關於這個效果的討論，在出版社辦公室的驚恐似乎反映了《自然》走廊裏的喧譁，在其他時候這個辦公室都是一片寧靜的。（這個國際性科學週刊頓時停工，有人喊道：“在我弄清楚爲什麼之前我再也讀不進任何稿件了。”）
被告知這個幻覺以後，部分的人——並不是全體，會強迫自己去把裙子看做藍色黑色而不是白色和金色。這個圖片清晰地展示顏色感知會因人而異，並且因照明條件而異。這種感知與另一種基因條件截然不同，那被認爲是色盲——容易誘發人們各種綜合症。
如果歌德的靈魂也在關注“裙子事件”，他也許會露出沮喪的笑容，在他的年代，他因爲科學見解使得自己面對公衆的辱罵。他說過：“忘記科學由詩歌激發而產生，看不到這一切，當時間變化，他們能在更高的層次成爲朋友。”
【詞彙短語】
1. *ambience n. 氣氛，佈景；周圍環境
2. *brickbat 碎磚；磚片；批評的話；不遜之言
3. *be deluged with v. 涌來，充滿
4. *brouhaha n. （法）吵鬧；騷動
5. *bruit vt. 散播
6. *chromatic a. 彩色的；色品的；易染色的
7. *consternation n. 驚愕；驚惶失措；恐怖
8. *egghead n.受過高等教育的人
9. illuminate n. 照亮，照明；用燈光裝飾
10. illusion n.幻想，錯誤的觀念；錯覺，幻覺，假象
11. *neuroscientist n. 神經系統科學家
12. *overcompensate v. 過度補償
13. physiological a.生理學的, 生理學上的
14. *playwright n. 劇作家
15. *predispose v. 使…偏向於
16. *proto-scientist n.科學的雛形
17. reign v.統治,支配,盛行
18. ring true v.聽起來是真的
19. *rueful a. 可憐的；悲傷的；悔恨的
（注：標*的爲超綱詞）
【點評】
本文以前段時間引起熱議的“裙子是藍黑還是白金”事件引出話題，討論背後的色彩感知機制。文章援引的例子貫通古今，論證充分。
段I先借歌德的科學觀點：關於顏色的生理學特性，爲後文討論顏色的生成機制引出話題。句①先指出歌德的多重身份：劇作家、哲學家、科學家。句②引出歌德對顏色的生成機制的看法，歌德認爲，顏色的產生並不完全由現實決定，更多是思維的結果，但是這一看法並未引起當時人們的注意。“have never really caught on”形容當時這一觀點的冷遇，與前文提到的歌德的多重身份形成對比。句③進而聚焦於觀點本身的闡述：物體的外表模樣並不是客觀的，而是觀察者和被觀察物交流的結果。句③既是對歌德觀點的提煉，又爲下文對主題的討論埋下伏筆，起承上啓下的作用。
段II通過援引精神科學家對色彩感知機制的研究結果證明己方觀點。都是作爲研究成果，段I與段II一古一今，相得益彰。句①總起全段，指出精神科學家早已意識到對色彩的感知依賴環境。句②進一步闡述這種環境在色彩辨認過程中的的作用之大，可以讓人把白色辨認爲黑色。“depend on”指“取決於”，強調環境在這一過程中扮演的角色非常重要。句③指出讓色彩感知產生差異的另一種情況：即使一切外部條件都是一致的，感知過程與結果也會因人而異。這個句子爲段III 要闡釋說明的內容埋下伏筆。
段III 援引作者身邊的實例，證明段II句③的內容：一位編輯擁有一輛無論在什麼情況下，在他眼裏都是綠色的車，然而，在其他人眼裏，這輛車始終是藍色的，包括車管所的工作人員也這麼認爲。“shade””illumination”和“complete darkness”分別指光線分佈有異的三種情況：陰影下、光亮下、黑暗中，進一步強調外部條件的變化對個人視覺感知的影響效果甚微，反而是個人自身的感知決定了看到物體的顏色。呼應段II句③的觀點。
段IV引出全文中心事件：裙子是藍黑的還是白金的？句①用詞組“be deluged with”形容評論如潮，反映此事件在互聯網上影響之廣泛。句②、③就事件進行陳述：一件被宣揚是藍底黑邊的裙子，在光線變化時會呈現出白色和金色。④、⑤、⑥句聚焦於人們對這件事的反映：大家都確信自己看到的纔是裙子真正的顏色。互聯網上關於裙子顏色的討論如火如荼，而名人在網上對此事件的評論讓事情傳播得更爲迅速。句⑥又回到《自然》編輯部本身：編輯們對此對半分派，但大家都對自己的結果深信不疑。
段V着力於解釋事情背後的機制。句①總起全段，指出解釋的關鍵在於裙子被拍攝時的光線狀況。句②進一步解釋：如果人腦在讀取光線的時候認爲太藍，會自動矯正調整顏色。調整的結果就是把藍黑色看成了白金色。句③則對同一場合的另外一種情況進行解釋。
段VI集中討論裙子事件在雜誌社內部引起的反響。段VII強調這種對色覺的感知是可以通過人腦進行干預直接影響結果的。句①首先說，部分了解這個機制的人可以自如使自己將裙子看成想要的顏色。句②進一步說明，在同等光線條件下人腦運行的差異。與段II句③的觀點呼應。句③則指出，這不是人們認知意義上的色盲。
段VIII重新回到歌德的例子，援引他的話對科學與藝術關係進行說明。與首段暗合，首尾呼應，使得全文的論述形成環狀結構。
