問題詳情

Questions 20-28The interrelationship of science, technology, and industry is taken for grantedtoday—summed up, not altogether accurately, as "research and development." Yethistorically this widespread faith in the economic virtues of science is a relatively recentLine phenomenon, dating back in the United States about 150 years, and in the Western world(5) as a whole not over 300 years at most. Even in this current era of large scale, intensiveresearch and development, the interrelationships involved in this process are frequentlymisunderstood. Until the coming of the Industrial Revolution, science and technologyevolved for the most part independently of each other. Then as industrialization becameincreasingly complicated, the craft techniques of preindustrial society gradually gave way(10) to a technology based on the systematic application of scientific knowledge and scientificmethods. This changeover started slowly and progressed unevenly. Until late in thenineteenth century, only a few industries could use scientific techniques or cared aboutusing them. The list expanded noticeably after 1870, but even then much of what passedfor the application of science was "engineering science" rather than basic science.(15) Nevertheless, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the rapid expansion of scientificknowledge and of public awareness-if not understanding-of it had created a belief that theadvance of science would in some unspecified manner automatically generate economicbenefits. The widespread and usually uncritical acceptance of this thesis led in turn to theassumption that the application of science to industrial purposes was a linear process, starting(20) with fundamental science, then proceeding to applied science or technology, and throughthem to industrial use. This is probably the most common pattern, but it is not invariable. Newareas of science have been opened up and fundamental discoveries made as a result ofattempts to solve a specific technical or economic problem. Conversely, scientists who mainlydo basic research also serve as consultants on projects that apply research in practical ways.(25) In sum, the science-technology-industry relationship may flow in several different ways, andthe particular channel it will follow depends on the individual situation. It may at times evenbe multidirectional.
20. What is the author's main purpose in thepassage?
(A) To show how technology influencedbasic science
(B) To describe the scientific base ofnineteenth-century Americanindustries
(C) To correct misunderstandings aboutthe connections between science,technology, and industry
(D) To argue that basic science has nopractical application

參考答案

答案：C
難度：適中0.5
統計：A(0),B(2),C(2),D(0),E(0)

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