Democritus was fascinated by the question of what principle underlay the material universe and developed a solution that revealed the brilliance of his thought. Every material thing, Democritus believed, is made up of a finite number of discrete particles, or atoms, as he called them, whose joining together and subsequent separation account for the coming to be of things and for their passing away. The atoms themselves, he said, are infinite in number and eternal. They move, according to a necessary motion, in the void, which we would call space.
Most of the main tenets of the atomism of Democritus were astonishingly modern. First, the atoms were invisibly small. They were all of the same stuff, or nature, but they came in a multitude of different shapes and sizes. Though impermeable (Democritus did not know that atoms could be split), they acted upon one another, aggregating and clinging to one another so as to produce the great variety of bodies that we see. The space outside the atoms was empty, a concept that most of Democritus’ contemporaries could not accept.
Second, the atoms were in perpetual motion, in every direction, throughout empty space. There is no above or below, before or behind, in empty space, said Democritus. In modern terms, empty space did not vary according to direction. This was an extremely sophisticated notion.
Third, the continual motion of the atoms was inherent. They possessed what would call inertial mass. The notion that the atoms kept on moving without being pushed, besides being another remarkable intellectual concept, was not acceptable to Aristotle and others. Only the celestial bodies, Aristotle thought, kept on moving of any by themselves, because they were divine. The general refusal by Aristotle and his influential followers to accept the law of inertia stood as an obstacle to the development of physics for two thousand years.
Fourth, weight or gravity was not a property of atoms or indeed of aggregates thereof. Here Democritus was as wrong as wrong could be.
Whether Democritus was right or wrong about a fifth point is not definitely decided to this day. He held that the soul is breath and because breath is material, and therefore made up of atoms, so must the soul be. He maintained that, because the soul is a physical thing, it must be determined by physical laws; it cannot be free. Even the hardy thinkers who claim to accept this theory do not act as if they do. They may deny the innate freedom of others, but they act as if they believe in their own.
The tension built up by this antinomy has proved to be fruitful over the centuries. However, the notion that the soul was material proved so unacceptable to both the Aristotelians and the Christians that for nearly two millennia the atomic hypothesis languished.
26. According to Democritus, empty space ______.
27. The author discusses the beliefs of Aristotle and his followers (in Paragraph 4) in order to ______.
28. It can be inferred from Democritus’ inclusion of the soul in his theories of the material universe (in Paragraph 6) that ______.
29. Democritus would most likely believe that which of the following would explain the life cycle of a flower?
30. Which is most analogous to a “hardy thinkers” (in Paragraph 6) view of the soul?
问题1选项
A.does not exist with regard to atoms
B.is directionless with regard to the movement of atoms
C.is an erroneous notion concerning atoms
D.possesses inertial mass
问题2选项
A.support the validity of Democritus’ theories
B.note that influential individuals delayed the acceptance of scientific truth
C.highlight the accuracy of certain parts of Democritus’ theory
D.add an element of philosophy into an otherwise scientific discussion
问题3选项
A.philosophy, religion, and science were not always thought of as separate fields
B.scientists are often unsuccessful in making philosophical theories
C.his line of thinking was essentially unsound
D.he was attempting his thinking with that of Aristotle
问题4选项
A.A unique type of matter is drawn to a point in the void and takes root.
B.The constant motion of atoms produces the illusion of a flower.
C.The same material that composes the soul also breathes life into plants.
D.Atoms come together as the flower grows and disperse as it dies.
问题5选项
A.A politician’s practice of using public transportation because that is how everyone in his city travels.
B.A doctor’s recommendation that his patient quit smoking to improve the patient s health while the doctor smokes a pack a day.
C.A mother taking her daughter to ballet practice every day because the mother never had that opportunity as a child.
D.A museum curator deciding not to run an exhibition because he believes the public will not enjoy it.
第1题:B
第2题:B
第3题:A
第4题:D
第5题:B
26.【试题答案】B
【试题解析】事实细节题。题干意思是“根据德谟克利特的说法，真空……”。定位到第三段前两句Second, the atoms were in perpetual motion, in every direction, throughout empty space. There is no above or below, before or behind, in empty space, said Democritus.（第二，在整个真空中原子在每个方向无限运动。德谟克利特说，在真空中没有上面或下面、前面或后面。），这一点属于德谟克利特原子论的其中一点。根据德谟克利特的说法，在真空中，原子的运动是没有方向的，B项“对于原子的运动来说是没有方向的”正确。定位第二段最后一句The space outside the atoms was empty, a concept that most of Democritus’ contemporaries could not accept.（原子外的空间是真空的，这是德谟克利特同时代的大多数人无法接受的概念）可知，A项“对于原子来说是不存在的”与原文相反，为反向干扰；而原文并未提及德谟克利特对于原子的概念是错误的，C项“关于原子，它的概念是错误的”属于曲解原文。D项“具有惯性质量”讲的是原子的连续运动，和题干无关，属于张冠李戴。因此，该题选择B项。
27.【试题答案】B
【试题解析】事实细节题。题干意思是“作者在第4段讨论了亚里士多德和他的追随者的看法，是为了……”。定位第四段最后一句The general refusal by Aristotle and his influential followers to accept the law of inertia stood as an obstacle to the development of physics for two thousand years.（亚里士多德和他的有影响力的追随者普遍拒绝接受惯性定律，这成为物理学发展的一个障碍，持续了两千年）可知，亚里士多德和他的追随者对惯性定律的普遍拒绝造成了两千年来的物理学发展的障碍，所以作者讨论到这一点是为了注意有影响力的个人能推迟科学真理的接受，B项“注意到有影响力的个人推迟了对科学真理的接受”正确。这一段没有讨论到德谟克利特理论准确性，A项“支持德谟克利特理论的可信性”和C项“强调德谟克利特理论某些部分的准确性”属于无中生有。D项“在科学讨论中加入哲学元素”在该处没有体现，也属于无中生有。因此，该题选择B项。
28.【试题答案】A
【试题解析】推理判断题。题干意思是“从第六段的德谟克利特将灵魂包含在他的物质宇宙理论中可以推断出……”定位到第六段，从He held that the soul is breath and because breath is material, and therefore made up of atoms, so must the soul be. He maintained that, because the soul is a physical thing, it must be determined by physical laws; it cannot be free.（他认为灵魂是呼吸，因为呼吸是物质的，因此由原子构成，所以灵魂也必然是这样。他坚持认为，因为灵魂是物理的东西，它必须由物理定律决定，它不可能是自由的。）可知，德谟克利特认为灵魂是呼吸，而呼吸是由原子构成的物质，所以灵魂也是由原子构成的物质，属于物理，由物理定律决定。综上所述，从德谟克利特的这个观点我们可以推断，哲学和物理是相互依存的，故A项“哲学、宗教和科学并不总是被认为是独立的领域”符合题意。定位第一句Whether Democritus was right or wrong about a fifth point is not definitely decided to this day.（德谟克利特关于第五点的判断是对还是错，直到今天还没有定论）可知，德谟克利特关于灵魂的观点知道今天还不知道是否正确，所以B项“科学家们在提出哲学理论方面常常不成功”和C项“他的思路基本上是不正确的”无从推敲，属于曲解原文。D项“他试图用亚里士多德的思想来思考”在该段没有提到，属于无中生有。因此，该题选择A项。
29.【试题答案】D
【试题解析】推理判断题。题干意思是“德谟克利特很可能相信下列哪一项可以解释一朵花的生命周期？”定位第一段第二句Every material thing, Democritus believed, is made up of a finite number of discrete particles, or atoms, as he called them, whose joining together and subsequent separation account for the coming to be of things and for their passing away.（德谟克利特认为，每一个物质事物都是由有限数量的离散粒子组成的，他称之为原子，这些粒子的结合和随后的分离解释了事物的产生和消逝）可知，德谟克利特认为物体的产生和消逝和原子的聚集和分散有关，D项“花朵生长时原子聚集在一起，死亡时原子分散”符合这一理论，该项正确。A项“一种独特的物质被吸引到真空中的某一点并扎根”、B项“原子的不断运动产生了花朵的错觉”和C项“构成灵魂的物质同样也将生命吸入植物”都不符合德谟克利特关于原子的观点，属于曲解原文。因此，该题选择D项。
30.【试题答案】B
【试题解析】推理判断题。题干意思是“下列哪一种观点与第六段中勇敢的思想家关于灵魂的观点类似？”定位到第六段最后两句Even the hardy thinkers who claim to accept this theory do not act as if they do. They may deny the innate freedom of others, but they act as if they believe in their own.（即使是那些声称接受这一理论的勇敢的思想家们，也没有表现得好像他们接受了这一理论。他们可能会否认别人天生的自由，但他们表现得好像相信自己的自由。），由此可知，声称接受了灵魂不是自由的观点的勇敢的思想家们，在行动上并没有表现得他们接受这一个理论，他们一边接受别人没有天生自由，一边却相信自己的自由，这和B项“医生建议他的病人戒烟，以改善病人的健康，而医生每天抽一包烟”是一样的，所以B项是正确的。A项“政治家使用公共交通工具的习惯，因为他所在城市的每个人都是这样出行的”、C项“一位母亲每天带她的女儿去练芭蕾舞，因为她小时候从来没有这样的机会”和D项“一个博物馆馆长决定不举办展览，因为他认为公众不会喜欢它” 都不符合这一观点，属于曲解原文。因此，该题选择B项。
