The miracle silicon chip represents a development in the technology of mankind that over t
A Wonderful Chip
It is tiny, only about a quarter of an inch square, and quite flat. Under a microscope, it resembles a stylized Navaho rug or the aerial view of a railroad (51) yard. Like the (52) of sand on a beach, it is made mostly of silicon, (53) oxygen, the most abundant element on the surface of the earth.
Yet this inert fleck (小片), still unfamiliar to the (54) majority of Americans, has astonishing power. It is cheap to (55) produce, fast, infinitely versatile and convenient.
The miracle chip represents a quantum(重大的) (56) in the technology of mankind, a development that (57) the past few years has acquired the force and significance associated with the development of hand tools or the discovery of the steam engine. Just as the Industrial Revolution (58) an immense (59) of tasks from men’s (60) and enormously expanded productivity, (61) the microcomputer is rapidly assuming huge burdens of drudgery from the human brain and (62) expanding the mind’s capacities (63) that man has only begun to grasp. (64) the chip amazing feats of (65) become possible in everything from automobile engines to university laboratories and hospitals, from farms to banks and corporate offices, from outerspace to a baby’s nursery.
(51)
A.freight
B.passenger
C.relaying
D.switching
It was ______ miracle that I was alive at ______ all.
A.a; an B.a; × C.the; × D.×; ×
Many physicists say the next Einstein hasn't been born yet, or is a baby now. That's because the quest for a unified theory that would account for all the forces of nature has pushed current mathematics to its limits. New math must be created before the problem can be solved. But researchers say there are many other factors working against another Einstein emerging anytime soon.
For one thing, physics is a much different field today. In Einstein's day, there were only a few thousand physicists worldwide, and the theoreticians who could intellectually rival Einstein probably would fit into a streetcar with seats to spare.
Education is different, too. One crucial aspect of Einstein's training that is overlooked is the years of philosophy he read as a teenager—Kant, Schopenhauer and Spinoza, among others. It taught him how to think independently and abstractly about space and time, and it wasn't long before he became a philosopher himself.
"The independence created by philosophical insight is—in my opinion—the mark of distinction between a mere artisan(工匠) or specialist and a real seeker after truth, " Einstein wrote in 1944.
And he was an accomplished musician. The interplay between music and math is well-known. Einstein would furiously play his violin as a way to think through a knotty physics problem.
Today, universities have produced millions of physicists. There aren't many jobs in science for them, so they go to Wall Street and Silicon Valley to apply their analytical skills to more practical—and rewarding—efforts.
"Maybe there is an Einstein out there today, " said Columbia University physicist Brian Greene, "but it would be a lot harder for him to be heard. "
Especially considering what Einstein was proposing.
"The actual fabric of space and time curving? My God, what an idea!" Greene said at a recent gathering at the Aspen Institute. "It takes a certain type of person who will bang his head against the wall because you believe you'll find the solution. "
Perhaps the best examples are the five scientific papers Einstein wrote in his "miracle year" of 1905. These "thought experiments" were pages of calculations signed and submitted to the prestigious journal Annalen der Physik by a virtual unknown. There were no footnotes or citations.
What might happen to such a submission today?
"We all get papers like those in the mail, " Greene said. "We put them in the junk file. "
What do scientists seem to agree upon judging from the first two paragraphs?
A.Einstein pushed mathematics almost to its limits.
B.It will take another Einstein to build a unified theory.
C.No physicist is likely to surpass Einstein in the next 200 years.
D.It will be some time before a new Einstein emerges.
The doctors performed a heart operation that was a miracle of medical skill.
A. climax
B. prodigy
C. mirage
D. acme
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