2020年高考英语外刊时事命题阅读理解： 不要总是相信科学家们告诉你的事Don’t always believe what

Don’t always believe what scientists and other authorities tell you!
不要总是相信科学家们告诉你的事
Don’t always believe what scientists and other authorities tell you! Be skeptical! Think critically! That’s what I tell my students. Early in my career, I was a conventional science writer, easily impressed by scientists’ claims. But doubt gradually weakened my faith. Scientists and journalists, I realized, by continuously boasting scientific “advances”—from theories of cosmic (宇宙的) creation and the origin of life to the latest treatments for depression and cancer, made science seem more powerful and fast-moving than it really is. Now, I urge my students to doubt the claims of some scientists. This isn’t science anymore; I
declare in class, it’s only science fiction with equations! To drive this point home, I assign articles by John Ioannidis, an epidemiologist who has exposed the weakness of most peer-reviewed research. In a 2005 study, he concluded that “most published research findings are false.”
So how do my students respond to my skeptical teaching? Some react with healthy pushback, especially to my suggestion that the era of really big scientific discoveries might be over. “On a scale from toddler knowledge to ultimate enlightenment, man’s understanding of the universe could be anywhere,” wrote a student named Matt. “How can a person say with certainty that everything is known or close to being known if it is incomparable to anything?”
Other students embrace skepticism to a degree that shocks me. Cecelia, a biomedical-engineering major, wrote: “I am skeptical of the methods used to collect data on climate change, the analysis of this data, and the predictions made based on this data.” Pondering (思索) the lesson that correlation does not equal causation, Steve questioned the foundations of scientific reasoning. “How do we know there is a cause for anything?” he asked.
In a similar way, some students echoed the claim of radical (激进的) postmodernists that we can never really know anything for certain, and hence that almost all our current theories will probably be overturned. Just as Aristotle’s physics gave way to Newton’s, which in turn yielded to Einstein’s, so our current theories of physics will surely be replaced by completely different ones.
After one especially harsh paper, I responded, “Whoa!” Science, I lectured sternly, has established many facts about reality beyond a reasonable doubt, embodied by quantum mechanics, general relativity, the theory of evolution, the genetic code. This knowledge has yielded applications—from vaccines to computer chips—that have transformed our world in countless ways. It is precisely because science is such a powerful mode of knowledge, I said, that you must treat new pronouncements skeptically, carefully distinguishing the genuine from the false. But you shouldn’t be so skeptical that you deny the possibility of achieving any knowledge at all.
My students listened politely, but I could see the doubt in their eyes. We professors have a duty to teach our students to be skeptical. But we also have to accept that, if we do our jobs well, their skepticism may turn on us.
（选自researchgate）
1. Why was the author’s faith in science weakened?
A. Because some essays from his peer scholars cast strong doubt on science.
B. Because scientists often presented an overly optimistic picture of science.
C. Because he was tired of reading too much science fiction with equations.
D. Because an academic figure claimed that most published research findings were false.
2. Which of the following was NOT one of the students’ responses to the author’s skeptical teaching?
A. Some doubted his suggestion of the limitation of scientific discoveries.
B. Some questioned the way of data collecting and scientific reasoning.
C. Some launched harsh criticism against the author’s advocacy of skepticism.
D. Some claimed there was no certainty for any established theory.
3. What did the author think of his students’ responses?
A. He considered them as a display of their creativity.
B. He viewed them a must in order to understand the spirit of science.
C. He treated them as an extreme application of skepticism.
D. He regarded them as a kind of respect paid by students to their teacher.
4. Which might be the best title for this article?
A. When Teaching Critical Thinking Backfires
B. Skepticism Makes Teaching More Fun
C. No Doubt, No Science
D. Students Turn Out Better Than Teacher
译文：
不要总是相信科学家和其他权威人士告诉您的内容！持怀疑态度！认真思考！我就是这么告诉我的学生的。

在我职业生涯的早期，我是一名常规科学作家，科学家的主张给他留下了深刻的印象。

但是怀疑逐渐削弱了我的信念。

我意识到，科学家和新闻工作者不断吹嘘科学的“先进性”，从宇宙创造理论和生命起源到抑郁症和癌症的最新治疗方法，使科学似乎比真正的强大和快速发展。

是。

现在，我敦促我的学生怀疑一些科学家的说法。

这不再是科学；我在课堂上宣布，这只是带有方程式的科幻小说！为了说明这一点，我分配了流行病学家约翰·约阿尼迪斯的文章，他揭露了大多数同行评审研究的不足之处。

在2005年的一项研究中，他得出的结论是“大多数已发表的研究结果都是错误的。

”
那么我的学生对我的怀疑教学有何反应？有些人做出了健康的回应，尤其是对我的建议：真正的重大科学发现时代可能已经结束。

一位名叫马特的学生写道：“从幼儿的知识到最终的启蒙，人类对宇宙的理解无处不在。

” “一个人如何才能确定地说，如果一切都无法比拟，那么一切都是已知的或接近已知的？”
其他学生对这种怀疑表示震惊。

生物医学工程专业的Cecelia写道：“我对用于收集气候变化数据的方法，该数据的分析以及基于该数据所作的预测表示怀疑。

”在思考“关联不等于因果关系”这一课时，史蒂夫质疑科学推理的基础。

“我们怎么知道有什么原因？”他问。

以类似的方式，一些学生回应激进的后现代主义者的主张，即我们永远不可能真正知道某些事情，因此，我们目前几乎所有的理论都可能被推翻。

正如
亚里士多德的物理学让位给牛顿的物理学，而牛顿的物理学又让其屈服于爱因斯坦的物理学一样，我们当前的物理学理论肯定会被完全不同的理论所取代。

收到一张特别苛刻的论文后，我回答：“哇！”我严厉地讲过，科学已经建立了许多关于现实的事实，这超出了合理的怀疑范围，其中包括量子力学，广义相对论，进化论和遗传密码。

这种知识已经产生了从疫苗到计算机芯片的各种应用，这些应用以无数种方式改变了我们的世界。

我说过，正是因为科学是一种如此强大的知识模式，所以您必须怀疑地对待新的声明，仔细区分真伪。

但是您不应该如此怀疑，以至于您完全否认获得任何知识的可能性。

我的学生礼貌地听着，但我能从他们的眼神中看出疑问。

我们的教授有责任教我们的学生持怀疑态度。

但是我们也必须接受，如果我们做好工作，他们的怀疑可能会打扰我们。

答案及解析：
■1. B
细节题，考查文中具体信息
解析：
第一段提到：科学家和记者们不断鼓吹科学的发展，夸大了科学的力量和发展速度（more powerful and fast-moving than it really is），这削弱了作者对科学的信念。

■2. C
细节题，考查文中具体信息
解析：
从第二段到第四段可以看出，面对“我”对科学的质疑，学生们有的进行了温和反驳，有的态度激进，全面支持怀疑主义，但没有人对“我”提出激烈批判，所以C错误。

■3. C
考查理解作者的意图、观点和态度
解析：
第五段中提到，“我”在收到一篇过于激进的论文后，严肃地告诫学生，怀疑精神意味着要学会区别真实与谬误（distinguishing the genuine from the
false），但并不是鼓励他们完全否认人类认知的可能性（deny the possibility of achieving any knowledge at all），学生们的做法是把质疑精神推向了极端。

本题选C。

■4. A
主旨题，考查主旨要义
解析：
本文主要讲述了作者尝试培养学生对科学的质疑精神，结果学生们却把质疑精神推向了极端。

可见，批判性思维教学也会产生副作用。

本题选A。