If there is one thing scientists have to hear , it is that the game is over . Raised on the belief of an endless voyage of discovery , they recoil （畏縮） from the suggestion that most of the best things have already been located . If they have , today's scientists can hope to contribute no more than a few grace notes to the symphony of science .

A book to be published in Britain this week , The End of Science , argues persuasively that this is the case . Its author , John Horgan , is a senior writer for Scientific American magazine , who has interviewed many of today's leading scientists and science philosophers . The shock of realizing that science might be over came to him , he says , when he was talking to Oxford mathematician and physicist Sir Roger Penrose .

The End of Science provoked a wave of denunciation （譴責） in the United States last year . “The reaction has been one of complete shock and disbelief,” Mr . Horgan says .

The real question is whether any remaining unsolved problems , of which there are plenty , lend themselves to universal solutions . If they do not , then the focus of scientific discovery is already narrowing . Since the triumphs of the 1960s — the genetic code , plate tectonics （板塊構造說 ） , and the microwave background radiation that went a long way towards proving the Big Bang — genuine scientific revolutions have been scarce . More scientists are now alive , spending more money on research , than ever . Yet most of the great discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries were made before the appearance of state sponsorship , when the scientific enterprise was a fraction of its present size .

Were the scientists who made these discoveries brighter than today's? That seems unlikely . A far more reasonable explanation is that fundamental science has already entered a period of diminished returns . “Look , don't get me wrong,” says Mr . Horgan . “There are lots of important things still to study , and applied science and engineering can go on for ever . I hope we get a cure for cancer , and for mental disease , though there are few real signs of progress . ”

1 ． The sentence “most of the best things have already been located” could mean .

A ． most of the best things have already been changed

B ． most of the best things remain to be changed

C ． there have never been so many best things waiting to be discovered

D ． most secrets of the world have already been discovered

2 ． John Horgan .

I ． has published a book entitled The End of Science

II ． has been working as an editor of Scientific American

III ． has been working many years as a literary critic

IV ． is working as a science writer

A ． I and II B ． I only C ． I and IV D ． I , II and IV

3 ． There have not been many genuine scientific revolutions in the past few decades because .

A ． there have been decreased returns in the research of fundamental science

B ． there are too many important things for scientists to study

C ． applied science and engineering take up too much time and energy

D ． today's scientists are not as intelligent as those in the past

4 ． The term “the Big Bang” probably refers to .

A ． the genetic code theory B ． a geological theory

C ． a theory of the origin of the universe D ． the origin and the power of atomic energy

5 ． The best title of this passage can be .

A ． Great Scientific Discoveries Will Never Be Possible

B ． The Harsh Challenge Has to Be Met by Modern Scientists

C ． The State Sponsorship and Scientific Enterprise Are All in Vain

D ． The Chance for Great Scientific Discoveries Becomes Scarce

1 ． D 。

2 ． C 。

3 ． A 。

4 ． C 。

5 ． D 。

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