首页
登录
职称英语
It is difficult to believe that, only eighty years ago, the idea of the dome
It is difficult to believe that, only eighty years ago, the idea of the dome
游客
2024-02-22
24
管理
问题
It is difficult to believe that, only eighty years ago, the idea of the domestic electric light was held in contempt by all the "experts" -- with the exception of a 31-year-old American inventor named Tomas Alva Edison. When the price of gas stocks nosedived in 1878 because Edison announced that he was working on the incandescent(发白热光的)lamp, the British Parliament set up a committee to look into the matter. The distinguished witnesses reported, to the relief of the gas companies, that Edison’s ideas were "good enough for our transatlantic friends, but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men."
The scientific idea being ridiculed is not some wild dream like everlasting motion, but the humble little electric light bulb, which three generations of men have taken for granted, except when it burns out and leaves them in the dark. Yet although in this matter Edison saw far beyond his contemporaries, he too in later life was guilty of the same shortsightedness that caused trouble to Preece and Co. , for be opposed the introduction of alternating current.
The most famous, and perhaps the most instructive, failure in predicting the future has occurred in the fields of aero- and astronautics. At the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists were almost unanimous(无异议的)in declaring that heavier-than-air flight was impossible, and anyone who attempted to build aero planes was a fool. The great American astronomer, Simon Newcomb, wrote a celebrated essay which concluded:
"The demonstration that no possible combination of known substances, known forms of machinery and known forms of force can be united in a practical machine by which men shall fly long distances through the air, seems to the writer as complete as it is possible for the demonstration of any physical fact to be."
A few years after the first aero planes had started to fly, another astronomer, William H. Pickering, wrote: "The popular mind often pictures gigantic flying machines speeding across the Atlantic and carrying innumerable passengers in a way equivalent to our modern steamships... It seems safe to say that such ideas must be wholly visionary, and even if a machine could get across with one or two passengers, the expense would be too great for any but the capitalist who could own his own yacht(快艇)."
Of the many lessons to be drawn from these examples is this. Anything that is theoretically possible will be achieved in practice, no matter what the technical difficulties, if it is desired greatly enough. [br] What is the attitude of the committee built by the British Parliament towards Edison’s idea?
选项
A、Doubtful.
B、Scornful.
C、Critical.
D、Suspicious.
答案
B
解析
由题干British Parliament可定位到第一段的最后一句:不值得引起注重科学和实际的人的注意,可知对爱迪生是藐视的。Doubtful“怀疑的”;critical“批评的”;suspicious“多疑的”。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3473594.html
相关试题推荐
[originaltext]M:NowI’mgoingtostartoffbyaskingyouadifficultquestion.
[originaltext]M:NowI’mgoingtostartoffbyaskingyouadifficultquestion.
[originaltext]M:NowI’mgoingtostartoffbyaskingyouadifficultquestion.
[originaltext]M:NowI’mgoingtostartoffbyaskingyouadifficultquestion.
[originaltext]M:NowI’mgoingtostartoffbyaskingyouadifficultquestion.
Ibelieveinthetheorythat____________(高等动物是由低等动物发展而来的)。morecomplicatedan
ItwasmyEnglishteacher______(鼓励我不要失去信心)whenImetwithdifficultiesinlear
Manyteachersbelievethattheresponsibilitiesforlearningliewiththest
Manyteachersbelievethattheresponsibilitiesforlearningliewiththest
Manyteachersbelievethattheresponsibilitiesforlearningliewiththest
随机试题
[originaltext]W:Tony,you’dbettereatlessanddosomeexercise,andthenyouw
WhenMomandDadGrowOldA)Theprospectoftalkingtoincre
甲公司为一家制造企业,以自主研发为基础,在风能发电领域拥有世界领先的研发能力和技
手外伤后常用的神经电生理检查不包括A.肌电图 B.时值测定 C.神经、肌肉活
下列建筑属于民用建筑中居住建筑的是()。A.住宅 B.医院 C.宿舍
持续性蛋白尿常提示A、肾小管病变 B、肾肿瘤 C、剧烈运动后 D、直立体位
简述现代企业人力资源管理各个历史发展阶段的特点。
小儿麻痹症的病原体是A.脊髓灰质炎病毒 B.柯萨奇病毒 C.轮状病毒 D.
有关防火堵料适用的场合,下列叙述正确的是()。A.有机防火堵料适用于不经常变更
【背景资料】 某水利枢纽工程建设内容包括大坝、溢洪道、水电站等建筑物。该工程由
最新回复
(
0
)