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TOEFL Directory > TOEFL writing > TOEFL Reading Class Unit 2_Passage 6_Question 56-66
TOEFL Reading Class Unit 2_Passage 6_Question 56-66
You have about 15 minutes to finish this passage.
First,use about 3-4 minutes to read the passage, try to understand the main idea of this passage.
Don't read it so slowly or try to remember all details.You need to do "fast reading",and "scan" the passage.
Second, read questions 1-11, and with questions you go back the passage again and look for correct answers.
Questions 56-66
Passage 6
Credit for first conceiving of the Earth as a spaceship usually goes to the inventor and philosopher Buckminister Fuller, a tireless and enthusiastic proponent of what is now called "alternate technology,?who began using the paradigm in speeches at least as early as 1964. "I wish to point out vigorously to you that we are indeed aboard an 8,000-mile-diameter spherical space vehicle,?Fuller remarked to a Senate subcommittee in 1969.
The spaceship image is powerful. It suggests at once vulnerability, interdependence, and closure. Spaceships are small and fragile in the depths of space, prey to meteorites and radiation and able to support life only so long as they remain intact. And they are also thoroughly and completely closed systems. There is no running down to the corner store for something that has been forgotten: all you have is what you have carried with you from the launching pad. Every thing must be either used over or used up. Crew members of a spacecraft do not recycle because it is politically correct to do so; they recycle because if they do not they will die.
All these qualities make the spaceship paradigm far better than other proposed paradigms for modeling a dynamic society on a finite planet. It is, nonetheless, not entirely satisfactory. The primary problem lies in its technological, human-constructed nature, which suggests that technology is the answer to environmental problems as well. Worse: it suggests that when things begin to go wrong, the proper course of action is to tinker with them. Both of these assumptions are correct for machines but dangerously misleading for the planet. Life is an evolved system, not a designed one, and it cannot be treated as though a quick look at the blueprints and a couple of nails can cobble it up and make it run again.
56. What is the main idea of the passage?
a) Spaceships are small and self-contained.
b) The need to recycle is relevant to both Earth and spaceships.
c) The comparison of Earth to a spaceship is ultimately unsatisfactory.
d) The concept of "alternate technology?should be applied to spaceship design.
57. The phrase conceiving is closest in meaning to
a) managing with
b) modifying
c) imagining
d) traveling on
58. Why does the author mention Buckminister Fuller?
a) He was a speech writer for prominent scientists.
b) He was among the first to discuss the spaceship paradigm.
c) He was a pioneer of innovative spaceship design.
d) He was a famous politician who advocated space exploration.
59. What does the author mean by stating The spaceship image is powerful?
a) Earth and a spaceship have important similarities.
b) The engines in spaceships need to be enlarged.
c) Most people have a good idea of how spaceships operate.
d) It is difficult to imagine the complexities of travel in a spaceship.
60. The word support in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) sustain
b) identify
c) balance
d) interrupt
61. What does the author mean by stating And they are also thoroughly and completely closed systems?
a) There are frequent problems with equipment on some spaceships.
b) The crew of a spaceship changes frequently.
c) There is insufficient room for storage on spaceships.
d) Spaceships function as independent units.
62. Omitted
63. According to paragraph 3, the author believes that the spaceship paradigm
a) does not take into account the alternate technology advocated by Buckminister Fuller
b) mistakenly assumes that technological solutions are equally relevant to all problems
c) cannot be understood without specialized training
d) establishes a useful framework for solving design problems
64. Omitted
65. The word one in the passage refers to
a) planet
b) life
c) system
d) look
66. The passage will probably continue with a discussion of
a) the conditions necessary for life on Earth
b) the problems of interpreting blueprints and plans
c) advances in spaceship technology
d) a better paradigm for modeling a dynamic society
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