研究生英语阅读教程（提高级 第三版）lesson 10

1,Advanced Reading Revised Edition,2,策 划：鞠方安 商希建 顾 问：李光立 主 编：刘兰芝 董敬一 副主编：Gerald Zimmerman 杨真真 任林静 制作人：毛晓霞 国荣,3,Lesson 10,Our Picture of the Universe By Stephen Hawking,4,Catalogue,Background Information,Warm-up Questions,Language Points,Difficult Sentences,Keys to the Excercises,Main Idea,5,Stephen Hawking (斯蒂芬·霍金, 1942 - ) a British theoretical physicist, has devoted much of his life to probing the space-time described by general relativity and the singularities (变异) where it breaks down. And hes done most of this work while confined to a wheelchair, brought on by the progressive neurological (神经的) disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(肌肉,Background Information,6,萎缩性脊髓侧索硬化症). He is the Lucasian (卢卡斯） Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, a post once held by Isaac Newton. Hawkings work, A Brief History of Time, from which this text is excerpted, spent more than four years on the London Sunday Times bestseller listthe longest run for any book in history.,Background Information,7,Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate, whose emphasis on logical analysis influenced the course of 20th-century philosophy.,Background Information,8,Background Information,St. Augustine (354 430 CE) was was one of the greatest thinkers of the early Christian church. He spent much of his life in North Africa, in what is now Algeria. His most recognized works are the Confessions of St. Augustine and The City of God. What makes him stand out is that he was the first Christian to go beyond simple statements of faith,9,Background Information,and used logic and reasoning to support his points. By the Way, BTW: “St.” in this context means “Saint”, a holy and virtuous person. It sometimes is used in lower case, saint, to a Christian believer. Not to be confused in other contexts with “Street,” as in Broadway St., Broadway Street.,10,Aristotle (384 BC322 BC) Greek philosopher and scientist, who shares with Plato and Socrates the distinction of being the most famous of ancient philosopher.,Background Information,11,Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) German philosopher, considered by many the most influential thinker of modern times. In his writings he argued for using reason to explain experience.,Background Information,12,Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) American astronomer, who made important contributions to the study of galaxies, the expansion of the universe, and the size of the universe.,Background Information,13,Empedocles (490 BC?-430 BC) Greek philosopher, statesman, and poet.,Background Information,14,Karl Popper ( 1902-1994 ) Austrian-born British philosopher of science, known for his theory of scientific method and criticism of historical determinism.,Background Information,15,Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher, considered one of the most important scientists of all time. He formulated laws of universal gravitation and motion laws that explain how objects move on Earth as well as through the heavens.,Background Information,16,Warm-up Questions,1. What is your opinion about the beginning of the universe or the picture of the universe? 2. What is the eventual goal of science ? What is the approach most scientists follow to pursue this goal?,17,Main Idea,Stephen Hawking is teaching us about the universe. He uses questions to draw us to his arguments beginning with a historical review of known human thought on the subject. These move from early cosmologists and various religious groups to St Augustine, all supporting a finite beginning. Then the Greek philosophers idea of always being without beginning or ending was intro- duced. The question still was not settled by Immanuel,18,Main Idea,Kant, who in 1781 used reasoning to explain existence. These ideas were unsettled until 1929 when Edwin Hubble observed that galaxies are moving away from us which brought the question of the beginning into the realm of science. Hubble understood that to move away, galaxies had to have been closer together sugge- sting that the outward movement was initiated in a time called the big bang. (Any time before the big bang would be irrelevant. ) This expanding universe meant,19,Main Idea,“there may be physical reasons why there had to be a beginning.” Hawking allowed the idea that God could have done it that way. Next Hawking explained what a scientific theory is and how to test it. Though they were seeking one theory to describe the universe, they divided the question into two parts: first, how it has changed with time and second, what the initial state,20,Main Idea,was. Hawking pointed out that the universe appears to have evolved according to certain laws and that the initial state should also be according to laws. He continued with the desire for one theory to describe the universe being approached in partial theories that allow scientists to examine segments of the problem and stated that man will keep looking. Our curiosity will drive us