Passage Three

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage,

　　For most thinkers since the Greek philosophers, it was self-evident that there is something called human nature, something that constitutes the essence of man. There were various views about what constitutes it, but there was agreement that such an essence exists -- that is to say, that there is something by virtue of which man is man. Thus man was defined as a rational being, as a social animal, an animal that can make tools, or a symbol-making animal.

　　More recently, this traditional view has begun to be questioned. One reason for this change was the increasing emphasis given to the historical approach to man. An examination of the history of humanity suggested that man in our epoch is so different from man in previous times that it seemed unrealistic to assume that men in every age have had in common something that can be called "human nature." The historical approach was reinforced, particularly in the United States, by studies in the field of cultural anthropology ( 人类学 ). The study of primitive peoples has discovered such a diversity of customs, values, feelings, and thoughts that many anthropologists arrived at the concept that man is born as a blank sheet of paper on which each culture writes its text. Another factor contributing to the tendency to deny the assumption of a fixed human nature was that the concept has so often been abused as a shield behind which the most inhuman acts are committed. In the name of human nature, for example, Aristotle and most thinkers up to the eighteenth century defended slavery. Or in order to prove the rationality and necessity of the capitalist form of society, scholars have tried to make a case for acquisitiveness, competitiveness, and selfishness as innate ( 天生的 ) human traits. Popularly, one refers cynically to "human nature" in accepting the inevitability of such undesirable human behavior as greed, murder, cheating and lying.

　　Another reason for skepticism about the concept of human nature probably lies in the influence of evolutionary thinking. Once man came to be seen as developing in the process of evolution, the idea of a substance which is contained in his essence seemed untenable. Yet I believe it is precisely from an evolutionary standpoint that we can expect new insight into the problem of the nature of man.

　　31. The traditional view of "human nature" was strongly challenged by_____.

　　A) the emergence of the evolutionary theory

　　B) the historical approach to man

　　C) new insight into human behavior

　　D) the philosophical analysis of slavery

　　32. According to the passage, anthropologists believe that human beings_____

　　A) have some traits in common

　　B) are born with diverse cultures

　　C) are born without a fixed nature

　　D) change their characters as they grow up

　　33. The author mentioned Aristotle, a great ancient thinker, in order to_____

　　A) emphasize that he contributed a lot to defining the concept of "human nature"

　　B) show that the concept of "human nature" was used to justify social evils

　　C) prove that he had a profound influence on the concept of "human nature"

　　D) support the idea that some human traits are acquired

　　34. The word "untenable" (Line 3) in the last paragraph of the passage most probably means_____

　　A) invaluable

　　B) imaginable

　　C) changeable

　　D) indefensible

　　35. Most philosophers believed that human nature_____

　　A) is the quality distinguishing man from other animals

　　B) consists of competitiveness and selfishness

　　C) is something partly innate and partly acquired

　　D) consists of rationality and undesirable behavior

　　Passage Four

　　Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

　　Richard Satava, program manager for advanced medical technologies, has been a driving force in bringing virtual reality to medicine, where computers create a "virtual" or simulated environment for surgeons and other medical practitioners ( 从业者 ).

　　"With virtual reality we'll be able to put a surgeon in every trench," said Satava. He envisaged a time when soldiers who are wounded fighting overseas are put in mobile surgical units equipped with computers.

　　The computers would transmit images of the soldiers to surgeons back in the U.S. The surgeons would look at the soldier through virtual reality helmets ( 头盔) that contain a small screen displaying the image of the wound. The doctors would guide robotic instruments in the battlefield mobile surgical unit that operate on the soldier.

　　Although Satava's vision may be years away from standard operating procedure, scientists are progressing toward virtual reality surgery. Engineers at an international organization in California are developing a tele-operating device. As surgeons watch a three-dimensional image of the surgery, they move instruments that are connected to a computer, which passes their movements to robotic instruments that perform the surgery. The computer provides, feedback to the surgeon on force, textures, and sound.

　　These technological wonders may not yet be part of the community hospital setting but increasingly some of the machinery is finding its way into civilian medicine. At Wayne State University Medical School, surgeon Lucia Zamorano takes images of the brain from computerized scans and uses a computer program to produce a 3-D image. She can then maneuver the 3-D image on the computer screen to map the shortest, least invasive surgical path to the rumor (肿瘤). Zamorano is also using technology that attaches a probe to surgical instruments so that she can track their positions. While cutting away a tumor deep in the brain, she watches the movement of her surgical tools in a computer graphics image of the patient's brain taken before surgery.

　　During these procedures -- operations that are done through small cuts in the body in which a miniature camera and surgical tools are maneuvered -- surgeons are wearing 3-D glasses for a better view. And they are commanding robot surgeons to cut away tissue more accurately than human surgeons can.

　　Satava says, "We are in the midst of a fundamental change in the field of medicine."

　　36. According to Richard Satava, the application of virtual reality to medicine _____

　　A) will enable surgeons to be physically present on every battlefield

　　B) can raise the spirits of soldiers wounded on the battlefield

　　C) will greatly improve medical conditions on the battlefield

　　D) can shorten the time for operations on soldiers wounded on the battlefield

　　37. Richard Satava has visions of_____

　　A) using a remote-control technique to treat wounded soldiers fighting overseas

　　B) wounded soldiers being saved by doctors wearing virtual reality helmets on the battlefield

　　C) wounded soldiers being operated on by specially trained surgeons

　　D) setting up mobile surgical units overseas

　　38. How is virtual reality surgery performed?

　　A) It is performed by a computer-designed high precision device.

　　B) Surgeons wear virtual reality helmets to receive feedback provided by a computer.

　　C) Surgeons move robotic instruments by means of a computer linked to them.

　　D) A 3-D image records the movements of the surgeons during the operation.

　　39. During virtual reality operations, the surgeon can have a better view of the cuts in the body because _____.

　　A) he is looking at the cuts on a computer screen

　　B) the cuts can be examined from different angles

　　C) the cuts have been highly magnified

　　D) he is wearing 3-D glasses

　　40. Virtual reality operations are an improvement on conventional surgery in that they

　　A) cause less pain to the wounded

　　B) allow the patient to recover more quickly

　　C) will make human surgeons' work less tedious

　　D) are done by robot surgeons with greater precision

(责任编辑：杨琳)