【正文】 ut researchers say there are many other factors working against another Einstein emerging anytime soon. For one thing, physics is a much different field today. In Einstein’s day, there were only a few thousand physicists worldwide, and the theoreticians who could intellectually rival Einstein probably would fit into a streetcar with seats to spare. Education is different, too. One crucial aspect of Einstein’s training that is overlooked is the years of philosophy he read as a teenager— Kant, Schopenhauer and Spinoza, among others. It taught him how to think independently and abstractly about space and time, and it wasn’t long before he became a philosopher himself. “The independence created by philosophical insight is — in my opinion— the mark of distinction between a mere artisan (工匠 ) or specialist and a real seeker after truth,” Ei nstein wrote in 1944. And he was an acplished musician. The interplay between music and math is well known. Einstein would furiously play his violin as a way to think through a knotty physics problem. Today, universities have produced millions of physicists. There aren’t many jobs in science for them, so they go to Wall Street and Silicon Valley to apply their analytical skills to more practical— and rewarding— efforts. “Maybe there is an Einstein out there today,” said Columbia University physicist Brian Greene, “but it would be a lot harder for him to be heard.” Especially considering what Einstein was proposing. “The actual fabric of space and time curving? My God, what an idea!” Greene said at a recent gathering at the Aspen Institute. “It tak es a certain type of person who will bang his head against the wall because you believe you’ll find the solution.” Perhaps the best examples are the five scientific papers Einstein wrote in his “miracle year” of 1905. These “thought experiments” were pages of calculations signed and submitted to the prestigious journal Annalen der Physik by a virtual unknown. There were no footnotes or citations. What might happen to such a submission today? “We all get papers like those in the mail,” Greene said. “We put them in the junk file.” 注意： 此部分試題請在答題卡 2 上作答。 1. In its 1994 report, the World Bank argued that the current pension system in most countries could ______. [A] not be sustained in the long term [B] further accelerate the ageing process [C] hardly halt the growth of population [D] help tide over the current ageing crisis 2. What message is conveyed in books like Young vs Old? [A] The generation gap is bound to narrow. [B] Intergenerational conflicts will intensify. [C] The younger generation will beat the old. [D] Old people should give way to the young. 3. One reason why pension and health care reforms are slow in ing is that ______. [A] nobody is willing to sacrifice their own interests to tackle the problem [B] most people are against measures that will not bear fruit immediately [C] the proposed reforms will affect too many people’s interests [D] politicians are afraid of losing votes in the next election 4. The author believes the most effective method to solve the pension crisis is to ______. [A] allow people to work longer [C] cut back on health care provisions [B] increase tax revenues [D] start reforms right away 5. The reason why employers are unwilling to keep older workers is that ______. [A] they are generally difficult to manage [B] the longer they work, the higher their pension [C] their pay is higher than that of younger ones [D] younger workers are readily available 6. To pensate for the fastshrinking labour force, Japan would need ______. [A] to revise its current population control policy [B] large numbers of immigrants from overseas [C] to automate its manufacturing and service industries [D] a politically feasible policy concerning population 7. Why do many women in rich countries promise by having only one child? [A] Small families are being more fashionable. [B] They find it hard to balance career and family. [C] It is too expensive to support a large family. [D] Child care is too big a problem for them. 8. Compared with younger ones, older societies are less inclined to ______________________________. 9. The predicted intergenerational warfare is unlikely because most of the older people themselves _________________________. 10. Countries that have a shortage of young adults will be less willing to mit them to ____________________________. Part III Listening Comprehension (35 minutes) Section A Section C Psychologists are finding that hope plays a surprisingly vital role in giving people a measurable advantage in realms as (36) _____________ as academic achievement, bearing up in tough jobs and coping with (37) ______________ illness. And, by contrast, the loss of hope is turning out to be a stronger sign that a person may (38) ______________ suicide than other factors long thought to be more likely risks. “Hope has proven a powerful predictor of (39) ______________ in every study we’ve done so far,” said Dr. Charle s R. Snyder, a psychologist who has devised a (40) ______________ to assess how much hope a person has. For example, in research with 3,920 col