Question

    Perhaps you’ve heard the old saying “curiosity killed the cat.” It’s a phrase that’s often used to warn people—especially children—not to ask too many questions. 1. In fact, research has shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence in determining how well students do in school.

Curiosity can also lead us to make unexpected discoveries, bring excitement into our lives, and open up new possibilities. 2. For example, one day in 1831, Michael Faraday was playing around with a coil(线圈) and a magnet(磁铁) when he suddenly saw how he could produce an electrical current. At first, it wasn’t clear what use this would have, but it actually made electricity available for use in technology, and so changed the world.

3.On one level, this is because technology has become so advanced that many of us are unable to think too deeply about how exactly things work anymore. While it may be possible for a curious teenager to take a toaster apart and get some sense of how it works, how much do you understand about what happens when you type a website address into a browser? Where does your grasp of technology end and the magic begin for you?

In addition to this, there’s the fact that we all now connect so deeply with technology, particularly with our phones. The more we stare at our screens, the less we talk to other people directly. 4.Then we feel we know enough about a person not to need to engage further with them.

The final—and perhaps most worrying—way in which technology stops us from asking more has to do with algorithms, the processes followed by computers. As we increasingly get our news via social media, algorithms find out what we like and push more of the same back to us. 5.Perhaps the real key to developing curiosity in the 21st century, then, is to rely less on the tech tools of our age.

A.It is still not known why learning gives us such pleasure.

B.We are always encouraged to challenge our pre-existing beliefs.

C.Yet it’s widely agreed that curiosity actually makes learning more effective.

D.All too often we accept the images of people that social media provides us with.

E.However, curiosity is currently under the biggest threat, coming from technology.

F.In science, basic curiosity-driven research can have unexpected important benefits.

G.That means we end up inside our own little bubbles, no longer coming across new ideas.

Answer

1.C

2.F

3.E

4.D

5.G

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。研究表明，在决定学生在学校表现如何方面，好奇心和智力同样重要。然而，好奇心目前面临的最大威胁来自科技。因此，在21世纪培养好奇心的真正关键，或许是减少对我们这个时代技术工具的依赖。

1.上文提示“也许你听过‘好奇害死猫’这句老话。这句话经常用来警告人们——尤其是孩子们——不要问太多问题。”再根据下文提示“事实上，研究表明，在决定学生在学校表现如何方面，好奇心和智力同样重要。”承接上下文，C项Yet it’s widely agreed that curiosity actually makes learning more effective.（然而，人们普遍认为好奇心确实能让学习更有效。）切题。故选C。

2.上文提示“好奇心还能引导我们做出意想不到的发现，给我们的生活带来兴奋，并打开新的可能性。”承接上文，F项In science, basic curiosity-driven research can have unexpected important benefits.（在科学上，以好奇心为基础的研究可以带来意想不到的重要好处。）切题。故选F。

3.下文提示“在某种程度上，这是因为技术已经变得如此先进，以至于我们中的许多人无法再深入思考事物究竟是如何工作的。”承接下文，E项However, curiosity is currently under the biggest threat, coming from technology.（然而，好奇心目前面临的最大威胁来自科技。）切题。此处关键词是technology，故选E。

4.上文提示“我们盯着屏幕看得越多，我们与他人直接交流的就越少。”再根据下文提示“然后我们觉得我们对一个人已经足够了解，不需要和他们进一步接触。”承接上下文，D项All too often we accept the images of people that social media provides us with.（我们常常接受社交媒体为我们提供的人物形象。）切题。故选D。

5.上文提示“随着我们越来越多地通过社交媒体获取新闻，计算程序会弄清楚我们喜欢什么，然后把更多的信息反馈给我们。”再根据下文提示“因此，在21世纪培养好奇心的真正关键，或许是减少对我们这个时代技术工具的依赖。”承接上下文，G项That means we end up inside our own little bubbles, no longer coming across new ideas.（这意味着我们最终会陷入自己的小泡泡里，不再有新的想法。）切题。故选G。