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請依下文回答第 41 題至第 45 題
One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away
in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination. But out of sight
is out of mind. And that, together with the inherent yuckiness of the subject, means that many old sewers have been
neglected and are in dire need of repair. If that repair does not come in time, the result is noxious and potentially
hazardous. All this neglect, though, makes it hard to know where best to apply the sticking-plasters. So Mark
Hernandez of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and his team have been looking for an easily measurable signal that
something is about to go wrong.
A candidate, Dr. Hernandez suspected, is hydrogen sulphide. This is one of the gases that make sewage stink.
Though not itself damaging to a pipe’s fabric, it can be converted by certain species of bacteria into sulphuric acid.
Pretty well all sewage smells of hydrogen sulphide, though, so for it to be a useful telltale y ou need to know just how
much is a sign of trouble. Dr. Hernandez and his colleagues therefore collected samples from 36 sewers in various
states of decay and started looking.
One of their interests was in the mixture of bacteria found in pipes in different states of repair. Rather than culturing
these, a process to which not all species are amenable, they ran them through a mass DNA screening that shows up
everything in a sample. They also measured the acidity of the sewage soaked into the pipe wall near where the sample
was collected and recorded the concentrations in the air there of hydrogen sulphide, methane and carbon dioxide.
41 According to this article, what is damaging to the sewer pipe’s fabric?
hydrogen sulphide bacteria sulphuric acid sticking plasters
42 Which of the following statements is true?
The underground sewers have saved more lives than any medical procedure.
Many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.
Dr. Hernandez and his colleagues made cultures from the mixture of bacteria found in sewer pipes.
The DNA screening of the samples was focused on bacteria only.
43 What did Dr. Hernandez and his team look for to detect signs of trouble in sewers ?
hydrogen hydrogen sulphide carbon dioxide hydrogen dioxide
44 Which of the following statements about bacteria in sewer pipes is true?
They are of one species.
They could all be cultured.
They have undergone mass DNA screening in Dr. Hernandez’ experiment.
They helped reduce sulphuric acid in sewer pipes.
45 Which of the following statements about sewer pipes is true?
They are a product of the 20th century.
The acidity of the sewage does no damage to the pipes.
They are underground.
Their repair always comes in time.
請依下文回答第 46 題至第 50 題
Research into behavioral economics has shown that our assessment of what something is worth to us can be
directly, and predictably, influenced. This is the illusion of the free lunch, something humans are known 46 even
when economic theory would clearly suggest we select a more valuable option at a small cost. Researchers also found
how we sometimes operate on social norms, while other times we fall into market norms. The difference is in whether
there is a price attached to something. If a friend invites you over for dinner, she will probably appreciate it if you bring
a nice bottle of wine along (social norms). However, if instead you throw $20 (the price of a nice bottle of wine) in
cash on the table and say “thanks for a lovely dinner,” she would most likely 47 (market norms). Mixing social
norms and market norms inappropriately often leads to irrational behavior and, possibly, even to conflict or 48 .
Our irrational behavior is not just random though. The scientific experiments are 49 . Each time we are faced with
a similar situation, we tend to behave in a similarly irrational way. So, next to the bad news that we are not nearly as
rational as we might have thought (or hoped), there is also good news in that we can understand and 50 our
irrational behavior, at least to some extent. This, in turn, can help us improve our decision-making and change our
behavior for the better.
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47 be welcomed be ready be congratulated be offended
48 misunderstanding discussion conversations understanding
49 receivable repeatable returnable remarkable
50 predict procure pretend provide