Passage Four Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:

The decline of traditional religion in the West has not removed the need for men and women to find a deeper meaning behind existence. Why is the world way it is and how do we, as conscious individuals, fit into the great scheme

There is a growing feeling that science,especially what is known as the new physics, provides answers where religion remains¹ vague and faltering².Many people in search of a meaning to their lives are finding enlightenment in the revolutionary developments at the frontiers science.Much to the bewilderment of professional scientists,quasi-religious cults³ are being formed around such unlikely topics as quantum physics,space-time relativity,black holes and the big bang.

How can physics, with its reputation for  objective materialism⁴, provide such fertile soil for the mystical The truth is that the spirit of scientific enquiry has undergone a remarkable⁵ transformation⁶ over the past 50 years. The twin revolutions of the Theory of Relativity, with its space-warps and timewarps, and the quantum theory, which reveals the shadowy and unsubstantial nature of atoms, have demolished⁷ the classical image of a clockwork universe slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway. Replacing this sterile⁸ mechanism⁹ is a world full of shifting indeterminism and subtle interactions which have no counterpart in daily experience.

To study the new physics is to embark¹⁰ on a journey of wonderment and paradox¹¹, to glimpse the universe in a novel perspective, in which subject and object, mind and matter, force and field, become intertwined. Even the creation of the universe itself has fallen within the province of scientific enquiry.

The new cosmology provides, for the first time, a consistent picture of how all physical structures, including space and time, came to exist out of nothing. We are moving towards an understanding in which matter, force,  are unified¹² into a single descriptive theme.

Many of us who work in fundamental physics are deeply impressed by the harmony and order which pervades¹³ the physical world. To me the laws of the universe, from quarks to quasars, dovetail（吻合） together so felicitously¹⁴ that the impression there is something behind it all seems overwhelming. The laws of physics are so remarkably¹⁵ clever that they can surely only be a manifestation¹⁶ of genius.

36.The author says people nowadays find that traditional religion is ____.
A) a form of reassurance
B) inadequate¹⁷ to their needs
C) responding to scientific progress
D) developing in strange ways

37.Scientists find the new cults bewildering because they are ____.
A) too reactionary¹⁸
B) too subjective
C) based on false evidence
D) derived¹⁹ from inappropriate sources

38.Which phrase in paragraph 3 suggests that the universe is like a machine
A) Cold precision and objective materialism.
B) The shadowy and unsubstantial nature of atoms.
C) Slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway.
D) Shifting indeterminism and subtle interactions.

39.The new physics is exciting because it ____.
A) offers a comprehensive explanation of the universe
B) proves the existence of a ruling intelligence
C) incorporates the work of men of genius
D) makes scientific theorizing easier to understand

40.The author of this passage is ____.
A) a minister of religionB) a research scientist
C) a science fiction writerD) a journalist

内容概要:本文重点介绍了新物理所研究的内容。由于现代宗教不能满足人们的精神需要，人们把精神寄托转向前沿科学，形成了新的对科学的顶礼膜拜，科学家对此深感困惑。新物理学以全新的视角来看宇宙世界，如主体与客体、意识与物质、力与场等，甚至还包括了宇宙本身起源的问题。

36．【答案】B。【译文】作者说现在人们发现传统宗教不能满足人们的需要。【试题分析】细节推理题。【详细解答】本文有两处谈到了这一点：1）第一段第一句：The decline of traditional religion in the west has not removed the need for men and women to find a deeper meaning behind existence. 第二段第一句：There is a growing feeling that science, especially what is known as the new physics, and provide answers where religion remains vague and faltering.

37．【答案】D。【译文】科学家们感到这些新的崇拜令人费解因为它们源于不恰当的源头。【试题分析】细节推理题。【详细解答】由于宗教不能满足人们的精神需要，很多人把精神寄托转向科学，特别是现代物理学，围绕着物理学上的一些范畴正形成新的崇拜，如量子物理学、相对论、宇宙大爆炸等。科学家们之所以感到困惑是因为这些新的崇拜产生的源头是不合适的，它们是科学不是宗教。短文第二段的最后一句谈到了这一点：Much to the bewilderment of professional scientists, quasi-religious cults are being formed around such unlikely topics as quantum physics, space-time relativity, black holes and the big bang.

38．【答案】C。【译文】第三段中哪一个短语暗示宇宙像台机器？【试题分析】细节推理题。【详细解答】只有通过短语所在的上下文来理解：...and the quantum theory, which reveals the shadowy and unsubstantial nature of atoms, have demolished the classical image of a clockwork universe slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway. （量子理论，揭示了原子有阴影、薄弱的本质，粉碎了宇宙像个时钟一样奴隶般地沿着预定的轨道铺开的经典形象。）从这段话中可以很清楚看出 (slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway)暗示宇宙像台机器。

39．【答案】A。【译文】新物理学令人激动，因为它对宇宙作出了全面的解释。【试题分析】细节推理题。【详细解答】短文倒数第二、三两段详细介绍了新物理学的内容：它以全新的视角来看宇宙，如主体与客体、意识与物质、力与场等，甚至还包括了宇宙本身起源的问题。To study the new physics is to embark on a journey of wonderment and paradox, to glimpse the universe in a novel perspective, in which subject and object, mind and matter, force and field, become intertwined. Even the creation of the universe itself has fallen within the province of scientific enquiry.

40．【答案】B。【译文】本文的作者是位科学家。【试题分析】推理判断题。【详细解答】首先，从全文的内来看作者对新物理学很熟悉，也很专业；其次，作者在短文的最后一段实际上告诉了读者自己的身份：Many of us who work in fundamental physics are deeply impressed by the harmony and order which pervades the physical world.这句话清楚地说明作者是位研究宇宙的科学家。