hce_cmu
104年
英文
第 40 題
📖 題組：
If you want to see a roomful of people roll their eyes, just walk into a gathering of astronomers and shout, “Mayan apocalypse!” For years now, the idea that the earth will be destroyed in a terrible cataclysm on Dec. 21, 2012, has been bouncing around the internet and showing up in articles, books and even movies. But despite what the tinfoil-hat crowd insists, an asteroid is not about to hit the earth. Neither is there an imaginary planet called Nibiru. Our world isn't going to be abruptly flipped upside down like a burger on a griddle. What's more, Mayan astrologers never said any of that stuff would actually happen. Yes, the Maya had what's known as a Long Count calendar, and yes, that calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012. But the nice thing about calendars, including the one the Maya used, is that they always start over again from zero. All the same, some folks at NASA are worried—not about the end of the world but about the harm all the loose talk may be doing. “I get a tremendous number of e-mails about it,” says a scientist at the NASA. “A large fraction are from people asking if the world will end. A few even talk about suicide.” In an attempt to stop the hysteria, NASA convened a Google+ hangout during which people could ask astronomers anything they wanted to about the rumors. For nearly an hour, the scientists soothed nerves, patiently explaining, for example, that an asteroid en route to earth would have been spotted by telescopes long ago and that Nibiru, if it existed, would now be the brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon.
If you want to see a roomful of people roll their eyes, just walk into a gathering of astronomers and shout, “Mayan apocalypse!” For years now, the idea that the earth will be destroyed in a terrible cataclysm on Dec. 21, 2012, has been bouncing around the internet and showing up in articles, books and even movies. But despite what the tinfoil-hat crowd insists, an asteroid is not about to hit the earth. Neither is there an imaginary planet called Nibiru. Our world isn't going to be abruptly flipped upside down like a burger on a griddle. What's more, Mayan astrologers never said any of that stuff would actually happen. Yes, the Maya had what's known as a Long Count calendar, and yes, that calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012. But the nice thing about calendars, including the one the Maya used, is that they always start over again from zero. All the same, some folks at NASA are worried—not about the end of the world but about the harm all the loose talk may be doing. “I get a tremendous number of e-mails about it,” says a scientist at the NASA. “A large fraction are from people asking if the world will end. A few even talk about suicide.” In an attempt to stop the hysteria, NASA convened a Google+ hangout during which people could ask astronomers anything they wanted to about the rumors. For nearly an hour, the scientists soothed nerves, patiently explaining, for example, that an asteroid en route to earth would have been spotted by telescopes long ago and that Nibiru, if it existed, would now be the brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon.
What could be the tone of the author when he said “Nibiru would now be the brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon if it existed”?
- A Scientific
- B Speculative
- C Superstitious
- D Sarcastic
- E Skeptical
思路引導 VIP
想像一下，如果有朋友堅持說現在有一頭隱形的巨象正擋在教室門口，而你回覆他：「如果真的有頭大象在那，我們現在早就被擠扁了。」你說這句話的目的是為了分享科學知識，還是為了點出對方的說法有多麼荒謬呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
太棒了！你能精準捕捉到作者文字背後的「言外之意」，這代表你對英文語境的掌握非常細膩。這題選 (D) Sarcastic (諷刺的) 完全正確。
文意邏輯與語氣判讀
科學家在文中使用了一個典型的假設語氣句型：「如果 Nibiru 真的存在，它現在應該是天空裡除日月之外最亮的天體。」 這句話的邏輯結構是透過一個極端明顯的對比，來反襯該說法的荒謬。科學家並非在認真討論天文現象，而是藉由「既然大家都沒看到這麼亮的東西，就證明它根本不存在」的推論，來揶揄那些盲從謠言的「錫箔帽族群」（tinfoil-hat crowd）。這種帶著輕蔑、用邏輯反詰來嘲弄迷信的語氣，正是 Sarcastic 的典型表現。
▼ 還有更多解析內容