53. Fewer girls than boys study science because ______.

A) they think that science is too difficult
B) they are often unsuccessful in science at school
C) science is seen as a man's job
D) science is considered to be tedious 沪江四六级 http://cet.hjenglish.com

54. Media treatment of science tends to concentrate on _____.

A) the routine, everyday work of scientists
B) discoveries that the public will understand
C) the more sensational aspects of science
D) the satisfactions of scientific work

55. According to the author, over-personalization of scientific work will lead science

A) isolation from the rest of the world
B) improvements on school system
C) association with "femaleness"
D) trouble in recruiting young talent

56. According to the author, what a scientist does _______.

A) should be attributed to his individual genius
B) depends on the coordination of the society
C) shows his independent power
D) is unpredictable

Passage Two

Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.沪江四六级 http://cet.hjenglish.com

The tendency to look for some outside group to blame for our misfortunes is certainly common and it is often sustained by social prejudice. There seems to be little doubt that one of the principal causes of prejudice is fear: in particular the fear that the interests of our own group are going to be endangered by the actions of another. This is less likely to be the case in a stable, relatively unchanging society in which the members of different social and occupational groups know what to expect of each other, and know what to expect for themselves. In times of rapid racial and economic change, however, new occupations and new social roles appear, and people start looking jealously at each other to see whether their own group is being left behind.

Once prejudice develops, it is hard to stop, because there are often social forces at work which actively encourage unfounded attitudes of hostility and fear towards other groups. One such force is education: We all know that children can be taught history in such a way as to perpetuate old hatred and old prejudices between racial and political groups. Another social influence that has to be reckoned with is the pressure of public opinion. People often think and act differently in groups from the way they would do as individuals. It takes a considerable effort of will, and often calls for great courage, to stand out against one's fellows and insist that they are wrong.

Why is it that we hear so much more about the failures of relationships between communities than we do about the successes? I am afraid it is partly due to the increase in communication which radio, television and the popular press have brought about. In those countries where the media of mass communication are commercial enterprises, they tend to measure success by the size of their audience; and people are more likely to buy a newspaper, for instance, if their attention is caught by something dramatic, something sensational, or something that arouses their anxiety. The popular press flourishes on "scare headlines", and popular orators, especially if they are politicians addressing a relatively unsophisticated audience, know that the best way to arouse such an audience is to frighten them.沪江四六级 http://cet.hjenglish.com