Part B: 7-out-of-5 (2013)

Directions:

In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)

The social sciences are flourishing. As of 2005, there were almost half a million professional social scientists from all fields in the world, working both inside and outside academia. According to the World Social Science Report 2010, the number of social-science students worldwide has swollen by about 11% every year since 2000.

Yet this enormous resource is not contributing enough to todays global challenges, including climate change, security, sustainable development and health. [ 41 ] Humanity has the necessary agrotechnological tools to eradicate hunger, from genetically engineered crops to artificial fertilizers. Here, too, the problems are social: the organization and distribution of food, wealth and prosperity.

[ 42 ] This is a shame - the community should be grasping the opportunity to raise its influence in the real world. To paraphrase the great social scientist Joseph Schumpeter: there is no radical innovation without creative destruction.

Today, the social sciences are largely focused on disciplinary problems and internal scholarly debates, rather than on topics with external impact. Analyses reveal that the number of papers including the keywords "environmental change" or "climate change" have increased rapidly since 2004. [ 43 ]

When social scientists do tackle practical issues, their scope is often local: Belgium is interested mainly in the effects of poverty on Belgium, for example. And whether the communitys work contributes much to an overall accumulation of knowledge is doubtful.

The problem is not necessarily the amount of available funding. [ 44 ] This is an adequate amount so long as it is aimed in the right direction. Social scientists who complain about a lack of funding should not expect more in todays economic climate.

The trick is to direct these funds better. The European Union Framework funding programs have long had a category specifically targeted at social scientists. This year, it was proposed that system be changed: Horizon 2020, a new program to be enacted in 2014, would not have such a category. This has resulted in protests from social scientists. But the intention is not to neglect social science; rather, the complete opposite. [ 45 ] That should create more collaborative endeavors and help to develop projects aimed directly at solving global problems.

Options

[A]

The idea is to force social scientists to integrate their work with other categories, including health and demographic change; food security; marine research and the bio-economy; clean, efficient energy; and inclusive, innovative and secure societies.

[B]

The solution is to change the mindset of the academic community, and what it considers to be its main goal. Global challenges and social innovations ought to receive much more attention from scientists, especially the young ones.

[C]

It could be that we are evolving two communities of social scientists: one that is discipline-oriented and publishing in highly specialized journals, and one that is problem-oriented and publishing elsewhere, such as policy briefs.

[D]

However, the numbers are still small: in 2010, about 1600 of the 100000 social-sciences papers published globally included one of these keywords.

[E]

These issues all have root causes in human behavior: all require behavioral change and social innovations, as well as technological development. Stemming climate change, for example, is as much about changing consumption patterns and promoting tax acceptance as it is about developing clean energy.

[F]

Despite these factors, many social scientists seem reluctant to tackle such problems. And in Europe, some are up in arms over a proposal to drop a specific funding category for social-science research and to integrate it within crosscutting topics of sustainable development.

[G]

During the late 1990s, national spending on social sciences and the humanities as a percentage of all research and development funds - including government, higher education, non-profit and corporate - varied from around 4% to 25%; in most European nations, it is about 15%.

Answer Sheet

Number	41	42	43	44	45
Answer	E	F	D	G	A

答案解析 (Answers & Analysis)

41. [E] 指代衔接。
【定位】空前一句列举了当今的全球挑战：“climate change, security, sustainable development and health”。[E] 选项开头的 “These issues（这些问题）” 完美指代空前的四大挑战。且 [E] 中提到 stemming climate change 的具体例子，与前文的 climate change 形成词汇复现。

42. [F] 句意转折与复现。
【定位】本题在段首。第二段末尾提出了诸如食品分配等“社会问题（problems are social）”。[F] 选项首句 “Despite these factors, many social scientists seem reluctant to tackle such problems” 承接了上段的“社会问题”。同时，空后一句 “This is a shame（这真遗憾）” 是对 [F] 中科学家“不情愿解决问题（reluctant to tackle）”这一负面态度的情感评价。

43. [D] 逻辑转折与数据呼应。
【定位】空前提到包含关键词“环境变化”或“气候变化”的论文数量 rapidly increased（迅速增加）。[D] 选项以 However 转折，指出 “the numbers are still small（数字依然很小）”，并给出了具体数据 “1600 of the 100000... included one of these keywords”。“numbers” 与前文的“number”呼应，“these keywords” 直接复现。

44. [G] 概念解释与数据衔接。
【定位】空前说“问题未必是可用资金（funding）的数量”。空后紧接着说 “This is an adequate amount（这是一个充足的数字）”。[G] 选项提供了一系列具体的资金百分比数据（4% to 25%; about 15%），正好解释了空后的“This（这个数字）”。

45. [A] 语义顺承与总分结构。
【定位】最后一段讲到欧盟改变了资助方式，意图不是忽视社会科学，而是“完全相反（complete opposite）”。[A] 选项详细阐述了这个“相反的意图”：“The idea is to force social scientists to integrate their work with other categories...（这个想法是迫使社会科学家将他们的工作与其他类别整合...）”，这直接呼应了空后的一句：“That should create more collaborative endeavors（这应该创造更多的合作努力）”。

全文翻译

社会科学正在蓬勃发展。截至 2005 年，全世界各领域有近 50 万专业社会科学家，在学术界内外工作。根据《2010 年世界社会科学报告》，自 2000 年以来，全球社会科学学生数量每年增长约 11%。

然而，这一巨大资源并没有为当今的全球挑战做出足够贡献，包括气候变化、安全、可持续发展和健康。人类拥有消除饥饿所需的农业技术工具，从转基因作物到人造肥料。在这里，问题同样是社会性的：粮食、财富和繁荣的组织与分配。

这很遗憾——该领域应抓住机会提升其在现实世界中的影响力。套用伟大的社会科学家约瑟夫·熊彼特的话：没有创造性破坏就没有根本性创新。

如今，社会科学主要聚焦于学科问题和内部学术争论，而非具有外部影响的课题。分析显示，包含关键词"环境变化"或"气候变化"的论文数量自 2004 年以来迅速增加。

当社会科学家确实处理实际问题时，他们的范围通常是局部的：例如，比利时主要关注贫困对比利时的影响。而该领域的工作是否对知识的整体积累有很大贡献，也是值得怀疑的。

问题不一定在于可用资金的数量。只要瞄准了正确的方向，这个数量是足够的。抱怨资金匮乏的社会科学家在当今的经济环境下不应期望更多。

诀窍在于更好地引导这些资金。欧盟框架资助项目长期以来有一个专门针对社会科学家的类别。今年，有人提议改变这一体系：将于 2014 年实施的新项目"地平线 2020"将不会有这样一个类别。这引发了社会科学家的抗议。但其意图并非忽视社会科学，而是恰恰相反。这应该能创造更多的合作努力，并有助于开发直接针对解决全球问题的项目。

[选项] 其理念是迫使社会科学家将他们的工作与其他类别整合，包括健康和人口变化；粮食安全；海洋研究和生物经济；清洁高效能源；以及包容、创新和安全的社会。

[选项] 解决方案是改变学术界的思维方式，以及它所认为的主要目标。全球挑战和社会创新应该得到科学家们更多的关注，尤其是年轻科学家。

[选项] 可能我们正在演化出两个社会科学家群体：一个以学科为导向，在高度专业化的期刊上发表文章；另一个以问题为导向，在其他地方发表文章，例如政策简报。

[选项] 然而，这些数字仍然很小：2010 年，全球发表的 10 万篇社会科学论文中，约有 1600 篇包含这些关键词中的一个。

[选项] 这些问题都根源于人类行为：所有问题都需要行为改变和社会创新，以及技术发展。例如，遏制气候变化不仅涉及开发清洁能源，同样涉及改变消费模式和促进对税收的接受。

[选项] 尽管有这些因素，许多社会科学家似乎不愿应对这些问题。在欧洲，一些人强烈反对一项提议，即取消一个特定的社会科学研究资助类别，并将其整合到可持续发展的跨领域主题中。

[选项] 在 20 世纪 90 年代后期，各国在社会科学和人文学科上的支出占所有研发资金——包括政府、高等教育、非营利和企业——的比例从约 4% 到 25% 不等；在大多数欧洲国家，这一比例约为 15%。