Objective Proficiency p 105. What’s the point of science? Extra Multiple Choice Cloze

A bunch of scientists are getting themselves hot under the --(1)-- over what drives them to do the work they do. (Actually, the expression “because it’s there” springs to --(2)-- .) Sure, we all know that it’s the age-old

--(3)-- for knowledge, the desire to understand everything from the life of the atom to the --(4)-- power of the black hole. But what these guys want to know is why we want to know all of this in the first --(5)-- . My opinion is that perhaps we don’t actually need to know.  Surely it’s more important to think about whether what we are doing is right, rather than getting --(6)-- down in debates over the ultimate point of it all.  I would have thought that the crucial --(7)-- is not why we pursue scientific knowledge but to recognize that it is a tool, and we are the ones who should decide how, where, when and why to use it.


1 A cuff B collar C coat D sleeve
2 A mind B idea C memory D thought
3 A adventure B crusade C exploration D quest
4 A elusive B insatiable C phenomenal D perennial
5 A case B place C reason D occasion
6 A bogged B cut C broken D tracked
7 A controversy B focus C subject D issue

 
KEY
1. B collar
Cuff: the end of a coat or shirt sleeve at the wrist. Sp. Puño.
Hot under the collar: (informal) angry or embarrassed. E.g. He got very hot under the collar when I asked him where he'd been all day.



2. A mind



3. D quest



4. C  phenomenal




Phenomenal: /fəˈnɒmɪnl/ very great or impressive. Extraordinary. E.g. The product has been a phenomenal success. The company has seen phenomenal growth. The response to the appeal has been phenomenal.



5. B place




6. A bogged



Bog something/somebody down (in something): [usually passive]1 to make something sink into mud or wet ground. Sp. inundarse. E.g. The tank became bogged down in mud. 2 to prevent somebody from making progress in an activity. Sp. enredarse. E.g. We mustn't get bogged down in details.



7. D issue