美國用來測試公眾科學(xué)素養(yǎng)的10個簡單問題

Question 1:TRUE OR FALSE? The center of the Earth is very hot.

問題1：判斷對錯 地球的中心非常熱。

The correct answer...True.Scientists estimate that Earth’s core is more than 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit — nearly the temperature found on the surface of the Sun.

正確答案：對?？茖W(xué)家估計，地核的溫度超過1萬華氏度(約合5538攝氏度)，接近太陽表面的溫度。

Question 2:TRUE OR FALSE? The continents have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move.

問題2： 判斷對錯 地球上各大洲的位置數(shù)百萬年來一直在移動，它們會繼續(xù)移動。

The correct answer...True.Plate tectonics is the science of how continent-size slabs of crust form Earth’s outermost layer and constantly move and regenerate. Most move less than a couple inches per year, according to Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, though the process may be essential to making a rocky planet habitable to life.

正確答案：對。板塊構(gòu)造學(xué)專門研究大陸大小的地殼板塊是如何形成地球最外層并不斷移動和再生的。根據(jù)美國太平洋西北地震網(wǎng)絡(luò)中心的數(shù)據(jù)，大多數(shù)板塊每年移動不到兩英寸(約合5厘米)。不過，要讓一個由巖石構(gòu)成的行星適合生命居住，這個過程恐怕是必不可少的。

Question 3: Which is correct?A: The Earth goes around the Sun.B:The Sun goes around the Earth.

問題3： 選擇題 以下哪個說法正確：A.地球繞著太陽轉(zhuǎn)。B.太陽繞著地球轉(zhuǎn)。

The correct answer...We know this is true on a basic level because we can see the position of the stars change over time. The space age has also required us to intimately understand this fact — and acknowledge our puny existence in the cosmos via stunning pictures of Earth from afar.

正確答案：A。這是基本常識，因為我們能看到星星的位置隨著時間的推移而變化。太空時代也要求我們諳熟這個事實，并通過從遠處拍攝到的地球照片認識到我們在宇宙中的渺小。

Question 4: TRUE OR FALSE? All radioactivity is man-made.

問題4： 判斷對錯 所有輻射線都是人造的。

The correct answer...Natural radiation is everywhere, especially in space. Small amounts are present in soil, water, and vegetation. Even a portion of the potassium found in bananas is radioactive.

正確答案：錯。天然輻射無處不在，特別是在太空中。土壤、水和植被中也有少量輻射，甚至在香蕉中發(fā)現(xiàn)的一部分鉀也具有放射性。

Question 5:TRUE OR FALSE? Electrons are smaller than atoms.

問題5：判斷對錯 電子比原子要小。

The correct answer...True. Electrons are much less massive than the protons and neutrons that make up the cores of atoms.

正確答案：對。電子遠不如構(gòu)成原子核心的質(zhì)子和中子大且重。

Question6: TRUE OR FALSE? Lasers work by focusing sound waves.

問題6：判斷對錯 激光的原理是把聲波集中。

The correct answer...False. Lasers concentrate light waves, not sound waves.

正確答案：錯。激光集中的是光波，不是聲波。

Question7: TRUE OR FALSE? The universe began with a huge explosion.

問題7：判斷對錯 宇宙始于一次巨大的爆炸。

The correct answer...True. This is the best theory that we have as to how the universe began: a point of infinite density at the beginning of the universe began to expand and created the galaxies, planets, and stars that we see — still in motion — today. People call this "the Big Bang," though it’s not technically an explosion.

正確答案：對。這是關(guān)于宇宙起源的最佳理論：宇宙之初，一個密度無限大的點開始膨脹，創(chuàng)造了我們今天看到的——并且仍在運行中的——星系、行星和恒星。人們稱其為“大爆炸”，但從嚴(yán)格意義上講，它并不是爆炸。

"For an explosion to occur, it requires per-existing space and the material will be distributed or scattered in that space. For example, a star explodes and distributes material in the space," Nabin Rijal, a PhD student in nuclear astrophysics Florida State University, wrote in an email to Business Insider. "The Big Bang is very different than that. It is the expansion of space itself. Materials (elementary particles-antiparticles) are created in the process of expansion. [...] So, calling it an explosion would be wrong."

“爆炸需要有預(yù)先存在的空間，物質(zhì)會散落在這個空間里。例如，一顆恒星爆炸并使物質(zhì)散落在太空中。”佛羅里達州立大學(xué)核天體物理學(xué)博士生納賓?里賈爾在發(fā)給商業(yè)內(nèi)幕網(wǎng)站的電子郵件中寫道。“大爆炸與此截然不同。它是空間本身的膨脹。物質(zhì)(基本粒子-反粒子)在膨脹過程中產(chǎn)生……所以，稱它為爆炸是錯誤的。”

Question8: TRUE OR FALSE? It is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or a girl..

問題8： 判斷對錯 嬰兒是男是女由父親的基因決定。

The correct answer...True. Sex is determined by two chromosomes, and sperm carries one of them: either an X (female) chromosome or a Y (male) chromosome. Whichever sperm makes it to the egg first to join an X chromosome in the mother’s egg determines the baby’s sex. (XX is a girl and XY is a boy, anatomically speaking.)

正確答案：對。性別由兩條染色體決定，精子攜帶其中一條：要么是X(女性)染色體要么是Y(男性)染色體。哪個精子最先靠近卵子與母親卵子里的X染色體結(jié)合，它就決定了嬰兒的性別。(從解剖學(xué)上講，XX就是女孩，XY就是男孩。)

Question9: TRUE OR FALSE? Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria.

問題9： 判斷對錯 抗生素既能殺死細菌也能殺死病毒。

The correct answer...False. Antibiotics only kill bacteria, not viruses.

正確答案：錯?？股刂荒軞⑺兰毦荒軞⑺啦《?。

Question10: TRUE OR FALSE? Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.

問題10： 判斷對錯 我們今天所說的人類是從早期動物物種發(fā)展而來的。

The correct answer...True. Fossils in the ground, genetic studies, and other research over the past century has shown again and again that evolution not only gave rise to species like humans, but will continue to shape the forms of our descendants.

正確答案：對。過去一個世紀(jì)里的化石、基因研究和其他研究一次次揭示，進化不僅推動產(chǎn)生了像人類這樣的物種，它還將繼續(xù)塑造我們子孫后代的形態(tài)。