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The Two Cultures: A Problem For The Twenty-First Century?: IELTS Text 002

C.P. Snow first coined the term 'the two cultures' in the 1950s to describe the gulf in understanding between the scientific and humanities academic communities, to science's detriment. While there was backlash, this divide remains a serious problem. There are also imbalances in student choices

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The Two Cultures: A Problem For The Twenty-First Century?: IELTS Text 002

C.P. Snow first coined the term 'the two cultures' in the 1950s to describe the gulf in understanding between the scientific and humanities academic communities, to science's detriment. While there was backlash, this divide remains a serious problem. There are also imbalances in student choices

Uploaded by

ruchi sharma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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IELTS Text 002

The Two Cultures: a problem for the twenty-first century?


A In 1996 Alan Sokal, a physicist at NYU, published an article in Social
Text, a highly respectable American academic journal for cultural studies,
using technical terminology and liberal references to scientists such as
Heisenberg and Bohr, and linguistic theorists such as Derrida and Irigaray.
He advanced the notion that 'post-modern' science had abolished the
concept of physical reality. Once it was published, he announced that it was
a hoax. In doing so, and in the later publication, Intellectual Impostures, with
Jean Bricmont, he showed how many fashionable post-modern theorists
of language, literature, sociology, and psychology had adopted technical
language from science to explain their theories without understanding this
terminology, and thus much of what they had written was, in fact, utterly
meaningless. It was the latest controversy in what has become known as the
war between 'the two cultures'.

B The term 'the two cultures' was first coined by failed scientist and
(successfu[) novelist C.P. Snow in an article in the magazine, New
Statesman, in 1956, and his discussion of it was extended in his Rede
Lecture to Cambridge University in 1959, entitled 'The Two Cultures and the
Scientific Revolution'. The two cultures he identifies are those of the literary
academic world of the humanities and that of the scientific community.
In essence, he argues that there is a gulf in understanding between the
two communities, to the detriment of science, which is consequently
misunderstood and undervalued. There was considerable backlash, most
notably from F.R. Leavis, the giant of literary criticism of the day, yet this
divide between the literary world and the scientific remains, and is generally
perceived as a serious problem.

C This is because there is a perception that the general public is mistrustful


of science, with modern developments such as genetic engineering and
cloning, not to mention persistent worries about nuclear physics. Much of
this fear, it is argued, is generated by ignorance in the general population
as to what is involved in the practice of modern science, for if people do
not understand what scientists are doing or thinking, they are unable to
engage in any reasonable debate on these issues. It is surely indicative
of how worried the scientific academic establishment is that in 1995
Oxford University established the Charles Simonyi Chair of the Public
35 Understanding of Science, with Professor Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary
biologist, becoming the first holder of the post.

D The problem of the division between the two cultures is not restricted to
anxiety among scientific academics, however, but is increasingly being
IELTS Text 002

taken seriously by economists, educationalists and politicians. Their concern


is that there is an imbalance in the number of pupils and students opting
to take qualifications in the arts and humanities, and those choosing the
sciences. Among school children, sciences are regarded as 'hard', whilst
subjects such as English, history and foreign languages are 'soft' options
where it is easier to pass exams. The upshot of this is a consistent and
significant decline in the number of students applying for science-based
courses.

E Furthermore, there is a gender bias involved, which must be addressed if


women are to achieve parity of pay in the future. In February 2006, the UK
Women at Work Commission reported on the pay gap between men and
50 women, and noted that one cause was career choices made by schoolgirls
into low pay areas such as caring, rather than more lucrative sectors such
as engineering or science. Thus not only is there a problem in enrolment
onto science courses in general, but more specifically there is a significant
disparity between the sexes in the pursuit of science-based careers.

F At bottom, however, although efforts can be made to address the question


of equality, it is hard to see what can be done to bridge the divide between
the two cultures. The root of the problem lies in the considerable degree of
specialization required in the study of any subject, art or science. In the past,
it was possible to be a polymath with a foot in both camps: Leonardo da Vinci
could paint the Mona Lisa and design flying machines, and Descartes could
write on a wide range of subjects from metaphysics to geometry. Nowadays,
this is simply not possible, as it is unfeasible even to consider complete
mastery of an entire subject, and academics increasingly specialize in one
or two areas. It is only necessary to consider that ancient Sumerian military
tactics and nineteenth-century sexual politics, or nanotechnology and dam
construction fall respectively into the categories of history and engineering,
to recognize the truth of this. We must resign ourselves, therefore, to the fact
that the two communities will continue to fail completely to understand each
other, and, as progress continues, the gulf between the two cultures can only
increase.
IELTS Text 002

Fill the blanks:

technical terminology
Alan Sokal wrote an article for an American journal employing
liberal references
and making to certain scientists and linguistic theorists. He stated
concept
that 'post-modern' science had done away with the of physical
hoax
reality. After publication, he revealed that what he wrote was a .
He showed how post-modern theorists of language, etc. had adopted
theories
technical language from science to put forward their . But they
did not understand the terminology, and so a lot of their writing was
completely meaningless.

1. When did the following occur?

A. between 1950 and 1990

B. between 1990 and 2005

C. after 2005

2. When did the following occur?

A. between 1950 and 1990

B. between 1990 and 2005

C. after 2005

3. When did the following occur?


A. between 1950 and 1990

B. between 1990 and 2005

C. after 2005

4. When did the following occur?


A. between 1950 and 1990

B. between 1990 and 2005

C. after 2005
IELTS Text 002

5. When did the following occur?


A. between 1950 and 1990

B. between 1990 and 2005

C. after 2005

6. Choose the correct letter, A, B, Cor D.

Jobs in the engineering or science sectors are


A. more glamorous than other professions.

B. more demanding than other professions.

C. less financially rewarding than those in caring.

D. more financially rewarding compared to those in caring.

7. The study of either art or science now


A. requires harder work than in the past.

B. requires a broader knowledge than the past.

C. demands specialization.

D. demands collaboration between different academics.

8. Unlike in the past, complete mastery of a subject is now


A. impossible.

B. feasible.

C. often possible.

D. improbable.
IELTS Text 002

Extra Work:

1- The government sets law to protect intellectual property protections


for people.
2- The terminologies in IELTS passages are complicated.
3- There was the rise of concern about the internet connections.
4- In linguistic, you can learn many things such as languages,
phonetics and syntax.
5- Most of blind people have strong perception.

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