A
(2020·广州高三阶段检测)Let's begin with the story：King Hiero contracts the ancient Greek polymath Archimedes(阿基米德)to detect fraud in the manufacture of a golden crown.Archimedes accepts the challenge and，during a subsequent trip to the public baths，realizes that the more his body sinks into the water，the more water is displaced—making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume.Realizing he has hit upon a method to determine whether the King's crown was made of gold or silver，the young Greek leaps out of the bath and rushes home naked crying “Eureka！Eureka！” Or translated：“I've found it！I've found it！”
Too bad，however，Archimedes probably never uttered the word in that way.
First and foremost，Archimedes himself never wrote about this episode，although he spent plenty of time detailing the laws of buoyancy(浮力)．The oldest authority on the naked Archimedes eureka story is Vitruvius，a Roman writer，who included the tale in his introduction to his ninth book of architecture.“Vitruvius may have gotten it wrong，”says Chris Schmitt，a mathematician and a selfdescribed Archimedes fan.“The method attributed to Archimedes in the story works in theory so it sounds right，but when you actually try it，you find that the real world gets in the way.”
In fact，Schmitt is one of a long line of scientists，including Galileo，who have read the account and thought，“That can't be right.” As Galileo wrote，Archimedes could have achieved a far more precise result using his own law of buoyancy and an accurate scale.In fact，the surface tension(表面张力)of water can make the volume of a light object like a crown immeasurable.“There may be some truth to it，” Schmitt adds.“Archimedes did measure the volume of things but the eureka moment was maybe due to his original discovery concerning buoyancy，not about sitting in the bathtub and then running through the streets naked.”
Much like Newton's apple，the exclamation persists because of the enduring power of the story：a golden crown，a life being in the balance，a naked mathematician.The__suspect _foundations_of_the_eureka_moment_take_nothing_away_from_the_word's_ability_to_uniquely_and_concisely_convey_the_flash_of_inspiration.
[语篇解读] 阿基米德在浴室中发现浮力定律的故事广为流传，但根据科学家的发现，该故事应该不是真实的。
1．According to the first paragraph，how would Archimedes measure the volume of the crown?
A．He would weigh himself with and without the crown.
B．He would weigh the crown first and then put it into water.
C．He would go to the public baths wearing the crown on his head.
D．He would make the crown sink into water and measure the water displaced.
解析：推理判断题。根据第一段中的“making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume”可推知，阿基米德会将王冠沉到水里面，然后通过排水量来测量王冠的体积，故选D。
答案：D
2．What did Galileo probably think of the nakedArchimedes eureka story?
A．He believed the word “eureka” was said in another situation.
B．He suspected Archimedes didn't run through the street naked.
C．He doubted Archimedes carried out the experiment independently.
D．He thought Archimedes would not have used the method described.
解析：推理判断题。根据第四段中的“As Galileo wrote，Archimedes could have achieved a far more precise result using his own law of buoyancy and an accurate scale.”可推知，伽利略认为，阿基米德能用其他方法得到一个更为精确的结果，而非浴室故事所描述的方法，故选D。
答案：D
3．What can be inferred from the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
A．The word “eureka” is still widely used today.
B．The word “eureka” is now a formal scientific term.
C．Most people accept the authenticity of the original story.
D．People are still inspired by the achievements of Archimedes.
解析：推理判断题。根据画线句子的句意“eureka时刻的不可信的根据丝毫没有减弱这个词独特、简明地表达灵感闪现的能力”可推知，eureka这个词直到今天仍被广泛使用，故选A。
答案：A
4．What is the purpose of this text?
A．To introduce the famous scientist Archimedes.
B．To examine the credibility of the eureka story.
C．To explain how the word “eureka” was created.
D．To urge people not to use the word “eureka” anymore.
解析：写作目的题。作者在第一段用广为人知的阿基米德在浴室发现浮力定律的故事来引出话题，第二段接着表明了论点“Archimedes probably never uttered the word in that way”，第三段和第四段的内容支撑了该论点，最后一段进行了总结，所以B项正确。
答案：B
词汇积累：Para.1：polymath n．博学之士 fraud n．诈骗，欺诈 displace v．移动；转移 hit on/upon sth.突然有个好主意；偶然想到妙点子 Para.3：episode n．(人生的)一段经历 detail v．详细说明 authority n．专家 attribute sth.to sb.认为是……所为 Para.4：immeasurable adj.无法计量的 Para.5：exclamation n．感叹词 persist v．持续存在 suspect adj.不可信的，靠不住的 be/hang in the balance悬而未决
