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1. Not until the final research data was collated __________ the profound implications of the discovery.

2. The CEO's decision to __________ the company's most profitable, yet ethically dubious, division was met with both praise and consternation.

3. Had the government intervened earlier in the financial crisis, the ensuing economic fallout __________ far less severe.

4. The professor's argument, __________ compelling, ultimately rested on a set of unverified and somewhat tendentious assumptions.

5. It is imperative that any new policy proposal __________ rigorously assessed for its potential long-term socioeconomic impact.

6. The pervasive influence of digital media has led to a cultural environment in which nuanced discourse is often __________ in favor of polarized soundbites.

7. The artist is known for her ability to __________ disparate cultural motifs into a cohesive and thought-provoking whole.

8. __________ the considerable evidence supporting the theory, a small but vocal group of scholars remains steadfastly unconvinced.

9. The report's conclusions were criticized for being overly __________; they failed to account for several key variables that could have altered the outcome.

10. The orator's __________ rhetoric, though captivating, was ultimately exposed as a tissue of half-truths and logical fallacies.

11. Under no circumstances __________ confidential client data be shared without explicit, written consent.

12. The philosopher argued that consciousness is not a byproduct of neural processes but rather an __________ property of the universe itself.

13. Seldom __________ a scientific paradigm shift occur without significant resistance from the established academic community.

14. The new biography of the author seeks to __________ the long-held myth that her early work was largely autobiographical.

15. If the diplomat had been more tactful in the negotiations, a peaceful resolution __________.

16. The study's findings are, at best, __________; they are based on a sample size too small to be statistically significant.

17. The legislative committee was accused of __________ its own investigation by ignoring crucial evidence.

18. The sheer __________ of the text, replete with arcane references and dense prose, makes it inaccessible to the lay reader.

19. He is a notoriously difficult negotiator, unlikely to __________ even on the most trivial of points.

20. Far from being a static entity, culture is a __________ process of negotiation and reinterpretation.

21. Her __________ for detail is legendary, making her an ideal editor for technical manuscripts.

22. The discovery of the ancient artifact __________ the existing timeline of human settlement in the region, forcing a major scholarly re-evaluation.

23. The legal system is predicated on the __________ that an individual is innocent until proven guilty.

24. Many contemporary theorists argue that the traditional binary opposition between nature and culture is a false __________.

25. The politician's speech was a masterful exercise in __________, promising much to all sides while committing to nothing specific.

Bài đọc hiểu

The Demarcation Problem and Falsifiability

In the philosophy of science, the demarcation problem concerns the formidable challenge of distinguishing between science and non-science. For centuries, the prevailing view, rooted in Baconian inductivism, was that science progresses by accumulating observational evidence to verify or confirm hypotheses. However, the 20th-century philosopher Karl Popper mounted a trenchant critique of this perspective. He argued that no number of positive observations could ever definitively prove a universal theory correct; for instance, observing a million white swans does not prove the statement 'all swans are white', as the single observation of a black swan would instantly refute it. Popper proposed a radical alternative: the criterion of falsifiability. For a theory to be considered scientific, he contended, it must be conceivable to make an observation that would prove it false. Theories that are not falsifiable, because they can accommodate any and all potential outcomes, do not belong in the realm of empirical science. Popper famously applied this logic to critique what he saw as pseudosciences, such as Freudian psychoanalysis and Marxist historiography. He argued that these frameworks were so elastic that they could retrospectively explain any event, rendering them irrefutable and thus unscientific. The true strength of a scientific theory, therefore, lies not in its ability to be proven true, but in its capacity to withstand rigorous attempts at refutation. This principle fundamentally reoriented the understanding of scientific progress as a process of conjecture and refutation, not steady accumulation.

1. What is the primary purpose of this passage?

2. According to Popper, what is the fundamental flaw of inductivism?

3. The word 'trenchant' in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to:

4. What does the author imply about Popper's view of Marxist historiography?

5. Why is the statement 'all swans are white' considered scientific according to Popper's criterion?

6. Which of the following best describes the shift in perspective proposed by Popper?

7. The passage suggests that a theory's ability to 'accommodate any and all potential outcomes' is a sign of:

The Nuances of Soft Power in a Contested Global Arena

The concept of 'soft power,' famously coined and developed by political scientist Joseph Nye, describes the ability of a nation to persuade and attract others to its values and policies, rather than coercing them through military or economic force—what Nye terms 'hard power.' In essence, soft power is the currency of cultural and ideological appeal, leveraging assets like democratic governance, a vibrant civil society, and popular culture. For much of the late 20th century, this model was seen as a cornerstone of liberal internationalism, positing that influence could be wielded more effectively through attraction than through compulsion. However, the contemporary geopolitical landscape presents profound challenges to this paradigm. The efficacy of soft power is inherently long-term and diffuse, making it an ill-suited tool for addressing immediate crises. Furthermore, its influence is being actively contested by what some analysts have termed 'sharp power.' Unlike soft power, which seeks to foster genuine appeal, sharp power employs manipulative diplomatic and media strategies to disrupt, censor, and socially engineer target populations. It thrives in the digital ecosystem, exploiting social media to spread disinformation and sow discord, thereby undermining the very trust and credibility on which soft power depends. Consequently, a reliance on soft power alone appears increasingly naive. While it remains a vital component of a nation's foreign policy toolkit, its limitations are now starkly apparent. The assumption that liberal democratic values possess a universal and inexorable appeal is being tested by assertive authoritarian states and non-state actors who operate by a different set of rules. Navigating this new environment requires a more sophisticated statecraft that can both project its own values and build resilience against manipulative foreign influence.

1. What is the main argument of the passage?

2. According to the passage, the primary distinction between soft power and sharp power is based on:

3. The author suggests that the digital ecosystem has:

4. The word 'diffuse' in the second paragraph most nearly means:

5. Why does the author describe a reliance on soft power alone as 'increasingly naive'?

6. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as an asset of soft power?

7. Based on the passage, the author would most likely agree that modern statecraft requires:

8. Statement: The passage claims that Joseph Nye invented the term 'hard power'.

Searle's Chinese Room and the Problem of Artificial Minds

John Searle's 'Chinese Room' argument, first published in 1980, remains a seminal thought experiment in the philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence. It directly challenges the central claim of what Searle terms 'Strong AI': the assertion that a suitably programmed computer can possess a mind, understanding, and consciousness in the same way humans do. The experiment asks us to imagine a person, who does not understand Chinese, locked in a room. This person is given a large batch of Chinese symbols (the database) and a rulebook in English for manipulating these symbols (the program). Through a slot in the door, other Chinese symbols (questions) are passed in. By following the rulebook, the person can manipulate the symbols and pass back appropriate strings of Chinese characters (answers) that are indistinguishable from those a native Chinese speaker would provide. Searle's crucial point is this: despite the system's ability to produce correct outputs, the person inside the room does not understand Chinese. They are manipulating formal symbols according to syntactic rules but have no grasp of their meaning, or semantics. Searle extrapolates this to digital computers, arguing that, like the person in the room, they are merely symbol-manipulating devices operating on a purely formal, syntactic level. No matter how sophisticated the program, it can never, by itself, give rise to genuine understanding or intentionality. The argument thus drives a wedge between syntax (the formal structure of symbols) and semantics (the meaning and content associated with them), suggesting that the latter is a biological property of brains that cannot be replicated by computation alone.

1. What is the primary target of Searle's Chinese Room argument?

2. In the context of the thought experiment, what does the person inside the room lack?

3. The word 'seminal' in the first sentence is closest in meaning to:

4. According to the passage, the rulebook given to the person in the room is analogous to:

5. The core distinction that Searle's argument rests upon is between:

6. What can be inferred about Searle's view on the nature of understanding?

7. The passage states that the answers produced by the person in the room are 'indistinguishable from those a native Chinese speaker would provide'. What is the significance of this detail?