Indeed, the concept that science provides the ideas for technological innovations and that pure research is therefore essential for any significant advancement in industrial civilization is essentially a myth. Most of the greatest changes in industrial civilization cannot be traced to the laboratory. Fundamental tools and processes in the fields of mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, metallurgy, and hydraulics were developed before the laws governing their functions were discovered. The steam engine, for example, was commonplace before the science of thermodynamics elucidated the physical principle underlying its operations.

    In recent years a sharp value distinction has grown up between science and technology. Advances in science have frequently had their bitter opponents, but today many people have come to fear technology much more than science. For these people, science may be perceived as a serene, objective source for understanding the eternal laws of nature, whereas the practical manifestations of technology in the modern world now seem to them to be out of control.

    Many historians of science argue not only that technology is an essential condition of advanced, industrial civilization but also that the rate of technological change has developed its own momentum in recent centuries. Innovations now seem to appear at a rate that increase geometrically, without respect to geographical limits or political systems. These innovations tend to transform traditional cultural systems, frequently with unexpected social consequences. Thus technology can be conceived as both a creative and a destructive process.

36. Science is, as the author argues, similar to technology in that ____.
A. it involves a long process of change
B. it focuses on the casual aspects of the material world
C. it resorts to experiments as an exclusive method of research
D. it is concerned about the theoretical development

37. Which of the following does the author NOT agree with?
A. Scientific activities are deeply involved with those of technology.
B. Industrial civilization is largely based on the scientific progress.
C. Science and technology move forward at a comparable speed.
D. Either of science and technology is necessary for the advance of each other.

38. The example of the steam engine is presented to ____.
A. refute the belief that industrial progress feeds off scientific ideas
B. illustrate the remarkable achievements of industrial civilization
C. indicate that many great inventions originate from the laboratory
D. laws come out much earlier than related functions

39. What does “the practical manifestations…out of control” (Para.3) mean?
A. Technology is losing its traditional practicality.
B. Technology is moving further away from science.
C. Technological progress is benefiting the whole world.
D. Technology is threatening the existence of human civilization.

40. The “historians” as mentioned in the last paragraph regard the technology with ____.