12．IN 2005，David J．Hand，a math professor at Imperial College London，went to a conference in the US with one of his students．They bought their return tickets separately．But when they boarded the plane，they were surprised to find that they were seated right next to each other．
"What a coincidence!"you might say．
Yes，coincidences happen all the time．Sometimes they are so weird （不可思议的） that there seem to be no explanations for them．That sometimes leads people to attribute them to supernatural forces．But are those really responsible？
According to a new book by Professor Hand，The Improbability Principle：Why Coincidences，Miracles，and Rare Events Happen Every Day，what we think of as extremely unlikely events actually happen around us all the time，and they can all be explained by the laws of probability，reported The Washington Post．
Take Hand's experience on the plane as an example．Since there are 450seats on that plane，it may seem like a 1in 450chance that he would have been seated next to his student．But the fact is that many passengers travel in pairs or other groups，and they all require adjacent （相邻的） seats，which makes solo travelers more likely to be seated next to other solo travelers．This increases the odds from 1in 450to a much greater chance．
Another occasion on which coincidences happen frequently is the lottery．On Sept 6，2009，for example，the Bulgarian lottery randomly selected the winning numbers 4，15，23，24，35，and four days later those numbers were chosen again．
According to Hand，although the odds of two specific number draws （抽取） matching are very small，since there are many lotteries globally，the chance of any two draws matching increases with the number of draws，and it reaches a probability of greater than 50percent by the 4，404th round．?
"With a large enough number of opportunities，any outrageous （不寻常的） thing is likely to happen，"writes Hand．
People tend to underestimate the probability of an event because they usually focus on specific instances instead of the broader context，he added．
"We should expect the unexpected，"Hand told New Scientist．"They may not be as improbable as you think．"
43．By mentioning Hand's experience on the flight at the beginning of the article，the author intends toD．
A．show how people usually react to coincidences
B．show that such coincidences actually happen frequently
C．promote Hand's newly-published book on coincidences
D．make us wonder what caused that coincidence
44．What does Hand think can explain almost all coincidences？B
A．Supernatural forces．
B．The laws of probability．
C．Their broader contexts．
D．The law of natural selection．
45．What did Hand believe increased his chances of sitting next to his student？C
A．The limited seats on the plane．
B．The times when they booked their return tickets．
C．The fact that many of the other passengers were traveling together with others．
D．The rule that solo travelers must sit in specific areas of planes．
46．What can we conclude from the article？C
A．The author believes that there are no supernatural forces at all．
B．If you bet on the same numbers each time，you will soon win the lottery．
C．Failing to see the broader contexts for events makes us fail to grasp their true probabilities．
D．Outrageous events wouldn't happen if there were a large enough total number of events．
分析 本文讲到了汉德先生搭乘航班的一次巧合，对于巧合而言其实是符合数学当中的概率原理的，下面就巧合背后的概率原理这一问题展开了讨论．
解答 DBCC
43．答案 D由第三段"That sometimes leads people to attribute them to supernatural forces．But are those really responsible？"可以推知文章开篇提到了汉德先生搭乘航班的一次巧合，旨在引起读者思考是什么导致这些巧合发生的呢？故答案为D
44．答案 B由第四段的"what we think of as extremely unlikely events actually happen around us all the time，and they can all be explained by the laws of probability"可知是概率的缘故，故答案为B
45．答案 C 由第五段的"But the fact is that many passengers travel in pairs or other groups，and they all require adjacent （相邻的） seats，which makes solo travelers more likely to be seated next to other solo travelers．This increases the odds from 1in 450to a much greater chance．"可以推知，是因为同行的乘客更喜欢紧挨着坐，这又增加了概率．故答案为C
46．答案C 由倒数第二段可知人们通过关注具体的例子，而不是更广的背景，从而低估了某些事发生的概率，所以C正确．A项文章没有提及，B项的soon不对；D项的说法与事实相反，故答案为C
点评 1、要想做好科普英语阅读理解题，同学们就要注意平时多读科普知识类文章，学习科普知识，积累常见的科普词汇，从根本上提高科普英语的阅读能力．
2、要熟悉科普类文章的结构特点．科普类文章一般由标题（Head line），导语（Introduction），背景（Back ground），主体（Main body）和结尾（End）五部分构成．标题是文章中心思想高度而又精辟的概括，但根据历年的高考情况来看，这类阅读理解材料一般不给标题，而要同学们选择标题．导语一般位于整篇文章的首段．背景交待一个事实的起因．主体则对导语概括的事实进行详细叙述，这一部分命题往往最多，因此，阅读时，同学们要把这部分作为重点．结尾往往也是中心思想的概括，并与导语相呼应，命题者常在此要设计一道推理判断题．
3、在进行推理判断时，同学们一定要以阅读材料所提供的科学事实为依据，同时所得出的结论还应符合基本的科普常识．
