读趣百科

Passage3

Questions11to15arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

“...WearenotabouttoentertheInformationAgebutinsteadareratherwellintoit.”Presentpredictionsarethatby1990,aboutthirtymillionjobsintheUnitedStates,oraboutthirtypercentofthejobmarket,willbecomputer-related.In1980,onlytwenty-onepercentofallUnitedStateshighschoolsownedoneormorecomputersforstudentuse.(79)Inthefallof1985,anewsurveyrevealedthathalfofUnitedStatessecondaryschoolshavefifteenormorecomputersforstudentuse.Andnoweducationalexperts,administrators,andeventhegeneralpublicaredemandingthatallstudentsbecome“computerliterate(慢点…的).”“Bytheyear2000knowledgeofcomputerswillbenecessaryinovereightypercentofalloccupations.Soonthosepeoplenoteducatedincomputerusewillbecomparedtothosewhoareprintilliteratetoday.”

Whatis“computerliteracy”?Thetermitselfseemstoimplysoonextentof“knowing”aboutcomputers,butknowingwhat.Thecurrentopinionseemstobethatthisshouldincludeageneralknowledgeofwhatcomputersare,plusalittleoftheirhistoryandsomethingofhowtheyoperate.

Therefore,itisvitalthateducatorseverywheretakeacarefullooknotonlyatwhatisbeingdone,butalsoatwhatshouldbedoneinthefieldofcomputereducation.Todaymostadultsarecapableofutilisingamotorvehiclewithouttheslightestknowledgeofhowtheinternal-combustionengineworks.Weeffectivelyusealltypesofelectricalequipmentwithoutbeingabletotelltheirhistoriesortoexplainhowtheywork.(80)Businesspeopleforyearshavemadegooduseoftypewritersandaddingmachines,yetfewhaveeverknownhowtorepairthem.Why,then,attempttoteachcomputersbyteachinghoworwhytheywork?

Rather,wefirstmustconcentrateonteachingtheeffectiveuseofthecomputerasthetoolis.

“Knowinghowtouseacomputeriswhat’sgoingtobeimportant,wedon’ttalkabout‘automobileliteracy.‘Wejustgetinourcarsanddrivethem.”

11.In1990,thenumberofjobshavingnothingtodowithcomputersintheUnitedStateswillbereducedto________.

A)79millionB)30millionC)70millionD)100million(C)

12.Theexpression“Printilliterate”(Para.1,Line16)refersto________.

A)onewhohasneverlearntprintingB)onewhoisnotcomputerliterate

C)onewhohasneverlearnttoreadD)onewhoisnotabletouseatypewriter(C)

13.Thefirstparagraphismainlyabout________.

A)recentpredictionsofcomputer-relatedjobsB)thewideuseofcomputersinschools

C)theurgencyofcomputereducationD)publicinterestincomputers(C)

14.Accordingtotheauthor,theeffectivewaytospreadtheuseofcomputersistoteach____.

A)whatcomputersareB)howtousecomputers

C)wherecomputerscanbeusedD)howcomputerswork(B)

15.WhichofthefollowingstatementsisFALSE?

A)Whattoteachaboutcomputersshouldbereconsidered.

B)Thosewhoarenoteducatedincomputerusewillfinditdifficulttogetajob.

C)HumansocietyhasalreadyenteredtheInformationAge.

D)Thosewhowanttousecomputersshouldknowhowcomputersoperate.

Passage2

Questions6to10arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

Thehumanbraincontains10thousandmillioncellsandeachofthesemayhaveathousandconnections.(77)Suchenormousnumbersusedtodiscourageusandcauseustodismissthepossibilityofmakingamachinewithhuman-likeability,butnowthatwehavegrownusedtomovingforwardatsuchapacewecanbelesssure.Quitesoon,inonly10or20yearsperhaps,wewillbeabletoassembleamachineascomplexasthehumanbrain,andifwecanwewill.Itmaythentakeusalongtimetorenderitintelligentbyloadingintherightsoftware(软件)orbyalteringthearchitecturebutthattoowillhappen.

(78)Ithinkitcertainthatindecades,notcenturies,machinesofsilicon(硅)willarisefirsttorivalandthenexceedtheirhumanancestors.Oncetheyexceedustheywillbecapableoftheirowndesign.Inarealsensetheywillbeabletoreproducethemselves.Siliconwillhaveendedcarbon’slongcontrol.Andwewillnolongerbeabletoclaimourselvestobethefinestintelligenceintheknownuniverse.

Astheintelligenceofrobotsincreasestomatchthatofhumansandastheircostdeclinesthrougheconomiesofscalewemayusethemtoexpandourfrontiers,firstonearththroughtheirabilitytowithstandenvironments,harmfultoourselves.Thus,desertsmaybloomandtheoceanbedsbemined.Furtherahead,byacombinationofthegreatwealththisnewagewillbringandthetechnologyitwillprovide,theconstructionofavast,man-createdworldinspace,hometothousandsormillionsofpeople,willbewithinourpower.

6.Inwhatwaycanwemakeamachineintelligent?

A)Bymakingitworkinsuchenvironmentsasdeserts,oceansorspace.

B)Byworkinghardfor10or20years.

C)Byeitherproperlyprogrammingitorchangingitsstructure.

D)Byreproducingit.(C)

7.Whatdoesthewriterthinkaboutmachineswithhuman-likeability?

A)Hebelievestheywillbeusefultohumanbeings.

B)Hebelievesthattheywillcontrolusinthefuture.

C)Heisnotquitesureinwhatwaytheymayinfluenceus.

D)Hedoesn’tconsidertheconstructionofsuchmachinespossible.

8.Theword“carbon”(Line4,Para.2)standsfor________.

A)intelligentrobotsB)achemicalelementC)anorganicsubstanceD)humanbeings(D)

9.Arobotcanbeusedtoexpandourfrontierswhen________.

A)itsintelligenceandcostarebeyondquestion

B)itisabletobeartheroughenvironment

C)itismadeascomplexasthehumanbrain

D)itsarchitectureisdifferentfromthatofthepresentones(A)

10.Itcanbeinferredfromthepassagethat________.

A)aftertheinstallationofagreatnumberofcellsandconnections,robotswillbecapableofself-reproduction

B)withtherapiddevelopmentoftechnology,peoplehavecometorealizethepossibilityofmakingamachinewithhuman-likeability

C)oncewemakeamachineascomplexasthehumanbrain,itwillpossesintelligence

D)robotswillhavecontrolofthevast,man-madeworldinspace

Passage4

Questions 16to 20arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

Morethan30,000driversandfrontseatpassengersarekilledorseriouslyinjuredeachyear.Atthespeedofonly30milesperhouritisthesameasfallingfromathird-floorwindows.Wearingaseatbeltsaveslives;itreducesyourchanceofdeathorseriousinjurybymorethanhalf.

Thereforedriversorfrontseatpassengersover14inmostvehiclesmustwearaseatbelt.Ifyoudonot,youcouldbefinedupto￡50.itwillnotbeuptothedriverstomakesureyouwearyourbelt.Butitwillbethedriver’sresponsibilitytomakesurethatchildrenunder14donotrideinthefrontunlesstheyarewearingaseatbeltofsomekind.

However,youdonothavetowearaseatbeltifyoureversingyourvehicle;oryouaremakingalocaldeliveryorcollectionusingaspecialvehicle;orifyouhaveavalidmedicalcertificatewhichexcusesyoufromwearingit.Makesurethesecircumstancesapplytoyoubeforeyoudecidenottowearyouseatbelt.(76)Rememberyoumaybetakentocourtfornotdoingso,andyoumaybefinedifyoucannotprovetothecourtthatyouhavebeenexcusedfromwearingit.

1.Thistextistakenfrom________.

A)amedicalmagazineB)apolicereport

C)alegaldocumentD)agovernmentinformationbooklet

2.Wearingaseatbeltinavehicle________.

A)reducesroadaccidentsbymorethanhalf

B)savesliveswhiledrivingataspeedupto30milesperhour

C)reducesthedeathrateintrafficaccidentsD)savesmorethan15,000liveseachyear

3.Itisthedriver’sresponsibilityto________.

A)makethefrontseatpassengerwearaseatbelt

B)makethefrontseatchildrenunder14wearaseatbelt

C)stopchildrenridinginthefrontseatD)wearaseatbelteachtimehedrives

4.Accordingtothetext,whichofthefollowingpeopleridinginthefrontdosnothavetowearaseatbelt?

A)Someonewhoisbackingintoaparkingspace.

B)Someonewhoispickingupthechildrenfromthelocalschool.

C)Someonewhoisdeliveringinvitationletters.

D)Someonewhoisunder14.

5.Forsomepeople,itmaybebetter________.

A)towearaseatbeltforhealthreasons

B)nottowearaseatbeltforhealthreasons

C)togetvalidmedicalcertificatebeforewearingaseatbelt

D)topayafineratherthanwearaseatbelt

ReadingComprehension

Passage1

Languagesaremarvelouslycomplexandwonderfullycomplicatedorgansofculture.Theyembodythequickestandthemostefficientmeansofcommunicatingwithintheirrespectiveculture.Tolearnaforeignlanguageistolearnanotherculture.Inthewordsofapoetandphilosopher,“Asmanylanguagesasonespeaks,somanylivesonelives.”Acultureanditslanguagesareasinseparableasbrainandbody;whileoneisapartoftheother,neithercanfunctionwithouttheother.Inlearningaforeignlanguage,thebestbeginningiswiththenon-verballinguisticelementsofthelanguage,itsgestures,itsbodylanguage.EyecontactisextremelyimportantinEnglish.Directeyecontactleadstounderstanding,or,astheEnglishmaxim(格言)hasit,seeingeye-to-eye.Wecanneverseeeye-to-eyewithanativespeakerofEnglishuntilwehavelearnedtolookEnglishisspoken

3.Accordingtothispassage,gesturesare________.

A.non-verbalaswellasnon-linguistic

B.verbalandlinguistic

C.non-verbalbutneverthelesslinguistic

D.verbalbutneverthelessnon-linguistic

4.“Asmanylanguagesasonespeaks,somanylives”means________.

A.ifoneleansmanyforeignlanguages,onewillhaveabetterunderstandingofhisownlanguage

lifeisricherandmoreinterestingifoneknowsseverallanguages

nomatterhowmanylanguagesoneknows,onecanneverknowmorethanone’sownculture

ifapersonspeaksonlyonelanguage,hewillliveaveryhappylife

5.Oneofthefollowingwhichisnotsynonymouswiththeothersis_______.

A.signsB.gesturesC.maximsD.bodylanguage