2002 Text 2

文章¶

第一段¶

Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty. That compulsion has resulted in robotics—the science of conferring various human capabilities on machines. And if scientists have yet to create the mechanical version of science fiction, they have begun to come close.

第二段¶

As a result, the modern world is increasingly populated by intelligent gizmos whose presence we barely notice but whose universal existence has removed much human labor. Our factories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly arms. Our banking is done at automated teller terminals that thank us with mechanical politeness for the transaction. Our subway trains are controlled by tireless robot-drivers. And thanks to the continual miniaturization of electronics and micro-mechanics, there are already robot systems that can perform some kinds of brain and bone surgery with submillimeter accuracy—far greater precision than highly skilled physicians can achieve with their hands alone.

populated → v. 居住在
removed human labor → 解放人类劳动力
hum → v. 哼（曲子）；发嗡嗡声；活跃，繁忙
assembly → 装配，组装；聚集
teller → n. （银行）出纳员；（尤指议会的）计票人
miniaturization → n. 小型化，微型化
submillimeter → n. 亚毫米
precision → n. 精确（性），准确（性）
physicians → 医生

第三段¶

But if robots are to reach the next stage of laborsaving utility, they will have to operate with less human supervision and be able to make at least a few decisions for themselves—goals that pose a real challenge. “While we know how to tell a robot to handle a specific error," says Dave Lavery, manager of a robotics program at NASA, "we can't yet give a robot enough ‘common sense’ to reliably interact with a dynamic world."

be to do → 将要去做 ...
operate → 运行，操作，管理
supervision → 监管，监控
pose a real challenge → 提出挑战/质疑
specific → 具体的；特定的
common sense → 常识

第四段¶

Indeed the quest for true artificial intelligence has produced very mixed results. Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010, researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decades if not centuries.

quest → n. 寻求，探索
spell → 一段时间；拼写
extend → 延长
if not → 如果不；不然的话

第五段¶

What they found, in attempting to model thought, is that the human brain's roughly one hundred billion nerve cells are much more talented—and human perception far more complicated—than previously imagined. They have built robots that can recognize the error of a machine panel by a fraction of a millimeter in a controlled factory environment. But the human mind can glimpse a rapidly changing scene and immediately disregard the 98 percent that is irrelevant, instantaneously focusing on the monkey at the side of a winding forest road or the single suspicious face in a big crowd. The most advanced computer systems on Earth can't approach that kind of ability, and neuroscientists still don’t know quite how we do it.

题目¶

46¶

Human ingenuity was initially demonstrated in

[A] the use of machines to produce science fiction

[B] the wide use of machines in manufacturing industry

[C] the invention of tools for difficult and dangerous work

[D] the elite’s cunning tackling of dangerous and boring work

initially 是考研陷阱的关键点！这里和原文中的 dawn，相对应，属于同义改写。
invention → n. 发明物；发明，创造
与原文不对应，信息不全，时间也对不上。
与题干不匹配，题干问的一开始，第二段讲的是现代！
正确答案，同义改写。
原文没提到精英，说的是人们，这里是偷换概念。

47¶

The word “gizmos” (Line 1, Paragraph 2) most probably means

[A] programs

[B] experts

[C] devices

[D] creatures

experts → n. 专家；人才（expert 的复数）
根据上下文的例子可以判断出这是一个设备！

48¶

According to the text, what is beyond man’s ability now is to design a robot that can .

[A] fulfill delicate tasks like performing brain surgery

[B] interact with human beings verbally

[C] have a little common sense

[D] respond independently to a changing world

verbally → 口头上地
beyond 表示否定的，是重点。
题目的意思是目前的机器人不能干啥？
原文说的能够实现，与题目不符合。
存钱的那个就是口头上的交流，与题目不符合。
从 enough 可以看出是有一点常识的，与题目不符合。
不能独立地响应变化的世界，符合题目

49¶

Besides reducing human labor, robots can also

[A] make a few decisions for themselves

[B] deal with some errors with human intervention

[C] improve factory environments

[D] cultivate human creativity

除了节省劳动力，机器人还能干啥？
文章说的将要能做决定
对应原文，虽然单复数对不上，但是它是相对正确的选项
文章只说了在这个环境中，并没有提到改善
文章没说到

50¶

The author uses the example of a monkey to argue that robots are

[A] expected to copy human brain in internal structure

[B] able to perceive abnormalities immediately

[C] far less able than human brain in focusing on relevant information

[D] best used in a controlled environment

internal → 内部的
猴子的例子为了说明机器人的什么？
例证题选项里面考察的都是它所服务的主旨，重点关注例子前后的观点。
文章没说；
与文章意思相反；
正确选项；
从原文扣两个词捏造的，与题目问的不符合。

单词记忆¶

task
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