专题04科普知识与现代技术-五年高考（2014-2018年）英语阅读理解话题分类解读与训练
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| 名称 | 专题04科普知识与现代技术-五年高考（2014-2018年）英语阅读理解话题分类解读与训练 |  | |
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| 资源类型 | 教案 | ||
| 版本资源 | 通用版 | ||
| 科目 | 英语 | ||
| 更新时间 | 2018-07-07 17:10:56 | ||
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专题04科普知识与现代技术
“科普知识与现代科技”是高中新课程标准话题之一。该话题包括各领域最新科技知识、最新发明创造等方面。科技已经影响渗透到我们生活的方方面面，例如电视、电脑、手机、MP3、火箭、卫星、宇宙飞船……好多好多，几天几夜都说不完。总之生活离不开科技，科技在为生活服务。点点滴滴，时时事事，科技无处不在。
【高考探究】
“科普知识与现代科技”话题是历年高考英语的必考话题，主要题型为阅读理解，体裁一般为说明文，分值所占比重也比较高。
【典例剖析】
（2017年·新课标卷II）Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its new flying car has completed its first flight, bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle —named the Transition – has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. The Transition, which flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes last month, can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air. It flies using a 23-gallon tank of gas and burns 5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon.
Around 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sale, and those numbers will likely rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New York Auto Show. But don’t expect it to show up in too many driveways. It’s expected to cost $279,000.And it won’t help if you’re stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.
Inventors have been trying to make flying cars since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry expert. But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The government has already permitted the company to use special materials to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The Transition is now going through crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.
Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft, which are lower than those for pilots of larger planes. Terrafugia
says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition, a requirement pilots would find relatively easy to meet.
28. What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A. The basic data of the Transition.
B. The advantages of flying cars.
C. The potential market for flying cars.
C. The designers of the Transition.
29. Why is the Transition unlikely to show up in too many driveways?
A. It causers traffic jams.
B. It is difficult to operate.
C. It is very expensive.
D. It burns too much fuel.
30. What is the government’s attitude to the development of the flying car?
A. Cautious
B. Favorable.
C. Ambiguous.
D. Disapproving.
31. What is the best title for the text?
A. Flying Car at Auto Show
B. The Transition’s First Flight
C. Pilots’ Dream Coming True
D. Flying Car Closer to Reality
【话题解读】本文是一篇说明文。主要介绍了Terrafugia公司研制出了飞车，试飞成功，预计将于明年进行销售。本文主要对飞车的历史由来及其构架进行了介绍。
29.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据“But don’t expect it to show up in too many driveways. It’s expected to cost
$279,000”可知，因为Transition 的价格较高，所以不太可能在太多的马路上出现。故选C。
31.D 【解析】标题归纳题。浏览全文，主要从飞车的试飞成功、飞车的构架以及多年以前人们对飞车的
设想至今成为现实展开说明。故选D。
Passage 1（2018年新课标卷I）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
新旧电子设备的差别
363
★★★☆☆
7分钟
We may think we’re a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices (装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment – and our wallets – as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.
To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life – from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation. Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.
As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn’t throw out our old ones. “The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids’ room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house,” said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We’re not just keeping these old devices – we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt’s team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (排放) more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.
So what’s the solution (解决方案)? The team’s data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one fun_ction, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.
32. What does the author think of new devices?
A. They are environment-friendly.
B. They are no better than the old.
C. They cost more to use at home.
D. They go out of style quickly.
33. Why did Babbitt’s team conduct the research?
A. To reduce the cost of minerals.
B. To test the life cycle of a product.
C. To update consumers on new technology.
D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.
34. Which of the following uses the least energy?
A. The box-set TV. B. The tablet.
C. The LCD TV. D. The desktop computer.
35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?
A. Stop using them. B. Take them apart.
C. Upgrade them. D. Recycle them.
【文章大意】本文是一篇科普说明文。文章讲述了新旧电子设备的差别，旧电子设备耗能高、不环保。所以作者主张使用新电子设备。
33.D 【解析】细节理解题。 根据文章第二段中的To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life 可知，Babbitt’s team研究的目的是弄清楚这些设备用了多少电。故选D。
34.B 【解析】细节理解题。根据文章最后一段中的They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.可知，平板电脑是耗能最少的电子设备，可以降低44%的耗能。 故选B。
35.A 【解析】推理判断题。根据文章的整体内容可知，因为旧的电子设备耗能高，不环保。所以作者建议停止使用旧的电子设备。故选A。
Passage 2（2018年天津卷）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
3D打印技术在食物上的应用
383
★★★☆☆
7分钟
There’s a new frontier in 3D printing that’s beginning to come into focus: food. Recent development has made possible machines that print, cook, and serve foods on a mass scale. And the industry isn’t stopping there.
Food production
With a 3D printer, a cook can print complicated chocolate sculptures and beautiful pieces for decoration on a wedding cake. Not everybody can do that — it takes years of experience, but a printer makes it easy. A restaurant in Spain uses a Foodini to “re-create forms and pieces” of food that are “exactly the same,” freeing cooks to complete other tasks. In another restaurant, all of the dishes and desserts it serves are 3D-printed, rather than farm to table.
Sustainability(可持续性)
The global population is expected to grow to 9.6 billion by 2050, and some analysts estimate that food production will need to be raised by 50 percent to maintain current levels. Sustainability is becoming a necessity. 3D food printing could probably contribute to the solution. Some experts believe printers could use hydrocolloids (水解胶体) from plentiful renewables like algae(藻类) and grass to replace the familiar ingredients(烹饪原料). 3D printing can reduce fuel use and emissions. Grocery stores of the future might stock "food" that lasts years on end, freeing up shelf space and reducing transportation and storage requirements.
Nutrition
Future 3D food printers could make processed food healthier. Hod Lipson, a professor at Columbia University, said, “Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content, like vitamins. So instead of eating a piece of yesterday’s bread from the supermarket, you’d eat something baked just for you on demand.”
Challenges
Despite recent advancements in 3D food printing, the industry has many challenges to overcome. Currently, most ingredients must be changed to a paste(糊状物) before a printer can use them, and the printing process is quite time-consuming, because ingredients interact with each other in very complex ways. On top of that, most of the 3D food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad. Some experts are skeptical about 3D food printers, believing they are better suited for fast food restaurants than homes and high-end restaurants.
46. What benefit does 3D printing bring to food production?
A. It helps cooks to create new dishes.
B. It saves time and effort in cooking.
C. It improves the cooking conditions.
D. It contributes to restaurant decorations.
47. What can we learn about 3D food printing from Paragraphs 3?
A. It solves food shortages easily.
B. It quickens the transportation of food.
C. It needs no space for the storage of food.
D. It uses renewable materials as sources of food.
48. According to Paragraph 4, 3D-printed food _____________.
A. is more available to consumers
B. can meet individual nutritional needs
C. is more tasty than food in supermarkets
D. can keep all the nutrition in raw materials
49. What is the main factor that prevents 3D food printing from spreading widely?
A. The printing process is complicated.
B. 3D food printers are too expensive.
C. Food materials have to be dry.
D. Some experts doubt 3D food printing.
50. What could be the best title of the passage?
A. 3D Food Printing: Delicious New Technology
B. A New Way to Improve 3D Food Printing
C. The Challenges for 3D Food Production
D. 3D Food Printing: From Farm to Table
【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了3D打印技术在食物上的应用取得了进展，但目前仍面临着许多方面的挑战。
46.B 【解析】推理判断题。根据文章Food production中叙述了没有经验的人可以用3D打印机做出复杂的巧克力雕塑和美丽的婚礼蛋糕，以及餐厅能够用3D打印出所有的菜肴和甜点，从而可以推断出3D打印的优势是节省了做饭的时间和精力。故选B。
48.B 【解析】推理判断题。根据文章第四段Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content, like vitamins.（食品打印可以让消费者打印定制营养的食物），从而可以推断出3D打印出来的食物可以满足个人营养需求。故选B。
49.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据文章最后一段most of the 3D food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad.可知，阻止3D打印食物进一步广泛使用的原因是原料必须是干的，含水多的肉和牛奶不能应用于3D打印因为很容易坏。故选C。
50.A 【解析】主旨大意题。文章主要介绍了3D打印技术在食物上的应用取得了进展，但目前仍面临着许多方面的挑战。所以用标题3D Food Printing: Delicious New Technology，故选A。
Passage 3（2017·新课标卷I）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
制作简单易行的太阳能蒸馏器的方法
316
★★★☆☆
6分钟
A build-it-yourself solar still（蒸馏器） is one of the best ways to obtain drinking water in areas where the liquid is not readily available. Developed by two doctors in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it’s an excellent water collector. Unfortunately, you must carry the necessary equipment with you, since it’s all but impossible to find natural substitutes. The only components required, though, are a 5＇5＇ sheet of clear or slightly milky plastic, six feet of plastic tube, and a container — perhaps just a drinking cup — to catch the water. These pieces can be folded into a neat little pack and fastened on your belt.
To construct a working still, use a sharp stick or rock to dig a hole four feet across and three feet deep. Try to make the hole in a damp area to increase the water catcher’s productivity. Place your cup in the deepest part of the hole. Then lay the tube in place so that one end rests all the way in the cup and the rest of the line runs up — and out — the side of the hole.
Next, cover the hole with the plastic sheet, securing the edges of the plastic with dirt and weighting the sheet’s center down with a rock. The plastic should now form a cone(圆锥体) with 45-degree-angled sides. The low point of the sheet must be centered directly over, and no more than three inches above, the cup.
The solar still works by creating a greenhouse under the plastic. Ground water evaporates (蒸发) and collects on the sheet until small drops of water form, run down the material and fall off into the cup. When the container is full, you can suck the refreshment out through the tube, and won’t have to break down the still every time you need a drink.
32. What do we know about the solar still equipment from the first paragraph?
A. It’s delicate. B. It’s expensive.
C. It’s complex. D. It’s portable.
33. What does the underlined phrase “the water catcher” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A. The tube. B. The still.
C. The hole. D. The cup.
34. What’s the last step of constructing a working solar still?
A. Dig a hole of a certain size. B. Put the cup in place.
C. Weight the sheet’s center down. D. Cover the hole with the plastic sheet.
35. When a solar still works, drops of water come into the cup from .
A. the plastic tube B. outside the hole
C. the open air D. beneath the sheet
【话题解读】本文属于科普知识，主要介绍了一种自己可以亲手制作的简单易行的太阳能蒸馏器的方法，并介绍了它的工作原理。这种蒸馏器所需的材料简单，适用于任何缺水的地方。
33.B 【解析】词义猜测题。根据Try to make the hole in a damp area to increase the water catcher’s productivity可知最好在潮湿的地方挖洞，以提高接水器的工作效率。“接水器”指的是在潮湿的地方挖洞，在洞的底部放一个杯子，杯子上方用膜覆盖，整个装置构成接水器，而不是某个部分。这一题很容易错选D，但是就算在干燥的地方挖洞，杯子也可以接水，杯子接水的事实并不会因为周围环境的变化而变化，杯子的工作效率是不变的。故选B。
34.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据第三段Next, cover the hole with the plastic sheet, securing the edges of the plastic with dirt and weighting the sheet’s center down with a rock.可知最后一步是weighting the sheet’s center down with a rock(放一块石头在覆盖膜的中间，把它压下去)，故选C。
Passage 2（2017·北京卷）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
人工智能
466
★★★☆☆
8分钟
Hollywood’s theory that machines with evil(邪恶) minds will drive armies of killer robots is just silly. The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want. In 1960 a well-known mathematician Norbert Wiener, who founded the field of cybernetics（控制论）, put it this way: “If we use, to achieve our purposes, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot effectively interfere(干预), we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire.”
A machine with a specific purpose has another quality, one that we usually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence. For the machine, this quality is not in-born, nor is it something introduced by humans; it is a logical consequence of the simple fact that the machine cannot achieve its original purpose if it is dead. So if we send out a robot with the single instruction of fetching coffee, it will have a strong desire to secure success by disabling its own off switch or even killing anyone who might interfere with its task. If we are not careful, then, we could face a kind of global chess match against very determined, super intelligent machines whose objectives conflict with our own, with the real world as the chessboard.
The possibility of entering into and losing such a match should concentrate the minds of computer scientists. Some researchers argue that we can seal the machines inside a kind of firewall, using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world. Unfortunately, that plan seems unlikely to work: we have yet to invent a firewall that is secure against ordinary humans, let alone super intelligent machines.
Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible but not easy. There are probably decades in which to plan for the arrival of super intelligent machines. But the problem should not be dismissed out of hand, as it has been by some AI researchers. Some argue that humans and machines can coexist as long as they work in teams—yet that is not possible unless machines share the goals of humans. Others say we can just “switch them off” as if super intelligent machines are too stupid to think of that possibility. Still others think that super intelligent AI will never happen. On September 11, 1933, famous physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with confidence, “Anyone who expects a source of power in the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” However, on September 12, 1933, physicist Leo Szilard invented the neutron-induced(中子诱导) nuclear chain reaction.
67. Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that artificial intelligence may .
A. run out of human control
B. satisfy human’s real desires
C. command armies of killer robots
D. work faster than a mathematician
68. Machines with specific purposes are associated with living things partly because they might be able to .
A. prevent themselves from being destroyed
B. achieve their original goals independently
C. do anything successfully with given orders
D. beat humans in international chess matches
69. According to some researchers, we can use firewalls to .
A. help super intelligent machines work better
B. be secure against evil human beings
C. keep machines from being harmed
D. avoid robots’ affecting the world
70. What does the author think of the safety problem of super intelligent machines?
A. It will disappear with the development of AI.
B. It will get worse with human interference.
C. It will be solved but with difficulty.
D. It will stay for a decade.
【话题解读】本文属于主要介绍了人工智能及它给我们的生活带来的影响。
67.A 【解析】推理判断题。根据第一段The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want.可知人工智能可能会出现的真正问题是AI会非常擅长取得某个成就而不是我们真正想要的东西，也就是说AI可能会超出人的控制去做一些事情，故选A。
69.D 【解析】推理判断题。根据第三段using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world.可知可以用防火墙来回答那些困难的问题但是却永远不要让他们影响这个真正的现实世界，故选D。
70.C 【解析】推理判断题。根据最后一段Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible but not easy.可知作者认为解决人工智能机器的安全问题是可能的，但是并不容易，也就是很困难，故选C。
Passage 5（2017·天津卷）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
自主驾驶车辆
348
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
This month, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, proposed the first set of rules for autonomous vehicles(自主驾驶车辆). They would define the driver’s role in such cars and govern how such cars perform in crashes where lives might be lost.
The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future.
Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always chooses property(财产) damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the driving wheel — to check email, say — the car’s maker is responsible if there is a crash.
“The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving,” says Dobrindt. It will put fully driverless cars on an equal legal footing to human drivers, he says.
Who is responsible for the operation of such vehicles is not clear among car makers, consumers and lawyers. “The liability(法律责任) issue is the biggest one of them all,” says Natasha Merat at the University of Leeds, UK.
An assumption behind UK insurance for driverless cars, introduced earlier this year, insists that a human “be watchful and monitoring the road” at every moment.
But that is not what many people have in mind when thinking of driverless cars. “When you say ‘driverless cars’, people expect driverless cars.” Merat says. “You know — no driver.”
Because of the confusion, Merat thinks some car makers will wait until vehicles can be fully automated without operation.
Driverless cars may end up being a form of public transport rather than vehicles you own, says Ryan Calo at Stanford University, California. That is happening in the UK and Singapore, where government-provided driverless vehicles are being launched.
That would go down poorly in the US, however. “The idea that the government would take over driverless cars and treat them as a public good would get absolutely nowhere here,” says Calo.
46. What does the phrase “death valley” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. A place where cars often break down.
B. A case where passing a law is impossible.
C. An area where no driving is permitted.
D. A situation where drivers’ role is not clear.
47. The proposal put forward by Dobrindt aims to __________.
A. stop people from breaking traffic rules
B. help promote fully automatic driving
C. protect drivers of all ages and races
D. prevent serious property damage
48. What do consumers think of the operation of driverless cars?
A. It should get the attention of insurance companies.
B. It should be the main concern of law makers.
C. It should not cause deadly traffic accidents.
D. It should involve no human responsibility.
49. Driverless vehicles in public transport see no bright future in _________.
A. Singapore B. the UK
C. the US D. Germany
50. What could be the best title for the passage?
A. Autonomous Driving: Whose Liability?
B. Fully Automatic Cars: A New Breakthrough
C. Autonomous Vehicles: Driver Removed!
D. Driverless Cars: Root of Road Accidents
【话题解读】这是一篇有关自主驾驶车辆的文章，介绍了德国交通部长的对于自主驾驶车辆的规章制度的一个提议，引出说明了位于科技前沿的无人驾驶的自动化车辆在英国、新加坡和美国的不同前景。
46.D 【解析】考查词义猜测。根据第二段的句子the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future可知选D。
47.B 【解析】考查推理判断。根据第二段内容The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles…可知选B。
50.A 【解析】考查标题归纳。通读全文可以知道，本文主要讲述了谁来对无人驾驶的机动车辆负责。故选A。
【名师点睛】这篇文章的内容和每个人的生活都密切相关，讲的是谁对新型交通工具——无人驾驶的全自动化的车辆负责，各国意见不一，学生应该有兴趣阅读。材料涉及科技前沿，文章篇幅适中，设题考查比较全面，除了理解细节题，还需要适当的推理，还有词义辨析类的题目，对学生的能力考查得比较全面。
Passage 6(2015·天津卷)
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
社会机器人的功能与作用
308
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.
While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.
The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.
Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.
Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company’s "Oshbot" robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.
The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. "We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us," said Breazeal.
1.How are social robots different from household robots?
A. They can control their emotions.
B. They are more like humans.
C. They do the normal housework.
D. They respond to users more slowly.
2.What can a Jibo robot do according to Paragraph 3?
A. Communicate with you and perform operations.
B. Answer your questions and make requests.
C. Take your family pictures and deliver milk.
D. Obey your orders and remind you to take pills.
3.What can Oshbot work as?
A.A language teacher. B.A tour guide.
C.A shop assistant. D.A private nurse.
4.We can learn from the last paragraph that social robots will _________.
A. train employees B.be our workmates
C. improve technologies D. take the place of workers
5.What does the passage mainly present?
A.A new design idea of household robots.
B. Marketing strategies for social robots.
C. Information on household robots.
D. An introduction to social robots.
【话题解读】文章主要介绍了社会机器人的功能与作用。
1.B 【解析】考查推理判断。根据第二段第一句可知，现在家务机器人做正常的家务，而社会机器人不仅仅是工具，更像是伙伴。由此可知社会机器人更像人类，故选B。
4.B 【解析】考查细节理解。最后一段提到社会机器人不是用来取代工人的，而是和其他员工一起工作，由此可知社会机器人将成为我们的同事，故B项正确。
5.D 【解析】考查主旨大意。本文主要介绍了社会机器人的情况，故D项符合题意。
Passage 1
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
量子旋转液体"的新发现
301
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
Researchers with the University of Cambridge say they have the first real evidence of a new state of matter, some 40 years after it was first theorized.
Known as "quantum spin liquid(量子旋转液体)", the matter states causes normally unbreakable electrons to break into pieces called "Majorana fermions". These fermions are an important discovery. Physicists believe the material is crucial to further developing quantum computing. Computers employed Majorana fermions would be able to carry out calculations beyond the scale of modern computers quickly, they say.
Quantum spin liquid explains some of the odd behaviors inside magnetic materials. In these materials, the electrons should behave like small bar magnets, all adjusting towards magnetic north when a material is cooled. But not all magnetic materials do this — if the material contains quantum spin liquid, the electrons don’t all line up and become involved.
"Until recently, we didn’t even know what the experimental fingerprints of quantum spin liquid would look like," researcher Dr. Dmitry Kovrizhin says. "That created a challenge for the researchers, so they decided to employ neutron(中子) scattering techniques to look for evidence of break." What they found surprised them. The features matched nearly exactly with quantum spin liquid models theorized by physicist Phil Anderson in 1973. The results of their breakthrough were then published in the scientific journal Nature Materials on Monday.
Don’t get too excited just yet on its applications, though. Kovrizhin’s work is only the beginning and as we’ve seen with quantum computing there is a lot of work to be done. But it’s still exciting regardless.
"It’s an important step for our understanding of quantum matter," Kovrizhin says. "It’s fun to have another new quantum state that we’ve never seen before — it presents us with new possibilities to try new things."
1.What can you learn about "Majorana fermions" according to Paragraph 2?
A. An important discovery 40 years ago.
B.A surprising theory raised by Phil Anderson.
C.A key material developing quantum computing.
D.A breakable electron.
2.How do the researchers make a breakthrough according to Paragraph 4?
A .By adjusting magnetic materials.
B. By employing neutron scattering techniques.
C. By repeating maths calculations.
D. By changing electronic structure.
3.What is the author’s tone about the future of quantum matter?
A. Pessimistic. B. Doubtful.
C. Indifferent. D. Optimistic.
4.Which is the best title of the passage?
A. The Discovery of a New State of Matter.
B. Computer’s Future.
C. Majorana Fermions.
D. An Important Breakthrough.
【文章大意】这是一篇说明文，主要介绍了一项名叫"量子旋转液体"的新发现。
1.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据第二段中的"...unbreakable electrons to break into pieces called ‘Majorana fermions’. These fermions are an important discovery. Physicists believe the material is crucial to further developing quantum computing"可知，Majorana fermions是一种发展量子计算的关键材料，故选C。
4.A 【解析】标题归纳题。该文主要介绍一项名叫"量子旋转液体"的新发现，B项"计算机的未来"只是该量子旋转液体应用的一个方面，概括片面；C "量子旋转液体"，该文虽然介绍了什么是量子旋转液体，但主要还是说明这项新发现的应用，故C 项不全面；D项 "一个重要突破"，没有点明该文介绍的重点。故选A。
Passage 2
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
电击前庭神经可以帮助人们减肥
300
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
A nerve-zapping(电击神经) headset caused people to get rid of fat in a small preliminary study. Six people who had received the stimulation(刺激) lost on average about 8 percent of the fat on their trunks in four months, scientists reported at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
The headset stimulated the vestibular nerve(前庭神经), which runs just behind the ears. That nerve sends signals to the hypothalamus, a brain structure thought to control the body’s fat storage. By stimulating the nerve with an electrical current, the technique shifts the body away from storing fat toward burning it.
Six overweight and obese people received the treatment, consisting of up to four one-hour-long sessions of stimulation a week. Because it activated the vestibular system, the stimulation created the sensation of gently rocking on a boat or floating in a pool, said the study’s co-author Jason McKeown of the University of California, San Diego.
After four months, body scans measured the trunk fat for the six people receiving the treatment and three people who received unreal stimulation. All six in the treatment group lost some trunk fat, despite not having changed their activity or diet. In contrast, those in the unreal group gained some fat. Researchers suspect that changes in the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within human cells are behind the difference. "The results were a lot better than we thought they’d be," McKeown said.
Earlier studies found that vestibular nerve stimulation causes mice to drop fat and pack on muscle, resulting in what McKeown called Schwarzenegger mice. Though small, the current study suggests that the approach has promise in people. McKeown and his colleagues have started a company based on the technology and plan to test it further.
1.What is an electrical current used for?
A. Causing the body to burn its fat.
B. Controlling the body’s storage of fat.
C. Seeing if the headset will be affected.
D. Speeding the process of one’s digesting.
2.What’s the probable reason for the different results in participants?
A. The length of stimulation they received.
B. The type of stimulation they received.
C. The difference in their vestibular system.
D. The way chemicals process in their body.
3.Which is true about McKeown’s current findings?
A. They have a kind of practical value.
B. They go against those of earlier tests on mice.
C. They were widely recognized at the meeting.
D. They have been tested by McKeown’s company.
【文章大意】本文是说明文。研究发现电击前庭神经可以帮助人们减肥。
2.D 【解析】考查细节理解。根据第四段中的"Researchers suspect that changes in the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within human cells are behind the difference"可知,研究者认为，实验结果之所以会在参与实验的两组人身上有所不同是因为他们在新陈代谢上存在差异。故选D项。
3.A 【解析】考查推理判断。根据最后一段中的"Though small, the current study suggests that the approach has promise in people. McKeown and his colleagues have started a company based on the technology and plan to test it further"可知，McKeown的发现是有一定的实用价值的。
Passage 3
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
对电影真实反应的试映技术
341
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
We all know the hard work that filmmakers and actors put in to provide us with entertainment, but it seems that even regular moviegoers like us have a big impact on how a movie turns out too. For decades now, film studios have used so-called test screenings to get feedback from members of the public before a movie comes out. While test audience members are usually asked to fill in a questionnaire after a screening, telling the film studio what they liked and didn’t like, media giant Disney has come up with a more high-tech solution.
According to a paper published this summer by the company’s researchers, Disney is measuring test audiences’ reactions by using special cameras placed inside cinemas. Pairing the cameras with custom software, the company can track what each audience member is feeling at any point in the movie, from anger to joy. This works by mapping 68 different points on each audience member’s face. The cameras can see in the dark, and the software can figure out a person’s mood based on the slightest of facial expressions.
It’s hoped that this new method will allow more detailed feedback from test audiences. Rather than relying on audience members to recall their feelings after the movie’s over, it can accurately read their reactions in real-time.
Test screenings are highly valued in the movie industry, and several well-known movies have been greatly altered following feedback. Viewers of E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), would have left the cinema feeling a whole lot differently if it weren’t for its test audience’s feedback. “In one cut of the film that was tested, E.T. died instead of going home in his spaceship. You won’t be surprised to hear that the test audience in question didn’t warm to this ending at all,” wrote media website Den of Geek.
But for those who are concerned about privacy, the cameras won’t be installed in public cinemas. After all, unless you’re part of a test audience, being in front of the camera is best left to the movie stars.
1.Why are test screenings necessary?
A. To amuse us. B. To influence a movie.
C. To get reactions of the audience. D. To spy on the audience.
2.How does the high-tech method work?
A. Audiences recall their detailed feelings.
B. The cameras can read accurate feedback from the audience.
C. The company can track each audience member.
D. The company are measuring audience’s reactions.
3.What do we know about E.T?
A. It doesn’t warm the audience.
B. It altered audience’s feedback.
C. The original ending is different.
D. E T died in his spaceship.
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A. People worry about privacy.
B. The cameras won’t be put in public cinemas.
C. The technology of test screenings is reliable.
D. You can be in front of the camera.
【话题解读】本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍了可以获得观众对电影的真实反应的试映技术。
1.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据第一段中的“film studios have used so-called test screenings to get feedback from members of the public before a movie comes out.”可知，试映是为了获得观众对电影的反应。
4.B 【解析】推理判断题。根据最后一段中的“But for those who are concerned about privacy, the cameras won’t be installed in public cinemas.”可知，摄像头不会安装在公共影院内。
Passage 4
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
Glass of Venice玻璃厂
310
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
Welcome to Glass of Venice, the number one importer and retailer of authentic Murano Glass in the US and one of the top names among Murano Glass retailers worldwide. We work directly with artisans (工匠) from Murano, Italy to bring you the unique centuries old art rooted in tradition and skill. Every item is handcrafted with passion using ancient techniques that made Murano glassmakers world-famous since the 8th century. Now you needn’t make a trip to Murano to own an authentic piece of art as beautiful as Venice itself.
At the time of mass-produced products that carry no special meaning, Murano Glass gives you an opportunity to express your individuality. Every piece is unique.
Murano Glass is 100% handcrafted in Venice. Be a part of the centuries-old Venetian tradition!
A piece of the artisan’s heart and soul is captured in every Murano Glass creation. Crafting Murano Glass jewelry, vases, sculptures and other functional and decorative pieces is a complicated process from silica, minerals, water, and fire. Venetian artisans create masterpieces. The techniques they use are centuries old, and artisans have been trained for many years in their fathers’ and grandfathers, workshops before they can attain a revered status of the true master of the craft.
Murano Glass masters are not just artisans; they are artists. Ever since Murano glassmakers guild (公会) was established on this Venetian island in 1291, they have been innovating, seeking new methods of creating glass, and pushing forward to express new philosophies and artistic visions through glass. This made Murano Glass get its own art form, and it has been recognized at international expositions and top art museums and galleries worldwide. Today the famous glass masters working on Murano Island are first and foremost artists, and Glass of Venice is proud to offer artistic masterpieces from top Murano glass workshops.
1.What can be inferred about Murano Glass?
A. It is made by using modern machines.
B. Every piece is made in the US.
C. Every piece has a special style.
D. It was designed in the 8th century.
2.The underlined word “revered” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to “________”.
A. considerate B. relieved
C. complex D. respected
3.What were Murano Glass masters devoted to doing according to the text?
A. Exploring ways to develop the creation of glass.
B. Exporting Murano Glass to many foreign countries.
C. Building art museums to show the beauty of Murano Glass.
D. Creating a special art form to express their philosophies of life.
4.What is the author’s attitude to Murano Glass masters’ works?
A. Critical. B. Admirable.
C. Cautious. D. Aggressive.
【话题解读】文章介绍了Glass of Venice玻璃厂的发展历史以及制作工艺。
3.A 【解析】细节理解题。根据文章最后一段中“they have been innovating, seeking new methods of creating glass, and pushing forward to express new philosophies and artistic visions through glass.”可知，这些大师们一直致力于发明，开发创作玻璃的新方法。故选A。
4.B 【解析】观点态度题。根据文章最后一段中“and Glass of Venice is proud to offer artistic masterpieces from top Murano glass workshops.”可知，Glass of Venice以这些大师的作品骄傲。故选B。
“科普知识与现代科技”是高中新课程标准话题之一。该话题包括各领域最新科技知识、最新发明创造等方面。科技已经影响渗透到我们生活的方方面面，例如电视、电脑、手机、MP3、火箭、卫星、宇宙飞船……好多好多，几天几夜都说不完。总之生活离不开科技，科技在为生活服务。点点滴滴，时时事事，科技无处不在。
【高考探究】
“科普知识与现代科技”话题是历年高考英语的必考话题，主要题型为阅读理解，体裁一般为说明文，分值所占比重也比较高。
【典例剖析】
（2017年·新课标卷II）Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its new flying car has completed its first flight, bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle —named the Transition – has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. The Transition, which flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes last month, can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air. It flies using a 23-gallon tank of gas and burns 5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon.
Around 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sale, and those numbers will likely rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New York Auto Show. But don’t expect it to show up in too many driveways. It’s expected to cost $279,000.And it won’t help if you’re stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.
Inventors have been trying to make flying cars since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry expert. But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The government has already permitted the company to use special materials to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The Transition is now going through crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.
Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft, which are lower than those for pilots of larger planes. Terrafugia
says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition, a requirement pilots would find relatively easy to meet.
28. What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A. The basic data of the Transition.
B. The advantages of flying cars.
C. The potential market for flying cars.
C. The designers of the Transition.
29. Why is the Transition unlikely to show up in too many driveways?
A. It causers traffic jams.
B. It is difficult to operate.
C. It is very expensive.
D. It burns too much fuel.
30. What is the government’s attitude to the development of the flying car?
A. Cautious
B. Favorable.
C. Ambiguous.
D. Disapproving.
31. What is the best title for the text?
A. Flying Car at Auto Show
B. The Transition’s First Flight
C. Pilots’ Dream Coming True
D. Flying Car Closer to Reality
【话题解读】本文是一篇说明文。主要介绍了Terrafugia公司研制出了飞车，试飞成功，预计将于明年进行销售。本文主要对飞车的历史由来及其构架进行了介绍。
29.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据“But don’t expect it to show up in too many driveways. It’s expected to cost
$279,000”可知，因为Transition 的价格较高，所以不太可能在太多的马路上出现。故选C。
31.D 【解析】标题归纳题。浏览全文，主要从飞车的试飞成功、飞车的构架以及多年以前人们对飞车的
设想至今成为现实展开说明。故选D。
Passage 1（2018年新课标卷I）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
新旧电子设备的差别
363
★★★☆☆
7分钟
We may think we’re a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices (装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment – and our wallets – as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.
To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life – from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation. Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.
As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn’t throw out our old ones. “The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids’ room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house,” said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We’re not just keeping these old devices – we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt’s team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (排放) more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.
So what’s the solution (解决方案)? The team’s data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one fun_ction, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.
32. What does the author think of new devices?
A. They are environment-friendly.
B. They are no better than the old.
C. They cost more to use at home.
D. They go out of style quickly.
33. Why did Babbitt’s team conduct the research?
A. To reduce the cost of minerals.
B. To test the life cycle of a product.
C. To update consumers on new technology.
D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.
34. Which of the following uses the least energy?
A. The box-set TV. B. The tablet.
C. The LCD TV. D. The desktop computer.
35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?
A. Stop using them. B. Take them apart.
C. Upgrade them. D. Recycle them.
【文章大意】本文是一篇科普说明文。文章讲述了新旧电子设备的差别，旧电子设备耗能高、不环保。所以作者主张使用新电子设备。
33.D 【解析】细节理解题。 根据文章第二段中的To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life 可知，Babbitt’s team研究的目的是弄清楚这些设备用了多少电。故选D。
34.B 【解析】细节理解题。根据文章最后一段中的They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.可知，平板电脑是耗能最少的电子设备，可以降低44%的耗能。 故选B。
35.A 【解析】推理判断题。根据文章的整体内容可知，因为旧的电子设备耗能高，不环保。所以作者建议停止使用旧的电子设备。故选A。
Passage 2（2018年天津卷）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
3D打印技术在食物上的应用
383
★★★☆☆
7分钟
There’s a new frontier in 3D printing that’s beginning to come into focus: food. Recent development has made possible machines that print, cook, and serve foods on a mass scale. And the industry isn’t stopping there.
Food production
With a 3D printer, a cook can print complicated chocolate sculptures and beautiful pieces for decoration on a wedding cake. Not everybody can do that — it takes years of experience, but a printer makes it easy. A restaurant in Spain uses a Foodini to “re-create forms and pieces” of food that are “exactly the same,” freeing cooks to complete other tasks. In another restaurant, all of the dishes and desserts it serves are 3D-printed, rather than farm to table.
Sustainability(可持续性)
The global population is expected to grow to 9.6 billion by 2050, and some analysts estimate that food production will need to be raised by 50 percent to maintain current levels. Sustainability is becoming a necessity. 3D food printing could probably contribute to the solution. Some experts believe printers could use hydrocolloids (水解胶体) from plentiful renewables like algae(藻类) and grass to replace the familiar ingredients(烹饪原料). 3D printing can reduce fuel use and emissions. Grocery stores of the future might stock "food" that lasts years on end, freeing up shelf space and reducing transportation and storage requirements.
Nutrition
Future 3D food printers could make processed food healthier. Hod Lipson, a professor at Columbia University, said, “Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content, like vitamins. So instead of eating a piece of yesterday’s bread from the supermarket, you’d eat something baked just for you on demand.”
Challenges
Despite recent advancements in 3D food printing, the industry has many challenges to overcome. Currently, most ingredients must be changed to a paste(糊状物) before a printer can use them, and the printing process is quite time-consuming, because ingredients interact with each other in very complex ways. On top of that, most of the 3D food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad. Some experts are skeptical about 3D food printers, believing they are better suited for fast food restaurants than homes and high-end restaurants.
46. What benefit does 3D printing bring to food production?
A. It helps cooks to create new dishes.
B. It saves time and effort in cooking.
C. It improves the cooking conditions.
D. It contributes to restaurant decorations.
47. What can we learn about 3D food printing from Paragraphs 3?
A. It solves food shortages easily.
B. It quickens the transportation of food.
C. It needs no space for the storage of food.
D. It uses renewable materials as sources of food.
48. According to Paragraph 4, 3D-printed food _____________.
A. is more available to consumers
B. can meet individual nutritional needs
C. is more tasty than food in supermarkets
D. can keep all the nutrition in raw materials
49. What is the main factor that prevents 3D food printing from spreading widely?
A. The printing process is complicated.
B. 3D food printers are too expensive.
C. Food materials have to be dry.
D. Some experts doubt 3D food printing.
50. What could be the best title of the passage?
A. 3D Food Printing: Delicious New Technology
B. A New Way to Improve 3D Food Printing
C. The Challenges for 3D Food Production
D. 3D Food Printing: From Farm to Table
【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了3D打印技术在食物上的应用取得了进展，但目前仍面临着许多方面的挑战。
46.B 【解析】推理判断题。根据文章Food production中叙述了没有经验的人可以用3D打印机做出复杂的巧克力雕塑和美丽的婚礼蛋糕，以及餐厅能够用3D打印出所有的菜肴和甜点，从而可以推断出3D打印的优势是节省了做饭的时间和精力。故选B。
48.B 【解析】推理判断题。根据文章第四段Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content, like vitamins.（食品打印可以让消费者打印定制营养的食物），从而可以推断出3D打印出来的食物可以满足个人营养需求。故选B。
49.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据文章最后一段most of the 3D food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad.可知，阻止3D打印食物进一步广泛使用的原因是原料必须是干的，含水多的肉和牛奶不能应用于3D打印因为很容易坏。故选C。
50.A 【解析】主旨大意题。文章主要介绍了3D打印技术在食物上的应用取得了进展，但目前仍面临着许多方面的挑战。所以用标题3D Food Printing: Delicious New Technology，故选A。
Passage 3（2017·新课标卷I）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
制作简单易行的太阳能蒸馏器的方法
316
★★★☆☆
6分钟
A build-it-yourself solar still（蒸馏器） is one of the best ways to obtain drinking water in areas where the liquid is not readily available. Developed by two doctors in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it’s an excellent water collector. Unfortunately, you must carry the necessary equipment with you, since it’s all but impossible to find natural substitutes. The only components required, though, are a 5＇5＇ sheet of clear or slightly milky plastic, six feet of plastic tube, and a container — perhaps just a drinking cup — to catch the water. These pieces can be folded into a neat little pack and fastened on your belt.
To construct a working still, use a sharp stick or rock to dig a hole four feet across and three feet deep. Try to make the hole in a damp area to increase the water catcher’s productivity. Place your cup in the deepest part of the hole. Then lay the tube in place so that one end rests all the way in the cup and the rest of the line runs up — and out — the side of the hole.
Next, cover the hole with the plastic sheet, securing the edges of the plastic with dirt and weighting the sheet’s center down with a rock. The plastic should now form a cone(圆锥体) with 45-degree-angled sides. The low point of the sheet must be centered directly over, and no more than three inches above, the cup.
The solar still works by creating a greenhouse under the plastic. Ground water evaporates (蒸发) and collects on the sheet until small drops of water form, run down the material and fall off into the cup. When the container is full, you can suck the refreshment out through the tube, and won’t have to break down the still every time you need a drink.
32. What do we know about the solar still equipment from the first paragraph?
A. It’s delicate. B. It’s expensive.
C. It’s complex. D. It’s portable.
33. What does the underlined phrase “the water catcher” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A. The tube. B. The still.
C. The hole. D. The cup.
34. What’s the last step of constructing a working solar still?
A. Dig a hole of a certain size. B. Put the cup in place.
C. Weight the sheet’s center down. D. Cover the hole with the plastic sheet.
35. When a solar still works, drops of water come into the cup from .
A. the plastic tube B. outside the hole
C. the open air D. beneath the sheet
【话题解读】本文属于科普知识，主要介绍了一种自己可以亲手制作的简单易行的太阳能蒸馏器的方法，并介绍了它的工作原理。这种蒸馏器所需的材料简单，适用于任何缺水的地方。
33.B 【解析】词义猜测题。根据Try to make the hole in a damp area to increase the water catcher’s productivity可知最好在潮湿的地方挖洞，以提高接水器的工作效率。“接水器”指的是在潮湿的地方挖洞，在洞的底部放一个杯子，杯子上方用膜覆盖，整个装置构成接水器，而不是某个部分。这一题很容易错选D，但是就算在干燥的地方挖洞，杯子也可以接水，杯子接水的事实并不会因为周围环境的变化而变化，杯子的工作效率是不变的。故选B。
34.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据第三段Next, cover the hole with the plastic sheet, securing the edges of the plastic with dirt and weighting the sheet’s center down with a rock.可知最后一步是weighting the sheet’s center down with a rock(放一块石头在覆盖膜的中间，把它压下去)，故选C。
Passage 2（2017·北京卷）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
人工智能
466
★★★☆☆
8分钟
Hollywood’s theory that machines with evil(邪恶) minds will drive armies of killer robots is just silly. The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want. In 1960 a well-known mathematician Norbert Wiener, who founded the field of cybernetics（控制论）, put it this way: “If we use, to achieve our purposes, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot effectively interfere(干预), we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire.”
A machine with a specific purpose has another quality, one that we usually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence. For the machine, this quality is not in-born, nor is it something introduced by humans; it is a logical consequence of the simple fact that the machine cannot achieve its original purpose if it is dead. So if we send out a robot with the single instruction of fetching coffee, it will have a strong desire to secure success by disabling its own off switch or even killing anyone who might interfere with its task. If we are not careful, then, we could face a kind of global chess match against very determined, super intelligent machines whose objectives conflict with our own, with the real world as the chessboard.
The possibility of entering into and losing such a match should concentrate the minds of computer scientists. Some researchers argue that we can seal the machines inside a kind of firewall, using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world. Unfortunately, that plan seems unlikely to work: we have yet to invent a firewall that is secure against ordinary humans, let alone super intelligent machines.
Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible but not easy. There are probably decades in which to plan for the arrival of super intelligent machines. But the problem should not be dismissed out of hand, as it has been by some AI researchers. Some argue that humans and machines can coexist as long as they work in teams—yet that is not possible unless machines share the goals of humans. Others say we can just “switch them off” as if super intelligent machines are too stupid to think of that possibility. Still others think that super intelligent AI will never happen. On September 11, 1933, famous physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with confidence, “Anyone who expects a source of power in the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” However, on September 12, 1933, physicist Leo Szilard invented the neutron-induced(中子诱导) nuclear chain reaction.
67. Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that artificial intelligence may .
A. run out of human control
B. satisfy human’s real desires
C. command armies of killer robots
D. work faster than a mathematician
68. Machines with specific purposes are associated with living things partly because they might be able to .
A. prevent themselves from being destroyed
B. achieve their original goals independently
C. do anything successfully with given orders
D. beat humans in international chess matches
69. According to some researchers, we can use firewalls to .
A. help super intelligent machines work better
B. be secure against evil human beings
C. keep machines from being harmed
D. avoid robots’ affecting the world
70. What does the author think of the safety problem of super intelligent machines?
A. It will disappear with the development of AI.
B. It will get worse with human interference.
C. It will be solved but with difficulty.
D. It will stay for a decade.
【话题解读】本文属于主要介绍了人工智能及它给我们的生活带来的影响。
67.A 【解析】推理判断题。根据第一段The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want.可知人工智能可能会出现的真正问题是AI会非常擅长取得某个成就而不是我们真正想要的东西，也就是说AI可能会超出人的控制去做一些事情，故选A。
69.D 【解析】推理判断题。根据第三段using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world.可知可以用防火墙来回答那些困难的问题但是却永远不要让他们影响这个真正的现实世界，故选D。
70.C 【解析】推理判断题。根据最后一段Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible but not easy.可知作者认为解决人工智能机器的安全问题是可能的，但是并不容易，也就是很困难，故选C。
Passage 5（2017·天津卷）
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
自主驾驶车辆
348
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
This month, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, proposed the first set of rules for autonomous vehicles(自主驾驶车辆). They would define the driver’s role in such cars and govern how such cars perform in crashes where lives might be lost.
The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future.
Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always chooses property(财产) damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the driving wheel — to check email, say — the car’s maker is responsible if there is a crash.
“The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving,” says Dobrindt. It will put fully driverless cars on an equal legal footing to human drivers, he says.
Who is responsible for the operation of such vehicles is not clear among car makers, consumers and lawyers. “The liability(法律责任) issue is the biggest one of them all,” says Natasha Merat at the University of Leeds, UK.
An assumption behind UK insurance for driverless cars, introduced earlier this year, insists that a human “be watchful and monitoring the road” at every moment.
But that is not what many people have in mind when thinking of driverless cars. “When you say ‘driverless cars’, people expect driverless cars.” Merat says. “You know — no driver.”
Because of the confusion, Merat thinks some car makers will wait until vehicles can be fully automated without operation.
Driverless cars may end up being a form of public transport rather than vehicles you own, says Ryan Calo at Stanford University, California. That is happening in the UK and Singapore, where government-provided driverless vehicles are being launched.
That would go down poorly in the US, however. “The idea that the government would take over driverless cars and treat them as a public good would get absolutely nowhere here,” says Calo.
46. What does the phrase “death valley” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. A place where cars often break down.
B. A case where passing a law is impossible.
C. An area where no driving is permitted.
D. A situation where drivers’ role is not clear.
47. The proposal put forward by Dobrindt aims to __________.
A. stop people from breaking traffic rules
B. help promote fully automatic driving
C. protect drivers of all ages and races
D. prevent serious property damage
48. What do consumers think of the operation of driverless cars?
A. It should get the attention of insurance companies.
B. It should be the main concern of law makers.
C. It should not cause deadly traffic accidents.
D. It should involve no human responsibility.
49. Driverless vehicles in public transport see no bright future in _________.
A. Singapore B. the UK
C. the US D. Germany
50. What could be the best title for the passage?
A. Autonomous Driving: Whose Liability?
B. Fully Automatic Cars: A New Breakthrough
C. Autonomous Vehicles: Driver Removed!
D. Driverless Cars: Root of Road Accidents
【话题解读】这是一篇有关自主驾驶车辆的文章，介绍了德国交通部长的对于自主驾驶车辆的规章制度的一个提议，引出说明了位于科技前沿的无人驾驶的自动化车辆在英国、新加坡和美国的不同前景。
46.D 【解析】考查词义猜测。根据第二段的句子the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future可知选D。
47.B 【解析】考查推理判断。根据第二段内容The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles…可知选B。
50.A 【解析】考查标题归纳。通读全文可以知道，本文主要讲述了谁来对无人驾驶的机动车辆负责。故选A。
【名师点睛】这篇文章的内容和每个人的生活都密切相关，讲的是谁对新型交通工具——无人驾驶的全自动化的车辆负责，各国意见不一，学生应该有兴趣阅读。材料涉及科技前沿，文章篇幅适中，设题考查比较全面，除了理解细节题，还需要适当的推理，还有词义辨析类的题目，对学生的能力考查得比较全面。
Passage 6(2015·天津卷)
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
社会机器人的功能与作用
308
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.
While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.
The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.
Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.
Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company’s "Oshbot" robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.
The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. "We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us," said Breazeal.
1.How are social robots different from household robots?
A. They can control their emotions.
B. They are more like humans.
C. They do the normal housework.
D. They respond to users more slowly.
2.What can a Jibo robot do according to Paragraph 3?
A. Communicate with you and perform operations.
B. Answer your questions and make requests.
C. Take your family pictures and deliver milk.
D. Obey your orders and remind you to take pills.
3.What can Oshbot work as?
A.A language teacher. B.A tour guide.
C.A shop assistant. D.A private nurse.
4.We can learn from the last paragraph that social robots will _________.
A. train employees B.be our workmates
C. improve technologies D. take the place of workers
5.What does the passage mainly present?
A.A new design idea of household robots.
B. Marketing strategies for social robots.
C. Information on household robots.
D. An introduction to social robots.
【话题解读】文章主要介绍了社会机器人的功能与作用。
1.B 【解析】考查推理判断。根据第二段第一句可知，现在家务机器人做正常的家务，而社会机器人不仅仅是工具，更像是伙伴。由此可知社会机器人更像人类，故选B。
4.B 【解析】考查细节理解。最后一段提到社会机器人不是用来取代工人的，而是和其他员工一起工作，由此可知社会机器人将成为我们的同事，故B项正确。
5.D 【解析】考查主旨大意。本文主要介绍了社会机器人的情况，故D项符合题意。
Passage 1
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
量子旋转液体"的新发现
301
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
Researchers with the University of Cambridge say they have the first real evidence of a new state of matter, some 40 years after it was first theorized.
Known as "quantum spin liquid(量子旋转液体)", the matter states causes normally unbreakable electrons to break into pieces called "Majorana fermions". These fermions are an important discovery. Physicists believe the material is crucial to further developing quantum computing. Computers employed Majorana fermions would be able to carry out calculations beyond the scale of modern computers quickly, they say.
Quantum spin liquid explains some of the odd behaviors inside magnetic materials. In these materials, the electrons should behave like small bar magnets, all adjusting towards magnetic north when a material is cooled. But not all magnetic materials do this — if the material contains quantum spin liquid, the electrons don’t all line up and become involved.
"Until recently, we didn’t even know what the experimental fingerprints of quantum spin liquid would look like," researcher Dr. Dmitry Kovrizhin says. "That created a challenge for the researchers, so they decided to employ neutron(中子) scattering techniques to look for evidence of break." What they found surprised them. The features matched nearly exactly with quantum spin liquid models theorized by physicist Phil Anderson in 1973. The results of their breakthrough were then published in the scientific journal Nature Materials on Monday.
Don’t get too excited just yet on its applications, though. Kovrizhin’s work is only the beginning and as we’ve seen with quantum computing there is a lot of work to be done. But it’s still exciting regardless.
"It’s an important step for our understanding of quantum matter," Kovrizhin says. "It’s fun to have another new quantum state that we’ve never seen before — it presents us with new possibilities to try new things."
1.What can you learn about "Majorana fermions" according to Paragraph 2?
A. An important discovery 40 years ago.
B.A surprising theory raised by Phil Anderson.
C.A key material developing quantum computing.
D.A breakable electron.
2.How do the researchers make a breakthrough according to Paragraph 4?
A .By adjusting magnetic materials.
B. By employing neutron scattering techniques.
C. By repeating maths calculations.
D. By changing electronic structure.
3.What is the author’s tone about the future of quantum matter?
A. Pessimistic. B. Doubtful.
C. Indifferent. D. Optimistic.
4.Which is the best title of the passage?
A. The Discovery of a New State of Matter.
B. Computer’s Future.
C. Majorana Fermions.
D. An Important Breakthrough.
【文章大意】这是一篇说明文，主要介绍了一项名叫"量子旋转液体"的新发现。
1.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据第二段中的"...unbreakable electrons to break into pieces called ‘Majorana fermions’. These fermions are an important discovery. Physicists believe the material is crucial to further developing quantum computing"可知，Majorana fermions是一种发展量子计算的关键材料，故选C。
4.A 【解析】标题归纳题。该文主要介绍一项名叫"量子旋转液体"的新发现，B项"计算机的未来"只是该量子旋转液体应用的一个方面，概括片面；C "量子旋转液体"，该文虽然介绍了什么是量子旋转液体，但主要还是说明这项新发现的应用，故C 项不全面；D项 "一个重要突破"，没有点明该文介绍的重点。故选A。
Passage 2
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
电击前庭神经可以帮助人们减肥
300
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
A nerve-zapping(电击神经) headset caused people to get rid of fat in a small preliminary study. Six people who had received the stimulation(刺激) lost on average about 8 percent of the fat on their trunks in four months, scientists reported at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
The headset stimulated the vestibular nerve(前庭神经), which runs just behind the ears. That nerve sends signals to the hypothalamus, a brain structure thought to control the body’s fat storage. By stimulating the nerve with an electrical current, the technique shifts the body away from storing fat toward burning it.
Six overweight and obese people received the treatment, consisting of up to four one-hour-long sessions of stimulation a week. Because it activated the vestibular system, the stimulation created the sensation of gently rocking on a boat or floating in a pool, said the study’s co-author Jason McKeown of the University of California, San Diego.
After four months, body scans measured the trunk fat for the six people receiving the treatment and three people who received unreal stimulation. All six in the treatment group lost some trunk fat, despite not having changed their activity or diet. In contrast, those in the unreal group gained some fat. Researchers suspect that changes in the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within human cells are behind the difference. "The results were a lot better than we thought they’d be," McKeown said.
Earlier studies found that vestibular nerve stimulation causes mice to drop fat and pack on muscle, resulting in what McKeown called Schwarzenegger mice. Though small, the current study suggests that the approach has promise in people. McKeown and his colleagues have started a company based on the technology and plan to test it further.
1.What is an electrical current used for?
A. Causing the body to burn its fat.
B. Controlling the body’s storage of fat.
C. Seeing if the headset will be affected.
D. Speeding the process of one’s digesting.
2.What’s the probable reason for the different results in participants?
A. The length of stimulation they received.
B. The type of stimulation they received.
C. The difference in their vestibular system.
D. The way chemicals process in their body.
3.Which is true about McKeown’s current findings?
A. They have a kind of practical value.
B. They go against those of earlier tests on mice.
C. They were widely recognized at the meeting.
D. They have been tested by McKeown’s company.
【文章大意】本文是说明文。研究发现电击前庭神经可以帮助人们减肥。
2.D 【解析】考查细节理解。根据第四段中的"Researchers suspect that changes in the set of life-sustaining chemical transformations within human cells are behind the difference"可知,研究者认为，实验结果之所以会在参与实验的两组人身上有所不同是因为他们在新陈代谢上存在差异。故选D项。
3.A 【解析】考查推理判断。根据最后一段中的"Though small, the current study suggests that the approach has promise in people. McKeown and his colleagues have started a company based on the technology and plan to test it further"可知，McKeown的发现是有一定的实用价值的。
Passage 3
体裁
话题
词数
难度
建议时间
说明文
对电影真实反应的试映技术
341
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
We all know the hard work that filmmakers and actors put in to provide us with entertainment, but it seems that even regular moviegoers like us have a big impact on how a movie turns out too. For decades now, film studios have used so-called test screenings to get feedback from members of the public before a movie comes out. While test audience members are usually asked to fill in a questionnaire after a screening, telling the film studio what they liked and didn’t like, media giant Disney has come up with a more high-tech solution.
According to a paper published this summer by the company’s researchers, Disney is measuring test audiences’ reactions by using special cameras placed inside cinemas. Pairing the cameras with custom software, the company can track what each audience member is feeling at any point in the movie, from anger to joy. This works by mapping 68 different points on each audience member’s face. The cameras can see in the dark, and the software can figure out a person’s mood based on the slightest of facial expressions.
It’s hoped that this new method will allow more detailed feedback from test audiences. Rather than relying on audience members to recall their feelings after the movie’s over, it can accurately read their reactions in real-time.
Test screenings are highly valued in the movie industry, and several well-known movies have been greatly altered following feedback. Viewers of E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), would have left the cinema feeling a whole lot differently if it weren’t for its test audience’s feedback. “In one cut of the film that was tested, E.T. died instead of going home in his spaceship. You won’t be surprised to hear that the test audience in question didn’t warm to this ending at all,” wrote media website Den of Geek.
But for those who are concerned about privacy, the cameras won’t be installed in public cinemas. After all, unless you’re part of a test audience, being in front of the camera is best left to the movie stars.
1.Why are test screenings necessary?
A. To amuse us. B. To influence a movie.
C. To get reactions of the audience. D. To spy on the audience.
2.How does the high-tech method work?
A. Audiences recall their detailed feelings.
B. The cameras can read accurate feedback from the audience.
C. The company can track each audience member.
D. The company are measuring audience’s reactions.
3.What do we know about E.T?
A. It doesn’t warm the audience.
B. It altered audience’s feedback.
C. The original ending is different.
D. E T died in his spaceship.
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A. People worry about privacy.
B. The cameras won’t be put in public cinemas.
C. The technology of test screenings is reliable.
D. You can be in front of the camera.
【话题解读】本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍了可以获得观众对电影的真实反应的试映技术。
1.C 【解析】细节理解题。根据第一段中的“film studios have used so-called test screenings to get feedback from members of the public before a movie comes out.”可知，试映是为了获得观众对电影的反应。
4.B 【解析】推理判断题。根据最后一段中的“But for those who are concerned about privacy, the cameras won’t be installed in public cinemas.”可知，摄像头不会安装在公共影院内。
Passage 4
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Glass of Venice玻璃厂
310
★★☆☆☆
6分钟
Welcome to Glass of Venice, the number one importer and retailer of authentic Murano Glass in the US and one of the top names among Murano Glass retailers worldwide. We work directly with artisans (工匠) from Murano, Italy to bring you the unique centuries old art rooted in tradition and skill. Every item is handcrafted with passion using ancient techniques that made Murano glassmakers world-famous since the 8th century. Now you needn’t make a trip to Murano to own an authentic piece of art as beautiful as Venice itself.
At the time of mass-produced products that carry no special meaning, Murano Glass gives you an opportunity to express your individuality. Every piece is unique.
Murano Glass is 100% handcrafted in Venice. Be a part of the centuries-old Venetian tradition!
A piece of the artisan’s heart and soul is captured in every Murano Glass creation. Crafting Murano Glass jewelry, vases, sculptures and other functional and decorative pieces is a complicated process from silica, minerals, water, and fire. Venetian artisans create masterpieces. The techniques they use are centuries old, and artisans have been trained for many years in their fathers’ and grandfathers, workshops before they can attain a revered status of the true master of the craft.
Murano Glass masters are not just artisans; they are artists. Ever since Murano glassmakers guild (公会) was established on this Venetian island in 1291, they have been innovating, seeking new methods of creating glass, and pushing forward to express new philosophies and artistic visions through glass. This made Murano Glass get its own art form, and it has been recognized at international expositions and top art museums and galleries worldwide. Today the famous glass masters working on Murano Island are first and foremost artists, and Glass of Venice is proud to offer artistic masterpieces from top Murano glass workshops.
1.What can be inferred about Murano Glass?
A. It is made by using modern machines.
B. Every piece is made in the US.
C. Every piece has a special style.
D. It was designed in the 8th century.
2.The underlined word “revered” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to “________”.
A. considerate B. relieved
C. complex D. respected
3.What were Murano Glass masters devoted to doing according to the text?
A. Exploring ways to develop the creation of glass.
B. Exporting Murano Glass to many foreign countries.
C. Building art museums to show the beauty of Murano Glass.
D. Creating a special art form to express their philosophies of life.
4.What is the author’s attitude to Murano Glass masters’ works?
A. Critical. B. Admirable.
C. Cautious. D. Aggressive.
【话题解读】文章介绍了Glass of Venice玻璃厂的发展历史以及制作工艺。
3.A 【解析】细节理解题。根据文章最后一段中“they have been innovating, seeking new methods of creating glass, and pushing forward to express new philosophies and artistic visions through glass.”可知，这些大师们一直致力于发明，开发创作玻璃的新方法。故选A。
4.B 【解析】观点态度题。根据文章最后一段中“and Glass of Venice is proud to offer artistic masterpieces from top Murano glass workshops.”可知，Glass of Venice以这些大师的作品骄傲。故选B。
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