1、Unit 2课时跟踪检测（一） Warming Up & Reading Pre-reading阅读理解ASchools out. Its been a long day, so you head home to relax. Youre greeted by a friend whos happy to see you, listens to you talk about recess, tells you a new joke, helps you put away your school stuff (东西), and reminds you to text your cousin ha
2、ppy birthday. And thats before he helps you with your homework. This is your future, and it all starts with a kneehigh robot called NAO (pronounced NOW). It kind of looks like you, walks and dances, listens and talks, and even learns and thinks for itself. Its creators predict that the stateoftheart
3、 robot could be a companion at home by the year 2040.This $16,000 robot recognizes human facial features, so it knows who you are. NAO can even express emotions. It represents the new generation of “autonomous” or selfguided robots. These robots can sense, think, and act. Other robots might do two o
4、ut of the three. For example, a robot might sense things using cameras and think using computers, but with no arms, wheels, or claws, it cant act. Other robots can move and sense things, but cant think for themselves. These arent selfguided robots. But NAO can do it all.“You can program your compute
5、r to give NAO what could be called personality，” says Natanel Dukan of Aldebaran Robotics, the French company that built NAO. The robot has cute, childlike features a high voice, small body, big eyes, and a large head.“There are things that are known to have an emotional appeal to people，” robot exp
6、ert Dan Kara says，“NAOs friendly design helps in one of NAOs main functions to teach people how useful personal robots can be. Someday it may help you pass a test！”语篇解读：本文是说明文。文章主要介绍了一款新型的机器人。1What do we know about NAO from the first two paragraphs?AIt is as tall as humans.BIt is highly intelligent.
7、CIt is widely used in schools now.DIt is designed to help with the housework.解析：选B推理判断题。根据第一段中的“Youre greeted by a friend . before he helps you with your homework”及第二段中的“It kind of looks like you, walks and dances, listens and talks, and even learns and thinks for itself”可知，这是一款智能化程度很高的机器人。2The auth
8、or develops the third paragraph mainly _.Aby cause and effectBby order in timeCby comparison Dby process解析：选C写作手法题。根据第三段中的“These robots”， “Other robots”可知，本段主要是把新型机器人与以往的机器人作比较，故选C项。3According to Dan Kara, NAO is_.Asilent BlowcostClightweight Duserfriendly解析：选D推理判断题。根据末段中的“have an emotional appeal t
9、o people”及“NAOs friendly design”可知，这款机器人设计得很人性化。4The main purpose of the text is to_.Aask people to buy the robotBintroduce a new kind of robotCdo an experiment about robotsDcompare different kinds of robots解析：选B写作意图题。文章主要介绍了一款新型的机器人，故选B项。BHollywoods theory that machines with evil (邪恶) minds will dr
10、ive 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 wellknown mathematician Norbert Wiener, who founded the field of cybernetics (控制论), put it
11、 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 u
12、sually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence.For the machine, this quality is not inborn, 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
13、 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
14、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 dif
15、ficult 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 po
16、ssible 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 possi
17、ble 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 co
18、nfidence, “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 neutroninduced (中子诱导的) nuclear chain reaction.语篇解读：本文主要介绍了人工智能给我们的生活带来的影响。5Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that artificial intell
19、igence may _.Arun out of human controlBsatisfy humans real desiresCcommand armies of killer robotsDwork faster than a mathematician解析：选A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
20、want.”可知AI可能会超出人的控制去做一些事情，故选A。6Machines with specific purposes are associated with living things partly because they might be able to _.Aprevent themselves from being destroyedBachieve their original goals independentlyCdo anything successfully with given ordersDbeat humans in international chess ma
21、tches解析：选A推理判断题。根据第二段第一句“A machine with a specific purpose has another quality, one that we usually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence.”可知，原因是它们要保护自己不被破坏，继续存在下去，故选A。7According to some researchers, we can use firewalls to _.Ahelp super intelligent machines work betterB
22、be secure against evil human beingsCkeep machines from being harmedDavoid robots affecting the world解析：选D推理判断题。根据第三段中“using them to answer .real world”可知可以用防火墙来解决那些困难的问题但是却永远不让它们影响这个真正的现实世界。故选D。8What does the author think of the safety problem of super intelligent machines?AIt will disappear with th
23、e development of AI.BIt will get worse with human interference.CIt will be solved but with difficulty.DIt will stay for a decade.解析：选C推理判断题。根据最后一段中“Solving the safety problem . 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，也就是有困难。故选C。CThe Production Department can be a fun place to work in a TV statio
24、n. It can also be quite stressful if the station broadcasts a significant amount of interesting positions in this department. Here is a list of the core ones：The Production Manager heads the department, and is the person to contact if you are interested in working in this area. He or she oversees al
25、l activities in the studios, hires and fires workers, meets with customers who want to produce an advertisement, and monitors expense budgets for the department. The person in this position may also sometimes act as a Director, Producer, Camera Operator, or any other role in which they are proficien
26、t.Directors lead the crew during a production session. Over a headset, the Director tells Camera Operators what shots to get and the Technical Director (TD) what audio and video to put on the air. Directors work closely with the Producer of each program, ensuring that the final product meets with th
27、e Producers demands.A Technical Director is a master at “punching” up the correct video source. In other words, if the Director calls for camera one, the Technical Director puts camera one on the air. The TD sits in front of a massive board called a “switcher” during production sessions, which allow
28、s him or her to literally switch between video sources. Since this can be a highpressure, fastmoving job, the best Technical Directors are people who can stay eventempered and in control.The Stage Manager is responsible for everything that goes on in the television studio. This person makes sure all
29、 of the equipment is in good working order, oversees the building and placement of all staging, and may even set the lighting for all productions. Really efficient Stage Managers take pride in their studios, and it would not be unusual to see this person sweeping the floor or cleaning the sets betwe
30、en productions. This is a leadership position, which often leads to promotion to the position of Production Manager.语篇解读：本文介绍了电视台制作部的几个工作岗位。9According to the writer, working in the Production Department _.Ais an interesting experienceBis always very stressfulCneeds much professional knowledgeDis the
31、 best choice to work in a TV station解析：选A细节理解题。从第一段的“The Production Department can be a fun place to work in a TV station. It can also be quite stressful if .”可知答案。10The Production Manager _.Aseldom takes part in producing programsBis also called “Producer”Cusually trains new workers in personDis re
32、sponsible to deal with advertisers解析：选D细节理解题。根据第二段的“He or she oversees all activities in the studios . meets with customers who want to produce an advertisement”可知D项正确。11The Stage Manager _.Ais a poorlypaid jobBmainly cleans the studioCis a good positionDoften meets the Production Manager解析：选C推理判断题。
33、从最后一段的“This is a leadership position, which often leads to promotion to the position of Production Manager.”可知C项正确。12The passage was written mainly to _.Ashow how the TV station worksBattracts advertisers for a TV stationCpersuade people to learn to be a directorDintroduce jobs in the Production Department解析：选D写作意图题。文章的主要目的是介绍电视台制作部的几个工作岗位。
