1 . Elizabeth Spelke, a cognitive (认知的) psychologist at Harvard, has spent her career testing the world's most complex learning system-the mind of a baby. Babies might seem like no match for artificial intelligence (AI). They are terrible at labeling images, hopeless at mining text, and awful at video games. Then again, babies can do things beyond the reach of any AI. By just a few months old, they’ve begun to grasp the foundations of language, such as grammar. They’ve started to understand how to adapt to unfamiliar situations.
Yet even experts like Spelke don’t understand precisely how babies — or adults, for that matter — learn. That gap points to a puzzle at the heart of modern artificial intelligence: We're not sure what to aim for.
Consider one of the most impressive examples of AI, Alpha Zero, a programme that plays board games with superhuman skill. After playing thousands of games against itself at a super speed, and learning from winning positions, Alpha Zero independently discovered several famous chess strategies and even invented new ones. It certainly seems like a machine eclipsing human cognitive abilities. But Alpha Zero needs to play millions more games than a person during practice to learn a game. Most importantly, it cannot take what it has learned from the game and apply it to another area.
To some AI experts, that calls for a new approach. In a November research paper, Francois Chollet, a well-known AI engineer, argued that it’s misguided to measure machine intelligence just according to its skills at specific tasks. “Humans don’t start out with skills; they start out with a broad ability to acquire new skills,” he says. “What a strong human chess player is demonstrating is not only the ability to play chess, but the potential to fulfill any task of a similar difficulty.” Chollet posed a set of problems, each of which requires an AI programme to arrange colored squares on a grid (格栅) based on just a few prior examples. It’s not hard for a person. But modern machine-learning programmes-trained on huge amounts of data — cannot learn from so few examples.
Josh Tenenbaum, a professor in MIT's Center for Brains, Minds & Machines, works closely with Spelke and uses insights from cognitive science as inspiration for his programmes. He says much of modern AI misses the bigger picture, comparing it to a cartoon about a two-dimensional world populated by simple geometrical (几何形的) people. AI programmes will need to learn in new ways — for example, by drawing causal inferences rather than simply finding patterns. “At some point — you know, if you’re intelligent — you realize maybe there's something else out there,” he says.
1. Compared to an advanced AI programme, a baby might be better at _______________.| A．labeling images | B．identifying locations |
| C．playing games | D．making adjustments |
| A．Stimulating. | B．Measuring. | C．Beating. | D．Limiting. |
| A．AI is good at finding similar patterns |
| B．AI should gain abilities with less training |
| C．AI lacks the ability of generalizing a skill |
| D．AI will match humans in cognitive ability |
| A．What is exactly intelligence? |
| B．Why is modern AI advanced? |
| C．Where is human intelligence going? |
| D．How do humans tackle the challenge of AI? |
2 . Chinese scientists have created the world’s first light-based quantum（量子）computer named Jiuzhang. It is a milestone in which a quantum machine can solve a problem no classical supercomputer can tackle within a reasonable amount of time.
Experts recognized the Chinese machine as a “state-of-the-art experiment” Fabio Sciarrino, a quantum physicist at Sapienza University of Rome, told Science News that his first impression of the Chinese quantum computer was, simply, “wow”. Anton Zeilinger, noted quantum physicist and president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, said that, following this experiment, he predicts there is a very good chance that quantum computers may be used very broadly someday.
Quantum computers stand out at running simulations that are impossible for conventional computers. Quantum machines can take computational shortcuts when simulating extremely complex situations, while conventional computers have to force their way to a solution, taking significantly more time in the process. Moreover, it can perform an extreme calculation, called Gaussian boson sampling（高斯玻色取样）, in 200 seconds. The same task would take the world’s fastest classical supercomputer, Fugaku, around 600 million years.
Pan Jianwei, who is recognized as China’s top quantum scientist and one of the key researchers behind Jiuzhang, said the calculations they carried out can not only showcase the machine’s computing power but also demonstrate potential practical applications in machine learning and quantum chemistry.
“Quantum computing has already become a fierce competition area among the United States, Europe and other developed regions,” Pan said, adding that China’s quantum computational advantage took about 7 to 10 years to achieve, since the team first decided to tackle the problem around 2013.
However, Pan stressed that the quantum computer is a highly specialized machine, and is currently only programmed to do boson sampling. “It is not a general-purpose quantum computer,” he said. In the near future, scientists may increase Jiuzhang’s possible output states—a key indicator of computing power—from 10 to the 30th power to 10 to the 40th power.
1. What is the Anton Zeilinger’s attitude towards quantum computer?| A．Negative. | B．Optimistic. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．By making contrasts. | B．By presenting reasons. |
| C．By analyzing figures. | D．By conducting experiments. |
| A．Capacity. | B．Programme. |
| C．Storage. | D．Specialization. |
| A．High recognition of Chinese experts in the world. |
| B．Fierce competition in Boson sampling all over the world. |
| C．Appearance of the world’s first light-based quantum computer. |
| D．Distinctions between quantum computer and conventional computer. |
3 . As is known, honesty is a virtue. It is admired in every culture. It means telling the truth and being fair and upright. So, is it necessary to be honest all the time? Could upping one's personal honesty light up a pleasure center in his own brain?
My 6-year-old daughter said that telling the truth made her feel "gold in her brain". Once she asked me if the cat really went to sleep last year, or if that actually meant that I had killed him. I sighed, wondering if I should wait to start this honesty project until my child grew up. But I braved it and told her, "Yes, I had made the choice for him, because he was suffering and I wanted him to be comfortable." It struck me that the choice to lie or be honest was often a choice between two equally undesirable things. Telling my daughter the truth did not make me happier, but lying would not either.
There was another scene. When a client accidentally paid me twice as much money for a project—sending a $1,000 check a week after he'd paid me—there was no internal debate. It was $1,000, so obviously, I notified the client. But when the McDonald's cashier gave me an extra dollar in change and the line had been so long and all I wanted was a Diet Coke and my kids were acting crazily in the back seat, it was a different story. Even though I gave the dollar back, I almost didn't, because an extra dollar was such a small thing and seemed somehow justified. Had I not focused on honesty, I would not have given it back.
When people were more honest, they also tended to feel better about their relationships and social interactions, the researchers found. This rang true to me, mostly because I felt better about myself. And focusing on honesty helped me feel that I was doing my part. It might even make me feel as if I had gold in my brain.
1. What's the function of the two questions in Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic of honesty. |
| B．To help develop readers' good quality. |
| C．To remind readers to mind their manners. |
| D．To teach everyone not to lie but be honest. |
| A．Guilty. | B．Confused. |
| C．Regretful. | D．Shamed. |
| A．Honesty doesn't lie in small instances. |
| B．Honesty is measured by the amount of money. |
| C．He struggled more with the small instances of honesty. |
| D．He experienced some different incidents about honesty. |
| A．A white lie can be helpful. |
| B．Honesty makes people better off. |
| C．It is essential to be honest in daily life. |
| D．One should be honest in small things. |
4 . Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago in IIIionois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers.
Sian Beilock:"They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry , it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about it as your cognitive (认知) horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
Sian Beilock:" What we think happens is when students put it down on paper, they think about the worst that could happen and they reassess the situation. They might realize it's not as had as they might think it was before and, in essence, it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they're actually taking a test."
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.
Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.
Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+,compared to a B- for those who did not.
Sian Beilock :" What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who'd done our writing intervention(干预), all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don't normally get nervous in these testing situations."
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before and exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
1. What will happen to test-takers worrying too much before an exam?| A．No entry into the college. | B．More concentration on the exam. |
| C．An undesirable outcome of the exam. | D．Weak awareness of the exam. |
| A．Making adjustments to the exam. | B．Listing their fears about the exam. |
| C．Sitting doing nothing before an exam. | D．Getting pressed by tho examiners. |
| A．How to look at test anxiety. |
| B．How to reduce concern about the results. |
| C．How to contact anxiety with performance. |
| D．How to cope with anxiety before a big event. |
5 . Skeptics are strange a lot. Some of them refuse to admit the serious threat of human activities to the environment and they are tired of people who disagree with them. Those people, say skeptics, spread nothing but bad news about the environment. The "eco-guilt" brought on by the discouraging news about our planet gives rise to the popularity of skeptics as people search for more comforting worldviews.
Perhaps that explains why a new book by Bjorn Lomborg received so much publicity. That book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, declares that it measures the "real state of the world" as fine. Of course, another explanation is the deep pockets of some big businesses with special interests. Indeed, Mr. Lomborg's views are similar to those of some industry-funded organizations, which start huge activities through the media to confuse the public about issues like global warming.
So it was strange to see Mr. Lomborg's book go largely unchallenged in the media though his beliefs were contrary to most scientific opinions. One national newspaper in Canada ran a number of articles and reviews full of words of praise, even with the conclusion that "After Lomborg, the environmental movement will begin to die down."
Such one-sided views should have immediately been challenged. But only a different review appeared in Nature, a respected science magazine with specific readership. The review remarked that Mr. Lomborg's "preference for unexamined materials is incredible".
A critical eye is valuable, and the media should present information in such a way that could allow people to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, that is often inaccessible as blocked by the desire to be shocking or to defend some special interest. People might become half-blind before a world partially exhibited by the media. That's a shame, because matters concerning the health of the planet are far too important to be treated lightly.
1. According to the passage, which of the following may be regarded as "skeptics"?| A．People who agree on the popularity of "eco-guilt". |
| B．People who dislike the harmful effect of human activities. |
| C．People who disbelieve the serious situation of our planet. |
| D．People who spread comforting news to protect our environment. |
| A．The book challenges views about the fine state of the world. |
| B．Some big businesses intend to protect their own interests. |
| C．The author convinces people to speak comforting worldviews. |
| D．Industry–funded media present confusing information. |
| A．find fault with Lomborg's book |
| B．voice a different opinion |
| C．challenge the authority of the media |
| D．point out the value of scientific views |
| A．To show the importance of presenting overall information by the media. |
| B．To warn the public of the danger of half–blindness with reviews. |
| C．To blame the media's lack of responsibility in information. |
| D．To encourage the skeptics to have a critical eye. |
6 . Boston wants to be smarter. The city has taken advantage of technologies to become more responsive to its residents' needs. But technology alone is not sufficient to make today's cities liveable. Boston has discovered that it also needs to reach the old-fashioned low-tech community and integrate that technology with city life.
Kris Carter rolled out Boston's smart city program in 2014. It started with an App that residents could download to report locations where sidewalks needed repair. The city sorted out those reports and ranked them in a database, which repair crews used to prioritize their work.
The system worked beautifully, except for one problem: most of the alerts(警报) came from wealthier neighborhoods, where the concentration of smartphone - equipped residents was highest. ＂The complaints from the App didn't always correlate with the greatest community need for repairs, " explains Carter.
Carter's group has moved away from the model common to many smart city initiatives of letting tech-savvy(精通技术的）residents drive the process. Instead, they run meetings to find out what problems people in different neighborhoods care about solving. When it came to sidewalks, Boston introduced a second method of collecting repair tips, hiring people to get out and walk the city's 1,700 miles of sidewalks to take notes on their condition.
Whether using low-tech or high-tech approaches, says Carter, to stay smart, a city needs to continually reassess its options to spot opportunities to improve residents' lives. Take the sidewalk repair program, walking on the streets was proved a useful, if inefficient way to prioritize repair needs. But last year the group found that walkers' mobile phones could be tracked as they moved along the streets, and that data could be analyzed to identify sidewalk routes which are most often used by neighborhoods.
“Combined with our other sidewalk information, that gave us an even better way to predict where faster repairs would do the most good," says Carter,"We're really always looking for whatever mix of approaches best solves the problem."
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The citizens' life. | B．The city's reputation. |
| C．The city's management. | D．The benefits of technology. |
| A．They faced many technical obstacles. |
| B．They couldn't serve all residents well. |
| C．They were not supported by residents. |
| D．They were annoyed by being short-staffed. |
| A．Maximizing the benefits of technology. |
| B．Mixing approaches for solving problems. |
| C．Giving full play to the power of residents. |
| D．Letting tech companies be a leading role. |
| A．A Smart City: More Than Just Tech |
| B．A City with Intelligent Facilities |
| C．Joint-effort in City Construction |
| D．The Modernization of a City |
7 . Scientists have not found any signs of life on Mars yet,but they say a robotic vehicle called “Curiosity” is helping them learn a lot about the planet’s history and climate.
Curiosity landed on Mars in August 2012 after travelling through space for more than eight months.It was sent to Mars by scientists from NASA in the United States.
Curiosity is about the size of a car and has six wheels.It also has a robotic arm,cameras,and instruments that allow it to examine things it finds on the surface.Then it sends the information back to the earth.
Curiosity’s main task is to find out if anything could live on Mars,either now or in the past.On Nov.2,NASA scientists held a press conference (新闻发布会) to discuss what Curiosity had found in its first two months on Mars.
Curiosity has found soil that is similar to the sand formed by volcanoes (火山) on the earth.Scientists say that studying the minerals in Martian soil will help them understand what conditions were like on the planet in the past.Curiosity also found smooth stones like the ones found on river beds and seashores on the earth,where their rough edges have been worn down by water.Mars is very cold and dry now,but scientists say the smooth stones tell them that a river used to run through the place where they were found.
Curiosity has been testing the atmosphere around Mars for a type of gas called methane (甲烷),but so far it has not found any.On the earth,most methane is produced by plants or animals.Methane on Mars might indicate that some type of tiny plants or animals lived there.
Curiosity is the fourth robotic vehicle to be sent to Mars.It will continue to explore the planet for about two years.
1. Which of the following descriptions about Curiosity is TRUE?| A．It landed on Mars in January 2012. |
| B．It is small in size and has four arms. |
| C．It took over eight months to arrive in Mars. |
| D．It was sent to Mars by scientists from Russia. |
| A．there’s no air on Mars | B．Mars is warm and wet now |
| C．the soil on Mars is rich | D．there used to be water on Mars |
| A．smooth stones | B．rivers |
| C．robotic vehicles | D．volcanoes |
| A．some tiny animals once lived on Mars |
| B．there are no plants or animals on Mars now |
| C．the atmosphere around Mars is full of methane |
| D．Curiosity is designed to test the atmosphere around the earth |
| A．Humans benefit a lot by going to Mars. |
| B．Scientists will stop the research on Mars soon. |
| C．It is possible to build an earth-like environment on Mars. |
| D．A robotic vehicle helps scientists get useful information from Mars. |
8 . Whether it's Chinese social media like Sina Weibo, or Western media like Instagram an Facebook, videos can go viral in mere hours.
The wide range of viral videos suggests that popular concepts are largely random. After all, what links the recent broom challenge to funny internet cat videos?
According to scientists from Stanford University, US, the popularity of a video can be predicted by looking at how certain areas of a person's brain react within the first few seconds of a video. This method has been called neuroforecasting（神经预测）.
The team made the finding by recruiting（招募）36 volunteers to watch a range of videos while being scanned with an FMRI—a machine that can monitor the changes in blood oxygen and flow.
Participants were shown 32 different videos and were monitored according to their brain responses in four different areas. The results showed that specific brain activity during the first four seconds of a video could effectively predict a person's thoughts on a video and whether they would keep watching.
Using the FMRI results, the Stanford team consistently saw increased activity in the nucleus accumbens（伏核）and decreased activity in the anterior insula（前脑岛）parts of the brain while the participants were watching the most popular of the 32-vidco selection.
According to the study, these two brain regions are related to the feeling of expectation we get when we're not certain of something's outcome.
Stanford neuroscientist（神经学家）and the study's author Brian Knutson said: "If we examine our subjects' choices to watch the video or even their reported responses to the videos, they don't tell us about the general response online ... Only brain activity seems to forecast a video's popularity on the internet.”
He added, “Future research might also systematically analyze the video content, so content creators can use these findings to make their videos more popular.”
In the future, the team aims to use this type of FMRI experiment to understand "whether processes that generate individual choice can tell us something about choices made by large groups of people”. According to Knutson, this could apply to shopping trends, charity support and general money-spending.
1. What did scientists from Stanford University find?| A．There are differences between viral videos in different cultures. |
| B．People's reported response can predict the popularity of a video. |
| C．There are links between viral videos under different subjects. |
| D．Viewers' initial brain activity can forecast the popularity of a video. |
| A．All four areas monitored displayed increased activity. |
| B．One area got more active while another became less active. |
| C．Areas related to the feeling of uncertainty got more active. |
| D．The activity of areas related to the feeling of expectation increased. |
| A．The participants' choices to watch the videos help them make the finding. |
| B．How long the subjects watched the videos also mattered to their conclusion. |
| C．Our brain activity can show something we ourselves don't realize. |
| D．When the video was beyond the viewers‘ expectation, it is generally popular. |
| A．Exploring the link between individual and general choices. |
| B．Interviewing content creators how they make videos. |
| C．Discouraging more charity organizations. |
| D．Applying their findings to arresting criminals. |
9 . The concept of ownership comes so easily to humans that even preschoolers have got it. Robots, on the other hand, often struggle to grasp such abstract concepts. Now a well-mannered robot that can make it has been programmed.
“Teaching robots ownership-related etiquette (礼仪) is really, really worthwhile,” says Matthias Scheutz, a computer scientist at Tufts University. "We can't just send out robots who are unaware of who owns what... If I instruct a robot to ‘build a fence’, and it goes to the neighbor’s and starts ‘stealing’ boards, that's not what we have in mind.”
The new socially conscious robot can learn who owns what from clear statements as well as its own observations. The robot learns its code of conduct (行为准则) from direct orders and generalizing from specific examples. For instance, if the robot is told not to touch several objects that it knows belong to specific people, the robot will deduce that, as a general rule, it shouldn’t touch owned objects.
Artificial intelligence (AI) expert Xuan Tan and colleagues at Yale found out how the robot reacts in experiments with blocks on a table. In one session, Tan played with only the red blocks, leading the robot to infer that these blocks belonged to the same person. When Tan instructed the robot to throw away everything on the table and the machine reached for a red block, Tan stopped the robot, saying, “That's mine.” Now aware that it should not throw Tan’s belongings, and assuming that the rest of the red blocks belonged to Tan as well, the robot cleared the table of everything but red blocks.
Later, when Tan's colleague Jake Brawer directed the robot to throw out a red block, the robot replied, "Sorry, I'm forbidden to throw it away if it's owned by Tan.” Though robots may have more difficulty understanding who owns what in situations filled with far more objects of much wider variety than blocks on a table. Scheutz called it a good "first attempt” at equipping robots with an appreciation of ownership.
1. What does the second paragraph focus on?| A．The way of teaching robots ownership. | B．The basics of the human-robot relationship. |
| C．The benefit of robots learning ownership. | D．The importance of robots learning code of conduct. |
| A．Conclude. | B．Admit. | C．Agree. | D．Doubt. |
| A．To train the robot. | B．To predict the robot’s move. |
| C．To test the robot's behavior. | D．To study the preference. |
| A．The robot knows how to obey. | B．The robot can learn who owns what. |
| C．The robot follows no wrong orders. | D．The robot can solve complex situations. |
10 . Recently I read Nineteen Eighty-Four, a novel by George Orwell set in a state where even the language they use is controlled. Adjectives are forbidden and instead they use phrases such as ‘ungood’, ‘plus good’ and ‘double plus good’ to express emotions. As I first read this I thought how impossible it would be in our society to have such vocabulary. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised in its own way it’s already happening. I type messages to my friends and alongside each is the emoji. I often use them to emphasise something, or to not seem too serious, or because this specific GIF conveys my emotions much better than I ever could using just words. And I wonder, with our excessive use of emojis, are we losing the beauty and diversity of our vocabulary?
English has the largest vocabulary in the world, with over one million words, but who’s to say what it’ll be like in the future? Perhaps we will have a shorter language, full of saying ‘cry face’ if something sad happens or using abbreviations (缩写) like LOL (laugh out loud) or BRB (be right back) instead of saying the full phrase. So does this mean our vocabulary will shrink? Is it the start of an exciting new era? Will they look back on us in the future and say this is where it all began – the new language? Or is this a classic case of the older generations saying, ‘Things weren’t like that when I was younger. We didn’t use emoticons to show our emotions’?
Yet when you look back over time, the power of image has always been there. Even in the prehistoric era they used imagery to communicate, and what’s even more incredible is that we are able to analyse those drawings and understand the meaning of them thousands of years later. Pictures have the ability to transcend time and language. Images, be it cave paintings or emojis, allow us to convey a message that’s not restrictive but rather universal.
1. Why does the author mention Nineteen Eight Four?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To show an example. |
| C．To give the reason. |
| D．To describe a phenomenon. |
| A．To reduce the use of words |
| B．To save time of typing |
| C．To express naturally and casually |
| D．To make fun of friends |
| A．Disappear. | B．Reduce. |
| C．Lower. | D．Change. |
| A．Emojis will destroy the variety of our vocabulary. |
| B．Emojis will replace English as the most popular language. |
| C．Emojis are useless and meaningless in modern life. |
| D．Emojis will not restrict our communication. |
