1 . Quantum ( 量子 ) computers have been on my mind a lot lately. A friend has been sending me articles on how quantum computers might help solve some of the biggest challenges we face as humans. I’ve also had exchanges with two quantum-computing experts. One is computer scientist Chris Johnson who I see as someone who helps keep the field honest. The other is physicist Philip Taylor.
For decades, quantum computing has been little more than a laboratory curiosity. Now, big tech companies have invested in quantum computing, as have many smaller ones. According to Business Weekly, quantum machines could help us “cure cancer, and even take steps to turn climate change in the opposite direction.” This is the sort of hype ( 炒作 ) that annoys Johnson. He worries that researchers are making promises they can’t keep. “What’s new,” Johnson wrote, “is that millions of dollars are now potentially available to quantum computing researchers.”
As quantum computing attracts more attention and funding, researchers may mislead investors, journalists, the public and, worst of all, themselves about their work’s potential. If researchers can’t keep their promises, excitement might give way to doubt, disappointment and anger, Johnson warns. Lots of other technologies have gone through stages of excitement. But something about quantum computing makes it especially prone to hype, Johnson suggests, perhaps because “‘quantum’ stands for something cool you shouldn’t be able to understand.” And that brings me back to Taylor, who suggested that I read his book Q for Quantum.
After I read the book, Taylor patiently answered my questions about it. He also answered my questions about PyQuantum, the firm he co-founded in 2016. Taylor shares Johnson’s concerns about hype, but he says those concerns do not apply to PyQuantum.
The company, he says, is closer than any other firm “by a very large margin ( 幅度 )” to building a “useful” quantum computer, one that “solves an impactful problem that we would not have been able to solve otherwise.” He adds, “People will naturally discount my opinions, but I have spent a lot of time quantitatively comparing what we are doing with others.”
Could PyQuantum really be leading all the competition “by a wide margin”, as Taylor claims? I don’t know. I’m certainly not going to advise my friend or anyone else to invest in quantum computers. But I trust Taylor, just as I trust Johnson.
1. Regarding Johnson’s concerns, the author feels ________.A.sympathetic | B.unconcerned | C.doubtful | D.excited |
A.His dominance in physics. | B.The competition in the field. |
C.His confidence in PyQuantum. | D.The investment of tech companies. |
A.Open. | B.Cool. | C.Useful. | D.Resistant. |
A.Is Johnson More Competent Than Taylor? |
B.Is Quantum Computing Redefining Technology? |
C.Will Quantum Computers Ever Come into Being? |
D.Will Quantum Computing Ever Live Up to Its Hype? |
2 . When making choices, people assume that they pick what they like. However, research suggests that we like something strictly because we have chosen it. In other words, we dislike things we don’t choose. And this phenomenon has existed since we were babies.
In an experiment, US researchers brought several 10 to 20-month-old babies into a lab and gave them two same bright and colorful soft blocks to play with. They set each block far apart, so the babies had to crawl to one or the other—a random choice. After the baby chose one of the toys, the researchers took it away and came back with a new option. The babies could then pick either the toy they didn’t play with before, or a brand-new toy.
It turned out that the babies reliably chose to play with the new toy rather than the one they had not chosen.
In follow-up experiments, when researchers instead helped choose which toy the baby would play with, the phenomenon disappeared. “As if they were saying, ‘Hmm, I didn’t choose that object last time, because I guess I didn’t like it very much” said Lisa Feigenson, co-author of the study.
This is a very important phenomenon in life, Feigenson noted. Adults will less like the thing they didn’t choose, even if they had no real preference in the first place. It looks like babies do just the same.
It shows that the act of making choices changes how we feel about our options. The random choices might become our preferences. “They are really not choosing based on whether they are novel or what they prefer,” said Alex Silver, co-author of the study.
This new finding explains why adults build unconscious preference when they make choices between the same things. Justifying(证明有道理) choice is somehow fundamental to the human experience. “I chose this, so I must like it. I didn’t choose this other thing, so it cannot be so good. Adults make these inferences unconsciously,” Feigenson said.
Such tendency makes sense to us as we live in a consumer culture and must make so many choices every day, between everything from toothpaste brands to styles of jeans.
Next, researchers will look at whether too many choices could be a problem for babies as they certainly are for adults.
1. What is the purpose of the experiments?A.To test whether people choose what they like. |
B.To see why babies prefer new toys to old ones. |
C.To explain how babies and adults make choices differently. |
D.To study if too many choices could create problems for people. |
A.Babies prefer bright and colorful toys. |
B.Babies’ preference largely affects their choices. |
C.Babies prefer adults to help them make choices. |
D.Babies’ previous random choices affect their preference. |
A.It entirely changes our styles to choose. |
B.It helps us make wise decisions in a consumer culture. |
C.It promotes the relationship between adults and babies. |
D.It helps us understand our unconscious preference for choices. |
A.Babies like what they choose | B.Random choices matter |
C.Too many choices puzzle the adults | D.Preference affects the choice |
The spreading COVID-19 has canceled several touring performances from top music artists. But recently, some of these musicians
Others have came up with
4 . Ever since I graduated from high school I've worked in the factories surrounding my hometown every summer. However, making the transformation between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any easier. For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be unacceptable, getting to a factory by 6 o'clock each morning is suffering. My friends never seem to understand why I'm so relieved to be back at school or that my summer vacation has been anything but a vacation.
There are few people as self-confident as a college student who has never been out in the real world. People of my age always seem to overestimate the value of their time and knowledge. In fact, all the classes did not prepare me for my battles with the machine I ran in the plant, which would jam whenever I absent-mindedly put in a part backward or upside down.
The most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear over night. Issues like being laid off and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers told me that the unit I was working in would shut down within six months and move to Mexico, where people would work for 60 cents an hour.
After working 12-hour shifts (轮班) in a factory, the other optionshave become only too clear. " This job pays well, but it's hell on the body, " said one co-worker. " Study hard and keep reading. " she added. When I'm back at the university, skipping classes and turning in lazy re-writes seems too irresponsible after seeing what I would be doing without school. All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used to sound stale (陈腐的) now ring true.
My experiences in the factories have inspired me to make the most of my college years before I enter the real world for good.
1. What does the author think of his summer holiday?A.It was no holiday for him at all. |
B.It brought him nothing but suffering. |
C.It was a relief from his hard work at school. |
D.It offered him a chance to make more friends. |
A.They do better in the real world. |
B.They are confident when they work. |
C.They think too highly of themselves. |
D.They are expert at handling machines. |
A.A low income | B.The lack of security |
C.An unstable location | D.Less break |
A.He became responsible for his work. |
B.He learned to be more practical at work. |
C.He began to respect blue-collar workers. |
D.He came to appreciate his college education. |