Passage3

Questions11to15arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

“...WearenotabouttoentertheInformationAgebutinsteadareratherwellintoit.”Presentpredictionsarethatby1990,aboutthirtymillionjobsintheUnitedStates,oraboutthirtypercentofthejobmarket,willbecomputer-related.In1980,onlytwenty-onepercentofallUnitedStateshighschoolsownedoneormorecomputersforstudentuse.(79)Inthefallof1985,anewsurveyrevealedthathalfofUnitedStatessecondaryschoolshavefifteenormorecomputersforstudentuse.Andnoweducationalexperts,administrators,andeventhegeneralpublicaredemandingthatallstudentsbecome“computerliterate(慢点…的).”“Bytheyear2000knowledgeofcomputerswillbenecessaryinovereightypercentofalloccupations.Soonthosepeoplenoteducatedincomputerusewillbecomparedtothosewhoareprintilliteratetoday.”

Whatis“computerliteracy”?Thetermitselfseemstoimplysoonextentof“knowing”aboutcomputers,butknowingwhat.Thecurrentopinionseemstobethatthisshouldincludeageneralknowledgeofwhatcomputersare,plusalittleoftheirhistoryandsomethingofhowtheyoperate.

Therefore,itisvitalthateducatorseverywheretakeacarefullooknotonlyatwhatisbeingdone,butalsoatwhatshouldbedoneinthefieldofcomputereducation.Todaymostadultsarecapableofutilisingamotorvehiclewithouttheslightestknowledgeofhowtheinternal-combustionengineworks.Weeffectivelyusealltypesofelectricalequipmentwithoutbeingabletotelltheirhistoriesortoexplainhowtheywork.(80)Businesspeopleforyearshavemadegooduseoftypewritersandaddingmachines,yetfewhaveeverknownhowtorepairthem.Why,then,attempttoteachcomputersbyteachinghoworwhytheywork?

Rather,wefirstmustconcentrateonteachingtheeffectiveuseofthecomputerasthetoolis.

“Knowinghowtouseacomputeriswhat’sgoingtobeimportant,wedon’ttalkabout‘automobileliteracy.‘Wejustgetinourcarsanddrivethem.”

11.In1990,thenumberofjobshavingnothingtodowithcomputersintheUnitedStateswillbereducedto________.

A)79millionB)30millionC)70millionD)100million(C)

12.Theexpression“Printilliterate”(Para.1,Line16)refersto________.

A)onewhohasneverlearntprintingB)onewhoisnotcomputerliterate

C)onewhohasneverlearnttoreadD)onewhoisnotabletouseatypewriter(C)

13.Thefirstparagraphismainlyabout________.

A)recentpredictionsofcomputer-relatedjobsB)thewideuseofcomputersinschools

C)theurgencyofcomputereducationD)publicinterestincomputers(C)

14.Accordingtotheauthor,theeffectivewaytospreadtheuseofcomputersistoteach____.

A)whatcomputersareB)howtousecomputers

C)wherecomputerscanbeusedD)howcomputerswork(B)

15.WhichofthefollowingstatementsisFALSE?

A)Whattoteachaboutcomputersshouldbereconsidered.

B)Thosewhoarenoteducatedincomputerusewillfinditdifficulttogetajob.

C)HumansocietyhasalreadyenteredtheInformationAge.

D)Thosewhowanttousecomputersshouldknowhowcomputersoperate.

Nancy:MayIseeyourdrivinglicenseandvehicleregistrationcard,please?

Dick:______.

Passage2

Questions6to10arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

Thehumanbraincontains10thousandmillioncellsandeachofthesemayhaveathousandconnections.(77)Suchenormousnumbersusedtodiscourageusandcauseustodismissthepossibilityofmakingamachinewithhuman-likeability,butnowthatwehavegrownusedtomovingforwardatsuchapacewecanbelesssure.Quitesoon,inonly10or20yearsperhaps,wewillbeabletoassembleamachineascomplexasthehumanbrain,andifwecanwewill.Itmaythentakeusalongtimetorenderitintelligentbyloadingintherightsoftware(软件)orbyalteringthearchitecturebutthattoowillhappen.

(78)Ithinkitcertainthatindecades,notcenturies,machinesofsilicon(硅)willarisefirsttorivalandthenexceedtheirhumanancestors.Oncetheyexceedustheywillbecapableoftheirowndesign.Inarealsensetheywillbeabletoreproducethemselves.Siliconwillhaveendedcarbon’slongcontrol.Andwewillnolongerbeabletoclaimourselvestobethefinestintelligenceintheknownuniverse.

Astheintelligenceofrobotsincreasestomatchthatofhumansandastheircostdeclinesthrougheconomiesofscalewemayusethemtoexpandourfrontiers,firstonearththroughtheirabilitytowithstandenvironments,harmfultoourselves.Thus,desertsmaybloomandtheoceanbedsbemined.Furtherahead,byacombinationofthegreatwealththisnewagewillbringandthetechnologyitwillprovide,theconstructionofavast,man-createdworldinspace,hometothousandsormillionsofpeople,willbewithinourpower.

6.Inwhatwaycanwemakeamachineintelligent?

A)Bymakingitworkinsuchenvironmentsasdeserts,oceansorspace.

B)Byworkinghardfor10or20years.

C)Byeitherproperlyprogrammingitorchangingitsstructure.

D)Byreproducingit.(C)

7.Whatdoesthewriterthinkaboutmachineswithhuman-likeability?

A)Hebelievestheywillbeusefultohumanbeings.

B)Hebelievesthattheywillcontrolusinthefuture.

C)Heisnotquitesureinwhatwaytheymayinfluenceus.

D)Hedoesn’tconsidertheconstructionofsuchmachinespossible.

8.Theword“carbon”(Line4,Para.2)standsfor________.

A)intelligentrobotsB)achemicalelementC)anorganicsubstanceD)humanbeings(D)

9.Arobotcanbeusedtoexpandourfrontierswhen________.

A)itsintelligenceandcostarebeyondquestion

B)itisabletobeartheroughenvironment

C)itismadeascomplexasthehumanbrain

D)itsarchitectureisdifferentfromthatofthepresentones(A)

10.Itcanbeinferredfromthepassagethat________.

A)aftertheinstallationofagreatnumberofcellsandconnections,robotswillbecapableofself-reproduction

B)withtherapiddevelopmentoftechnology,peoplehavecometorealizethepossibilityofmakingamachinewithhuman-likeability

C)oncewemakeamachineascomplexasthehumanbrain,itwillpossesintelligence

D)robotswillhavecontrolofthevast,man-madeworldinspace

Inasecond-handbookshop,Billycameacrossabookwhichhethoughtwascertainlya____edition.

Investingthousandsofpoundsintherecruitmentandtrainingofeachnewgraduaterecruitmaybejustthebeginning.Choosingthewrongcandidatemayleaveanorganisationpayingforyearstocome.

Fewcompanieswillhaveescapedallofthefollowingfailures:peoplewhopanicatthefirstsightofstress;thosewithlongimpressivequalificationswhoseemincapableoflearning;hypochondriacswhoseabsenteerecordbecomesastonishing;andtheunstablepersonlaterdiscoveredtobeathieforworse.

Lessdramatic,butjustasmuchaproblem,isthepersonwhosimplydoesnotcomeuptoexpectations,whodoesnotquitedeliver;whoneverbecomesahigh-flierorevenasteadyperformer;theemployeewithafinefuturebehindthem.

Thefirstpointtobearinmindattherecruitmentstageisthatpeopledon’tchange.Intelligencelevelsdeclinemodestly,butchangelittleovertheirworkinglife.Thesameistrueofabilities,suchaslearninglanguagesandhandlingnumbers.

Mostpeopleliketothinkthatpersonalitycanchange,particularlythemorenegativefeaturessuchasanxiety,lowesteem,impulsivenessoralackofemotionalwarmth.Butdatacollectedover50yearsgivesaclearmessage:stillstableafteralltheseyears.Extrovertsbecomeslightlylessextroverted;theacutelyshyappearalittlelessso,butthefundamentalsremainmuchthesame.Personalcrisescanaffectthewaywecopewiththings:wemighttakeupordropdrink,drugs,religionorrelaxationtechniques,whichcanbehaveprettydramaticeffects.Skillscanbeimproved,andnewonesintroduced,butatratherdifferentrates.Peoplecanbegroomedforajob.Justaspoliticiansarecarefullyrepackagedthroughdress,hairstyleandspeechspecialists,sopeoplecanbesentontrainingcourses,diplomasorexperimentalweekends.Butthereisacosttoallthiswhichmaybemorethanthepriceofthecourse.Bettertoselectforwhatyouactuallyseeratherthanattempttochangeit.

()1.Thepurposeofthispassageistogivemanagerstheadvicethat.

A.Employersshouldselectcandidatesfortheirpotential.

B.Employersshouldselectcandidatesforwhattheyareratherthanfortheirpotential.

C.Employersshouldselectthenewlygraduatedandsendthemontrainingcourses,diplomasorexperimentalweekends.

D.Employersshouldselectexperiencedcandidatestoavoidspendingthousandsofpoundsintraining.

()2.Accordingtothepassage,whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?.

A.Absolutely,Peopledon’tchangeduringtheirworkinglives.

B.Generally,peoplechangetoalargeextentduringtheirworkinglives.

C.Fundamentally,peoplestaythesameduringtheirworkinglives.

D.Normally,peopledon’tchangeatallduringtheirworkinglives.

()3.Whatdoesafinefuturebehindthem(line3ofparagraph3)means?.

A.Somepeoplewillcertainlyhaveapromisingfuturethoughtheyarenotverycompetentintheirpresentwork.

B.Somepeopledon’thaveanypotentialfortheirworkthoughtheyareemployed.

C.Somepeoplecanhaveabrightfuturethoughtheycan’tdotheirworkwell.

D.Somepeoplehavepotentialwhentheyareemployed,butneverrealizethatpotential.

()4.Accordingtothepassage,people’sbasicabilitieslikelanguagelearningandnumeracy.

A.changelittleovertheirworkinglife.

B.neverchangeovertheirworkinglife.

C.changefundamentallyovertheirworkinglife.

D.changeprofoundlyovertheirworkinglife.

()5.Theworddeliver(line2ofparagraph3)means.

A.totakegoodstotheplacesorpeopletheyareaddressedto

B.togiveaspeech

C.todowhatyoupromisedtodo

D.tohelpawomantogivebirthtoababy.