WhichgateisflightBA472toMadridleavingfrom?

Youcantakeanyseat____isfree.

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.

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

Themanwhowasdrivingthedruckwouldnotadmitthathehadbeenatfaultand______.