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.