The next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) may be sitting right beneath you, at least if furniture maker Ikea has any say in the matter. The Swedish furniture company’s “future-living” research lab in Copenhagen is conducting a survey to understand what people want when it comes to smart furniture.
AI is now walking into more aspects of people’s daily lives. Self-driving cars are just around the corner, and AI robots can play and beat the best players of strategy games. As smart home technologies have become more ubiquitous, products ranging from smart electrical outlets（插座）to smart smoke alarms are flooding the market. Therefore, it’s not surprising that Ikea would be moving in the same direction.
Exactly why people would want their sofa or bed frame to speak to then, track their daily movements or offer help is not yet clear. Though Ikea’s the new survey doesn’t directly answer that question, it does provide a hint of what people would feel comfortable with. Most participants wanted a more human0like form of virtual（虚拟的）assistants, as opposed to one that is more robotic. In terms of the ideal gender（性别）of the assistants, the most popular choice was neither male nor female. Few wanted a religious form of AI.
Just as with human friends, most wanted AI friends that were like them, affirming their own worldview. They wanted an AI assistant that was reasonably intelligent-that could collect data to predict what a person wanted before he or she asked, and that could prevent someone from making mistakes.
This is not the first time that Ikea has set foot in the field or futuristic technologies. In addition to wireless charging tables and chainless bikes that never rust（生锈）, the furniture giant has also pictured smart kitchens that can cook the best meal. To decide on how intelligent you want your next sofa or bookshelf to be, you can take Ikea’s survey online.
1.What does the underlined word “ubiquitous” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. Beautiful. B. Common.
C. Normal. D. Environment.
2.What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
A. The differences between robot-like and human-like assistants.
B. What form of AI assistants people want.
C. What kind of friends people want.
D. The popular robots on the market.
3.Most people who received the survey wanted an AI assistant that could ________.
A. help them became smarter
B. communicate with them without troubles
C. have its own worldview
D. deal with their problems in advance
4.Which of the following products are from Ikea?
A. Smart sofas that can speak to you.
B. Smart beds than can track your daily movements.
C. Wireless charging cars.
D. Rustless bikes without chains.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
The next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) may be sitting right beneath you, at least if furniture maker Ikea has any say in the matter. The Swedish furniture company’s “future-living” research lab in Copenhagen is conducting a survey to understand what people want when it comes to smart furniture.
AI is now walking into more aspects of people’s daily lives. Self-driving cars are just around the corner, and AI robots can play and beat the best players of strategy games. As smart home technologies have become more ubiquitous, products ranging from smart electrical outlets（插座）to smart smoke alarms are flooding the market. Therefore, it’s not surprising that Ikea would be moving in the same direction.
Exactly why people would want their sofa or bed frame to speak to then, track their daily movements or offer help is not yet clear. Though Ikea’s the new survey doesn’t directly answer that question, it does provide a hint of what people would feel comfortable with. Most participants wanted a more human0like form of virtual（虚拟的）assistants, as opposed to one that is more robotic. In terms of the ideal gender（性别）of the assistants, the most popular choice was neither male nor female. Few wanted a religious form of AI.
Just as with human friends, most wanted AI friends that were like them, affirming their own worldview. They wanted an AI assistant that was reasonably intelligent-that could collect data to predict what a person wanted before he or she asked, and that could prevent someone from making mistakes.
This is not the first time that Ikea has set foot in the field or futuristic technologies. In addition to wireless charging tables and chainless bikes that never rust（生锈）, the furniture giant has also pictured smart kitchens that can cook the best meal. To decide on how intelligent you want your next sofa or bookshelf to be, you can take Ikea’s survey online.
1.What does the underlined word “ubiquitous” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. Beautiful. B. Common.
C. Normal. D. Environment.
2.What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
A. The differences between robot-like and human-like assistants.
B. What form of AI assistants people want.
C. What kind of friends people want.
D. The popular robots on the market.
3.Most people who received the survey wanted an AI assistant that could ________.
A. help them became smarter
B. communicate with them without troubles
C. have its own worldview
D. deal with their problems in advance
4.Which of the following products are from Ikea?
A. Smart sofas that can speak to you.
B. Smart beds than can track your daily movements.
C. Wireless charging cars.
D. Rustless bikes without chains.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology may soon be a useful tool for doctors. It may help them better understand and treat diseases like breast cancer in ways that were never before possible.
Rishi Rawat teaches AI at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Clinical Science Center in Los Angeles. He is part of a team of scientists who are researching how AI and machine learning can more easily recognize cancerous growths in the breast. Rawat provides information about cancer cells to a computer. He says this data helps the machine learn. “. . . You can put the data into computers and they will learn the patterns and the pattern recognition is important to making decisions.”
David Agus is another USC researcher. He says machines are not going to take the place of doctors. “Computers will not treat patients, but they will help make certain decisions and look for things that the human brain can’t recognize by itself. Once a confirmed cancerous growth is removed, doctors still have to treat the patient to reduce the risk of cancer returning. The form of treatment depends on the kind of cancer.”
Currently, researchers take a thin piece of tissue, put it on a small piece of glass and add color to better see the cells. That process could take days or even longer. Scientists say artificial intelligence can do something better than just count cells. Through machine learning, it can recognize complex patterns, or structures, and learn how the cells are organized.
The hope is that machines will soon be able to make a quick identification of cancer that is free of human mistakes. “All of a sudden, we have the computing power to really do it in real time. . . We couldn’t have done this, we didn’t have the computing power to do this several years ago, but now it’s all changed.” Agus adds that the process could be done for almost no cost in the developing world. He says that having a large amount of information about patients is important for a machine to effectively do its job in medicine.
The University of Southern California researchers are now only studying breast cancer. But doctors predict artificial intelligence will one day make a difference in all forms of cancer.
1.In Rishi Rawat’s research, ________.
A. the data put into computers contributes to cancer recognition
B. many cancers are being studied at the moment
C. machine learning has replaced doctors’ work
D. the focus is on the cure for cancer
2.David Agus’s words in Paragraph 3 are used to ________.
A. provide some advice for doctors
B. introduce the development of cancer
C. appeal to scientists to research into cancer
D. explain the function of AI in treating cancer
3.What can we infer from the text ?
A. AI can make decisions for doctors.
B. Developing countries might be lack of funds.
C. AI will hopefully make an accurate identification of cancer.
D. Computing power has long helped with the identification of cancer.
4.What is the author’s attitude towards AI used in treating cancer?
A. Positive. B. Indifferent.
C. Doubtful. D. Negative.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Many leading AI researchers think that in a matter of decades, artificial intelligence will be able to do not merely some of our jobs, but all of our jobs, forever transforming life on Earth.
The reason why many reject this as science fiction is that we’ve traditionally thought of intelligence as something mysterious that can only exist in biological organisms, especially humans. But such an idea is unscientific.
From my point of view as a physicist and AI researcher, intelligence is simply a certain kind of information-processing performed by elementary particles(基本粒子) moving around, and there is no law of physics that says one can’t build machines more intelligent than us in all ways. This suggests that we’ve only seen the tip of the intelligence iceberg and that there is an amazing potential to unlock the full intelligence that is potential in nature and use it to help humanity.
If we get it right, the upside is huge. Since everything we love about civilization is the product of intelligence, amplifying(扩大) our own intelligence with AI has the potential to solve tomorrow’s toughest problems. For example, why risk our loved ones dying in traffic accidents that self-driving cars could prevent or dying of cancers that AI might help us find cures for? Why not increase productivity through automation (自动化) and use AI to accelerate our research and development of affordable sustainable(可持续的) energy?
I’m optimistic that we can develop rapidly with advanced AI as long as we win the race between the growing power of our technology and the knowledge with which we manage it. But this requires giving up our outdated concept of learning form mistakes. That helped us win the race with less powerful technology: We messed up with fire and then invented fire extinguishers (灭火器), and we messed up with cars and then invented seat belts. However, it’s an awful idea for more powerful technologies, such as nuclear weapons or superintelligent AI— where even a single mistake is unacceptable and we need to get things right the first time.
1.How do many people feel about leading AI researchers’ predictions?
A. Worried B. Curious
C. Doubtful D. Disappointed
2.What does the author think of intelligence?
A. We know little about it. B. It belongs to human beings.
C. It is too difficult to understand. D. We have a good command of it.
3.What does the underlined word “upside” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. Cost. B. Potential.
C. Quantity. D. Advantage.
4.What’s important for us in the race between people and technology?
A. Learning from failure. B. Increasing our intelligence.
C. Avoiding making mistakes. D. Making accurate predictions.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Here is a record of the discussion about AI (artificial intelligence) conducted by several scientists:
Scientist A: I would say that we are quite a long way off developing the AI, though I do think it will happen within the next thirty or forty years. We will probably remain in control of technology and it will help us solve many of the world’s problems. However, no one really knows what will happen if machines become more intelligent than humans. They may help us, ignore us or destroy us. I tend to believe AI will have a positive influence on our future lives, but whether that is true will be partly up to us.
Scientist B: I have to admit that the potential consequences of creating something that can match or go beyond human intelligence frighten me. Even now, scientists are teaching computers how to learn on their own. At some point in the near future, their intelligence may well take off and develop at an ever-increasing speed. Human beings evolve biologically very slowly and we would be quickly substituted. In the short term, there is the danger that robots will take over millions of human jobs, creating a large underclass of unemployed people. This could mean large-scale poverty and social unrest. In the long term machines might decide the world would be better without humans.
Scientist C: I’m a member of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Forget the movie image of a terrifying Terminator stamping on human skulls and think of what’s happening right now: military machines like drones, gun turrets and sentry robots are already being used to kill with very little human input. The next step will be autonomous “murderbots” following orders but finally deciding who to kill on their own. It seems clear to me that this would be extremely dangerous for humans. We need to be very cautious indeed about what we ask machines to do.
1.What is Scientist B worried about?
A. AI technology will destroy the earth. B. Robots will take the place of humans.
C. Computers can’t think by themselves. D. Humans will be unhappy without machines.
2.What does the underlined word “this” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. I launched the campaign to Stop Killer Robots.
B. We forget the movie image of a terrifying Terminator.
C. “Murderbots” will be against humans’ orders.
D. “Murderbots” can’t decide by themselves.
3.Which statement is CORRECT according to the record?
A. The employment will be affected by AI technology in the future.
B. Scientist A thinks AI technology will never develop.
C. “Murderbots” will follow the orders of their manufacturers in the wars.
D. All the three scientists agree that AI technology will benefit human beings.
4.Who agree(s) AI has more negative aspects than positive aspects?
A. Scientist A. B. Scientists B & C.
C. Scientist B. D. Scientists B & A.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed new artificial intelligence(AI) software to recognize and follow up the faces of chimpanzees(黑猩猩)in the wild. The new software will allow researchers and wildlife conservationists to significantly cut back on time spent analyzing videos, according to the new paper published in Science Advances.
For species(物种)like chimpanzees, which have complex social lives and live for many years，getting photos of their behavior taken from short-term field research can only tell us so much，” says Dan Schofield， researcher and DPhil student at Oxford University’s Private Models Lab, School of Anthropology. “By taking advantage of the power of machine learning to unlock large video files , it makes it possible to measure behavior over the long term. ’’
The computer model was trained using over 10 million images(影像):from Kyoto University s Primate Research Institute(PRI) video files of wild chimpanzees in Guinea,West Africa. The new software is the first to continuously track and recognize individual a wide range of poses, performing with high accuracy in difficult conditions such as low lighting and poor image quality.
“Access to this large video file has allowed us to use deep neural networks to train models to a degree that was previously not possible,” says Arsha Nagrad, co-auther of the study and DPhil student at the Department of Engineer Science ,University of Oxford .” Additionally, our new software differs from previous primate face recognition software in that it can be applied to videos with limited manual intervention(人工干预)，saving hours of time. ”
The technology can be potentially used to monitor species for conservation Although the present application focuses on chimpanzees, the AI software provided will be applied to other species, and help drive the adoption of AI systems to solve(解决)a range of problems in the wildlife sciences.
1.What is the purpose of developing the new soft?
A.To save wildlife researchers’ time spent in the labs.
B.To keep track of wildlife conservationists' behaviors.
C.To protect chimpanzees and help them to live longer .
D.To recognize and track the faces of wild chimpanzees.
2.What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Getting photos. B.Analyzing videos.
C.A powerful machine D.The new AI software.
3.What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?
A.The working principle of the new software. B.Some limitations of using the new software.
C.The unique advantages of the new software. D.Controversial attitudes to the new software.
4.What can be known from the last paragraph?
A.Technology advance is the final goal of science
B.The new software won’t just be applied to chimpanzees.
C.AI systems are widely used in the wildlife sciences.
D.The application of the new technology isn’t easy.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed new artificial intelligence (AI) software to recognize and follow up the faces of individual chimpanzees (黑猩猩) in the wild. The new software will allow researcher and wildlife conservationists to greatly cut back on time spent analyzing videos, according to the new paper published today in Science Advances.
“For species like chimpanzees, which have complex social lives and live for many years, getting photos of their behavior from short-term field research can only tell us so much.” says Dan Sehofield, researcher and DPhil student at Oxford University’s Primate Models Lab, School of Anthropology. “By taking advantage of the power of machine learning to unlock large video files, it makes it possible to measure behavior over the long term.”
The computers model was trained using over 10 million images (影像) from Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute (PRI) video files of wild chimpanzees in Guinea, West Africa. The new software is the first to continuously track and recognize individuals in a wide range of posed, performing with high accuracy in difficult conditions such as low lighting and poor image quality.
“Access to this large video file has allowed us to use the newest deep neural networks to train models at a scale that was previously not possible,” says Arsha Nagrani, co-author of the study and DPhil student at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford. “Additionally, our new software differs from previous primate face recognition software in that it can be applied to raw videos with limited manual intervention (人工干预) or pre-processing, saving hours of time.”
The technology has potential for many uses, such as monitoring species for conservation. Although the present application focused on chimpanzees, the software provided could be applied to other species, and help drive the adoption of AI systems to solve a range of problems in the wildlife sciences.
1.What’s the purpose of developing the new software?
A.To save wildlife researchers’ time spent in the wild.
B.To keep track of wildlife conservationists’ behavior.
C.To protect chimpanzees and help them to live longer.
D.To recognize and track the faces of wild chimpanzees.
2.What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Getting photos. B.Analyzing videos.
C.The new AI software. D.A powerful machine.
3.What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?
A.The unique advantages of the new software.
B.Some limitations of using the new software.
C.The working principles of the new software.
D.Controversial attitudes to the new software.
4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A.The new software has a quite bright future.
B.The application of the technology can be tough.
C.Technology is the final goal of scientific research.
D.AI systems are widely used in the wildlife sciences.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Here is a record of the discussion about AI (artificial intelligence) conducted by several scientists.
Scientist A: I would say that we are quite a long way off developing the AI, though I do think it will happen within the next thirty or forty years. We will probably remain in control of technology and it will help us solve many of the world’s problems. However, no one really knows what will happen if machines become more intelligent than humans. They may help us, ignore us or destroy us. I tend to believe AI will have a positive influence on our future lives, but whether that is true will be partly up to us.
Scientists B: I have to admit that the potential consequences of creating something that can match or go beyond human intelligence frighten me. Even now, scientists are teaching computers how to learn on their own. At some point in the near future, their intelligence may well take off and develop at an ever-increasing speed. Human beings evolve biologically very slowly and we could be quickly substituted. In the short term, there is the danger that robots will take over millions of human jobs, creating a large underclass of unemployed people. This could mean large-scale poverty and social unrest. In the long term machines might decide the world would be better without humans.
Scientists C: I’m a member of the campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Forget the movie image of a terrifying Terminator stamping on human skulls and think of what’s happening right now: military machines like drones, gun turrets and sentry robots are already being used to kill with very little human input. The next step will be autonomous “murderbots” following orders but finally deciding who to kill on their own. It seems clear to me that this would be extremely dangerous for humans. We need to be very cautious indeed about what we ask machines to do.
1.What is Scientists B worried about?
A. AI technology will destroy the earth.
B. Computers can’t think by themselves.
C. Robots will take the place of humans.
D. Humans will be unhappy without machines.
2.What does the underlined word “this” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. I launch the campaign to Stop Killer Robots.
B. We forget the movie image of a terrifying Terminator.
C. “Murderbots” can’t decide by themselves.
D. “Murderbots” will be against human’s orders.
3.Which statement is RIGHT according to the record?
A. Scientist A thinks AI technology will never develop.
B. The employment will be affected by AI technology in the future.
C. “Murderbots” will follow the orders of their manufactures in the wars.
D. All the three scientists agree that AI technology will benefit human beings.
4.Who agree(s) AI has more negative aspects than positive aspects?
A. Scientist A B. Scientist B
C. Scientists B&C D. Scientists B&A
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Here is a record of the discussion about AI (artificial intelligence) conducted by several scientists:
Scientist A: I would say that we are quite a long way off developing the AI, though I do think it will happen within the next thirty or forty years. We will probably remain in control of technology and it will help us solve many of the world’s problems. However, no one really knows what will happen if machines become more intelligent than humans. They may help us, ignore us or destroy us. I tend to believe AI will have a positive influence on our future lives, but whether that is true will be partly up to us.
Scientist B: I have to admit that the potential consequences of creating something that can match or go beyond human intelligence frighten me. Even now, scientists are teaching computers how to learn on their own. At some point in the near future, their intelligence may well take off and develop at an ever-increasing speed. Human beings evolve biologically very slowly and we would be quickly substituted. In the short term, there is the danger that robots will take over millions of human jobs, creating a large underclass of unemployed people. This could mean large-scale poverty and social unrest. In the lone term machines might decide the world would be better without humans.
Scientist C: I’m a member of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Forget the movie image of a terrifying Terminator stamping on human skulls (头骨) and think of what s happening right now: military machines like drones, gun turrets and sentry robots are already being used to kill with very little human input. The next step will be autonomous “murderbots” following orders but finally deciding who to kill on their own. It seems clear to me that this would be completely unethical and dangerous for humans. We need to be very cautious indeed about what we ask machines to do.
1.What is Scientist B worried about?
A. AI technology will destroy the earth.
B. Computers can’t think by themselves.
C. Robots will take the place of humans.
D. Humans will be unhappy without machines.
2.What does the underlined word “this” in the last paragraph refer to?
A. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.
B. The movie image of a terrifying Terminator.
C. “Murderbots” can’t decide by themselves.
D. “Murderbots” will be against humans’ orders.
3.Which statement is CORRECT according to the record?
A. Scientist A thinks AI technology will never develop.
B. The employment will be affected by AI technology in the future.
C. “Murderbots” will follow the orders of their manufacturers in the wars.
D. All the three scientists agree that AI technology will benefit human beings.
4.Who agree(s) AI has more negative aspects than positive aspects?
A. Scientist A. B. Scientist B.
C. Scientists B & C. D. Scientists B & A.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The world’s first beer brewed (酿造) with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) is now on sale. Four beers have been created, with each recipe changed based on customer feedback (反馈) received by a program.
The system is hidden behind a Facebook Messenger robot, which takes feedback from customers and sends it onto human brewers who change recipes accordingly. Intelligent X, the company behind the beers, said the use of AI would help brewers receive and test customer feedback “more quickly than ever before”.
Codes printed on the bottles direct people towards the robot, which then asks a series of questions. This information is then interpreted by the program, which learns from customer feedback to ask better questions in the future.
The robot asks questions based on customer preference and flavour and answers are normally marks out of ten, yes or no and multiple choice. The AI uses a system known as reinforcement learning to learn from how it has acted and get better outcomes in the future. In this sense the AI is “rewarded” based on hard-coded biases that instruct it to please customers— those who like hoppier beers or stouts, for example.
This feedback is then accumulated to notice trends and inform the brewing process, with beers slowly changing over time.
“The AI is about putting all the customers in the same room as the brewer,” said Intelligent X co-founder Hew Leith. It would be extremely difficult and time-consuming for a human to collect this much data, Leith continued, but the AI can gather and interpret it with ease. The team behind the AI hope it could one day help them win a major beer brewing competition.
Intelligent X’s four beers have evolved eleven times so far based on initial feedback collected during trials over the last 12 months. The beers are currently being toured around in East London and are also being stocked by co-working space We Work. The four Al-brewed beers-golden, amber, pale and black—are available now from Ubrew for £ 4.50 each.
1.What can we know about the beer?
A. It is made by the customers themselves.
B. It is the first kind of beer in the world.
C. It can be changed with the feedback.
D. It can be bought from the website Facebook.
2.Who can change the beer’s recipes?
A. The human brewers. B. The customers. C. The system. D. The Facebook.
3.What do we learn from the feedback?
A. It changes the recipes of the beer directly.
B. Customers can make it via the Internet.
C. Everyone can get any kind of beer according to it.
D. It is only based on customer preference.
4.What do Hew Leith’s words tell us?
A. The AI is ready to call on all the customers to get together.
B. It was once hard for us to get the feedback from the customers.
C. The AI can consume more time to collect the necessary data.
D. The team has already won many competitions about beer.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Several Jobs That Will Be Automated By Artificial Intelligence(AI) And Robots
Translator
Image recognition software and voice recognition software are bringing some major advances to language translation．Applications like Google’s Word Lens can translate words from signs and documents in real time and there are a lot of translation apps that allow you to type in a word or phrase and will translate it for you．
Some will even speak the phrase for you and raw word-to-word translation will be fully automated soon．
Fast food workers
Automated ordering booths have already made their way into a few McDonald’s restaurants around the world，and cooking positions could be removed next．The booths probably can’t handle customer service problems well，so televideo systems could bring in an office employee to deal with complaints．
Field technician
New advances in the Internet of Things could make this work obsolete.
Low-cost sensors combined with high availability cellular／satellite communications and cloud technology are being started to automate and alarm these sites, and can be checked and maintained from a desktop or mobile device.
Sales representative
But, e-commerce is changing how we make purchasing decisions, especially those where there isn’t much differentiation among the major competitors.
If you’re selling a high-differentiation product and／or a high-price, low-volume product you have some job security, but if you’re selling a high-volume, low-differentiation product, you better start polishing your resume, said Doug Camplejohn, CEO of Fliptop. “These kind of product sales are all moving online.”
1.What can Google’s Word Lens do?
A. Translate by image and voice recognition software.
B. Speak the phrase or word for you.
C. Make real-time translation.
D. Allow you to type in a word or phrase.
2.What can we infer from the second part?
A. All the restaurants own automated ordering booths.
B. Service problems can’t be handled automatically.
C. Cooks will not be automated by AI and robots.
D. Customers will have no complaints because of AI．
3.What does the underlined word“obsolete”mean in Part 3?
A. Abandoned. B. Welcome. C. Forbidden. D. Efficient.
4.What does the author mean by“you better start polishing your resume” in the last paragraph?
A. You must value your present work.
B. You have some job security.
C. Your resume needs correcting further.
D. You should consider changing the job.
高三英语长对话或独白中等难度题查看答案及解析