Siri is an artificial intelligence (AI) that ...

Siri is an artificial intelligence (AI) that you can carry around in the pocket, where it waits patiently to be told what to do. In the week we spent together, my AI assistant has performed admirably in finding me restaurants, or the location of the nearest coffee shop.

A typical command might be: “Reserve a table for two at a good French restaurant in San Francisco.” Siri responds by presenting a list of top-rated restaurants that can be booked on OpenTable.com. If you say which time you want, it can book you a table without your lifting a finger. In some ways Siri is just a fancy front-end (前端程序) to the 35 sites it can connect to, from taxi booking sites to movie review databases. But what’s new is the way it can analyze the intentions of its master or mistress and use those sites to put them into action.

Siri attaches probabilities to the explanation of each word and cross-references (对照检索) with your location and other data, some of which you must provide yourself. To send email reminders, Siri obviously needs to know your email address. To “find me the flower shop closest to work”, it needs to know where you work. To pay bills or buy airline tickets, it would need access to your credit card.

That raises the question of how far we are willing to trust a piece of software that can go and do things for us based on what it “thinks” we mean, a topic that occupies some engineers working on artificial intelligence. The more data, and power, you give your virtual assistant, the more damage it could do. Siri may be simple, and always shows its explanation of a command before carrying it out. But it gives users a preview of a new balance between privacy, trust and convenience that the expansion of AI into everyday life is likely to develop.

1.What is Siri?

A. A digital e-book reader.

B. A music-sharing software.

C. A voice-controlled website.

D. An artificial intelligence software.

2.When asked “do I need my umbrella today?”, what will Siri probably respond with?

A. The list of umbrella makers.

B. The list of umbrella shops.

C. The local weather forecast.

D. The local climate conditions.

3.Siri is new in that it has the ability ______.

A. to understand what you speak

B. to connect a lot of websites

C. to give a variety of commands

D. to create computerized database

4.What question does Paragraph 4 answer?

A. Does Siri think itself?　　 B. Can I trust you, Siri?

C. Is Siri simple for use?　　 D. Will Siri be popular?

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly sophisticated, there are growing concerns that robots could become a threat. This danger can be avoided, according to computer science professor Stuart Russell, if we figure out how to turn human values into a programmable code.

Russell argues that as robots take on more complicated tasks, it's necessary to translate our morals into AI language.

For example, if a robot does chores around the house, you wouldn't want it to put the pet cat in the oven to make dinner for the hungry children. “You would want that robot preloaded with a good set of values,” said Russell.

Some robots are already programmed with basic human values. For example, mobile robots have been programmed to keep a comfortable distance from humans. Obviously there are cultural differences, but if you were talking to another person and they came up close in your personal space, you wouldn't think that's the kind of thing a properly brought-up person would do.

It will be possible to create more sophisticated moral machines, if only we can find a way to set out human values as clear rules.

Robots could also learn values from drawing patterns from large sets of data on human behavior. They are dangerous only if programmers are careless.

The biggest concern with robots going against human values is that human beings fail to do sufficient testing and they've produced a system that will break some kind of taboo（禁忌).

One simple check would be to program a robot to check the correct course of action with a human when presented with an unusual situation.

If the robot is unsure whether an animal is suitable for the microwave, it has the opportunity to stop, send out beeps（嘟嘟声), and ask for directions from a human. If we humans aren't quite sure about a decision, we go and ask somebody else.

The most difficult step in programming values will be deciding exactly what we believe in moral, and how to create a set of ethical rules. But if we come up with an answer, robots could be good for humanity.

1.What does the author say about the threat of robots?

A.It may constitute a challenge to computer programmers.

B.It accompanies all machinery involving high technology.

C.It can be avoided if human values are translated into their language.

D.It has become an inevitable peril as technology gets more sophisticated.

2.What would we think of a person who invades our personal space according to the author?

A.They are aggressive. B.They are outgoing.

C.They are ignorant. D.They are ill-bred.

3.How do robots learn human values?

A.By interacting with humans in everyday life situations.

B.By following the daily routines of civilized human beings.

C.By picking up patterns from massive data on human behavior.

D.By imitating the behavior of property brought-up human beings.

4.What will a well-programmed robot do when facing an unusual situation?

A.Keep a distance from possible dangers. B.Stop to seek advice from a human being.

C.Trigger its built-in alarm system at once. D.Do sufficient testing before taking action.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

As Artificial Intelligence（AI） becomes increasingly sophisticated, there are growing concerns that robots could become a threat. This danger can be avoided, according to computer science professor Stuart Russell, if we figure out how to turn human values into a programmable code.

Russell argues that as robots take on more complicated tasks, it’s necessary to translate our morals into AI language.

For example, if a robot does chores around the house, you wouldn’t want it to put the pet cat in the oven to make dinner for the hungry children. “You would want that robot preloaded with a good set of values,” said Russell.

Some robots are already programmed with basic human values. For example, mobile robots have been programmed to keep a comfortable distance from humans. Obviously there are cultural differences, but if you were talking to another person and they came up close in your personal space, you wouldn’t think that’s the kind of thing a properly brought-up person would do.

It will be possible to create more sophisticated moral machines, if only we can find a way to set out human values as clear rules.

Robots could also learn values from drawing patterns from large sets of data on human behavior. They are dangerous only if programmers are careless.

The biggest concern with robots going against human values is that human beings fail to so sufficient testing and they’ve produced a system that will break some kind of taboo（禁忌）.

One simple check would be to program a robot to check the correct course of action with a human when presented with an unusual situation.

If the robot is unsure whether an animal is suitable for the microwave, it has the opportunity to stop, send out beeps(嘟嘟声), and ask for directions from a human. If we humans aren’t quite sure about a decision, we go and ask somebody else.

The most difficult step in programming values will be deciding exactly what we believe in moral, and how to create a set of ethical rules. But if we come up with an answer, robots could be good for humanity.

1.What does the author say about the threat of robots?

A. It may constitute a challenge to computer progranmers.

B. It accompanies all machinery involving high technology.

C. It can be avoided if human values are translated into their language.

D. It has become an inevitable peril as technology gets more sophisticated.

2.What would we think of a person who invades our personal space according to the author?

A. They are aggressive.                B. They are outgoing.

C. They are ignorant.                D. They are ill-bred.

3.How do robots learn human values?

A. By interacting with humans in everyday life situations.

B. By following the daily routines of civilized human beings.

C. By picking up patterns from massive data on human behavior.

D. By imitating the behavior of property brought-up human beings.

4.What will a well-programmed robot do when facing an unusual situation?

A. keep a distance from possible dangers.

B. Stop to seek advice from a human being.

C. Trigger its built-in alarm system at once.

D. Do sufficient testing before taking action.

5.What is most difficult to do when we turn human values into a programmable code?

A. Determine what is moral and ethical.

B. Design some large-scale experiments.

C. Set rules for man-machine interaction.

D. Develop a more sophisticated program.

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

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

She is so ______ that no one can ever persuade her.

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

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

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making it possible for companies to monitor workers’ behavior in great detail and in real time. Start to slack off (懈怠), and AI could talk to your boss.

One company offering such services is London-based start-up Status Today. Its AI platform relies on a regular supply of employee data, including everything from the files you access to when you use a key card. From this, it builds a picture of how employees normally function and signals any unusual performance. The idea is to spot when someone might become a security risk by doing something different from their usual behavioral patterns. “All of this gives us fingerprint of a user, so if we think the fingerprint doesn’t match, we raise a warning”, says Mircea Dumitrescu, the company’s chief technology officer.

The system also aims to catch employee actions that could accidentally cause a security breach (漏洞), like opening malware (恶意软件).“We’re not monitoring if your computer has a virus.” says Dumitrescu. “We’re monitoring human behaviors.”

But catching the security breach means monitoring everyone, and the AI can also be used to track employee productivity. “It seems like they are just using the reputation of AI to give an air of lawfulness to old-fashioned workplace surveillance (监视),” says Javier Ruiz Diaz of digital campaigning organization the Open Rights Group. “You have a right to privacy and you shouldn’t be expected to give that up at work.”

Exactly how companies use the system will be up to them, but it’s hard to shake the picture of an AI constantly looking over employees’ shoulders. “It will bother people, and that could be counterproductive if it affects their behavior,” says Paul Bemal at the University of East Anglia.

Phil Legg at the University of the West of England says it will never catch every security risk. “If people know they’re being monitored, they can change their behavior,” he says.

1.According to the text, AI monitors employees by ________.

A. taking pictures of them　　 B. getting access to their data

C. signaling their usual performance　　 D. catching their actions

2.What’s Javier Ruiz Diaz’s attitude towards the system?

A. Doubtful.　　 B. Supportive.

C. Uncaring.　　 D. Negative.

3.What does the underlined word “that” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A. Security breach.　　 B. Employees’ productivity.

C. The right to privacy.　　 D. Workplace surveillance.

4.Phil Legg’s concern about the system suggests that ________.

A. it is too risky to be used at work

B. it will affect employees’ emotions

C. it may not be so effective as expected

D. it will encourage employee, productivity

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

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