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FOR ALL the technological wonders of modern medicine, from gene-editing to fetal(胎儿的) surgery, health care—with its fax machines and clipboards(资料夹)—is often stubbornly old-fashioned. This outdated era is slowly drawing to a close as, slowly, the industry catches up with the artificial-intelligence (AI) revolution. And it should have happened earlier, argues Eric Topol, a heart doctor keen on digital medicine.
Dr Topol’s vision of medicine’s future is optimistic. He thinks AI will be particularly useful for repetitive tasks where errors arise easily, such as selecting images, examining heart traces for abnormal symptoms or recording doctors’ words into patient records. In short, AI is set to save time, lives and money.
Much of this is imaginary—but AI is already defeating people in a variety of narrow jobs for which it has been trained. Eventually it may be able to diagnose and treat a wider range of diseases. Even then, Dr Topol thinks, humans would watch over the rules, rather than being replaced by them.
The author’s fear is that AI will be used to deepen the assembly-line(流水线) culture of modern medicine. If it awards a “gift of time” on doctors, he argues that this additional benefit should be used to extend the time of consultations, rather than simply speeding through them more efficiently.
The Hippocratic Oath holds that there is an art to medicine as well as a science, and that “warmth, sympathy and understanding may be more important than the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug”. That is not just a cliché: the patients of sympathetic physicians have been shown to do better. As Dr Topol says, it is hard to imagine that a robot could really replace a human doctor. Yet as demand for health care goes beyond the supply of human carers, the future may involve consultations on smartphones and measurements monitored by chat robots. The considerately warmed stethoscope(听诊器), placed gently on a patient’s back, may become history.
1.According to the author, health care has been generally considered ____________.
A. to bring out many technological wonders
B. to boost the sales of fax machines and clipboards
C. to be out of date and fail to keep up with modern times
D. to constantly catch up with new technological progress
2.AI is set to save time, lives and money because it can ___________.
A. repeat doctors’ words and instructions
B. correct doctors’ errors and mistakes
C. select doctors according to patients’ demands
D. replace doctors’ tasks in certain fields
3.The underlined word “cliché” is closest in meaning to __________.
A. an idea so often used that becomes uninteresting
B. an idea so interesting that is often used
C. an effective rule that applies to medicine and doctors
D. a benefit to both doctors and patients
4.It can be inferred from the passage that _____________.
A. AI will completely replace the jobs of doctors
B. doctors’ sympathy and understanding should not be ignored
C. the application of AI will discourage the assembly-line culture
D. AI will bring warmth, sympathy and understanding to patients
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For all the technological wonders of modem medicine, health care-with its fax machines and clipboards(写字板)—is out of date. This outdated era is slowly drawing to a close as the industry catches up with the artificial-intelligence ( AI) revolution.
Eric Topol, an expert in heart disease and enthusiast for digital medicine, thinks AI will be particularly useful for such tasks as examining images, observing heart traces for abnormalities or turning doctors' words into patient records. It will be able to use masses of data to work out the best treatments, and improve workflows in hospitals. In short, AI is set to save time, lives and money.
The fear some people have is that AI will be used to deepen the assembly-line culture of modem medicine. If it gives a “ gift of time” to doctors, they argue that this bonus should be used to extend consultations, rather than simply speeding through them more efficiently.
That is a fine idea, but as health swallows an ever-bigger share of national wealth, greater efficiency is exactly what is needed, at least so far as governments and insurers are concerned. Otherwise, rich societies may fail to cope with the needs of ageing and growing populations. An extra five minutes spent chatting with a patient is costly as well as valuable. The AI revolution will also enable managerial accountants to adjust and evaluate every aspect of treatment. The autonomy of the doctor will surely be weakened, especially, perhaps, in public-health systems which are duty-bound to cut unnecessary costs.
The Hippocratic Oath(誓言) holds that there is an art to medicine as well as a science, and that “warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug”. There's lots of sense in it: the patients of sympathetic physicians have been shown to recover better. Yet as the supply of human carers fails to satisfy the demand for health care, the future may involve consultations on smartphones and measurements monitored by chatbots. The considerately warmed stethoscope ( 听诊器) ,placed gently on a patient's back, may become a relic of the past.
1.What's Dr Topol's attitude toward AI's coming into medicine?
A.Concerned. B.Doubtful. C.Optimistic. D.Cautious.
2.What does the author of the text attach more importance to?
A.Medical costs. B.National wealth.
C.Longer consultation. D.Greater efficiency.
3.Why is the Hippocratic Oath mentioned?
A.To prove the bright future of AI.
B.To show the advantage of a human doctor.
C.To explain medical equipment is more important.
D.To argue a human doctor performs as well as a robot.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A.Health care and AI B.AI and its applications
C.Doctors and Patients D.Dr Topol and digital medicine
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Low-cost Gifts for Mother’s Day
Gift No. 1
Offer to be your mother’s health friend. Promise to be there for all doctor’s visits whether she has a disease or needs a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say there is no need, but another set if eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor’s visit. The best part? This one is free.
Gift No. 2
Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what time she takes them. “Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother’s life,” Dr. Marie Savard said.
Gift No. 3
Enough sleep is connected with general health conditions. “Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep,” Savard said. “We know that good sleep is very important to our health.”
Gift No. 4
Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother’s Day by picking gifts, 10 percent of whose price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构). Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things — many of which are “green” — and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.
1.What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor’s visits?
A.To take notes. B.To be with her.
C.To buy medicines. D.To give her gifts.
2.Where can you find an idea for gifts to improve your mother’s sleep?
A.In Gift No. 1. B.In Gift No. 2.
C.In Gift No. 3. D.In Gift No. 4.
3.Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to ______.
A.enjoy good sleep B.be well-organized
C.get extra support D.give other help
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For many people, remembering to take their daily medicine can be the difference between life and death. Yet, people forget all the time. Now a study from North Carolina State University has found that changes in daily behavior have a significant effect on whether we remember to take our medicine-and that these changes influence older and younger adults differently.
“We've found that it is not just differences between people, but differences in what we do each day, that affect our ability to remember to take medicine,” says Dr. Shevaun Neupert, lead author of a paper describing the research. “This is the first time anyone has looked at the effect of daily changes in how busy we are affects our ability to remember medicines.”
“For example, young people do the best job of remembering to take their medicine on days when they are busier than usual,” Neupcrt says. “But older adults do a better job of remembering their medicine on days when they are less busy.”
The researchers evaluated study participants who were on daily medicines. The participants were divided into two groups: younger adults(between the ages of 18 and 20) and older adults(between the ages of 60 and 89).
For both age groups, the researchers found that participants were more likely to remember to take their medicines on days when they performed better than usual on “cognition(认知)tests”-which evaluate memory and critical thinking.
“We found that cognition is an important factor in remembering medicines,” Neupert says. “but that how busy we are is also important." This has very real applications for helping people remember to take medicines that can be essential to their health and well-being.
“We've found such a disparity between young and old adults, that it's clear we need to tailor our messages to these two groups.” Neupert says. “For example, it is important for young people to stay busy and be active. That will help them, remember to take their medicines. However, we need to let older adults-know that they need to give particular attention to remembering medicines on days when they expect to be busier than usual.”
1.Which shows what is new about the research on remembering medicines?
A.Age differences. B.Differences between people.
C.Changes in the amount of work. D.Changes in the types of work.
2.What does the underlined word “disparity” in the last paragraph probably mean?
A.Difference. B.Disadvantage.
C.Connection. D.Coincidence.
3.What should old adults do when they are likely to forget their medicine?
A.Keep themselves busy. B.Take a cognition test.
C.Always remind themselves about it. D.Think of their health and well-being.
4.What does the research on remembering medicines focus on?
A.One's daily medicine and daily work.
B.The time and place to take medicine.
C.The connection between medicine and health.
D.Changes in daily behavior and age differences.
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Smart cities promise to bring better lives, faster transport, cleaner air and lower crime, all through the intelligent use of connected technology, said experts, and after huge investment in the field, China is leading the way.
“China’s smart cities market increases about 30 percent year-on-year in 2018, and all the provinces have begun development and construction for smart cities, with more to follow,” said an expert.
“Although most cities have started a smart city project, there is no globally unified thinking on the concept and operation of smart cities,” said Franco.
Alibaba is now involved in dozens of pilot projects across China, with its open AI (人工智能) platform Tianqing for the ET City Brain system officially launched in September. Set up by its cloud computing subsidiary (子公司), the Brain looks to make the city “think” through AI and cloud computing technologies, and help make the best of public services in real time.
Since introducing the technology, Hangzhou’s traffic jam has fallen from the fifth-worst in China in 2016, all the way to 57th place this year. “Now our experiments are mostly for government use, but we truly expect our open AI platform to enter more areas and help citizens live, work and entertain better,” said Hua.
In McKinsey Global Institute recent report Smart cities: Digital solutions for a more livable future, they find cities can use smart technologies to improve some key quality life by 10 to 30 percent — numbers that translate into lives saved, fewer crime incidents, a reduced health burden, and carbon emissions.
1.What can we say about the smart city?
A.Its concept has not been accepted by people.
B.It can be achieved only by lots of investment.
C.The worldwide standard for it has been established.
D.Its progress in China is among the best in the world.
2.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 5 refer to?
A.Traffic jam. B.Traffic flow.
C.AI platform. D.Public services.
3.Hangzhou is mentioned as an example to show that _______.
A.its traffic problem has been settled
B.the city has become more intelligent
C.its public services have greatly improved
D.it has made achievements in smart city construction
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Smart Cities are on the Way
B.Outline of the Future Smart Cities
C.Hangzhou’s Construction of Smart Cities
D.Alibaba Contributes More to Smart Cities
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As artificial intelligence (AI) systems become more subtle, we can expect them to be used more often in the world of human medicine and healthcare. AI is designed to imitate the human brain in decision making and learning, so with the computing power to learn tasks in days or even hours, it is possible to create medical AIs that rapidly outperform doctors in certain tasks.
Most of the AI systems working in medicine employ smart algorithms ( 算 法 ), with the machine and deep learning techniques, and are supported by speech recognition and computer or machine vision to make their decisions. It will be some time before researchers can develop artificial general intelligence systems capable of abstracting knowledge and developing their own experiences to share with other AIs. But firms like Microsoft, Google, Apple,
IBM and Facebook are preparing themselves up to deliver the most advanced AI personalized healthcare possible for patients around the world.
Data plays a hugely important role in helping AI systems learn about human medicine. AI systems are trained on large data sets gathered from real-life cases. Providing amounts of detailed patient information is a decisive factor for their success.
One of the most important areas for influencing global health is in the field of epidemiology ( 流行病学).
Predicting disease outbreaks can save millions of lives by having resources ready should the worst happen. Another field where medical AIs are making rapid advances is in diagnostics. Doctors base a lot of decisions on information from X-ray, CT and MRI images. Speeding up diagnoses from patient scans can rapidly improve patient care and outcomes.
Cardiologist (心脏病医生) Rima Arnaout developed an AI that beat human experts at correctly interpreting echocardiograms by 92 percent to 79 percent. She said that despite the result there is no hope of AI replacing human doctors any time soon. "As cardiologists, we read the images and then go see the patient," she said. "So we’re both reading images and practicing medicine. I don't think that the second piece will be taken over so quickly."
1.The purpose of this text is to introduce ________.
A.the speech recognition of AI systems
B.the computer vision of AI systems
C.the rise of AI systems in medicine
D.the development of AI in tech firms
2.What is the key to making medical AI systems successful?
A.Arriving at decisions.
B.Providing patient data.
C.Predicting disease outbreaks.
D.Speeding up diagnoses.
3.What can we infer from Rima's words?
A.She prefers practicing medicine to reading images.
B.AIs do better than cardiologists in seeing patients.
C.She is confident in the irreplaceable role of human doctors.
D.AIs are unable to read images with current technology.
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In the film The Matrix, Agent Smith, a super-computer in human shape, says, “You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern: a virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. ”
Yes, relatively speaking, we are just a large virus. While most species live in balance with their ecosystems, we fail to do so. We are taking more from nature than it has to give. We wipe out animals and plants as a virus might invade and kill a host. We are destroying our host, the earth.
Our brain has been our most successful tool for survival. The funny thing is that our mind has developed to such a degree that we have thought up solutions to more survival problems. We are for the first time in earth's history changing nature to suit our comfort and desires. Being a human, I do like the advancement of technology and medicine as we nave the chance to survive longer and sometimes feel less pain. After all, nature is cruel and we can soften its blow through these inventions. However, people surviving genetic faults or illness, could they be actually making the gene pool more “dirty” and could even more people in the future suffer due to an increase in faulty DNA? It seems that even though we deal with a short-term problem we could be causing more. Are we being kind to be cruel?
We are lucky enough to own a brain complex enough to think and create. But we fail to realize the only way to really survive is through respect of our host, the earth, and working with it as the only way a living thing can benefit is by benefiting its host as it depends on it to survive.
1.According to the passage, what characteristics do humans and viruses share?
A.They take and give. B.They expand and destroy.
C.They create and consume. D.They balance and survive.
2.What does the author think of modern technology and medicine?
A.They can help humans control nature. B.They can guarantee purer human DNA.
C.They may reduce humans' effect on the earth. D.They may bring humans more harm than good.
3.What is the author's purpose of writing the passage?
A.To appeal for humans' respect for nature. B.To put forward ways to advance medicine.
C.To talk about a film character, Agent Smith. D.To argue against comparing humans to viruses.
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Living gratefully has a huge transforming power,not just when something wonderful or special happens,but every day no matter what is happening.
I've recently been involved with two people whose lives were challenged by bad luck.I have seen how grateful living had the power to keep one of them going and how it's beginning to lift the other.One was a friend and the other is my sister.
My friend seemed to be in good health when she received a deadly diagnosis(诊断）：a disease with no effective treatment.She had all the emotions that a tragedy(悲剧）brings,but she also had a powerful response to despair that gave her"the happiness that doesn't depend on what happens."She wrote online daily,honestly sharing the details of her situation.
She wrote that even though it was difficult to move,this gave her more time to notice small things.
She was grateful not only for the love and help of family and friends,but also for time to see the sun rise and watch the birds in her yard.No opportunity for gratefulness was wasted.
She taught that gratefulness is not a false cheerfulness.It's taking every opportunity to celebrate the blessings of small things.We can be grateful for the challenges that help us develop compassion(同情）for each other.Life is a precious gift.
She repeatedly blogged(写博客）that she was happier than she had ever been.
When she wrote about"the worst day",she ended with"life is still a lovely gift."She died later that day.
Her message,however,changed my sister's life.My sister's health was getting worse and worse, though nothing life-threatening.She did have a very painful knee.Her life was in danger from her defeated spirit.She was bedbound(卧床不起），getting weaker and weaker.Fearful,angry and depressed,she felt out of options for recovery.
I read my sister a few of my friend's messages.I was careful not to say,"Why can't you be more like her?"Instead,I let the words do their work.I'm grateful to say that an attitude of gratitude began to replace her anger and fear.I believe this helped her to heal.
We can't be grateful for all that happens,but we can practice gratefulness for all that happens,but we can practice gratefulness for life itself,for all we can learn to deal with,for all the ways we can help each other grow and heal.
1.How did the author's sister feel when she was ill?
A.calm.
B.lonely.
C.sad.
D.confused.
2.What happened when the author's friend found she had an incurable disease?
A.She complained that life was unfair to her.
B.She started to appreciate and enjoy the small things in life.
C.She tried her best to look for treatment.
D.She repeatedly blogged about how painful it was.
3.What message does the article mainly convey?
A.A friend in need is a friend indeed.
B.Gratitude has the power of lifting people's spirits.
C.Health is the most important thing for people.
D.Families will always be there no matter what happens.
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The Notre Dame (巴黎圣母院) fire has been put out, but its wooden roof have been largely damaged. The terrible accident causes a sudden sharp pain to people around the world, “What a pity that we cannot see the damaged parts of the wonder anymore.”
But the good news is that there is at least one way of seeing them, namely via a video game called Assassin's Creed: Unity. In this game, the player can travel to one city after another and enter the buildings exactly like what they are in reality, and see Notre Dame as it was before the fire. In addition, with VR technology, which is already quite mature, one can even look around the undamaged Notre Dame as if it is still there. Maybe digital technology could help to better protect architectural cultural heritage.
The idea of digitizing ancient buildings, making digital models of them so their data can be saved, dates back to the 1990s and the necessary technology has continued to advance since then. By scanning the ancient buildings with lasers, building 3D models with hundreds of images, as well as measuring everything precisely, engineers can make a copy as “same” as the real one.
As computers and smartphones are hugely popular，the digital replica or digital copy has great pratical value. First, it allows tourists to feel the cultural relics without touching them, which helps protect them. The virtual tour of Dunhuang Grottoes in Gansu Province is a good example of this as tourists can view the paintings without standing near them. Furthermore, it can make the digitized cultural relics more famous by spreading awareness about them via the Internet. In 2000, a virtual tour of the Great Wall became very popular at the Hannover World Expo, which increased the number of foreign tourists visiting it in the following years. Above all, it preserves all the information of the cultural relics. Even if the original ones are damaged one day, people can still know what they were like and can build a replica if desired.
Time is the biggest problem to architectural heritage. Maybe we will have better technologies in the future，but the digital technology offers a practical way to preserve architectural cultural heritage at the moment.
1.Which of the following statement is true?
A.The big fire has damaged the whole Notre Dame.
B.Only people in Paris felt pain for losing Notre Dame.
C.The damaged parts of Notre Dame have already been repaired.
D.A video game can help people see the original look of Notre Dame.
2.What will engineers do to create a digital replica of the ancient buildings?
A.Scan the photos of the buildings B.Build 3D models of full size.
C.Improve the technology needed. D.Measure all the parts exactly.
3.How does the author prove the digital copy has vital practical importance?
A.By comparison. B.By listing data.
C.By giving examples. D.By classification.
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A.The Damage of Notre Dame
B.The Value of Digital Replica
C.VR Technology Helps Repair the Cultural Relics
D.Digital Technology Helps Protect Ancient Buildings
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Fairy tales perform many functions. They entertain, encourage imagination, and teach problem -solving skills. They can also provide moral lessons, highlighting the dangers of failing to follow the social rules that let human beings coexist in harmony. Such moral lessons may not mean much to a robot, but a team of researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) believes it has found a way to turn the instructive fable (寓言) into a moral lesson that artificial intelligence (AI) can take to its cold, mechanical heart.
This, the researchers hope, will help prevent the intelligent robots from harming or even killing humanity, which is predicted and feared by some of the biggest names in technology, including Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and Bill Cates.
Mark Riedl, an associate professor of interactive computing at Georgia Tech believes that the collected stories of different cultures not only teach children how to behave well but also teach robots how to get rid of violent or dangerous behaviour and help them make choices that won't harm humans and still achieve the intended purpose.
The system is called “Quixote”. The experiment involves going to a chemist to buy some medicine for a human who needs it as soon as possible. The robot has three choices. It can wait in line; it can communicate with the chemist politely and buy the medicine; it can steal the medicine. Without any further instructions, the robot will come to the conclusion that the most efficient means of getting the medicine is to steal it. Quixote offers a reward signal for waiting in line and politely buying the medicine and a punishment signal for taking it without permission. In this way, it learns the “moral” way to behave in that situation.
Quixote would work best on a robot that has a very limited function. It's a baby step in the direction of teaching more moral lessons into robots. We believe that AI has to be trained to adopt the values of a particular society, and in doing so, it will strive to avoid unacceptable behavior. Giving robots the ability to read and understand our stories may be the most efficient means.
1.What is the main idea of the passage?
A.The moral lessons learned by a robot. B.The coexistence of human beings and AI.
C.The new function of the fairy tales on AI. D.The different applications of the fairy tales.
2.What are the three technology experts mentioned in Paragraph 2 concerned about?
A.The potential threat from robots. B.The problems with moral lessons.
C.The high costs of AI development. D.The difficulties of the GIT scientists.
3.How does Quixote help the robot behave morally in the experiment?
A.By offering the robot rewards. B.By sending the robot different signals.
C.By helping the robot make right choice. D.By giving the robot specific instructions.
4.Which of the following may the author agree with?
A.The development of robots is still in a baby step.
B.Robots should have the ability to understand the fairy tales.
C.The more functions the robot has, the better Quixote works.
D.It is necessary to train robots to follow the social values.