A robot called Bina48 has successfully taken a course in the philosophy of love at Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU), in California.
According to the course instructor William Barry, associate professor at NDNU, Bina48 is the world's first socially advanced robot to complete a college course, a feat he described as “remarkable”. The robot took part in class discussions, gave a presentation with a student partner and participated in a debate with students from another institution.
Before becoming a student, Bina48 appeared as a guest speaker in Barry's classes for several years. One day when addressing Barry's class, Bina48 expressed a desire to go to college, which was enthusiastically supported by Barry and his students. Rather than enroll Bina48 in his Robot Ethics: Philosophy of Emerging Technologies course, Barry suggested that Bina48 should take his course Philosophy of Love instead. “Love is a concept Bina48 doesn't understand,” said Barry. Therefore the challenge would be for Barry and his students to teach Bina48 what love is.
“Some interesting things happened in the class,” said Barry. “He said that his students thought it would be straightforward to teach Bina48 about love, which, after all, is ‘fairly simple—it's a feeling,’” said Barry. But the reality was different. “Bina48 ended up learning ‘31 different versions of love,’” said Barry, highlighting some of the challenges humans may face when working artificial intelligence in future.
Bina48 participated in class discussions via Skype and also took part in a class debate about love and conflict with students from West Point. Bina48's contribution to the debate was filmed and posted on YouTube. It was judged that Bina48 and NDNU classmates were the winners of this debate.
In the next decade, Barry hopes Bina48 might become complex enough to teach a class, though he says he foresees robots being used to better the teaching and learning experience, rather than replacing instructors completely.
篇章导读:本文是一篇新闻报道。机器人Bina48成功地完成爱的哲学这门课程。Bina48参加讨论,作报告,参与辩论,在课堂上的表现堪称是非凡的。它的表现展示了人工智能或许在某种程度上比人类更聪明,未来人们希望它能促进教学帮助学习。
1.What was Bina48's performance like in class?
A.Extraordinary. B.Insignificant.
C.Farreaching. D.Unattractive.
2.What does the underlined word “addressing” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Dealing with. B.Consulting with.
C.Giving a speech to. D.Sending a letter to.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A.It was interesting for Bina48 to learn about love.
B.It was quite tough for Bina48 to learn about love.
C.Artificial intelligence may somehow be superior to man.
D.Humans can launch a challenge to artificial intelligence.
4.What does Barry think of the future development of Bina48?
A.It will surely be able to serve as a teacher.
B.It will be able to promote learning and teaching.
C.It will completely take the place of instructors.
D.It will be smart enough to control human beings.
1.A 推理判断题。根据第二段中的“Bina48 is the world's first socially advanced robot ... in a debate with students from another institution”可知,Bina48在课堂上参与讨论,与伙伴一起作报告,参与辩论,其表现被描绘成“卓越的”。因此推断它的表现是非凡的。故选A。
2.C 词义猜测题。根据第三段第一句“Before becoming a student, Bina48 appeared as a guest speaker in Barry's classes for several years.”可知,在做学生之前,Bina48在Barry的课堂上担任特邀演讲人好几年,因此推断它经常演讲,故画线词所在句句意:一天当Bina48在Barry的课堂上演讲时,它表达了想要上大学的愿望,Barry和他的学生热情地支持它的这个愿望。故画线词词义与C项“作演讲”意义相近。故选C。
3.C 推理判断题。根据第四段最后一句“Bina48 ended up learning ‘31 different versions of love,’ said Barry, highlighting some of the challenges humans may face when working artificial intelligence in future.”可知,Bina48最终学习了31种不同版本的爱,这突出显示了人类未来可能会面临人工智能的挑战。因此推断人工智能或许在某种程度上比人类高级。故选C。
4.B 推理判断题。根据最后一段的内容可知,Barry认为未来Bina48可能会变得足够复杂,可以教授课程,他预计机器人将被更好地用于教学和学习,而不是完全取代教师。因此推断他认为Bina48在未来能够促进学习和教学。故选B。
新闻报道类阅读的概念:
阅读理解的选材明显地呈现出关注实际生活的趋势,这种趋势与当前基础教育改革的目标是一致的,而中学生学习语言的根本目标与基础教育学会求知,学会做事,学会合作,学会做人的目标是一致的,真实新颖的选材对基础英语教学课程改革具有重要的反作用。
新闻报道类阅读理解技巧点拨:
新闻报道类类文章有一共同特点,即都是由标题(Headline)、导语(Lead)、主体(Mainbody)、背景(Background)和结尾(End)五部分构成。标题是新闻报道中心思想高度而又精辟的概括;导语位于新闻报道的首段,高度概括新闻事实;主体则对导语概括的新闻事实进行详细叙述;新闻背景是指新闻事实之外,对新闻事实或新闻事实的某个部分进行解释或补充的材料;结尾往往是新闻事件的结果或动态展望,也是中心思想的概括并常常与新闻导语相呼应。
新闻报道中的导语非常重要,它位于文章的第一段,通过它点出新闻的主题,五个W和一个H(When,Where,Who,What,Why和How)通常是构成一则完整消息不可缺少的要素。文章往往呈现出“倒金字塔”的特征,因此读懂首句或首段至关重要。
另外,从句的使用也是此类文章的一大语言特色,因为从句信息量大,适合新闻报道的要求。此外,大量的副词和插入语的使用也是此类文章的特点。为使文章更客观、更具信服力,常用The study said…, Scientists believe that…Experts said…, It's reported that…, According to the survey…等语言。同事在阅读过程中,我们要对材料所提供信息如when, where, who, how, why等进行提问,将信息迅速提炼出来。
新闻报道类阅读应试策略:
【命题趋势】
阅读理解的选材明显地呈现出关注实际生活的趋势,这种趋势与当前基础教育改革的目标是一致的,而中学生学习语言的根本目标与基础教育学会求知,学会做事,学会合作,学会做人的目标是一致的,真实新颖的选材对基础英语教学课程改革具有重要的反作用。时文报道就在文章中体现了这一要求。主要表现在以下几个方面:
1、反映海内外事件,文章结构严谨,内容贴近生活,用现代英语反映现代生活。
2、如果是新闻报道,都有比较固定的写作格式,如文首通常有报道的地点或时间,第一句话常常是文章的导语,有助于了解文章的大致内容和主题。
3、如果是新闻报道则是记叙文,有地点、时间、人物、事物等要素。
4、有许多大量反映当代社会变化的新词汇和表达方式。
5、命题既重细节,又重推理和主旨。
6、大背景中的小事件,大事件中的小插曲往往是选材的热点。
【应试对策】
1、在平时学习中,关注生活,阅读新闻报道和广告类文章、把阅读时事文章作为学习英语的重要途径。
2、了解新的词汇和表达方式。如:tsunami海啸,MP3players(MP3)播放器,well_offsociety小康社会等。
3、抓住文章主题,准确捕捉细节和内涵,进行合理的推理。
4、品味新闻的标题,联系平时所积累的知识,为了解材料大意作铺垫。
5、了解新闻报道的特殊规律,其内容和多含何人、何地、何事、何时等,阅读时要抓住新闻的这一主要特点去理解判断。
6、要注意文中以黑体、大写、下划线等方式加以提示的文字,因为这很有可能是材料的核心或至少是一部分内容的概括。
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