Question

A computer program that could help catch and ever translates from aliens in outer space has been started by a British scientist.

If aliens are discovered one day, scientists fear their language may make it possible to understand them. But John Elliott of needs Metropolitan University in Britain has come up with a program that can figure out the structure(结构)of their language. He thinks that’s the first step in understanding what they are saying.

Dr.Elliott’s program would compare an alien language to a database(数据库)of 60 different languages in the world to look for a similar structure. He believes that even an alien language will have its own structure.Language has to be structured in a certain way, or it will be harder to use,he told New Scientist magazine.

Research had shown that it is possible to know if a signal(信号)carries a language rather than a picture or music. Dr.Elliott has gone a step further by finding a way to pick out what might be words and sentences. Because languages have different word orders, Dr.Elliott has set up a library of the sentence structures of 60 human languages.

If a message is received from outer space, it could be compared against this database. Scientist would then be able to see if ti’s similar to any human language, or a mix of the language.

However, Dr.Elliott also said that in order to translate what the aliens are actually saying, it may still be necessary to have a code book.

1.Why did Dr.Elliott come up with the program?

A. To learn more about outer space. B. To develop a new language.

C. To help translate the messages for aliens. D. To compare an alien language to human languages.

2.According to Dr.Elliott, what’s the first step of understanding an alien language?

A. Coming up with a program. B. Knowing a structure.

C. Understanding aliens. D. Discovering aliens.

3.What does paragraph 4 mainly tell us?

A. Some necessary conditions for making the program work.

B. Dr.Elliott’s findings about different kinds of languages.

C. Three important functions of the program.

D. The number of sentence structures of human languages.

4.How does the program work when it receives a message from aliens?

A. Mix the message with 60 human languages.

B. Translate the message and send it to the database.

C. Pick out the sentence structure and translate it.

D. Compare the message to the database of 60 human languages.

5.What can we infer from the story?

A. Not all languages have their own structure.

B. The structure of alien languages is similar to that of human languages.

C. To translate alien languages, there is much work to do..

D. Alien languages are signals carrying pictures and music.

Answer 1