Question

  The human face may have been built for certain basic functions 一 eating,breathing,seeing — but the 43 separate muscles that keep it constantly moving mean it is constantly communicating too. For example,every eyebrow lift means something. That's good news for a small growing field of business that uses facial analysis to figure out if an advertisement or a TV pilot(实验性节目) appeals to consumers.

   Affectiva,a 30-person operation in America,is the most successful of these companies. A decide ago,Rana el Kaliouby began collecting video samples (样本） of faces with the goal of helping autistic(患自闭症的) children. “Autistic kids have a hard time reading faces,” she says, “so the plan was to design a system that tells them that the person they’ re talking to is smiling,say,or looks confUsed." In 2006,the National Science Foundation sponsore her to continue her work at the. MIT Media Lab. Industry groups regularly visit the lab and el Kaliouby’s research impressed them. “They asked , ^ Have you thought of using what you are working on to test a product?’ ” she recalls. So,in 2009 she and her MIT professor established Affectiva to do just that.

   For a starting fee of $2,500,Affectiva makes its software available to marketers. Volunteers watch a video on a computer screen while the camera in the computer watches them back. Volunteers always know it is there and when they,re being recorded,which doesn’ t materially affect the results. Engagement,boredom,amusement,displeasure and more are tracked and analyzed. The database Affectiva uses to conduct those analyses is made up of more than 2. 5 million facial video samples. The software also takes factors such as sex,culture and age into account. “Women tend to smile more than men,” el Kaliouby says.

   Market testing is only the lowest-hanging fruit. El Kaliouby expects to expand the business to political polling(民意测验) and analysis,as well as helping teachers of online courses assess student engagement. She is still interested in autism and other psychological conditions. There are some potential growth areas that are more controversial: lie detection and airport security,for example. For Affectiva,they’ re no-go zones. “We believe volunteers should always have the right to decide whether to be tested,so for that reason we don't want to be in security ,” el Kaliouby says. That,of course,leaves that space open to new competitors.

28. When el Kaliouby founded Affectiva,she wanted to.

   A. look for sponsors

   B. help autistic children

   C. create a video sample database

   D. test commercials and TV pilots

29. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

   A. The computer. B. The camera.

   C. The screen. D. The video.

30. We can infer that “new competitors” mentioned in the last paragraph may use facial analysis to.

   A. do political polling and analysis

   B. assess online students’ engagement

   C. examine whether people are telling lies

   D. help people with psychological conditions

31. In which part of a magazine Can we read the text?

   A. Technology.   B. Education.

   C. Lifestyle. D. Society.

Answer 1

28. D 29. B 30. C 31. A

(科普知识与现代技术)

本文是说明文。Rana el Kaliouby创办了Affectiva公司，通过分析受试者的面部表情判断某一广告或实验性节自是否吸引现众。

28. D.细节理解题。根据前两段中的...uses facial analysis to figure out if an advertisement or a TV pilot appeals to consumers,Affectiva ... is the most successful of these companies 及 “They asked ,‘Have you thought of using what you are working on to test a product?’”she recalls. So,in 2009 she and her MIT professor established Affectiva to do just that 可知，el Kaliouby 创办 Affectiva公司就是要帮助客户判断某一广告或 实验性节目是否吸引观众。

29. B.篇章结构题。根据划线词后的when the/re being recorded可推断，这里指志愿者知道“摄像头” It在那儿,也知道什么时候正在录像。

30. C.推理判断题。根据最后一段中的lie detection and airport security,for example. For Affectiva,they,re no-go zones 可知，Affectiva 公 司不会去做M谎和机ft安检的业务,这就为“新的 竞争者”留下空间，使得他们可以去做这些业务。

31. A.文章出处题。通读全文可知，文章介绍了 Affectiva公司通过分析受试者的面部表情判断 某一广告或实验性节目是否吸引观众。Affectiva公司分析面部表情的技术是本文的关 键，故本文最有可能出自科技版块。