19.We may all like to consider ourselves free spirits.But a study of the tracks left by 50,000mobile phone users over three months has finally proved that the truth is otherwise.
"We are all in one way or another boring,"says Albert-Laszlo Barabasi at the Center for Complex Network Research at Northeastern University in Boston,who co-wrote the study."Spontaneous individuals are largely absent from the population,"
Barabasi and colleagues used three months'worth of data from a mobile phone network to track the mobile phone towers each person's phone connected to each hour of the day,showing their general location.They conclude that regardless of whether a person typically remains close to home or wanders far and wide,their movements are probably predictable as much as 93percent of the time.
Surprisingly,the mobile phone data showed that individuals'movements were more or less as predictable at weekends as on weekdays,suggesting that routine(日程) is rooted in human nature rather than being an effect of work patterns.
The mobile phone records were handled to make out the most visited locations for each user.Then the probability of finding a given user at his most visited locations at each hour through the day was calculated.
People were to be found in their most visited location for any given hour 70percent of the time.Not surprisingly,the figure increased at night,and decreased at lunchtime and in the early evening,when most people were returning home from work.
The team analyzed the randomness(随意性) of people's traces to show it was possible in theory to predict the average person's places as much as 93percent of the time.
"Say your routine movement is from home to the coffee shop to work:if you are at home and then go to the coffee shop it's easy for me to predict that you are going to work,"says co-author Nicholas Blumm.
This predictability was not much affected by differences in age,gender,language spoken or whether a person lived in a rural or urban setting.
58.The"spontaneous individuals"are most probably people whoB.
A.are boring in some way
B.act with much freedom
C.can live without a mobile phone
D.rely much on a mobile phone in life
59.A phone user's location is shown byC.
A.which mobile phone network he is connected to
B.the content of his every phone call
C.which mobile phone tower he is connected to
D.how often he uses the phone every day
60.According to the sixth paragraph,a person is more likely toD at night than in the early evening.
A.return home from work
B.be found at home
C.take home as his most visited place
D.go to his most visited place
61.What is the passage mainly about?B
A.The factors that help determine one's routine.
B.The predictability of one's routine.
C.The influence of mobile phones on one's routine.
D.The new application of mobile phone.
分析 本文为科教类说明文,很多人认为自己具有自由精神,但是研究发现结果并非如此;研究通过运用手机定位的功能,分析数据发现任何时段70%的情况下都能在常常去的地方找到那个人;这个数据夜里会上涨,即超过70%,在午餐时间和清晨会下降;由此说明,我们的日常行为并非随意的,这项结果不受年龄、性别、语言和居住地点的影响;
解答 58.答案是B.词义猜测题;根据第一段可知,我们都喜欢认为自己具有自由精神,但是研究发现结果并非如此,即我们并不具有free spirits(自由精神);下文分析研究结果说明,大多数时候能够预测人们的运动,由此推断我们都不是"自由自在行动的人";因此"Spontaneous individuals are largely absent from the population,"指人口中缺少的是自由自在行动的人",故选B.
59.答案是C.细节理解题;根据第二段中"Barabasi and colleagues used three months'worth of data from a mobile phone network to track the mobile phone towers each person's phone connected to each hour of the day,showing their general location."可知,Barabasi和他的同事运用手机网络中的数据追踪手机信号塔每天每个时段连接的手机,说明他们的位置;可见,通过分析某人连接的手机信号塔可以确定一个人的位置,故选C.
60.答案是D.细节理解题;根据第六段中"People were to be found in their most visited location for any given hour 70percent of the time.Not surprisingly,the figure increased at night,and decreased at lunchtime and in the early evening"可知,任何时段70%的情况下都能在常常去的地方找到那个人;这个数据夜里会上涨,即超过70%,在午餐时间和清晨会下降;由此判断人们晚上更会去常去的地方;选D.
61.答案是B.主旨大意题;本文介绍了很多人认为自己具有自由精神,但是研究发现结果并非如此;下文分析研究结果说明,大多数时候能够预测人们的运动,我们的日常行为并非随意的;这项结果不受年龄、性别、语言和居住地点的影响;由此判断,本文主要介绍人们日常行为的可预测性,故选B.
点评 科普文通常学术性较强,结构严谨,往往采用总-分-总或总-分的结构,且每段的第一句话大多是主旨句.如果抓住了科普文的首尾和每段的第一句话,那么整篇文章的中心思想便了然于心.在做细节题时根据题干定位细节,在语境中正确理解原句,然后对照选项做出合理的判断.