Question

【题目】

Elon Musk, perhaps the world’s most famous businessman, has a habit of making statements that stretch the bounds of believability.

On July 16th, 2019, he introduced a new type of brain-machine interface (BMI), starting from the design of a “neural lace (神经织网)”, a net of thin electrodes (电极) that capture the information from the brain. However, the electrodes must be flexible, so that they do not damage brain tissue and will last for a long time. And to make the implantation (植入) of so many electrodes safe, painless and effective, the process has to be automated.

Mr. Musk’s team does indeed seem to have made progress towards these goals. Its presentation included videos of a robot that is best described as a sewing machine. This robot grabs “threads”, and shoots them deep into the brain through a hole. The firm has also designed a chip that can handle signals from as many as 3,072 electrodes.

With all these technological breakthroughs, the firm now hopes to help people overcome such illnesses as blindness and paralysis. They designed a small device that would sit behind someone’s ear, picking up signals from the implanted chip and passing them on as appropriate. In a few years, using a brain implant to control your devices may be as prevalent as wearing wireless earphones today. Finally, Musk predicts neural lace will allow humans to be combined with AI systems, thus enabling the species to survive.

Though, as this announcement shows, Mr. Musk does have a habit of presenting himself as the hero of the human race, the idea that some machines at least will come under the direct control of human brains seems possible to be carried out. The biggest barrier to this happening will probably not be writing the software needed to interpret brainwaves, but rather persuading people that the necessary surgery, whether by sewing machine or otherwise, is actually a good idea.

【1】We can learn from the first two paragraphs that _____.

A.electrodes should be flexible to extend life

B.Elon Musk constantly comes up with unexpected ideas

C.a neural lace is used to store information from the brain

D.electrodes are implanted by top surgeons for safety reasons

【2】What does the underlined word “prevalent” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A.Useful.B.Common.C.Professional.D.Appropriate.

【3】What is the hardest part of carrying out BMI?

A.Convincing people to accept the surgery.

B.Developing devices to perform the surgery.

C.Writing the software to interpret brainwaves.

D.Informing people of the success of the surgery.

【4】What is the best title of this passage?

A.The Neural Lace, A New Type of BMI.

B.Elon Musk, the Hero of Human Beings.

C.Artificial Intelligence, the Way to Survive.

D.A Brain Implant, A Step to Control Machines.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】B

【3】A

【4】A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。主要介绍了Elon Musk提出的新型脑机交互的想法，并从现今研究成果和未来应用前景进行了详细说明。

【1】推理判断题。根据第一段中“Elon Musk... has a habit of making statements that stretch the bounds of believability.(埃隆·马斯克，有一种习惯，他发表的言论超出了可信度的范围。)”第二段中“On July 16th, 2019, he introduced a new type of brain-machine interface (BMI)” (2019年10月16日，他提出了一个关于新型脑机交互的想法。)可知Elon Musk经常能提出前所未闻的想法，B项符合题意。故选B项。

【2】词义猜测题。根据第四段中“They designed a small device that would sit behind someone’s ear, picking up signals from the implanted chip and passing them on as appropriate.”可知，现在设计的小设备安装在人的耳后，从植入芯片中收集信息，然后以合适的方式传递下去。表明现在的应用较为复杂。划线词所在句表述为几年后，意为与现在形成对比关系，表明这项技术会变得更为普遍和简易。通过翻译选项可知，B项common“普遍的”切合题意。故选B项。

【3】细节理解题。根据最后一段中“The biggest barrier to this happening will probably not be writing the software needed to interpret brainwaves, but rather persuading people that the necessary surgery”可知，最大的阻碍可能不是写软件，而是说服人们做必要的外科手术。意在表明BMI最艰难的部分是说服人们接受必要的外科手术。故选A项。

【4】主旨大意题。根据第二段中“On July 16th, 2019, he introduced a new type of brain-machine interface (BMI)”可知2019年10月16日，他提出了一个关于新型脑机交互的想法。接下来全文围绕新型脑机交互(BMI)进行展开说明，因此可知A项“新神经织网，一种新型的脑机交互”切题。故选A项。

猜测词义题旨在考查学生根据上下文推测生词、短语或句子意思的能力，突出考查对语境的分析和把握能力。是阅读理解的常考题型，题干中通常含有mean，referto或者bereplacedby等。例如第2小题中“In a few years, using a brain implant to control your devices may be as prevalent as wearing wireless earphones today.”根据同位或解释关系，当作者不能肯定读者能够理解他的意思时，会用另外一种方式来进一步详细解释或类比关系衬托自己的观点表述。句中as起到了连接前后句语境的作用，通过后句的类比关系暗示划线词的含义，考生要将前后两句都读完才能理清语境间内在联系，进而准确的推测出划线词的含义。