单选题
Researchers for Cornell University and Intel produced a chip called Loihi that reportedly makes computers think like biological brains, according to Daily Mail. The researchers created the circuit on the chip, mirroring organic circuits found in the olfactory bulbs (嗅球) of a dog's brain, which is how they process their sense of smell. The Loihi chip can identify a specific odor on the first try and even tell other background smells, said Intel, according to Daily Mail. The chip can even detect smells humans emit when sick with a disease—which vary depending on the illness—and smells linked to environmental gases and drugs. The key to sniffer dogs isn't their olfactory system alone, but their incredible ability to remember—this is why they're trained. Similarly, the artificial intelligence of the chip is trained to identify different smells and remember them, so that next time, it knows. The chip processes information just like mammal brains by using electrical signals to process smells. When a person smells something, the air molecules interact with nasal receptors that forward signals to the olfactory bulb in the brain. Then the brain translates the signals to identify which smell it's experiencing, based on memories of previous experiences with the specific smell. 'We are developing a method for Loihi to mimic (模仿) what happens in your brain when you smell something,' said Senior Research Scientist in Intel's Lab, Nabil Imam, in a statement, according to Daily Mail. Imam added that the work 'demonstrates Loihi's potential to provide important sensing capabilities that could benefit various industries.' So far, the researchers have trained it on ten harmful smells. It can be installed on robots in airports to help identify hazardous objects, or integrated with sensors in power plants or hospitals to detect dangerous gases. Similar biotechnology has seen the implementation in grasshoppers recently outfitted with computer chips to sniff-out bombs. However, this negatively affects their lifespan, limiting their use. While sniffer dogs might one day be out of a job, the circuits using AI to mimic the process of smell bring us one step closer to recreating the human sensory system in artificial intelligence.
单选题
What do we learn about Loihi? ______
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】由首段中a chip called Loihi that reportedly makes computers think like biological brains，第二段第二句中The Loihi chip can identify a specific odor on the first try and even tell other background smells,以及第三段最后一句中the artificial intelligence of the chip is trained to identify different smells可知，Loihi是一种芯片，可利用人工智能技术识别气味，故本题应选C。 [参考译文] 据英国《每日邮报》报道，康奈尔大学和英特尔公司的研究人员研制出了一种名为Loihi的芯片，据报道，这种芯片能让电脑像生物大脑一样思考。 研究人员在芯片上创建了这个电路，模仿了狗狗大脑中嗅球的有机电路，这是狗狗处理嗅觉的方式。据《每日邮报》报道，英特尔公司表示，Loihi芯片可以在第一次尝试中就识别出一种特定的气味，甚至可以辨别出其他背景气味。 这种芯片甚至可以探测到人类生病时散发的气味——它会因疾病的不同而有所变化——以及与环境气体和药物有关的气味。嗅探犬的关键不只是它们的嗅觉系统，还有它们惊人的记忆能力——这就是为什么要训练它们的原因。同样，科研人员会训练芯片的人工智能，令其识别不同的气味并记住它们，这样下次它就知道了。 这种芯片处理信息的方式就像哺乳动物的大脑一样，它利用电信号来处理气味。当一个人闻到某种东西时，空气分子就会与鼻感受器相互作用，将信号传递给大脑中的嗅球。然后，大脑根据之前对特定气味的记忆，将这些信号进行转换以用来识别它正在体验的气味。 据《每日邮报》报道，英特尔实验室的高级研究科学家纳比尔·伊玛目在一份声明中说：“我们正在开发一种方法，让Loihi来模拟当你闻到某种东西时你大脑里发生的事情。”伊玛目补充说，这项工作“展示了Loihi在提供重要传感能力方面的潜力，这将使各个行业受益。” 到目前为止，研究人员已经训练它识别十种有害气味。它可以安装在机场的机器人上，帮助识别危险物品，或者与发电厂或医院的传感器集成，探测危险气体。 类似的生物技术最近在蝗虫身上得到了应用——在蝗虫身上安装计算机芯片来嗅出炸弹。然而，这对它们的寿命产生了负面影响，限制了它们的使用。 尽管嗅探犬可能有一天会失业，但电路利用人工智能模拟嗅觉的过程，让我们离在人工智能技术中再造人类感觉系统又近了一步。
单选题
What does the author think are crucial to sniffer dogs? ______
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】由第三段第二句The key to sniffer dogs isn't their olfactory system alone, but their incredible ability to remember—this is why they're trained可知，嗅探犬的关键不只是它们的嗅觉系统，还有它们惊人的记忆能力，即嗅觉系统和记忆能力对嗅探犬来说是非常重要的，故本题应选D。题干中的are crucial to是对原文The key to的同义替换。
单选题
How does the human sense of smell work? ______