It's hard to say for sure what the next big thing will be, but these items made the list of 10 emerging technology trends that will change the world, according to the January issue of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Magazine Technology Review. "We were looking for things that were just emerging now and over the next five years would begin to have a major impact", David Rotman, the magazine's deputy editor, said Thursday. Some of the items have been on the verge of widespread use for quite some time, such as biometrics and speech recognition. Others chosen by the MIT magazine editors are topics that most people have never heard of, such as microphotonics and microfluidics. The magazine focused on developments in three areas: information technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology. One significant area in biotechnology, the magazine highlights, is work on brain-machine interfaces that could someday allow people to control artificial devices that replace lost functions. Today, research is more limited, with scientists able to take signals from individual neurons in an animal's brain and send them to a robot that can turn the signals into motion. But the potential is huge, according to Duke University neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis. "Imagine if someone could do for the brain what the pacemaker did for the heart." Nicolelis told the MIT journal. In the purely digital realm, the magazine suggests that the field of robotics could be poised to move beyond the restricted market of Performing simple, highly repetitive tasks. "Robot builders make a convincing case that in 2001, robots are where personal computers were in 1980", writes Technology Review senior editor David Talbot, "poised to break into the marketplace as common corporate tools and routine consumer products performing life's tedious chores." Until now the problem has been that robots have been costly and difficult to design. One approach that the magazine highlights is the work of Brandeis University researcher Jordan Pollack, who builds robots that can build other robots.
单选题
The proper title of this passage can be______. A. Things that May Change the World B. The Ten Emerging Technological Trends that May Change the Future World C. What Great Changes Will Happen in the Near Future World D. A Brief Prediction for the Technological Research Trends
单选题
Which of the following changes will brain-machine interfaces bring about according to the passage? A. They will be able to make human beings interact with artificial world inherently. B. They can make human brain work like a robot. C. They will make the thinking machine of human beings lose its own identities. D. They will sooner or later get human beings under control of the artificial world
单选题
The central topic of this magazine article is______. A. the potential uses of microfluidics and microphotonics B. the possible exploration of information technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology C. the research of some quite promising technologies, such as biometrics and speech recognition D. database-mining technologies
单选题
Which of the following is to help reduce the cost of designing robots? A. Make robots with brain machine interfaces. B. Make robots capable of making other robots. C. Make robots working in a 1980's computer case. D. Make robots do only repetitive tedious jobs.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】本题是一道填全题。要求考生理解原文并学会使用变换性说法。答案选项[B]的含义是：(本文提出的有可能降低机器人设计成本的新想法是)使机器人能够设计其它机器人。即原文最后的结尾句所说：one approach that the magazine highlights is the work of Brande is University researcher Jordan Pollack, who builds robots that can build other robots(布朗德斯大学研究家约旦·波莱克的研究成果揭示出了一种新途径，那就是他正在研制能制造其他机器人的机器人。)
单选题
The verb "highlight" in Line 2, Paragraph 8 is used to mean______. A. emphasize B. light up C. pay attention to D. bring light on