阅读理解
Google is one of the most valuable companies in the world, but its future, like that of all tech giants, is clouded by a looming threat. The search company makes virtually all of its money from ads placed on the World Wide Web. But what happens to the cash machine if web search eventually becomes outmoded? That worry isn't far-fetched. More of the world's computing time keeps shifting to smartphones, where apps supplant the web. And Internet-connected devices that may dominate the next era in tech—smartwatches, home-assistant devices like Amazon's Echo, —are likely to be free of the web, and may even lack screens. But if Google is worried, it isn't showing it. Google has shovelled vast financial resources into a new product, which is called the Google Assistant. Consider this common situation: Today, to book a trip, all you might have to do is say, "OK, Google, I need to go to Hong Kong next week. Take care of it." Based on your interactions with it over the years, Google would know your habits, your preferences and your budget. With access to so much data, and with the computational power to interpret all of it, the Assistant most likely could handle the entire task; if it couldn't, it would simply ask you to fill in the gaps, the way a human assistant might. The search company might have the technical capacity to create the smartest assistant around, but it' s not at all clear that it has the prowess to create the friendliest, most charming or most useful assistant. Google needs to nail its personality—a new skill for Google, and one that its past forays into social software don't speak highly of. Then there is the mismatch between Google's ambitions and Assistant's current reality. Danny Sullivan, the editor of Search Engine Land,told that he hadn't noticed the Assistant helping him in any major way."When I was trying to book a movie, it didn't really narrow things down for me," he said. Of course, it's still early. Sullivan has high hopes for the Assistant. "It would be premature to look at the technology today and get discouraged about its future, especially since Google sees this as a multiyear, perhaps even decade-long project", he said.
单选题36.The potential threat faced by Google in the future is______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到文章第一段。A项“财政危机”和B项“其他科技巨擘的竞争”均未在文中提及。D项“人们花更多的时间在计算机上”与文中More of the world’s computing time keeps shifting to smartphones(人们正更多地把计算机时间分配给智能手机)表述不一致，故错误。通过文章关键信息“但如果网页搜索最终成为过时的东西，这部赚钱机器会变成什么样?……许会成为科技行业下一个时代的主导者的联网设备，有可能与网页无关，甚至可能不带屏幕”可推断出C项“网页搜索最终可能成为过时的东西”为正确答案．故本题选C。
单选题37.The word "supplant" (Para.l) may be replaced by______.
单选题38.According to Paragraph 2, the Google Assistant help people book a trip by______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干关键词定位到文章第二段。由if it couldn’t，it would simply ask you to fill in the gaps，the way a human assistant might可知，谷歌助理只有在无法处理整项任务时，才会提出问题进行填补，故B项“提出问题”不符合题意。A项“全面的预测”和D项“全面的咨询”均未在文中提及。通过“根据与你互动多年的经历，……由于能够获取海量数据，又有诠释所有这些数据的计算能力，谷歌助理极有可能处理好整项任务”可知，C项“诠释互动数据”符合文意，故本题选C。
单选题39.According to Paragraph 3, in the long run, Google Assistant needs to advance its______.