单选题 In 1637 the French philosopher-mathematician Rene Descartes predicted that it would never be possible to make a machine that thinks as humans do. In 1950, the British mathematician and computer pioneer Alan Turing declared that one day there would be a machine that could duplicate human intelligence in every way and prove it by passing a specialized test. In this test, a computer and a human hidden from view would be asked random identical questions. If the computer were successful, the questioner would be unable to distinguish the machine from the person by the answers.
Inspired by Turing's theory, the first conference on AI convened at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire in 1956. Soon afterwards an Al laboratory was started at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky, two of the nation's leading AI proponents. McCarthy also invented the Al computer language, Lisp; but by the early 1990s Al itself had not been achieved. However, logic programs called expert systems allow computers to "make decisions" by interpreting data and selecting from among alternatives. Technicians can run programs used in complex medical diagnosis, language translation, mineral exploration, and even computer design.
Machinery can outperform humans physically. So, too, can computers outperform mental functions in limited areas—notably in the speed of mathematical calculations. For example, the fastest computers developed are able to perform roughly 10 billion calculations per second. But making more powerful computers will probably not be the way to create a machine capable of passing the Turing test. Computer programs operate according to set procedures, or logic steps, called algorithms. In addition, most computers do serial processing; operations of recognition and computation are performed one at a time. The brain works in a manner called parallel processing, performing operations simultaneously. To achieve simulated parallel processing, some supercomputers have been made with multiple processors to follow several algorithms at the same time.
Critics of this approach insist that solving a computation does not indicate understanding, something a person who solved a problem would have. Human reasoning is not based solely on roles of logic. It involves perception, awareness, emotional preferences, values, evaluating experience, the ability to generalize and weigh options, and more. Some proponents of AI have, therefore, suggested that computers should be patterned after the human brain, which essentially consists of a network of nerve cells.
By the early 1990s, the closest approximation to Al was a special silicon chip built to behave like a human brain cell. It was modeled after the internal workings of neurons in the human cerebral cortex. Unlike the conventional silicon chip, which works in digital mode, the new silicon chip works in analog mode, much the way a human brain cell works.
单选题 According to Turing, a computer has human-like intelligence in a special test if
  • A. the computer gives better answers.
  • B. the questioner falls to give identical questions.
  • C. the questioner can't tell between the answers of a person and a computer.
  • D. the questioner can't find the person hidden by the computer.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查细节理解。从文章第一段可以得到这道试题的答案。选项[C]与原文一致。文中的distinguish…from“把…同…区分开来”与选项[C]中的tell between…and…同义。
单选题 What significance did Turing's theory have on the development of AI?
  • A. It started the research on AI.
  • B. It established the expert system.
  • C. It taught technicians how to use complicated programs.
  • D. It invented the A1 computer language.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查细节理解。作者在第一段第二句中谈到Turing是计算机研究的奠基人。Turing宣称有一天将会发明一台机器，在各方面都能模仿人的智能。然后在第二段一开头又说，在Turing理论的指导下，第一届AI(=artificial intelligence人工智能)大会召开。然后，作者谈到了AI实验室的建立，AI计算机语言的发明以及专家系统的应用(这些和选项[B]，[D]内容相符)，但这些都不是Turing本人做的，而是在他的理论指导下由后人做的。由此可以断定选项[A]为正确答案。
单选题 In what way is the computer superior to the human brain?
  • A. It calculates much faster.
  • B. It is more logical.
  • C. It does better on the Turing test.
  • D. It can perform several operations simultaneously.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查细节理解。参看第三段第二句。这里outperform是一个超纲词，但根据构同法可以推断出其意思是“胜过”，因为out作前缀有“超过”之意，如outdo“超越，胜过”outrun“跑得快”。这里 outperform与题干中的be superior是同义词，因此，选项[A]“计算机的计算速度要比人脑快得多”就和原文中的“computers outperform mental functions…in the speed of mathematical calculations”相吻合，是同—种意思的另一种说法。
单选题 Which of he following is the way that a computer does its processing?
  • A. Recognition and computation separately.
  • B. Recognition and computation simultaneously.
  • C. Computation followed by checking.
  • D. Recognition, reasoning and then computation.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查细节理解。参看第三段第六句中的“recognition and computation are performed one at a time．”这里的one at a time和选项 [A]中的separately完全吻合，和选项[B]中的simultaneously(=at the same time)相反。本段第八句中的simultaneously指的是人脑工作程序。因此，选项[A]为正确答案。
单选题 Critics of AI would probably agree with the statement that
  • A. logic plays the most important part in human reasoning.
  • B. fast computation shows the ability of understanding.
  • C. the new silicon chip is working in the way that human brain works.
  • D. reasoning is something too complicated to be duplicated by the computer.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查细节理解。虽然文中作者并未直接表明对人工智能持批评态度的人同意哪种观点，但在第四段第一至第四句中作者指出，对 AI持批评态度的人认为能进行计算并不意味着会推理(与选项[B]相反)。推理是人类解决问题时具有的一种能力。人们进行推理不仅靠逻辑(与选项[A]相反)，还需要诸如“perception，…weigh option”等极其复杂的能力，据此推断选项[D]为正确答案。