复合题

In the wake of 11 September, Visionics, a leading manufacturer, issued a fact sheet explaining how its technology could enhance airport security. They called it “Protecting civilization from the faces of terror”. The company’s share price skyrocketed, as did the stocks of other face-recognition companies, and airports across the globe began installing the software and running trials.

As the results start to come in, however, the gloss（ 光滑表面） is wearing off. No matter what you might have heard about face-recognition software, Big Brother, it isn’t.

The concern was based largely on an independent assessment of face-recognition systems carried out in 2000 in the US by the Department of Defense. These tests found that to catch 90 per cent of suspects at an airport, face-recognition software would have to raise a huge number of false alarms. One in three people would end up being dragged out of the line—and that’s assuming everyone looks straight at the camera and makes no effort to disguise himself. Results from the recent airport trials would seem to justify that concern.

Most face-recognition systems use some kind of geometric technique to translate a picture of a face into a set of numbers that capture its characteristics. Once it has identified these boundaries, the software calculates their relative sizes and positions and converts this geometry into what Visionics calls a “face print”. Feed the software a series of mug shots（通缉犯），and it’ll calculate their face prints. Then it can monitor live CCTV images for the faces of known suspects. When it finds a match, it raises an alarm.

Even if the system does manage to capture a face, the problems aren’t over. The trouble is that a suspect’s face print taken from live CCTV is unlikely to match the one in the database in every detail. To give themselves the best chance of picking up suspects, operators can set the software so that it doesn’t have to make an exact match before it raises the alarm. But there’s a price to pay: the more potential suspects you pick up, the more false alarms you get. You have to get the balance just right.

Despite the disappointing tests, some people insist that face-recognition technology is good enough to put terrorists off. After all the claims and counter-claims, with no one able to discern（洞察） the truth, the industry may soon have to face up to reality.

单选题 The first paragraph tells us that _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章第一段第二句提到“The company’s share price skyrocketed, as did the stocks of other face-recognition companies…”。 由此可知， 其公司的股票价格飞涨， 其他的面部识别公司的股票价格也飞速上涨， 故选C项。
单选题 The second paragraph implies that _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】文章第二段第二句提到“No matter what you might have heard about face-recognition software, Big Brother, it isn’t.”。 由此可知， 无论听说过关于面部识别的任何东西， 但它绝不是高效完美的。 因此第二段讲的是面部识别系统并不是非常高效的。
单选题 What is the fatal defect of the system according to the U.S. Department of Defense?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】文章第三段第二句提到“These tests found that to catch 90 per cent of suspects at an airport, face-recognition software would have to raise a huge number of false alarms.”。 由此可知，这些测试发现， 为了抓住机场90%的嫌犯， 脸部识别软件将误报大大提高， 因此这个系统的致命缺陷是误报率非常高， 故选A项。
单选题 What makes it so hard for the face-recognition systems to work effectively?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章倒数第二段第二句提到“The trouble is that a suspect’s face print taken from live CCTV is unlikely to match the one in the database in every detail.”。 由此可知， 嫌疑犯在数据库中的面部数据和现场识别的嫌疑犯面部信息无法完全匹配， 这是面部识别系统很难高效运作的原因。
单选题 In the last paragraph, the author points out that _____.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章最后一段提到“After all the claims and counter-claims, with no one able to discern the truth, the industry may soon have to face up to reality.”。 由此可知， 作者认为现在还没有人能够洞察真相， 不知应该支持还是反对这种面部识别软件的应用， 但是该行业应该正视现实，正视该软件的缺陷， 提高技术， 适应社会需求， 故选B项。