2019年考研英语一阅读理解第三篇

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This year marks exactly two countries since the publication of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley. Even before the invention of the electric light bulb, the author produced a remarkable work of speculative fiction that would foreshadow many ethical questions to be raised by technologies yet to come.

Today the rapid growth of artificial intelligence （AI）raises fundamental questions:”What is intelligence, identify, or consciousness? What makes humans humans?”

What is being called artificial general intelligence, machines that would imitate the way humans think, continues to evade scientists. Yet humans remain fascinated by the idea of robots that would look, move, and respond like humans, similar to those recently depicted on popular sci-fi TV series such as “Westworld” and “Humans”。

Just how people think is still far too complex to be understood, let alone reproduced, says David Eagleman, a Stanford University neuroscientist. “We are just in a situation where there are no good theories explaining what consciousnesss actually is and how you could ever build a machine to get there.”

But that doesn’t mean crucial ethical issues involving AI aren’t at hand. The coming use of autonomous vehicles, for example, poses thorny ethical questions. Human drivers sometimes must make split-second decisions. Their reactions may be a complex combination of instant reflexes, input from past driving experiences, and what their eyes and ears tell them in that moment. AI “vision” today is not nearly as sophisticated as that of humans. And to anticipate every imaginable driving situation is a difficult programming problem.

Whenever decisions are based on masses of data, “you quickly get into a lot of ethical questions,” notes Tan Kiat How, chief executive of a Singapore-based agency that is helping the government develop a voluntary code for the ethical use of AI. Along with Singapore, other governments and mega-corporations are beginning to establish their own guidelines. Britain is setting up a data ethics center. India released its AI ethics strategy this spring.

On June 7 Google pledged not to “design or deploy AI” that would cause “overall harm,” or to develop AI-directed weapons or use AI for surveillance that would violate international norms. It also pledged not to deploy AI whose use would violate international laws or human rights.

While the statement is vague, it represents one starting point. So does the idea that decisions made by AI systems should be explainable, transparent, and fair.

To put it another way: How can we make sure that the thinking of intelligent machines reflects humanity’s highest values? Only then will they be useful servants and not Frankenstein’s out-of-control monster.

31. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is mentioned because it

A. fascinates AI scientists all over the world.

B. has remained popular for as long as 200 years.

C. involves some concerns raised by AI today.

D. has sparked serious ethical controversies.

【答案】C

【解析】由题干表述可判断本题为典型的观点例证题，所证观点就在例证前后，该例子出现在篇首，引出主题在后。由此可知本题定位句为第一段最后一句话。由此可以得出答案。

32. In David Eagleman’s opinion, our current knowledge of consciousness

A. helps explain artificial intelligence.

B. can be misleading to robot making.

C. inspires popular sci-fi TV series.

D. is too limited for us to reproduce it.

【答案】D

【解析】根据题干中的David Eagleman定位到文中第四段第一句，该段第二句there are no good theories与题干中的knowledge属于等价代换，该段第二句中的consciousness与题干中的consciousness对应，第一句表明光人们如何思考就复杂到难以理解的程度更不用说要复制它了，第二句表明我们没有解释什么是consciousness的理论，与选项D吻合。

33. The solution to the ethical issues brought by autonomous vehicles

A. can hardly ever be found.

B. is still beyond our capacity.

C. causes little public concern.

D. has aroused much curiosity.

【答案】B

【解析】题干中的autonomous vehicles定位到第五段第二句。该句出现for example，可知autonomous vehicle是具体的例子。篇中的例子是为了证明论点，应往前看，即证明第一句的观点：涉及人工智能的伦理问题在我们身边（注意这里doesn’t和aren’t为双重否定），说明问题依然存在。由此可以得出答案。

34. The author’s attitude toward Google’s pledge is one of

A. affirmation.

B. skepticism.

C. contempt.

D. respect.

【答案】A

【解析】根据题干中的the author’s attitude，Google’s pledges。回文定位到第七段，第八段，但其七段都是在讲Google’s pledge，继续看第八段，开头while，转折，while the statement is vague,与vague相反的即是观点，这个地方没有说是谁的观点，无人认领的观点即是作者的观点。由此可以得出答案。

35. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. AI’s Future: In the Hands of Tech Giants

B. Frankenstein, the Novel Predicting the Age of AI

C. The Conscience of AI: Complex But Inevitable

D. AI Shall Be Killers Once Out of Control

【答案】C

【解析】本文首段通过引用Mary Shelley的书引出本文要探讨的话题新技术所引发的道德问题。第二段更是明确指出AI引起了一些问题。第三段和第四段对第二段提出的两个问题进行了详细的阐述，表明我们并不能确定智能化的程度以及因为所处环境的复杂无法定义人类自我意识。而在第五段转折之后明确指出AI所涉及的道德问题已经触手可及了。全篇复现了AI和conscience这两个关键词，因此正确答案为C。