Hackers never were part of the mainstream establishment, but their current reputation as villains of cyberspace is a far cry from the early days when, first and foremost, they were seen as ardent if quirky programmers, capable of near-miraculous, unorthodox feats of machine manipulation. But the shift in popular perception to hackers as deviants and criminals is important not only because it affects the hackers themselves and the extraordinary culture that has grown around them, but because it reflects shifts in the development, governance, and meaning of the new information technology.
In Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution , Steven Levy traces the roots of evolving hacker communities to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the late 1950s. Here, core members of the Tech Model Railroad Club “discovered” computers first as a tool for enhancing their beloved model railroads and then as objects of passion in their own right. They turned their considerable creative energies to the task of building and programming MIT's early mainframes in uneasy but relatively peaceful coexistence with formal employees of the university's technical staff.
Formidable programmers, these hackers produced and debugged computer codes at an astonishing rate. They helped develop hardware and software for existing computer functions and invented novel algorithms and applications that were incorporated into subsequent generations of computers. These novel functions not only extended recreational capabilities—gaming, virtual reality, and digitized music一but also increased practical capabilities such as the control of robots and processing speeds. Obsessive work also yielded a host of basic system subroutines and utilities that pushed operating capacities and efficiency to new heights, and became a fundamental part of what we experience every time we sit in front of a computer.
This book describes legendary hacking binges—days and nights with little or no sleep—leading to products that surprised and sometimes annoyed colleagues in mainstream academic and research positions. “The pure hack” did not respect prescribed methods or theory-driven, top-down approaches to computer science and engineering. The unconventional lifestyle did not seem to put off adherents, even though it could be pretty unwholesome: a disregard for patterns of night and day, a diet of junk-food, inattention to personal appearance and hygiene, and the virtual absence of any life outside of hacking.
It was not only single-minded attachment to their craft that defined these early backers but their espousal of an ideology informally called the “hacker ethic.” This creed included several elements: commitment to total and free access to computers and information, belief in immense powers of computers to improve people's lives and create art and beauty, disdain for obstacles erected against free access to computing, and an insistence that hackers be evaluated by no other criteria than technical virtuosity and accomplishment. In other words, the culture of hacking incorporated political and moral values as well as technical ends.
1.The relationship between the hacker community and MIT administration in the late 1950s can be best described as( ) .
2.Which of the following is not true in this passage?
3.The lifestyle of hackers described in Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution is ( ).
4.Which of the following is included in the hacker ethic?
问题1选项
A.on good terms
B.somewhat unsettled
C.hostile
D.tricky
问题2选项
A.Existing computer functions have been improved with the help of hackers.
B.Hacker's efforts have contributed to increasing capabilities of our computer in several ways.
C.Hackers are generally taken as illegal in the past.
D.Hackers believe that their technical accomplishment is the only criterion for evaluating them.
问题3选项
A.unconventional
B.innovative
C.annoying
D.out of date
问题4选项
A.Strong will to overcome difficulties that stand in the way.
B.Devotion to get free access to information.
C.Concentration on the improvement of their craft.
D.Immense power to create art and beauty.
第1题:
1.【选项释义】
1. The relationship between the hacker community and MIT administration in the late 1950s can be best described as ______. 1. 20世纪50年代末,黑客团体和麻省理工学院管理部门之间的关系可以用______来描述。
A. on good terms A. 关系和睦的
B. somewhat unsettled B. 有点不稳定的
C. hostile C. 敌对的
D. tricky D. 非常微妙的
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据第二段的最后一句“他们把大量的创造力投入到建造和编程MIT早期的大型机的任务中,与大学的技术人员在不稳定但相对和睦的环境中共存(in uneasy but relatively peaceful coexistence)”,从中可知,20世纪50年代末,黑客团体和MIT之间的关系是相当和睦的。A项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B项“有点不稳定的”在文中虽然提及,但并不是重点之处,属于本末倒置;
C项“敌对的”与原文相反,反向干扰;
D项“非常微妙的”没提及,无中生有。
第2题:
2.【选项释义】
2. Which of the following is not true in this passage? 2. 下面哪一项在这段话中是不正确的?
A. Existing computer functions have been improved with the help of hackers. A. 在黑客的帮助下,现有的计算机功能得到了改进。
B. Hacker’s efforts have contributed to increasing capabilities of our computer in several ways. B. 黑客的努力在几个方面帮助我们提高了计算机的性能。
C. Hackers are generally taken as illegal in the past. C. 在过去,黑客通常被认为是非法的。
D. Hackers believe that their technical accomplishment is the only criterion for evaluating them. D. 黑客相信他们的技术成就是评价他们的唯一标准。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第一段首句“黑客从来都不是主流机构的一部分,但他们目前作为网络空间恶棍的名声,与早期的情形相去甚远,当时,他们首先被视为热情而古怪的程序员,能够近乎奇迹般地完成非正统的机器操作壮举。”,从中可知,在过去,黑客是被视为热情而古怪的程序员,且技术精通;并且本文主要不是讲黑客犯罪或其他黑历史,而是讲早前的黑客其实与现在大不同,C项“在过去,黑客通常被认为是非法的”与全文基调不符。故该题选择C项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A项“在黑客的帮助下,现有的计算机功能得到了改进”和B项“黑客的努力在几个方面帮助我们提高了计算机的性能”从原文第三段可以得知,第三段提到黑客帮助开发了用于现有计算机功能的硬件和软件,并发明了新的算法和应用程序,而且还扩展了计算机的许多功能,他们还将计算机操作能力和效率推到了新的高度,所以该两项符合原文,属于反向干扰;
D项“黑客相信他们的技术成就是评价他们的唯一标准”根据末段倒数第二句“……他们坚信评估黑客的标准只有精湛的技术和成就(hackers be evaluated by no other criteria than technical virtuosity and accomplishment)”,所以该项也符合原文,属于反向干扰。
第3题:
3.【选项释义】
3. The lifestyle of hackers described in Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution is ______. 3. 《黑客:计算机革命的英雄》中描述的黑客的生活方式是______。
A. unconventional A. 非常规的,非传统的
B. innovative B. 创新的
C. annoying C. 令人讨厌的
D. out of date D. 过时的
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据倒数第二段最后一句“这种非传统的生活方式(The unconventional lifestyle)似乎并没有让追随者们反感……”,从中可知,黑客的生活方式是非传统的。A项正确。
【干扰项排除】B项“创新的”、C项“令人讨厌的”和D项“过时的”根据解题思路可知,曲解原文。
第4题:
4.【选项释义】
4. Which of the following is included in the hacker ethic? 4. 以下哪一项包含在黑客伦理中?
A. Strong will to overcome difficulties that stand in the way. A. 克服阻碍前进的困难的坚强意志。
B. Devotion to get free access to information. B. 致力于免费获取信息。
C. Concentration on the improvement of their craft. C. 专注于提高他们的技艺。
D. Immense power to create art and beauty. D. 创造艺术和美的巨大力量。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据关键词hacker ethic定位至最后一段第二句“这个信条包括几个要素:承诺免费使用电脑和信息(total and free access to computers and information),相信计算机的巨大力量(belief in immense powers of computers)可以改善人们的生活以及创造艺术和美丽,蔑视针对自由访问计算而设置的障碍(disdain for obstacles erected against free access to computing),和坚持评估黑客的标准只有精湛的技术和成就(insistence that hackers be evaluated by other criteria than technical virtuosity and accomplishment)”,从中可知,B项“致力于免费获取信息”是包含在黑客伦理里面的。故该题选择B项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A项“克服阻碍前进的困难的坚强意志”原文没有提及,无中生有;
C项“专注于提高他们的技艺”,原文是坚持评估黑客的标准只有精湛的技术和成就,并没有说明他们要专注于提高技艺,曲解原文;
D项“创造艺术和美的巨大力量”,原文是“计算机的巨大力量(immense powers of computers)”,并不是艺术和美的巨大力量,属于曲解原文。