IBM has just announced the invention of the PAN—Personal Area Network—a set of devices that use humans as conductors to relay detailed textual information from one person to another, simply by touch. It is a relatively small conceptual step from the PAN processor that relays a written message through one’s body by a shake of the hand to a microcell sensory transmission system that relays ideas and sensations directly to and from the most powerful processor in the world, the human brain.
Within a few decades, PAN-type research will transform the Internet into the Life Net, a comprehensive sensory environment for human habitation. Our minds will be afforded wireless direct sensory interfacing with other people and various databases. A dramatically enhanced version of what we now call virtual reality will become as common as air conditioning. Telephones, TVs, PCs, and other media will be replaced by wireless sensory feeds from and to communal microcells.
People return to the Internet each day not from addiction, but because they can craft a new identity for themselves—any identity they choose. Or they can participate in experiences that are otherwise beyond their reach. Consider the impact of a technology affording a lifestyle in which you can go wherever you want to go and be whoever you want to be.
Today’s office and service workers have diminished physical capabilities, but are better educated. The Life Net will accelerate this trend. The need to survive while spending weeks, months, or years on the Net would be drastically reduced.
Resource depletion resulting from overpopulation will cease to be a major issue when we are subsisting on 600 calories a day in a sensory reality where we can eat all we want. Our mansions will be built in our minds, and our future Ferrairs will be driven along the roads of our collective imaginations. Our minds will work and play in ways now beyond our conception.
Time constraints dissolve when we can communicate effortlessly anywhere in the world. Humans will require less sleep, since we will need only the time to file and store the information that our brains have collected, and not to rest physical bodies. The physical body will deteriorate to a state where a return to robust health would take months—if possible at all.
These technologies will be inexpensive. Life Net participation will consume far fewer resources than an automobile, and reduce our housing and other needs. This will help the Life Net expand into Third World countries. The equipment required for the microcellular sensory transmission technology will be modular, redundant, and like that for the Internet, incrementally inexpensive. Countries with overcrowding and famine would embrace the Life Net. Their resources would be extended, and planners would likely program the system to minimize the population’s reproductive drive.
People will still have jobs. There will be lots of work to do. People will want to consume the newest experiential sensations. Some food will need to be prepared, and equipment manufactured. Government will be divided into Geographical, Physical and Communicative. The responsibilities of the geographic governments will be to defend land masses and keep order in the physical world as much as they do today. The responsibilities of the communicative governments will be to administer, regulate and defend cyberspace.
The communicative government will also be responsible for maintaining the input-output microcells. Various online services are already functioning as a form of communicative government today—with their monthly fees as taxes. As they mature, these communicative governments will develop better defenses against cyberspace terrorism, which may come from large and potentially violent anti-technology cults.
Some people will have to remain physically active and strong, because of the nature of their labor. Tools and equipment will always break down and need repair, and some operations and experiments will require a hands-on approach. Manufactures, natural resource harvesters, and explorers of all sorts are likely to be visitors to the Life Net, rather than residents.
Manufacturing will be dramatically reduced, because few people will need cars, clothing, physical tools, or countless other physical objects. Natural resource harvesters will work in every field from farming to mining. Yet as with manufacturing, the need for harvesting will decrease.
Fifty years from now, reality will consist of some wonderful things, some beautiful things, and some deeply frightening things.
1. Which of the following statements about the PAN is true?
2. What would people do in future?
3. The word “conception” in para.5 probably means _______.
4. The Life Net has all the following advantages except _______.
5. The passage provides information to answer _______.
6. What can we infer from the passage?
7. What will the manufacturing reduction result from in future?
8. What’s the passage mainly about?
问题1选项
A.It’s the same as the internet today.
B.It’s the foundation of the PAN processor.
C.It’s invented only for scientific research.
D.It develops from the PAN processor.
问题2选项
A.Crafting a new identity.
B.Enjoying something impossible.
C.Going to desire places.
D.A, B and C.
问题3选项
A.ideas
B.imagination
C.notion
D.principle
问题4选项
A.saving living space
B.reducing population growth
C.expanding Third World Countries
D.conserving resources
问题5选项
A.how government will function
B.where people would live
C.what kinds of equipment will be manufactured in future
D.how much the Life Net will cost
问题6选项
A.Tools and equipment will never break down in future.
B.There will be no physical jobs.
C.Science will not exist in the future world.
D.Science and technology will be more useful for human being in future.
问题7选项
A.People will not need cars, clothing, physical tools.
B.Tolls and equipment will not break down.
C.People will consume less.
D.Few People will need cars, clothing, physical tools.
问题8选项
A.Invention of the PAN.
B.Virtual reality in future.
C.Vision of the future.
D.The fate of Internet.
第1题:D
第2题:D
第3题:B
第4题:C
第5题:A
第6题:D
第7题:D
第8题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following statements about the PAN is true? 以下关于PAN的陈述哪一个是正确的?
A. It’s the same as the internet today. A. 它和如今的互联网一样。
B. It’s the foundation of the PAN processor. B. 它是PAN处理器的基础。
C. It’s invented only for scientific research. C. 它只是为科学研究而发明的。
D. It develops from the PAN processor. D. 它是从PAN处理器发展而来的。
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】定位到第一段第二句,“它是从PAN处理器的概念上的一小步发展来的”(It is a relatively small conceptual step from the PAN processor that…)。D选项与此句同义,因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项可定位到第二段首句,“在几十年的研究里,PAN型的研究将把互联网转变为生活网”可知它与我们现在的互联网是有区别的;
B选项可定位到第一段第二句,“它是从PAN处理器的概念上的一小步发展来的”(It is a relatively small conceptual step from the PAN processor that…),所以PAN处理器是它的基础,B选项属于反向干扰;
C选项属于无中生有,原文一直在表述此项发明对人类未来的影响和作用,并不是出于科研目的。
第2题:
【选项释义】
What would people do in future? 人们将来会做什么?
A. Crafting a new identity. A. 塑造一个新身份。
B. Enjoying something impossible. B. 享受不可能的事情。
C. Going to desire places. C. 去想去的地方。
D. A, B and C. D. A、B、C三项都是。
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】
首先定位到第三段,A选项在原文中有原话体现。
B选项定位到此段第二句话“或者,他们也可以参与到他们本无法企及的体验中”(or they can participate in experiences that are otherwise beyond their reach),B选项是这句话的同义转换。
C选项定位到此段最后一句话“它提供了一种生活方式,让你可以去任何你想去的地方,成为任何你想成为的人”。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C属于以偏概全。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The word “conception” in para.5 probably means _______. 第五段中“conception”一词可能意味着_______。
A. ideas A. 观念,看法
B. imagination B. 想象力
C. notion C. 概念
D. principle D. 原则
【考查点】词汇推断题
【解题思路】首先定位到第五段,这个段落主要表述人类在PAN的发明下可以做到我们本做不到的事情,最后一句话:“我们的大脑将以超乎我们想象的方式工作和玩耍”(Our minds will work and play in ways now beyond our conception.)
根据句意B选项“想象力”符合语境。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项不符合语境。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The Life Net has all the following advantages except _______. 生活网有以下所有的优点,除了_______。
A. saving living space A. 节省生活空间
B. reducing population growth
B. 减少人口增长
C. expanding Third World Countries
C. 壮大第三世界国家
D. conserving resources
D. 节约资源
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】首先定位每个选项,B选项定位到第七段最后一句话,规划者将以最大限度减少人口的生殖动力(to minimize the population’s reproductive drive)可推断出,减少人口的出生可以减少人口的增长,因此B选项可对应原文内容;A、D选项定位到第七段第二句,生活网的参与将比汽车消耗更少的资源(consume far fewer resources),并减少我们的住房和其他需求(reduce our housing and other needs),A、D选项在本句中皆有体现。
【干扰项排除】C选项定位到第七段第二句,是对有助于生活网扩展到第三世界国家(expand into Third World countries)的意义曲解,而C选项是指壮大第三世界的队伍,属于曲解原文。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The passage provides information to answer _______. 这篇文章提供这些信息以回答_______
A. how government will function A. 政府将如何运作
B. where people would live B. 人们会住在哪里
C. what kinds of equipment will be manufactured in future C. 将来会制造什么样的设备
D. how much the Life Net will cost D. 生活网将花费多少钱
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】首先定位到第八段,第三、四句指出“政府将分为地理、自然和交际”(Government will be divided into Geographical, Physical and Communicative)以及各类型政府的职责可对应到A选项。
【干扰项排除】B、C、D选项文中并未提到,属于无中生有。
第6题:
【选项释义】
What can we infer from the passage?
我们能从文章推断出什么?
A. Tools and equipment will never break down in future. A. 今后工具和设备将永远不会出故障。
B. There will be no physical jobs. B. 将没有体力工作。
C. Science will not exist in the future world. C. 科学在未来的世界将不存在。
D. Science and technology will be more useful for human being in future. D. 科学和技术在未来将会对人类更有用。
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】文章大量讲述了作为科学技术的Life Net在未来为人类世界带来的多种好处,因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B选项可定位到第十段第二句:“工具和设备总还是会坏掉,需要修理,一些操作和实验需要动手操作”,由此可以推断出体力劳动依然是必须的。A、B选项与原文事实相反,属于反向干扰;
C选项在文中并未体现,属于无中生有。
第7题:
【选项释义】
What will the manufacturing reduction result from in future? 未来生产减少会导致什么结果?
A. People will not need cars, clothing, physical tools. A. 人们将不再需要汽车、衣物和物理工具。
B. Tools and equipment will not break down. B. 工具和设备不会损坏。
C. People will consume less. C. 人们将减少消费。
D. Few people will need cars, clothing, physical tools. D. 很少一部分人会需要汽车,衣服,物理工具。
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】选项D可定位到第十段第一句指出“制造业将大幅减少,因为很少有人需要汽车、衣服、实用工具或其他物理工具”对应到D选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项是对第十段第一句话few people will need cars的曲解,属于曲解原文;
B选项定位到第九段第二句Tools and equipment will always break down,B选项是与原文事实相反的释义,因此属于反向干扰;
C选项文中并未提到,属于无中生有。
第8题:
【选项释义】
What’s the passage mainly about?
这篇文章主要讲的什么?
A. Invention of PAN. A. PAN的发明。
B. Virtual reality in future. B. 未来的虚拟现实。
C. Vision of the future. C. 对未来的展望。
D. The fate of internet. D. 互联网的命运。
【考查点】主旨大意题
【解题思路】文章以PAN的发明引入话题,讲述未来的几十年世界和人们生活可能会发生的变化,在最后一段又点明对五十年后的未来的猜想,因此文章主旨为对未来的展望,故C正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项着重于指出PAN这项发明,但文章只说明了这种科学技术对人类的未来能带来更有用的影响,并未进一步讲解这个发明,属于偷换概念;
B选项Virtual reality只在文中提到,并未作过多描述,属于以偏概全;
D选项着重于对互联网的命运解析,文中只提到过PAN将把互联网转变为生活网,并未对其命运做过多描述,属于以偏概全。