The essential problem of man in a computerized age remains the same as it has always been. The problem is not solely how to be more productive, more comfortable, more content, but how to be more sensitive, more sensible, more proportionate, more alive. The computer makes possible a phenomenal leap in human proficiency; it demolishes the fences around the practical and even the theoretical intelligence. But the question persists and indeed grows whether the computer will make it easier or harder for human beings to know who they really are, to identify their real problems, to respond more fully to beauty, to place adequate value on life, and to make their world safer than it now is.
Electronic brains can reduce the profusion of dead ends involved in vital research. But they can’t eliminate the foolishness and decay that come from the unexamined life. Nor do they connect a man to the things he has to be connected to—the reality of pain in others; the possibilities of creative growth in himself; the memory of the race; and the rights of the next generation.
The reason why these matters are important in a computerized age is that there may be a tendency to mistake data for wisdom, just as there has always been a tendency to confuse logic with values, and intelligence with insight. Unobstructed access to facts can produce unlimited good only if it is matched by the desire and ability to find out what they mean and where they would lead.
Facts are terrible things if left sprawling and unattended. They are too easily regarded as evaluated certainties rather than as the rawest of raw materials crying to be processed into the texture of logic. It requires a very unusual mind, Whitehead said, to undertake the analysis of a fact. The computer can provide a correct number, but it may be an irrelevant number until judgment is pronounced.
To the extent, then, that man fails to make the distinction between the intermediate operations of electronic intelligence and the ultimate responsibilities of human decision and conscience, the computer could prove a digression. It could obscure man’s awareness of the need to come to terms with himself. It may foster the illusion that he is asking fundamental questions when he is actually asking only functional ones. It may be regarded as a substitute for intelligence instead of an extension to it. It may promote undue confidence in concrete answers. “If we begin with certainties,” Bacon said, we shall end in doubts, but if we begin with doubts, and we are patient with them, we shall end in certainties.
1.We can infer from the first two paragraphs that the author would be less critical of the computer if _____.
2.In a computerized age, which one of the following should be given priority to _____?
3.By saying that “Facts are terrible things if left sprawling and unattended” (Paragraph 4), the author aims to _____.
4.The author regards computer as _____.
问题1选项
A.it can better improve human proficiency
B.it can break the boundary of the practical and theoretical intelligence
C.it can be more creative
D.it can make people more alert to real problems in human society
问题2选项
A.Wisdom.
B.Intelligence.
C.Data.
D.Fact.
问题3选项
A.point out that the abundance of facts may be harmful to human intellect
B.illustrate the necessity of always attending to facts
C.show the importance of using people’s judgment in the computerized age
D.tell that facts are always irrelevant and need to be connected
问题4选项
A.a substitute for human intelligence
B.a means to help people reach concrete answers
C.something that can inspire people to ask fundamental questions
D.something that is of subsidiary function
第1题:
【选项释义】
We can infer from the first two paragraphs that the author would be less critical of the computer if _____. 我们可以从前两段推断，作者对计算机的批评会少一些，如果_____。
A. it can better improve human proficiency A. 它可以更好地提高人类的熟练程度
B. it can break the boundary of the practical and theoretical intelligence B. 它可以打破实践智能和理论智能的界限
C. it can be more creative C. 它可以更有创造性
D. it can make people more alert to real problems in human society D. 它可以使人们对人类社会的真正问题更加警觉
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第一段和第二段，由“问题不仅仅在于如何更高效、更舒适、更内容，而是如何更敏感、更明智、更相称、更生动。”以及“它们也不能将一个人与他必须联系的事物联系起来——他人痛苦的现实；他自己创造性成长的可能性；对种族的记忆；以及下一代的权利。”可知作者希望计算机能解决人类社会生活中的现实问题，因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“它可以更好地提高人类的熟练程度”，定位至第一段第三句“计算机使人类熟练程度的飞跃成为可能；它打破了围绕实践智慧甚至理论智慧的藩篱。”，可知计算机能够提高人类的熟练程度，属于反向干扰；
B选项“它可以打破实践智能和理论智能的界限。”，同样由第一段第三句可以得出计算机已经做到这一点了，属于反向干扰；
C选项“它可以更有创造性。”文中无法体现，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
In a computerized age, which one of the following should be given priority to? 在计算机时代，下列哪一项应该被优先考虑？
A. Wisdom. A. 智慧。
B. Intelligence. B. 智力。
C. Data. C. 数据。
D. Fact. D. 事实。
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第三段第一句，由“这些问题在计算机时代如此重要的原因是，可能会有一种把数据误认为智慧的倾向（a tendency to mistake data for wisdom），就像一直以来有一种把逻辑和价值、智力和洞察力混为一谈的倾向一样”可知在计算机时代，应优先考虑智慧，不要将数据与智慧混为一谈，因此A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“智力”，定位至第三段第一句可知智力和洞察力是与数据与智慧进行类比的，重点是数据与智慧，属于曲解原文；
C选项“数据”，定位至第三段第一句，文中指出不要把数据误以为是智慧，强调的是智慧而不是数据，属于反向干扰；
D选项“事实”文中无法体现，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
By saying that “Facts are terrible things if left sprawling and unattended” (Paragraph 4),
the author aims to _____. 他说，“如果放任事实流传不加注意，事实是可怕的”（第四段），作者的目的是_____。
A. point out that the abundance of facts may be harmful to human intellect A. 指出大量的事实可能对人类的智力有害
B. illustrate the necessity of always attending to facts B. 说明始终关注事实的必要性
C. show the importance of using people’s judgment in the computerized age C. 显示了在计算机时代使用人们的判断的重要性
D. tell that facts are always irrelevant and need to be connected D. 告诉他们事实总是不相关的，需要联系起来
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第四段，由“它们太容易被视为经过评估的确定性，而不是迫切需要被加工成逻辑结构的原始材料中的最原始的东西。”以及“计算机可以提供一个正确的数字，但在做出判断（judgment）之前，它可能只是一个无关的数字。”可知电脑的数据不一定正确，因此C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“指出大量的事实可能对人类的智力有害”，定位至第三段最后一句“只有当人们有欲望和能力去发现事实的含义和走向时，不受阻碍地获取事实才能产生无限的好处。”以及第四段第一句“如果不加注意，事实是可怕的。”可知事实是好的还是坏的是有条件的，并不是说大量的事实就是坏的，属于以偏概全；
B选项“说明始终关注事实的必要性”，由第四段内容可知作者主要想表达要对计算机提供的数据进行判断，不能一味地认为它们就是对的，强调的是计算机时代人类判断的重要性，属于曲解原文；
D选项文中无法体现，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The author regards computer as _____. 作者认为计算机是_____。
A. a substitute for human intelligence A. 人类智慧的替代品
B. a means to help people reach concrete answers B. 帮助人们找到具体答案的方法
C. something that can inspire people to ask fundamental questions C. 能激发人们提出基本问题的东西
D. something that is of subsidiary function D. 具有辅助功能的东西
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到第二段，由“电子大脑（Electronic brains）可以减少生命研究中大量的死胡同。”可知计算机起着辅助作用，帮助我们减少研究中的一些困难，因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“人类智慧的替代品。”，定位至最后一段第一句“因此，如果人类无法区分电子智能的中间操作与人类决策和良心的最终责任，那么计算机可能会被证明是一种题外话。”以及最后一段倒数第三句“它可能被看作是智力的替代品（a substitute for intelligence），而不是智力的延伸（instead of an extension to it.）。”可知最后一段是讲述人们无法区分上述二者时会造成的影响，其中之一就是计算机被看成替代品而不是延伸是坏的是有条件的，事实上计算机应该被看成智力的延伸，属于反向干扰；
B选项“帮助人们找到具体答案的方法。”，定位至最后一段倒数第二句“它可能会促进对具体答案的过度自信（undue confidence）。”，可知计算机可能会因为对具体答案的过度自信而不能帮助人们找到问题的具体答案，属于反向干扰；
C选项“能激发人们提出基本问题的东西。”，定位至最后一段倒数第四句“这可能会助长一种错觉（the illusion），即他在问基本问题（fundamental questions），而实际上（actually）他只问功能性问题（only functional ones）。”可知问基本问题是错觉，事实上是功能性问题，属于反向干扰。
