实用英语综合教程第二册-3

UNIT 3
Text A

PRE-READING TASK

Exercise 1
Before reading the passage, read the questions carefully and then try to find the answers as you read the passage.

1. Where can the computer find its applications?
2. What is the silicon 1 microchip?
3. What is the future of computers?

A Look at Tomorrow

1. Futurists love computers. After all, 40 years ago electronic digital computers didn't exist; today microchips as tiny as a baby's fingernail are making all sorts of tasks faster and easier. Surely the future holds still more miracles.
2. Some of the computer experiments now going on inspire exciting visions of the future. For example, scientists are working on devices that can electronically perform some sight and hearing functions, which could make life easier for the blind and deaf. They're also working on artificial arms and legs that respond to the electric impulses produced by the human brain. Scientists hope that some day a person who's lost an arm could still have near-normal brain control over an artificial arm.
3. Video games, computerized special effects in movies, and real-life training machines now being used by the U. S. Army are causing some people to predict new educational uses for computers. Computers could some day be used to simulate travel to other planets, to explore the ocean floor, or to look inside an atom.
4. Experiments with electronic banking 2 and shopping inspire predictions that these activities will soon be done from home computer terminals. Cars, too, might be equipped with computers to help drivers find their way around (Honda has one in an experimental car) or to communicate with home and office computers. Many people, including handicapped workers with limited ability to move around, already are working at home using computer terminals. Each terminal is connected to a system at a company's main office. Some futurists say the day may come when few people will have to leave home to go to work -- they'll just turn on a terminal.
5. A growing number of factories such as the General Motors plant in Newark, Delaware, "hire" computerized robots to perform tasks such as spot welding. Some executives get a gleam in their eyes as they envision the spread of these "perfect workers" -- no coffee breaks, no strikes, and no vacations or sick days.
6. These modern and potential computer uses are possible because of the silicon microchip.
7. These chips, which have become increasingly complex since their beginning in 1959, contain a network of information pathways. Electronic impulses travel along the paths. The plans for a chip look much like a city street plan and can be as large as a football field. It can take as long as three months to complete a new chip design. Chips are used to store information, too. An entire "computer" can be put onto one chip -- called a microprocessor 3.
8. As chips become even more complex, easier to make, and less costly 4, futurists predict limitless possibilities. A group of Japanese scientists is working on a new generation of computers, which they hope will be able to understand vocal 5 instructions, talk back to their users, and automatically try out alternate solutions to a problem to come up with the best answer.
9. Some people say that the humans of the future will never be without their companion -- computers. Predicting the future can be tricky 6, of course. In 1948 an IBM study predicted that there would never be enough demand for computers to justify 7 going into the business!

New Words

futurist
n. 未来派，未来主义者

digital
a. showing amounts by means of numbers 数字的

microchip
n. 微型集成电路块

inspire
v. to fill someone with thoughts, feelings or aims 灌输，激发

electronically
ad. 利用电子（或电）的作用
deaf
a. unable to hear at all or to hear well 聋的

artificial
a. made or produced by man; not real 人工的，人造的，假的

impulse
n. 1.(电的)脉冲
2.冲动

computerized
a. 用计算机控制的

effect
n. the change produced by an action or cause; the result or outcome 结果,效果

training
n. 训练，培训

predict
v. to say in advance that (something) will happen; forecast 预言,预告

educational
a. of or about education 教育的,有关教育的

simulate
v. 模拟，模仿

planet
n. 行星

explore
v. to travel into or through a place in order to learn about it 考察,探险

atom
n. 原子

banking
n. the business of running a bank 银行业

prediction
n. 预言，预告

limited
a. restricted; few or very small 有限的,极少的

robot
n. 机器人

spot
n. (小)点

weld
v. 焊接

welding
n. 焊接，熔接

gleam
n. 1.隐现, 一丝
2.闪光

envision
v. 想象，展望

potential
a. 潜在的，有潜力的

increasingly
ad. more and more 日益,逐渐增加地

pathway
n. 路线，道路

onto
prep. moving to a position or point on 到...上

microprocessor
n. (电子计算机中的)微处理机

costly
a. costing much; expensive 代价高的,昂贵的

limitless
a. without limit 无限的,无限制的

possibility
n. the state of being possible; likelihood 可能性

generation
n. 1. a single stage in the development of a type of a product (某些产品发展过程中的)一代
2. all people born at about the same time (同时代的)一代人

user
n. the person or thing that uses 使用者

automatic
a. 1.自动的
2.无意识的,机械的

automatically
ad. 1.自动地
2.无意识地,机械地

alternate
a. happening or following one after another 交替的,轮流的

tricky
a. 1. 难以捉摸的，需慎重对付的
2. 诡计多端的，欺骗的

justify
v. 1. to be a good reason for (something) 证明...是有理的
2. to show that someone or something is right 为...辩护

Phrases and Expressions

after all
毕竟,终究

respond to
对...作出反应

be equipped with
用...装备起来

communicate with
联络,通讯

turn on
接通,打开

a gleam in someone's eye 向往,憧憬

try out
试用

come up with
想出(答案、解决办法等)

Proper Names

Honda
(日本)本田汽车公司

the General Motors
(美国)通用汽车公司

Newark
纽瓦克

Delaware
特拉华州(美国州名)

IBM
(美国)国际商用机器公司

Text B

PRE-READING TASK

Exercise 1
Answer the questions before reading the passage.

1. Do computers have the same thinking ability as human beings?
2. Do you think computers may some day completely replace human beings for some jobs? If yes, can you give some examples?

Now compare your answers with your neighbours'.

Are Computers Alive?

1. The topic of thought is one area of psychology 8, and many observers have considered this aspect in connection with robots and computers: Some of the old worries about AI (artificial intelligence) were closely linked to the question of whether computers could think. The first massive electronic computers, capable of rapid (if often unreliable) computation and little or no creative activity, were soon called "electronic brains". A reaction to this terminology 9 quickly followed: To put them in their place, computers were called "high-speed idiots", an effort to protect human vanity. In such a climate the possibility of computers actually being alive was rarely considered: It was bad enough that computers might be capable of thought. But not everyone realized the implications of the high-speed idiot tag. It has not been pointed 10 out often enough that even the human idiot is one of the most intelligent life forms on earth. If the early computers were even that intelligent, it was already a remarkable 11 state of affairs.
2. One consequence of speculation 12 about the possibility of computer thought was that we were forced to examine with new care the idea of thought in general. It soon became clear that we were not sure what we meant by such terms as thought and thinking. We tend to assume that human beings think, some more than others, though we often call people thoughtless or unthinking. Dreams cause a problem, partly because they usually happen outside our control. They are obviously some type of mental experiences, but are they a type of thinking? And the question of nonhuman life forms adds further problems. Many of us would maintain that some of the higher animals -- dogs, cats, apes, and so on -- are capable of at least basic thought, but what about fish and insects? It is certainly true that the higher mammals show complex brain activity when tested with the appropriate equipment. If thinking is demonstrated by evident electrical activity in the brain, then many animal species are capable of thought. Once we have formulated 14 clear ideas on what thought is in biological creatures, it will be easier to discuss the question of thought in artifacts. And what is true of thought is also true of the many other mental processes. One of the immense benefits of AI research is that we are being forced to examine, with new rigor 15, the working of the human mind.
3. It is already clear that machines have superior mental abilities to many life forms. No tree can play chess as well as even then simplest digital computer; nor can frogs weld car bodies as well as robots. The three-fingered mechanical manipulator is cleverer in some ways than the three-toed sloth 16. It seems that, viewed in terms of intellect, the computer should be set well above plants and most animals. Only the higher animals can, it seems, compete with computers with regard to intellect -- and even then with diminishing success.

New Words

topic
n. the subject of a discussion, talk, program, written work, etc. 论题,话题,题目

psychology
n. the science or study of the mind and how it functions 心理学

observer
n. 观察者，观察员

intelligence
n. the power of learning, understanding and reasoning; mental ability 智力,才智,智能

massive
a. large, heavy and solid 大而重的,巨大的

electronic
a. 电子的，与电子仪器有关的

capable
a. having the ability or power necessary for something 有能力的

computation
n. 计算，估算

creative
a. 有创造力的，有创造性的

reaction
n. a response to a situation, an act, an influence, etc. (对情况、行为、影响等的反应)

terminology
n. the technical terms of a particular subject (特定学科的)术语

idiot
n. 傻瓜，白痴

vanity
n. 虚荣心，自负，自大

climate
n. 1. general attitude or feeling; atmosphere 风气,气氛
2.气候

implication
n. the thing that is suggested or not openly stated 含义,暗示

tag
n. 1. 称呼,诨名
2.标签,标牌

intelligent
a. having or showing intelligence 有才智的

remarkable
a. worth noticing or unusual; exceptional 值得注意的,例外的

consequence
n. a thing that is a result or effect of something else 结果,影响

speculation
n. 推测，设想

assume
v. to accept (something) as true before there is proof 假定,以为

unthinking
a. 没有思考力的，没有推理能力的

partly
ad. to some extent 部分地

nonhuman
a. 非人类的，不属于人类的

maintain
v. 1.坚持,主张
2.保持,维持

ape
n. 猿

mammal
n. 哺乳动物

equipment
n. the things needed for a particular purpose 器材,装置

demonstrate
v. to show (something) clearly by giving proof or evidence 证实

evident
a. obvious; clear 明显的,清楚的

electrical
a. of or concerned with electricity 电的,与电有关的

species
n. 物种，种群

formulate 13
v. 明确地表达，阐明

biological
a. 生物学的

artifact
n. (脑动电流图中的)非源自脑中的电波

immense
a. extremely large 极大的

rigo(u)r
n. 严格, (尤指智力上的)严密

superior
a. better, stronger, etc. than someone or something else 优于,强于

chess
n. 国际象棋

frog
n. 青蛙

mechanical
a. of, connected, produced by or operated by a machine or machines 机械的

manipulator
n. 操纵器

toe
n. 脚趾

three-toed
a. 三趾的

sloth
n. 树獭(南美洲树栖哺乳动物)

intellect
n. 理解力，推理力，思维能力

compete
v. to try to win something by defeating others who are trying to do the same 竞争

diminishing
a. becoming or making smaller or less 减少的

Phrases and Expressions

in connection with
与...一起,与...有关系

be linked to
与...有联系

point out
指出

(be) capable of
能,有...能力

be true of
符合于, 对...适用

in terms of
按照,根据, 用...字眼

compete with
与...相媲美,比得上

with regard to
关于,在...方面