模糊阅读基础班讲义

1、英语模糊阅读基础班主讲欢迎使用注：该讲义非老师授课逐字稿，导学部分不提供讲义，如在学习中有任何疑问和问题请随时上知识堂以及老师微博(榜题名！/lijianspring)进行提问。祝学习愉快，金模 糊 阅 读（基础班讲义）2002 年 Text 21Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to copewith workt is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty.t compulhasresulted in ro

2、botics the science of conferring various human capabilities on machines. And ifscientists have yet to create the mechanical verclose.of science fiction, they have begun to come2As a result, the modern world is increasingly populated byelligent gizmos whosepresence we barely notice but whose universa

3、l existence has removed much human labor. Ourfactories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly arms. Our bing is done at automatedlerterminalstnk us with mechanical politeness for the tranion. Our subway trains arecontrolled by tireless robot-drivers. Andnks to the continual miniaturization of electroni

4、cs andmicro-mechanics, there are already robot systemsbone surgery with submillimeter accuracy far great can achieve with their hands alone.t can perform some kinds of brain andrecin highly skilled physins3But if robots are to reach the next stage of laborsaving utility, they will have to operate wi

5、thless human superviand be able to makeeast a few decis for themselves goalste a real challenge. “While we know how tol a robot to handle a specific error,” saysDave Lavery, manager of a robotics program at NASA, “we cant yet give a robot enough commonsense to reliablyeract widynamic world.”4the que

6、st for true artifilelligence has produced very mixed results. Despite aspell of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s when it appearedt transistor circuits andmicroprosors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010,researchers lay have begun to extendt forecast by decades

7、 if not centuries.5What they found, in attempting to mthought, ist the human brains roughly onedred billion nerve cells are much more talented and human perception far morecomplicated n previously imagined. They have built robotst can recognize the error ofa machine panel by a fraction of a millimet

8、er in a controlled factory environment. But the humanmind can glimpse a raly changing scene and immediay disregard the 98 percentt isirrelevant, instantaneously focusing on the monkey at the side of a winding forest road or thesingle suspicious face in a big crowd. The most advanced computer systems

9、 on Earth cantapproacht kind of ability, and neuroscientists still dont know quite how wet.1. Human ingenuity was initially demonstrated in .the use of machines to produthe wide use of machinescience fictionanufacturing industryC the invention of tools for difficult and dangerous work*D+ the elites

10、cunning tackling of dangerous and boring work2. The word “gizmos” (Line 1, Paragraph 2) most probably means .A programsB expertsC deviD creatures3. According to the text, what ismans ability now is to design a robott can .A fulfill delicate tasks like performing brain surgeryBeract with human beings

11、 verballyhave a little common senserespond independently to a changing world4. Besides reducing human labor, robots cso .A make a few decis for themselvesdeal with some errors with humanimprove factory environmentscultivate human creativityervention5. The author uses the example of a monkey to argue

12、t robots are .A expected to copy human brain inernal structureB able to perceive abnormalities immediayC far less ablen human brain in focusing on relevant informationD best used in a controlled environment2003 年 Text 11Wild Bill Donovan would have loved theernet. The American spymaster who built th

13、eOffice of Strategic Servihe World War II and later laid the roots for thewas fascinatedhe “great game” ofwith information. Donovan be ved in using whatever tools came to handespionage spying as a “profes.” These days the Net, which has already re-made sucheveryday pastimes as buying books and sendi

14、ng, is reshaDonovans vocation as well.2The latest revolution isnt simply a matter of gentlemen reading other gentlemens.t kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades.he past three or four-and-click spying. The ing increasinglyyears, the World Wide Web has given birth to a whole industry

15、of pospooks call it “open-sourceelligence,” and as the Net grows, it isinfluential. In 1995 theheld a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi.The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open Sourclear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world.olutio

16、ns, whose3Among the firms making the biggest splashhe new world is Straitford, Inc., a privateelligence-ysis firm based in Austin, Texas. Straitford makes money by selling the results ofspying (covering nations from Chile to Russia) to corporations like energy-servifirmMcDermotternational. Many of i

17、ts predictions are available online at 4StraitfordGee Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutuallyreinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymasters dream. Lastkhis firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a cr

18、isisin. “As soon ast report runs, well suddenly get 500 newernet sign-ups from,” says Friedman, a formolitical science professor. “And well hear back from some ofthem.” Open-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult toinformation from bad.ts where Straitford earns its k

19、eep.l good5Friedman res on a lean staff of 20 in Austin. Several of his staff members havemilitary-elligence backgrounds. He sees the firms outsider sus as the key to its sucs.Straitfords briefs dont sound like the usual Washington back-and-forthing, whereby agenciesavoid dramatic declarations on th

20、e chance they might be wrong. Straitford, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice.1. The emergence of the Nes.A received support from fans like Donovan.B remolded theelligenervi.restored many common pastimes.revived spying as a profes.2. Donovans story is mentionedhe text to.Aroduce the

21、topic of online spying.B show how he fought for the U.S.C give ansode of the information war.D honor his unique servito the3. The phrase “making the.A causing the biggest trouble.C achieving the greatest sucbiggestsplash” (line 1, paragraph 3)most probably meansB exerting the greatest effort.D enjoy

22、ing the widest popularity.s.4. It can be learned from paragraph 4*A+ Straitfords prediction aboutt .has proved true.B Straitford guarantees the truthfulness of its information.*C+ Straitfords business is characterized by unpredictability.D Straitford is able to provide fairly reliable information.5.

23、 Straitford is most proud of its .A offil sus.Bconformist image.C efficient staff.D military background.2003 年 Text 31In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, mergingo super systems,causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995, the top four railroadsaccounte

24、d for under 70 percent of the total ton-moved by rails. Next year, after a series ofmergers is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight movedby major rail carriers.2Supporters of the new super systems arguet these mergers will allow for substantialcost redu

25、ctions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removedby fierce competition from trucks. But many shippers complahat for heavy bulk commoditiestraveling long distan, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroadstherefore have them by the

26、throat.3The vast consolidation withhe rail industry meanst most shippers aby onlyone rail company. Railroads typically charge such “captive” shippers 20 to 30 percent morenthey do when another railroad is competing for the business. Shippers who feel they are beingovercharged have the right to appea

27、l to the federalernmentrface Transporion Boardfor rate ref, but the procases.s is expensive, time-consuming, and will work onlyruly extreme4Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shipthe groundsthe longrun it redueveryones cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate

28、, theyargue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transporionwould do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keng up the line. Its atheory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in theition of determining which

29、companies will flourish and which will fail. “Do we really wantrailroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loseshe marketplace?” asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shipper.5Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be hit wiround of huge rate increases.Th

30、e railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortunes, still does not earn enough tocover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider the $10.2 bil

31、lion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrails netrailway operatinge in 1996 was just $427 million, lessn half of the carrying costs of thetranion. Whos going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers feart they will,as Norfolk Southern anX increase their gr

32、ip on the market.1.According to those who support mergers, railway monopoly is unlikely because .A cost reduction is based on competitionB servicall for cross-trade coordinationoutside competitors will continue to existshippers will have the railway by the throat2.What is many captive shippers attit

33、ude towards the consolidationhe rail industry?A Indifferent.C Indignant.B Supportive.D Apprehensive.3.It can be inferred from Paragraph 3t .shippers will be charged less without a rival railroadthere will soon be only one railroad company nationwideovercharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rat

34、e refD aernment board ensures fair play in railway business4.The word “arbiters” (Line 7, Paragraph 4) most probably refers to those .A who work as coordinatorsB who function as judgesD who determine the priceC who supervise tranions5.According to the text, the cost increasehe rail industry is mainl

35、y caused by .B the growing trafficD the shrinking marketA the continuing acquisitionC the cheering Wall Street2004 年 Text 21Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemnedor made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those a

36、s yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames beginwiletterhe lower half of the alphabet.2Is long been knownaxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiaccars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advanta

37、get Adam Abbots in life over Zo Zysman. English names are fairly evenly spread betnthe halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnamesbeginning with letters betn A and K.3Thus the Americanrespectively; and 26 of Geand vice-e Bushs predehave surnames starting with

38、B and Csors (including his father) had surnameshehalf of the alphabet against just 16he second half. Even more striking, six of the sevenheads ofernment of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair,Bush, Chirac, Chrtien and Koizumi). The worlds three top central bers (Gr

39、eenspan,Duisenberg andi) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really usesJapacharacters. As are the worlds five richest men (Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison andAlbrecht).4Can this merely be coincidence? One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed bythe alphabetically

40、disadvantaged, ist the rot sets in early. At the start of theyear in infantschool, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember theirnames. So short-sighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked theimproving questionsed by those insensitiv

41、e teachers. At the time the alphabeticallydisadvantaged may think they have had a lucky esc. Yet the result may be worse qualifications,because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.5The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABC

42、s proudly gettheir awards; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ.Shortlists for joberviews, election ballot prs, lists of conferenpeakers and attendees: alltend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients losethem.erest as they plough through1.What does th

43、e authorend to illustrate wiAA A cars and Zodiac cars?A kind of overlooked inequality.A type of conspicuous bias.C A type ofal prejudice.D A kind of brand discrimination.2.What can we infer from thethree paragraphs?A In both East and West, names are essential to sucs.B The alphabet is to blame for t

44、he failure of Zo Zysman.*C+ Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies names.D Some form of discrimination is too subtle to recognize.3. The 4th paragraph suggestst .A questions are often put to the moreelligent studentsB alphabetically disadvantaged students often escfrom classteachers sho

45、uld pay attention to all of their studentsstudents should be seated according to their eyesight4. What does the author mean by “most people are literally having a ZZZ” (Lines 2-3, Paragraph5)?They are getting impatient.They are noisily dozing off.They are feeling humiliated.They are busy with word p

46、uzzles.5. Which of the following is true according to the text?A People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often ill-treated.B VIPshe Western world gain a great deal from alphabetism.C Then to eliminate alphabetism still has a long way to go.D Putting things alphabetically may lead to unentiona

47、l bias.2007 年 Text 11If you were to examine the births of every soccer player in 2006s World Cuptournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: elite socclayers are more likely tohave been bornhe ear r months of the yearnhe later months. If you then examinedthe European national youth tea

48、mst feed the World Cup and profesal rs, you wouldfind this strange phenometo be even more pronounced.2What might account for this strange phenome? Here are a few guesses: a) certainastrological signs confer superior soccer skills; b) wer-born babies tend to have higher oxygencapacity, which increase

49、s soccer stamina; c) soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime, at the annual peak of soccer mania; d)e of the above.3Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida Se University, says hebeves strongly in “e of the above.” Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and s

50、tudied nuclearengineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if heswitched to psychology. Hisexperiment, nearly 30 years ago, involved memory: training ato hear and then repeat a random series of numbers. “With thesubject, after about20 hours of training, hi

51、s digit span had risen from 7 to 20,” Ericsson recalls. “He kept improving,and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to over 80 numbers.”4This sucs, coupled with later research showingt memory itself is not geneticallydetermined, led Ericsson to concludet the act of memorizing is more of a

52、cognitive exercisen anuitive one. In other words, whatever inborn differentwo people may exhibit intheir abilities to memorize, those differenare swamped by how well each“encodes”the information. And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericssondetermined, was a pros known a

53、s deliberate practice. Deliberate practice entails morensimply repeating a task. Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedbackand concentrating as much on technique as one.5Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range ofpursuits

54、, including soccer. They gather all the dahey can, not just performanistics andbiographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments with high achievers.Their work makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highlyoverrated. Or, put another way, e

55、xpert performers whetheremory or surgery, ballet orcomputrogramming are nearly always made, not born.1 The birthday phenomefound among socclayers is mentioned to.AI stress the importance of profesal training.B spotlight the soccer superstarshe World Cup.Croduce the topic of what makes expert perform

56、ance.D explain why some soccer teams play bettern others.2. The word “mania” (Line 4, Paragraph 2) most probably means.A fun.B craze.C hysteria.D excitement.3. According to Ericsson, good memory.A depends on meaningful prosing of information.n cognitive exercises.B results fromuitive ratherC is dete

57、rmined by genetic rathern psychological factors.D requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration.4. Ericsson and his colleagues be vet.A talent is a dominating factor for profesal sucs.biographical data provide the key to excellent performance.the role of talent tends to be overlooke

58、d.D high achievers owe their sucs mostly to nurture.5. Which of the following proverbs is closest to the message the text tries to convey?*A+ “Faith will move mountains.”*C+ “Practice makes perfect.”*B+ “One reaps what one sows.”*D+ “Like father, like son.”2005 年 Text 41Americans no longer expect pu

59、blic figures, whether in speech or in writing, todthe English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to suchd themselves. In hislatest book,ng Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should,Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal

60、 and conservative views,sees the triumph of 1960s counter-culture as responsible for the decline of formal English.2Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism againstthe decline in education. Mr. McWhorters academic spelity is language history and change,and h