the greatest players in the world, but they can beat just about anybody else. If a human being played chess at this level, he or she would certainly be considered smart. Why not a machine? The answer is that the machine doesn’t do anything clever in playing chess. It uses its blinding speed to do a brute-force search of all possible moves for several moves ahead, evaluates the outcomes and picks the best. Humans don’t play chess that way. They see patterns, which computers don’t.
This wooden approach to thought characterizes machine intelligence. Computers have no judgment, no flexibility, no common sense. So-called expert systems, one of the hottest areas in artificial intelligence, aim to mimic the reasoning processes of human experts in a limited field, such as medical diagnosis or weather forecasting. There may be limited commercial applications for this sort of thing, but there is no way to make a machine think about anything under the sun, which a teenager can do.
The hallmark of artificial intelligence to date is that if a problem is severely restricted, a machine can achieve limited success. But when the problem is expanded to a realistic one, computers fall flat on their display screens. For example, machines can understand a few words spoken individually by a speaker that they have been trained to hear. They cannot understand continuous speech using an unlimited vocabulary spoken by just any speaker.
54. From this passage, we know that the author _______. A. thinks that scientists are about to achieve artificial intelligence B. doubts whether scientists can ever achieve artificial intelligence C. does not think that scientists have found real artificial intelligence D. is sure that scientists have achieved artificial intelligence
55. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the second paragraph? ______.
A. The writer thinks that the specialists’ complaints have some reasons. B. Anything that the computer does can be regarded as thought. C. It is not very difficult to define thought.
D. Computers play chess in exactly the same way as humans.
56. The advantage of the computer in playing chess lies in its _____. A. cleverness in thinking out original moves
B. ability to pick up the best out of all possible moves very quickly C. flexibility in choosing several different moves D. ability to see patterns
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57. The characteristics of machine intelligence is its ______. A. correct judgment B. high flexibility
C. ability to think about anything D. rigid approach to thought
58. Which of the following statements about computers is TRUE according to this passage? ______.
A. Computers can beat any chess player in the world. B. Computers can never be used to forecast weather.
C. Computers can be trained to understand some words spoken by a speaker. D. Computers can be made to think as a teenager does.
Passage Twelve (Questions 59-63):
Pronouncing a language is a skill. Every normal person is expert in the skill of pronouncing his own language; but few people are even moderately proficient in pronouncing foreign languages. Now there are many reasons for this, some obvious. Some are perhaps not so obvious. But I suggest that the fundamental reason why people in general do not speak foreign languages very much better than they actually do is that they fail to grasp the true nature of the problem of learning to pronounce, and consequently never set about tackling it in the right way. Far too many people fail to realize that pronouncing a foreign language is a skill --- one that needs careful training of a special kind, and one that cannot be acquired by just leaving it to take care of itself. I think even teachers of language, while recognizing the importance of good accent, tend to neglect, in their practical teaching, the branch of study concerned with speaking the language. So the first point I want to make is that English pronunciation must be taught; the teacher should be prepared to devote some to the lesson time to this, and his whole attitude to the subject should get the student to feel that there is a matter worthy of receiving his close attention. So, there should be occasions when other aspects of English, such as grammar or spelling, are allowed for the moment to take second place.
Apart from this question of the time given to pronunciation, there are two other requirements for the teacher: the first, knowledge; the second, technique.
It is important that the teacher should be in possession of the necessary information. This can generally be obtained form books. It is possible to get from books some idea of the mechanics of speech, and of what we call general phonetic theory. It is also possible in this way to get a clear mental picture of the relationship between the sounds of different languages, between the speech habits of English people and those, say, of your students. Unless the teacher has such a picture, any comments he may make on his students pronunciation are unlikely to be of much use, and lesson time spent on pronunciation may well be time wasted.
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59. What does the writer actually say about pronouncing foreign languages? A. Only a few people are really proficient. B. No one is really an expert in the skill.
C. There aren’t many people who are even fairly good.
D. There are even some people who are moderately proficient.
60. The writer argues that going about the problem of pronunciation in the wrong ways is ______.
A. an obvious cause of not grasping the problem correctly B. a fundamental consequence of not speaking well C. a consequence of not grasping the problem correctly D. not an obvious cause of speaking poorly
61. The best way of learning to speak a foreign language, he suggests, is by _____. A. picking it up naturally as a child B. learning from a native speaker
C. not concentrating on pronunciation much D. undertaking systematic work
62. The value the student puts on correct speech habits depends upon _____. A. how closely he attends to the matter B. whether it is English that is being taught C. his teacher’s approach to pronunciation
D. the importance normally given to grammar and spelling
63. How might the teacher find himself wasting lesson time? ____. A. By spending lesson time on pronunciation.
B. By making ill-informed comments upon pronunciation. C. By not using books on phonetics in the classroom.
D. By not giving students a clear mental picture of the difference between sounds.
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Passage Thirteen (Questions 64-68):
Most of us are taught to pay attention to what is said --- the words. Words do provide us with some information, but meanings are derived from so many other sources that it would hinder our effectiveness as a partner to a relationship to rely too heavily on words alone. Words are used to describe only a small part of the many ideas we associate with any given message. Sometimes we can gain insight into some of those associations if we listen for more than words. We don’t always say what we mean or mean what we say. Sometimes our words don’t mean anything except “I’m letting off some steam. I don’t really want you to pay close attention to what I’m saying. Just pay attention to what I’m feeling.” Mostly we mean several things at once. A person wanting to purchase a house says to the current owner, “This step has to be fixed before I buy.” The owner says, “It’s been like that for years.” Actually, the step hasn’t been like that for years, but the unspoken message is: “I don’t want to fix it. We put up with it. Why can’t you?” The search for a more expansive view of meaning can be developed by examining a message in terms of who said it, when it occurred, the related conditions or situation, and how it was said.
When a message occurs can also reveal associated meaning. Let us assume two couples do exactly the same amount of kissing and arguing. But one couple always kisses after an argument and the other couple always argues after a kiss. The ordering of the behaviors may mean a great deal more than the frequency of the behavior. A friend’s unusually docile behavior may only be understood by noting that it was preceded by situations that required an abnormal amount of assertiveness. Some responses may be directly linked to a developing pattern of responses and defy logic. For example, a person who says “No!” to a series of charges like “You’re dumb,” “You’re lazy,” and “You’re dishonest,” may also say “No!” and try to justify his or her response if the next statement is “And you’re good looking”.
We would do well to listen for how messages are presented. The words, “It sure has been nice to have you over,” can be said with emphasis and excitement or ritualistically. The phrase can be said once or repeated several times. And the meanings we associate with the phrase will change accordingly. Sometimes if we say something infrequently it assumes more importance; sometimes the more we say something the less importance it assumes.
64. Effective communication is rendered possible between two conversing partners, if they ______.
A. use proper words to carry their ideas B. both speak truly of their own feelings
C. try to understand each other’s ideas beyond words D. are capable of associating meanings with their words
65. “I’m letting off some steam” in Paragraph 1 means ______. A. I’m just calling your attention B. I’m just kidding
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