One evening in February 2007, a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a s

题文

One evening in February 2007, a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a stop on a remote road in Wales. She got out to open a metal gate that blocked her path .That’s when she heard the whistle sounded by the driver of a train. Her Renault Clio was parked across a railway line. Seconds later, she watched the train drag her car almost a kilometre down the railway tracks.Ceely’s near miss made the news becau she blamed it on her GPS (导航仪). She had never driven the route before. It was dark and raining heavily. Ceely was relying on her GPS, but it made no mention of the crossing. “I put my complete trust in the device and it led me right into the path of a speeding train,” she told the BBC.Who is to blame here? Rick Stevenson, who tells Ceely’s story in his book When Machines Fail Us, points the finger at the limitations of technology. We put our faith in digital devices, he says, but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job. They are filled with small problems. And it’s not just GPS devices: Stevenson takes us on a tour of digital disasters involving everything from mobile phones to wireless keyboards.The problem with his argument in the book is that it’s not clear why he only focus on digital technology, while there may be a number of other possible caus. A map-maker might have left the crossing off a paper map. Maybe we should blame Ceely for not paying attention. Perhaps the railway authorities are at fault for poor singalling system. Or maybe someone has studied the relative dangers and worked out that there really is something specific wrong with the GPS equipment. But Stevenson doesn’t say.It’s a problem that runs through the book. In a ction on cars, Stevenson gives an account of the advanced techniques that criminals u to defeat computer-bad locking systems for cars. He offers two independent ts of figures on car theft; both show a small ri in some parts of the country. He says that once again not all new locks have proved reliable. Perhaps, but maybe it’s also due to the shortage of policemen on the streets. Or changing social circumstances. Or some combination of the factors.The game between humans and their smart devices is amusing and complex. It is shaped by economics and psychology and the cultures we live in. Somewhere in the mix of tho forces there may be a way for a wir u of technology.If there is such a way, it should involve more than just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines. After all, we have lived with them for thousands of years. They have probably been fooling us for just as long.小题1:What did Paula Ceely think was the cau of her accident？A．She was not familiar with the road.B．It was dark and raining heavily then.C．The railway workers failed to give the signal.D．Her GPS device didn’t tell her about the crossing.小题2:The phra “near miss” (Paragraph 2) can best be replaced by______.A．clo hitB．heavy lossC．narrow escapeD．big mistake小题3:Which of the following would Rick Stevenson most probably agree with?A．Modern technology is what we can’t live without.B．Digital technology often falls short of our expectation.C．Digital devices are more reliable than they ud to be.D．GPS error is not the only cau for Ceely’s accident.小题4:In the writer’s opinion, Stevenson’s argument is _______.A．one-sidedB．reasonableC．puzzlingD．well-bad小题5:What is the real concern of the writer of this article?A．The major caus of traffic accidents and car thefts.B．The relationship between human and technology.C．The shortcomings of digital devices we u.D．The human unawareness of technical problems. 题型：未知难度：其他题型

答案

小题1:D小题2:C小题3:B小题4:A小题5:B

解析

文章讲述了一个因为导航仪出错误而引起的事故，告诉大家现代的仪器也会出问题，不要过于依赖他们。人类对于很多技术并不是完全了解，需要加强学习。小题1:推理题。根据第二段1行Ceely's near miss made the news becau she blamed it on her GPS (导航仪)可知Paula Ceely 认为事故的原因是她的导航仪没有告诉她这里有十字路口，D正确。小题2:推理题：根据第一段可知他很幸运，九死一生，没有被撞。C正确。小题3:推理题。根据文章第三段We put our faith in digital devices, he says, but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job.可知现代的很多装置经常不能符合我们的期望值。选B。小题4:推理题。根据文章第4段可知他的争论只是单方的，他只聚焦于数字技术而忽视了很多其它方面的原因。所以选A。小题5:推理题。根据文章最后一段If there is such a way, it should involve more than just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines。可知作者担心的是人类和科技的矛盾关系，所以选B。

考点

据考高分专家说，试题“One evening in Febru.....”主要考查你对 [日常生活类阅读 ]考点的理解。 日常生活类阅读

日常生活类阅读的概念：

日常生活这一话题主要涉及人们衣食住行等方面的活动。这一话题的选材主要针对人们日常的工作，生活以及学习情况。做这一类题时，最主要的是要把握好人物的活动内容，时间和地点。

日常生活类阅读题答题技巧：

【题型说明】该类文章内容涉及到人们的言谈举止、生活习惯、饮食起居、服饰仪表、恋爱婚姻、消遣娱乐、节日起源、家庭生活等。文章篇幅短小，追根溯源，探索各项风俗的历史渊源，内容有趣。命题也以送分题为主，如事实细节题、语义转换题、词义猜测题和简单推理判断题等。虽然这类文章读起来感觉轻松，试题做起来比较顺手，但绝不能掉以轻心。因为稍不留神，就会丢分。 【备考提醒】为了保证较高准确率，建议同学们做好以下几点： 1、保持正常的考试心态。笔者在教学中发现，越是容易的试题，同学们越是容易失分。为什么呢？因为在这种情况下，同学们极易产生麻痹思想，认为题目好做，就不引起高度重视，于是思维不发散、不周密。而命题人就是利用同学们的这一弱点，设计陷阱题。所以，无论试题难易与否，我们都要保持正常的考试心态。试题容易，不欣喜；试题难，不悲观。 2、根据前面讲到的方法，认认真真、细细心心做好事实细节题。 3、做好语义转换题。这类题是根据英语中一词多义和某些词语在文中能表达一定的修辞意义的原则而设计的。要求同学们解释某生词的含义，确定多义词或短语在文中的意思，确认文中的某个代词所指代的对象，或者对英语中特有的表达、格言、谚语进行解释。这种题要求同学们一定要根据上下文猜测词义或理解句子，切不可望文生义。 4、做好简单推理判断题。简单推理判断题要以表面文字为前提，以具体事实为依据进行推理，做出判断。这种推理方式比较直接，只要弄清事实，即可结合常识推断出合理的结论。