2016考研英语二：考前终极预测卷一及答案解析

　Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

　　Part A

　　Directions:

　　Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

　　Text 1

　　Rarely have the Christmas results for Britain’s supermarkets been awaited with such anxiety. Most of them, especially the market leader, Tesco, struggled in 2014. The hard-discount stores, Aldi and Lidl, continued to undercut them, gobbling up market share, while falling food prices ate into their profits.

　　Asda’s boss, Andrew Clarke, has warned of more challenging times ahead. Yet the lesson from these results is clear. Grocers with a clearly defined position in the market will continue to prosper, but for those without one there is more pain to come. Thus Waitrose, for instance, has remained res- olutely and distinctly posh. It has refused to chase the upstart discounters by reducing prices, as mid-market rivals have done.

　　Natalie Berg of Planet Retail, a research organization argues that the key to survival in a fero- ciously competitive groceries market is to offer the customer a brand that is “clear, targeted and con- sistent.” Waitrose, at the top end of the market, does this well, as do Lidl and Aldi at the bottom. The rest are stranded in the middle, trying to be all things to all people. This week, for instance, As da, Sainsbury’s and Tesco announced further price cuts. That might fend off the discounters for a bit. It will also muddy perceptions of who their target customers really are.

　　But it is not all gloom for the supermarkets. A more clement economic environment should help all of them. Tumbling fuel prices and—a novelty, this—rising real wages will put more money in shoppers’ pockets. The results also demonstrate that supermarkets are rewarded for a strong inter- net presence. Again, Waitrose has done well here: grocery sales through its online service grew by 26% over the Christmas period compared with a year ago. Most of the supermarkets are trying out new digital gizmos to make shopping easier. Waitrose is experimenting with a home-scanning de- vice called Hiku. This will allow people to scan barcodes on Waitrose products at home to add them to their online shopping basket.

　　There are grounds for optimism even at Tesco, argues Bryan Roberts, an analyst at Kantar Re- tail. For a couple of years its stores in London have done better than those in the rest of the country. Store managers in the capital have enjoyed more autonomy to fill their shelves with products suited to the people who live or work in the local area. Devolution seems simple, but effective.

　　21. Which of the following is NOT Aldi and Lidi have done to most of Britain’s supermarkets?

　　[A] Undercut them.

　　[B] Ate into their profits.

　　[C] Gobbled up their market share.

　　[D] Made their food costs increase.

　　22. The clear lessen in Paragraph 2 means grocers should _______ .

　　[A] chase the upstart discounters

　　[B] have target market

　　[C] reduce prices

　　[D] have middle-market rivals

　　23. We can learn from Paragraph 3 that _______ .

　　[A] Asda is at the top end of the market

　　[B] Lidi and Aldi are in the middle of the market

　　[C] Waitrose will muddy its target customers

　　[D] Tesco is stranded in the middle of the market

　　24. The word “gizmos” (Para. 4) probably means _______ .

　　[A] technologies [B] means

　　[C] devices [D] products

　　25. It can be concluded from the last paragraph that _______ .

　　[A] devolution is an effective way to increase sales

　　[B] there is no reason for Tesco to be pessimistic

　　[C] Tesco should merge its stores in the rest of the country

　　[D] Tesco’s stores in London miss local trends

Text 2

　　For the past few months, artificial intelligence (AI) has been a much talked about topic in the worlds of both pop culture and science. Last November saw the release of Oscar-nominated and winning biopic, “The Imitation Game”, about the father of the modern computer, Alan Turing. Last month, another Hollywood film about clever robots, Chappie, hit theaters.

　　Is artificial intelligence a boon or does it spell doom for humans? In their book, authors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, both of whom hail from MIT, US, could barely hide their excite- ment toward the rise of machines.

　　According to the authors, we are entering an age of accelerated development of artificial and robotic technology. “Digital machines have escaped their narrow confines and started to demonstrate broad abilities in pattern recognition, complex communication, and other domains that used to be exclusively human,” write the authors. “We’ve recently seen great progress in natural language pro- cessing, machine learning, computer vision, simultaneous localization and mapping, and many other areas.

　　“We’re going to see artificial intelligence do more and more, and as this happens costs will go down, outcomes will improve, and our lives will get better.” Already AI can help blind people see and deaf people hear. And wheelchairs have been invented that can be controlled by thoughts. We are going to witness more innovations and wonders made possible by AI, according to the authors.

　　However, not all are equally enthusiastic about AI. A February report from the Global Chal- lenges Foundation listed AI, alongside extreme climate change, nuclear war and ecological catastro- phe, as “risks that threaten human civilization”. Many preeminent scientists share the same concern. Stephen Hawking told the BBC last December that “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” “It would take off on its own, and redesign itself at an ever increasing rate,” he said: “Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be replaced.”

　　Hawking’s worry echoed that of Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who said in last October at an MIT conference that “we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that”.

　　26. It can be learned from Paragraph 1 that “The Imitation Game” _______ .

　　[A] is a science fiction movie

　　[B] is not a Hollywood film

　　[C] won Oscar-nomination

　　[D] is about clever robots

　　27. Which is NOT the ability of digital machines, according to Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee?

　　[A] Natural language processing. [B] Intelligence production.

　　[C] Fingerprint recognition. [D] Simultaneous localization.

　　28. It cannot be inferred that artificial intelligence will _______ .

　　[A] complete more chores

　　[B] help cut down costs

　　[C] help deaf people hear

　　[D] control people’s thought

　　29. According to Stephen Hawking, _______ .

　　[A] AI is one of the risks that threaten human civilization

　　[B] the development of AI cannot threaten human race

　　[C] AI might be substituted for humans in the future

　　[D] AI would redesign itself at a slow rate

　　30. A suitable title for this text would be _______ .

　　[A] Bleak Future of AI

　　[B] Digital Future: Uncertain

　　[C] Bright Future of Digital Machines

　　[D] Doom for Humans in the Future