考研英语阅读理解基本素材经济学人科技类.docx

考研英语阅读理解基本素材经济学人科技类.docx

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考研英语阅读理解基本素材经济学人科技类

考研英语阅读理解基本素材经济学人科技类

英语阅读理解基本素材经济学人科技类

Passage1

Wirelessbroadband

Computerchipsfor“open-spectrum”devicesareaclosedbook

__IONSusedtobeaclosedgame,fromthecopperandfibrethatcarriedthemessages,tothephonesthemselves.Now,opennessreignsintheworldofwires.Networksmustinterconnectwiththoseofcompetitors,anduserscanplugintheirowndevicesastheywill.Oneresultofthisopennesshasbeenalotofinnovation.

Opennessiscomingtothewirelessworld,too.Cheapandpowerfuldevicesthatuseunlicensedandlightlyregulatedpartsoftheradiospectrumareproliferating.Butthereisaproblem.Thoughthespectrumisopen,themicroprocessorchipsthatdrivethedeviceswhichuseitarenot.Theinterfaceinformation―thetechnicaldataneededtowritesoftwarethatwouldallowthosechipstobeusedinnovelways―isnormallykeptsecretbymanufacturers.Theresultcouldbealotlessinnovationintheopenwirelessworldthanintheopenwiredone.

Take,forexample,theChampaign-UrbanaCommunityWirelessNetwork（CUWiN）,inIllinois.Thisgroupistryingtocreateaso-calledmeshedWi-Finetwork.Wi-Fiisawirelesstechnologythatallowsbroadbandinternetcommunicationoverarangeofabout50metres.Thatrangecould,however,beextendedifthedevicesinanareawereconfiguredtoactas“platforms”thatbothreceiveandtransmitsignals.Messageswouldthenhopfromoneplatformtoanotheruntiltheygottotheirdestination.ThatwouldallowsuchthingsasneighbourhoodmobilephonecompaniesandaplethoraofradioandTVstations,andallforalmostnocost.Buttomakesuchgoodieswork,CUWiNneedstotweaktheunderlyingcapabilitiesofWi-Fichipsinspecialways.

Whenitsengineersrequestedtheinterfaceinformationfromthefirmsthatfurnishthechips,however,theywereoftenrebuffed.Afewcompanieswithlow-end,oldertechnologysuppliedit.ButBroadcomandAtheros,thetwoproducersofthesophisticatedchipsthatCUWiNneedsifitssystemistosingproperly,refused.NorisCUWiNaloneinitsenforcedignorance.SeattleWirelessandNYCwireless,amongothergroups,havesimilarideas,butaresimilarlystymied.ChristianSandvigoftheUniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign,whohasbeenstudyingthebrouhaha,believesregulatorsoughttoenforcemoreopenness.

BroadcomandAtherossaythatmakingtheinterfaceinformationpublicwouldbeillegal,becauseitcouldallowuserstochangetheparametersofachipinwaysthatviolatetherulesforusingunlicensedspectrum（forexample,byincreasingitspowerorchangingitsoperatingfrequency）.Thatisaworry,butitdependsonratheraconservativeinterpretationofthelaw.Thecurrentrulesapplytoso-called“software-definedradios”（wheretheabilitytosendandreceivesignalsismodifiableonthechip）,anddonotapplydirectlytoWi-Fi.Also,bysupplyingthedata,manufacturerswouldnotbeheldliableifauserchosetotweakthechipinunlawfulways.Andinanycase,ifthefirmsarereallyworried,theycouldreleasemostoftheinterface,keepingbackthosefeaturesthatarelegallysensitive.

Noristheinterfaceinformationcommerciallysensitive.Engineersarenotaskingforthecomputer

codethatdrivestheinterfaces,merelyforthemeanstotalktothem.Andhavingtheinterfaceinformationinthepublicdomainshouldeventuallyresultinmorechipsbeingsold.Soitishardtoseewhattheproblemisbeyondadog-in-themangerishdesirenottogiveanythingaway.Timetoopenitup,boys.

Passage2

Notasboringasyouthought

Watchingpaintdrymayleadtosomeexcitingnewtechnologies

Believeitornot,thereareasmallbutsignificantnumberofpeopleinthisworldwhowatchpaintdryforaliving.Andwatchingpaintdry,ifyoulookcloselyenough,isfascinating.Honest.Plentyofresearchersareenthralledbyexactlyhowthepaintcomesoffthebrush,howthepolymerswithinitinteractinordertoadheretoasurface,andwhathappenswhenthewater,orothersolvent,evaporates.Thissortofthingrevealshowthechemistryreallyworks,andthushowtomakebetterpaint.

Theexcitementofwatchingamoleculeofwaterliftofffromthesurfaceofawallis,however,hamperedbythefactthattheonlyavailablephotographsoftheactionarestills.Itisliketryingtoworkouthowtoplayfootballfromaseriesoftime-lapseframes.Buthelpisathand.AndrewHumphris,chieftechnologyofficerofInfinitesima,asmallfirmbasedinBristol,inBritain,hascomeupwithasystemthatallowsyoutotakeamovieofdryingpaint.

Theexistingmethodofphotographingmoleculesismore“feely”than“movie”.Thecameraisadevicecalledanatomic-forcemicroscope（AFM）.Thisworksbyrunningthetipofaprobeoverthemoleculesinquestion,ratherasthestylusofanold-fashionedrecordplayerrunsacrossthesurfaceofanLP.ThebumpsandgroovespickedupbyanAFMcanbetranslatedintoapicture,butittakesbetween30secondsandaminutetobuildupanimage.Scanmuchfasterthanthatandthestylusstartstoresonate,blurringtheresult.

ButInfinitesima'sVideoAFMcan,accordingtoDrHumphris,go1,000timesfasterthanastandardAFM.Thatisfastenoughtoallowvideostobetakenof,forexample,moleculesevaporating―informationofgreatvaluetothepaint-makingindustry,towhichDrHumphrishopestosellmanyofhismachines.Heiscoyaboutexactlyhowtheywork,sincethepaperdescribingthedetailsisawaitingpublicationinAppliedPhysicsLetters.Buttheprocessforkeepingthestylusundercontrolseemstoinvolvesomehigh-poweredcomputingandsignalprocessing.

InfinitesimaistestingtheVideoAFMbylookingatpolymersastheycrystallise.Themoviesresemblefrostspreadingacrossachillywindow.ButtheVideoAFMcandomorethanmereanalysis.Itcandosynthesisaswell.Justasacarelesslyappliedstyluscanalterthesurfaceofarecord,soanAFMcanalterthesurfaceitisscanningatthemolecularlevel,ineffectwritingonthatsurface.Suchwriting,ifitwerefastenough,couldbeusedasaformoflithographyformakingdeviceswhosecomponentshaddimensionsofnanometres（billionthsofametre）.Nanotechnology,asengineeringatthisscaleisknown,isalltherage,andnanotechfirmscouldendupusingtheVideoAFM'sdescendantsintheirfactories.Inthemeantime,livepaint-dryingactioncouldsoonbe

comingtoatelevisionnearyou.

Passage3

Gamespeopleplay

Theco-operativeandtheselfishareequallysuccessfulatgettingwhattheywant

MANYpeople,itissaid,regardlifeasagame.Increasingly,bothbiologistsandeconomistsaretendingtoagreewiththem.Gametheory,abranchofmathematicsdevelopedinthe1940sand1950sbyJohnvonNeumannandJohnNash,hasprovedausefultheoreticaltoolinthestudyofthebehaviourofanimals,bothhumanandnon-human.

Animportantpartofgametheoryistolookforcompetitivestrategiesthatareunbeatableinthecontextofthefactthateveryoneelseisalsolookingforthem.Sometimesthesestrategiesinvolveco-operation,sometimesnot.Sometimesthe“game”willresultineverybodyplayingthesameway.Sometimestheywillneedtobehavedifferentlyfromoneanother.

Buttherehasbeenacrucialdifferenceintheapproachtakenbythetwoschoolsofresearchers.Whendiscussingtheoutcomesofthesegames,animalbehaviouristsspeakof“evolutionarilystablestrategies”,withtheimplicationthatthewaytheyareplayedhasbeenhard-wiredintotheparticipantsbytheprocessesofnaturalselection.EconomistsprefertotalkofNashequilibriaand,sinceeconomicsisfoundedontheideaofrationalhumanchoice,theimplicationisthatpeoplewilladjusttheirbehaviour（whetherconsciouslyorunconsciouslyisslightlyambiguous）inordertomaximisetheirgains.ButastudyjustpublishedintheProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences,byRobertKurzbanoftheUniversityofPennsylvaniaandDanielHouserofGeorgeMasonUniversityinFairfax,Virginia,callstheeconomists'underlyingassumptionintoquestion.Thisstudysuggeststhatitmaybefruitfultoworkwiththeideathathumanbehaviour,too,cansometimesbegovernedbyevolutionarilystablestrategies.

Doubleorquits?

DrKurzbanandDrHouserwereinterestedintheoutcomesofwhatareknownaspublic-goodsgames.Intheirparticularcasetheychoseagamethatinvolvedfourpeoplewhohadnevermet（andwhointeractedviaacomputer）makingdecisionsabouttheirownself-interestthatinvolvedassessingthebehaviourofothers.Eachplayerwasgivenanumberofvirtualtokens,redeemableformoneyattheendofthegame.Aplayercouldkeepsomeorallofthesetokens.Anynotkeptwereputintoapool,tobesharedamonggroupmembers.Aftertheinitialcontributionshadbeenmade,thegamecontinuedforarandomnumberofturns,witheachplayer,inturn,beingabletoaddtoorsubtractfromhiscontributiontothepool.Whenthegameended,thevalueofthepoolwasdoubled,andthenew,doubledvaluewasdividedintofourequalpartsandgiventotheplayers,alongwiththevalueofanytokenstheyhadheldonto.Ifeverybodytrustseachother,therefore,theywillallbeabletodoubletheirmoney.Butasuckerwhoputsallhismoneyintothepoolwhennooneelsehascontributedatallwillendupwithonlyhalfwhathestartedwith.

Thisisatypicalexampleofthesortofgamethateconomistsinvestigatinggametheoryrevelin,andboththeoryandpracticesuggeststhataplayercantakeoneofthreeapproachesinsuchagame:

co-operatewithhisopponentstomaximisegroupbenefits（butattheriskofbeingsuckered）,free-ride（ie,trytosuckerco-operators）orreciprocate（ie,co-operatewit