雅思阅读模拟题精选及答案卷十七.docx

雅思阅读模拟题精选及答案卷十七.docx

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雅思阅读模拟题精选及答案卷十七

2021年雅思阅读模拟题精选及答案（卷十七）

　　AUSTRALIA'SSPORTING

　　SUCCESS

　　A

　　Theyplayhard,theyplayoften,andtheyplaytowin.Australiansportsteamswinmorethantheirfairshareoftitles,demolishingrivalswithseemingease.Howdotheydoit?

Abigpartofthesecretisanextensiveandexpensivenetworkofsportingacademiesunderpinnedbyscienceandmedicine.AttheAustralianInstituteofSport（AIS）,hundredsofyoungstersandprosliveandtrainundertheeyesofcoaches.Anotherbody,theAustralianSportsCommission（ASC）,financesprogrammesofexcellenceinatotalof96sportsforthousandsofsportsmenandwomen.Bothprovideintensivecoaching,trainingfacilitiesandnutritionaladvice.

　　B

　　Insidetheacademies,sciencetakescentrestage.TheAISemploysmorethan100sportsscientistsanddoctors,andcollaborateswithscoresofothersinuniversitiesandresearchcentres.AISscientistsworkacrossanumberofsports,applyingskillslearnedinone—suchasbuildingmusclestrengthingolfers—toothers,suchasswimmingandsquash.Theyarebackedupbytechnicianswhodesigninstrumentstocollectdatafromathletes.Theyallfocusononeaim:

winning.'Wecan'twasteourtimelookingatetherealscientificquestionsthatdon'thelpthecoachworkwithanathleteandimproveperformance,'saysPeterFricker,chiefofscienceatAIS.

　　C

　　Alotoftheirworkcomesdowntomeasurement—everythingfromtheexactangleofaswimmer'sdivetothesecond-by-secondpoweroutputofacyclist.Thisdataisusedtowringimprovementsoutofathletes.Thefocusisonindividuals,tweakingperformancestosqueezeanextrahundredthofasecondhere,anextramillimetrethere.Nogainistooslighttobotherwith.It'sthetiny,gradualimprovementsthatadduptoworld-beatingresults.Todemonstratehowthesystemworks,BruceMasonatAISshowsofftheprototypeofa3Danalysistoolforstudyingswimmers.Awire-framemodelofachampionswimmerslicesthroughthewater,herarmsmovinginslowmotion.Lookingside-on,Masonmeasuresthedistancebetweenstrokes.Fromabove,heanalyseshowherspineswivels.Whenfullydeveloped,thissystemwillenablehimtobuildabiomechanicalprofileforcoachestousetohelpbuddingswimmers.Mason'scontributiontosportalsoincludesthedevelopmentoftheSWAN（SwimmingAnalysis）systemnowusedinAustraliannationalcompetitions.Itcollectsimagesfromdigitalcamerasrunningat50framesasecondandbreaksdowneachpartofaswimmer'sperformanceintofactorsthatcanbeanalysedindividually-strokelength,strokefrequency,averagedurationofeachstroke,velocity,start,lapandfinishtimes,andsoon.Attheendofeachrace,SWANspitsoutdataoneachswimmer.

　　D

　　'Takealook,'saysMason,pullingoutasheetofdata.Hepointsoutthedataontheswimmersinsecondandthirdplace,whichshowsthattheonewhofinishedthirdactuallyswamfaster,Sowhydidhefinish35hundredthsofaseconddown?

'Histurntimeswere44hundredthsofasecondbehindtheotherguy,'saysMason.'Ifhecanimproveonhisturns,hecandomuchbetter.'ThisisthekindofaccuracythatAISscientists'researchisbringingtoarangeofsports.WiththeCooperativeResearchCentreforMicrotechnologyinMelbourne,theyaredevelopingunobtrusivesensorsthatwillbeembeddedinanathlete'sclothesorrunningshoestomonitorheartrate,sweating,heatproductionoranyotherfactorthatmighthaveanimpactonanathlete'sabilitytorun.There'smoretoitthansimplymeasuringperformance.Frickergivestheexampleofathleteswhomaybedownwithcoughsandcolds11or12timesayear.Afteryearsofexperimentation,AISandtheUniversityofNewcastleinNewSouthWalesdevelopedatestthatmeasureshowmuchoftheimmune-systemproteinimmunoglobulinAispresentinathletes'saliva.IfAlevelssuddenlyfallbelowacertainlevel,trainingiseasedordroppedaltogether.Soon,Alevelsstartrisingagain,andthedangerpasses.Sincethetestswereintroduced,AISathletesinallsportshavebeenremarkablysuccessfulatstayinghealthy.

　　E

　　Usingdataisacomplexbusiness.Wellbeforeachampionship,sportsscientistsandcoachesstarttopreparetheathletebydevelopinga'competitionmodel',basedonwhattheyexpectwillbethewinningtimes.'Youdesignthemodeltomakethattime,'saysMason.'Astartofthismuch,eachfree-swimmingperiodhastobethisfast,withacertainstrokefrequencyandstrokelength,withturnsdoneinthesetimes.'Allthetrainingisthengearedtowardsmakingtheathletehitthosetargets,bothoverallandforeachsegmentoftherace.TechniqueslikethesehavetransformedAustraliaintoarguablytheworld'smostsuccessfulsportingnation.

　　F

　　Ofcourse,there'snothingtostopothercountriescopying—andmanyhavetried.Someyearsago,theAISunveiledcoolant-linedjacketsforenduranceathletes.AttheAtlantaOlympicGamesin1996,theseslicedasmuchastwopercentoffcyclists'androwers'times.Noweveryoneusesthem.Thesamehashappenedtothe'altitudetent',developedbyAIStoreplicatetheeffectofaltitudetrainingatsealevel.ButAustralia'ssuccessstoryisaboutmorethaneasilycopiedtechnologicalfixes,anduptonownonationhasreplicateditsall-encompassingsystem.

　TheReturnofArtificialIntelligence

　　Itisbecomingacceptableagaintotalkofcomputersperforming

　　humantaskssuchasproblem-solvingandpattern-recognition

　　A

　　Afteryearsinthewilderness,theterm'artificialintelligence'（AI）seemspoisedtomakeacomeback.AIwasbiginthe1980sbutvanishedinthe1990s.Itre-enteredpublicconsciousnesswiththereleaseofAI,amovieaboutarobotboy.ThishasignitedpublicdebateaboutAI,butthetermisalsobeingusedoncemorewithinthecomputerindustry.Researchers,executivesandmarketingpeoplearenowusingtheexpressionwithoutironyorinvertedcommas.Anditisnotalwayshype.Thetermisbeingapplied,withsomejustification,toproductsthatdependontechnologythatwasoriginallydevelopedbyAIresearchers.Admittedly,therehabilitationofthetermhasalongwaytogo,andsomefirmsstillprefertoavoidusingit.ButthefactthatothersarestartingtouseitagainsuggeststhatAIhasmovedonfrombeingseenasanover-ambitiousandunder-achievingfieldofresearch.

　　B

　　Thefieldwaslaunched,andtheterm'artificialintelligence'coined,ataconferencein1956,byagroupofresearchersthatincludedMarvinMinsky,JohnMcCarthy,HerbertSimonandAlanNewell,allofwhomwentontobecomeleadingfiguresinthefield.Theexpressionprovidedanattractivebutinformativenameforaresearchprogrammethatencompassedsuchpreviouslydisparatefieldsasoperationsresearch,cybernetics,logicandcomputerscience.Thegoaltheysharedwasanattempttocaptureormimichumanabilitiesusingmachines.Thatsaid,differentgroupsofresearchersattackeddifferentproblems,fromspeechrecognitiontochessplaying,indifferentways;AIunifiedthefieldinnameonly.Butitwasatermthatcapturedthepublicimagination.

　　C

　　MostresearchersagreethatAIpeakedaround1985.Apublicrearedonscience-fictionmoviesandexcitedbythegrowingpowerofcomputershadhighexpectations.Foryears,AIresearchershadimpliedthatabreakthroughwasjustaroundthecorner.MarvinMinskysaidin1967thatwithinagenerationtheproblemofcreating'artificialintelligence'wouldbesubstantiallysolved.Prototypesofmedical-diagnosisprogramsandspeechrecognitionsoftwareappearedtobemakingprogress.Itprovedtobeafalsedawn.Thinkingcomputersandhouseholdrobotsfailedtomaterialise,andabacklashensued.'Therewasundueoptimismintheearly1980s,"saysDavidLeake,aresearcheratIndianaUniversity.'Thenwhenpeoplerealisedthesewerehardproblems,therewasretrenchment.Bythelate1980s,thetermAIwasbeingavoidedbymanyresearchers,whooptedinsteadtoalignthemselveswithspecificsub-disciplinessuchasneuralnetworks,agenttechnology,case-basedreasoning,andsoon."

　　D

　　Ironically,insomewaysAIwasavictimofitsownsuccess.Wheneveranapparentlymundaneproblemwassolved,suchasbuildingasystemthatcouldlandanaircraftunattended,theproblemwasdeemednottohavebeenAIinthefirstplace.'Ifitworks,itcan'tbeAI,"asDrLeakecharacterisesit.Theeffectofrepeatedlymovingthegoal-postsinthiswaywasthatAIcametoreferto'blue-sky'researchthatwasstillyearsawayfromcommercialisation.ResearchersjokedthatAIstoodfor'almostimplemented'.Meanwhile,thetechnologiesthatmadeitontothemarket,suchasspeechrecognition,languagetranslationanddecision-supportsoftware,werenolongerregardedasAI.YetallthreeoncefellwellwithintheumbrellaofAIresearch.

　　E

　　Butthetidemaynowbeturning,accordingtoDrLeake.HNCSoftwareofSanDiego,backedbyagovernmentagency,reckonthattheirnewapproachtoartificialintelligenceisthemostpowerfulandpromisingapproacheverdiscovered.HNCclaimthattheirsystem,basedonaclusterof30processors,couldbeusedtospotcamouflagedvehiclesonabattlefieldorextractavoicesignalfromanoisybackground—taskshumanscandowell,butcomputerscannot'Whetherornottheirtechnologylivesuptotheclaimsmadeforit,thefactthatHNCareemphasisingtheuseofAIisitselfaninterestingdevelopment,'saysDrLeake.

　　F

　　AnotherfactorthatmayboosttheprospectsforAIinthenearfutureisthatinvestorsarenowlookingforfirmsusingclevertechnology,ratherthanjustacleverbusinessmodel,todifferentiatethemselves.Inparticular,theproblemofinformationoverload,exacerbatedbythegrowthofe-mailandth