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.
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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.
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Butthetidemaynowbeturning,accordingtoDrLeake.HNCSoftwareofSanDiego,backedbyagovernmentagency,reckonthattheirnewapproachtoartificialintelligenceisthemostpowerfulandpromisingapproacheverdiscovered.HNCclaimthattheirsystem,basedonaclusterof30processors,couldbeusedtospotcamouflagedvehiclesonabattlefieldorextractavoicesignalfromanoisybackground—taskshumanscandowell,butcomputerscannot'Whetherornottheirtechnologylivesuptotheclaimsmadeforit,thefactthatHNCareemphasisingtheuseofAIisitselfaninterestingdevelopment,'saysDrLeake.
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AnotherfactorthatmayboosttheprospectsforAIinthenearfutureisthatinvestorsarenowlookingforfirmsusingclevertechnology,ratherthanjustacleverbusinessmodel,todifferentiatethemselves.Inparticular,theproblemofinformationoverload,exacerbatedbythegrowthofe-mailandth