1. Can the Computer Learn from Experience

　　計算機會總結經驗嗎

　　1 Computers have been taught to play not only checkers, but also championship chess, which is a fairly accurate yardstick for measuring the computer’s progress in the ability to learn from experience.

　　2 Because the game requires logical reasoning, chess would seem to be perfectly suited to the computer .all a programmer has to do is give the computer a program evaluating the consequences of every possible response to every possible move, and the computer will win every time. In theory this is a sensible approach; in practice it is impossible. Today, a powerful computer can analyze 40 000 moves a second. That is an impressive speed. But there are an astronomical number of possible moves in chess—literally trillions. Even if such a program were written (and in theory it could be ,given enough people and enough time), there is no computer capable of holding that much data.

　　3 Therefore, if the computer is to compete at championship levels, it must be programmed to function with less than complete data. It must be able to learn from experience, to modify its own programm, to deal with a relatively unstructured situation—in a word, to “think” for itself . In fact, this can be done. Chess-playing computers have yet to defeat world champion chess players, but several have beaten human players of only slightly lower ranks. The computers have had programs to carry them through the early, mechanical stages of their chess games. But they have gone on from there to reason and learn, and sometimes to win the game.

　　4 There are other proofs that computers can be programmed to learn, but this example is sufficient to demonstrate the point. Granted , winning a game of chess is not an earthshaking event even when a computer does it . But there are many serious human problems which ban be fruitfully approached as games. The Defense Department uses computers to play war games and work out strategies for dealing with international tensions. Other problems—international and interpersonal relations , ecology and economics , and the ever-increasing threat of world famine—can perhaps be solved by the joint efforts of human beings and truly intelligent computers .

　　Notes

　　1. check:a game played on a checkerboard by two players ,each using 12 pieces

　　2. ecology:the relationship between organisms and their environment 生態關系，生態學

　　Reading comprehension

　　1 The purpose of creating chess-playing computers is __________

　　A to win the world chess champion

　　B to pave the way for further intelligent computers

　　C to work out strategies for international wars

　　D to find an accurate yardstick for measuring computer progress

　　2 Today , a chess-playing computer can be programmed to ________

　　A give trillions of reponses in a second to each possible move and win the game

　　B function with complete data and beat the best players

　　C learn from chess-playing in the early stage and go on to win the game

　　D evaluate every possible move but may fail to give the right response each time

　　3 For a computer to “think” , it is necessary to ________

　　A mange to process as much data as possible in a second

　　B program it so that it can learn from its experiences

　　C prepare it for chess-playing first

　　D enable it to deal with unstructured situations

　　4 The author’s attitude towards the Defense Department is____

　　A critical B unconcerned C positive D negative

　　5 In the author’s opinion,______

　　A winning a chess game is an unimportant event

　　B serious human problems shouldn’t be regarded as playing a game

　　C ecological problems are more urgent to be solved

　　D there is hope for more intelligent computers

　　1 b 2 c 3 b 4 c 5 d

　　2 　　　　　　　　　　　　　You Call This a Good Economy

　　這能稱之為上佳經驗

　　1 You have to have lived in the 1950s and 1960s to have experienced a good economy. In the period between 1950 and 1970 it was the rule—rather than the exception—that an ordinary family, without higher education, could sustain itself decently on the income of a single breadwinner(養家糊口的人). In 1955, when I was 19 and living in Brooklyn, N. Y., my father, who had a sixth-grade education, maintained our family of five on a wage of $82 a week as a bookbinder. My mother taught us fairness and compassion; my father, discipline and enterprise.

　　2 The U. S. economy in those years was good. Then where did this good economy go? It was inflated away. The price of gold, which I take as proxy for the prices of all goods, was $35 an ounce in those years. It is at roughly ten times that price today.

　　3 There is another answer, though: inflation caused the entire work force to be moved into higher tax groups, thus reducing after-tax purchasing power. That is, my father’s bindery job in1954 paid $82 a week, with $80 after deductions; today, at $ 820 per week the net would be $662.

　　4 To ordinary people, the economy doesn’t look very good at all. After-tax incomes continue to decrease in purchasing power. The jobs offered in the employment ads pay only a little more than the minimum wage, maybe $5 an hour, which, after payroll deductions, yields $4 an hour. Compare that with minimum-wage jobs of the early 1950s, when 75 cents was worth today’s $7.50 before and after taxes.

　　Notes

　　1 Brooklyn: a district of New York city

　　2 inflate:通貨膨脹

　　3 proxy: the authority to act for another

　　4 payroll: a list of employees and the wages due to each

　　Reading Comprehension

　　1 In the author’s opinion, a good economy, to ordinary people can be expressed in terms of ______

　　a. the amount of wage

　　b. after-tax income

　　c. the actual purchasing power

　　d. the minimum wage per hour

　　2 In the period between 1950 and 1970,_______

　　a. there was not much difference in the living standards between people of higher and lower education

　　b. an ordinary family of five without exception could live on one person income

　　c. the income of an ordinary family was more than enough for buying food

　　d. for an average family the income was sufficient to support all the members

　　3 Today a bookbinder’s wage is ten times that of the 1950’s but its income tax rate has increased ______

　　a.50 times b.60times c. 70 times d. 80 times

　　4 The worsening of a bookbinder’s livelihood results from _____

　　a. his low education and the amount of wage

　　b. the high-taxation and the income deductions

　　c. the high taxation and cost of living

　　d. thelow wage and higher prices

　　5 The passage implies that while the cost of living is getting higher______

　　a. the value of labor actually is shrinking

　　b. the minimum wage level is increasing likewise

　　c. the income tax rate is rising along

　　d. the employment ads naturally offer a higher minimum wage

　　6 The author’s tone in writing the article is_____

　　a. ironical b. subjective c. high-sounding d. convincing

　　7 the article aims to _________.

　　a. help control the rapidly increasing prices

　　b. give some advice to the policy-makers

　　c.impress the younger generation with some basic facts

　　d.call upon the societys attention against inflation

　　1 c 2 b 3 d 4 c 5 a 6 d 7 c

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