2015泰州二模英语及答案(4)

In a partnership announced, the two organizations said they would be working together to build a simulation (模拟) of a structure known as a neo-cortical（新大脑皮质的）column on a type of IBM supercomputer that is currently used to study the molecular functioning of genes. If that works, they plan to use more powerful computers to link such simulated columns together into something that mimics（模仿) a brain.

In a real brain, a neo-cortical column is a cylindrical（圆柱形的）element about a third of a millimeter in diameter and three millimeters long. It is these columns, arranged side by side like the cells of a honeycomb, which make up the famous “grey matter” that has become shorthand for human intelligence. The Blue Gene/L supercomputer that will be used for the simulation consists of enough independent processors for each to be programmed to mimic an individual nerve cell in a column.

The EPFL’s contribution to the Blue Brain Project will be to create a digital description of how the columns behave. The database from its Brain Mind Institute will provide the raw material for the simulation. Biologists and computer scientists will then connect the artificial nerve cells up in a way that mimics nature. They will do so by assigning electrical properties（电能）to them, and telling them how to communicate with each other and how they should modify their connections with one another depending on their activity.

That will be no mean feat. Even a single nerve cell is complicated, not least because each one has about 10,000 connections with others. And nerve cells come in great variety—relying, for example, on different chemical transmitters to carry messages across those connections. Eventually, however, a digital representation of an entire column Should occur.

Assuming that the growth of computing power continues to follow Moore’s Law, the leader of IBM’s side thinks it should be practical to mimic an entire human brain in silico this way in ten to fifteen years. Such an artificial brain would, of course, be a powerful research tool. It would allow neurological experiments that currently take days in a “web lab” to be conducted in seconds. The researchers hope that their simulated brain will reveal the secrets of how certain psychiatric and neurological, disorders develop. But that is probably not the real reason for doing it. The most interesting question, surely, is whether such an artificial brain will be intelligent, or conscious, or both.

62. In a real brain, a neo-cortical column ____________.

A. looks like the cells of a honeycomb

B. is a simulation of a structure

C. is the famous “grey matter”

D. contains a large number of nerve cells

63. What does the underlined sentence “That will be no mean feat” in Paragraph 5 indicate?

A. It is rather difficult to connect the artificial nerve ceils up.

B. The function of chemical transmitters is hard to understand.

C. A digital representation of an entire column is time-consuming.

D. A single nerve cell is complicated to identify across connections.

64. The fundamental purpose of doing the research is probably ____________.

A. to simulate an entire human brain in silico

B. to tell us how some certain disorders emerge

C. to discover how the artificial brain would work

D. to examine whether Moore’s Law is still functioning

65. What type of writing is this passage?

A. A science fiction B. A research report

C. An official document D. A computer advertisement

D

In less than 60 years the people of my tribe have gone from being an independent nation, to cultural prisoners, to welfare recipients (享有者) . Is it any wonder that there are so many problems facing indigenous (土著的) Australians today?

When I was growing up in Kowanyama there were 15 people in my class, I am the only one who has gone to university. I’m also the only girl in my class who did not have a child at 15. Of the boys in my class, seven have been incarcerated, two for murder, five for robbery and rape. Only three of us are not alcoholics. Four of my classmates have committed suicide.

Life as a young aborigine is not easy, in any setting. The story of my fellow students is a lesson in the magnitude of the problems that young indigenous people in Cape York face.

The two issues that are central to changing this story are education and health. There is a huge gap between what we get in communities and what other kids get in cities.

One of the problems facing education in remote indigenous schools is that teachers tend to be just out of training and stay for only a year or two. Not one teacher stayed for the whole of my nine years at school—not even the principals. This seeming lack of commitment makes you feel they don’t care.

We need to review the curriculum in these communities because it is pitched at a very low level. I have had to draw the conclusion that governments and educationalists see us as less than white people.

Education should be uplifting, not serve to reinforce lack of self-esteem and the heart-wrenching low expectations that our race suffer from.

We need a massive reassessment of,education policies and an equally massive investment in education. We have spent so long listening to some white fellows telling us we are stupid, lazy no-hopers that the majority of my people actually believe it.

The relationship between poor education and poor health is clear. People whose self-esteem and pride have been destroyed by a substandard education system and a social system that creates an addiction to passive welfare have little reason to live healthy lives. Our health is getting worse.