Question

【題目】 A computer program that could help catch and even translate messages from aliens in outer space has been developed by a British scientist.

If aliens are discovered one day, scientists fear their language may make it impossible to understand them. But John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University in Britain has come up with a program that can figure out the structure(結(jié)構(gòu)) of their language. He thinks that’s the first step in understanding what they are saying.

Dr Elliott’s program would compare an alien language to a database(數(shù)據(jù)庫) of 60 different languages in the world to look for a similar structure. He believes that even an alien language will have its won structure. “Language has to be structured in a certain way, or it will be hard to use,” he told New Scientist Magazine.

Research has shown that it is possible to know if a signal(信號) carries a language rather than a picture or music. Dr Elliott has gone a step further by finding a way to pick out what might be words and sentences. Because languages have different word orders, Dr Elliott has set up a library of the sentence structures of 60 human languages.

If a message is received from outer space, it could be compared against this database. Scientists would then be able to see if it’s similar to any human language, or a mix of the languages.

However, Dr Elliott also said that in order to translate what the aliens are actually saying, it may still be necessary to have a “code(密碼) book”.

【1】Why did Dr Elliott come up with the program?

A.To learn more about outer space.B.To develop a new language.

C.To help translate messages from aliens.D.To compare an alien language to human languages.

【2】According to Dr Elliott, what’s the first step of understanding an alien language?

A.Coming up with a programB.Knowing its structure

C.Understanding aliensD.Discovering aliens

【3】What does Paragraph 4 mainly tell us?

A.A way to make the program work.

B.Dr Elliott’s findings about different kinds of languages.

C.Three important functions of the program.

D.The number of sentence structures of human languages.

【4】How does the program work when it receives a message from aliens?

A.Mix the message with 60 human languages.

B.Translate the message and send it to the database.

C.Pick out the sentence structure and translate it.

D.Compare the message to the database of 60 human languages.

【5】What can we infer from the story?

A.Not all languages have their own structures.

B.To translate alien languages, there is much work to do.

C.The structure of alien languages is similar to that of human languages.

D.Alien languages are signals carrying pictures and music.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】A

【4】D

【5】B

【解析】

英國科學(xué)家研發(fā)一個計算機程序，可以幫助捕捉和翻譯外星人的信息；這個程序可以找出他們語言的結(jié)構(gòu)，埃利奧特博士建立了60種人類語言的句子結(jié)構(gòu)庫，當(dāng)接收到外星人的信息，就可以與該數(shù)據(jù)庫進行比較、識別；要翻譯外星人的信息還需要很多的努力。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段“A computer program that could help catch and even translate messages from aliens in outer space has been developed by a British scientist.”可知Dr Elliott研發(fā)這個程序是為了幫助翻譯外星人的信息，故選C。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段“But John Elliott of Leeds… has come up with a program that can figure out the structure of their language. He thinks that’s the first step in understanding what they are saying.”可知了解一門外星人語言的第一步是了解它的結(jié)構(gòu)；故選B。

【3】主旨大意題。根據(jù)第四段“研究顯示弄明白信號是否搭載一種語言而不是圖片或音樂是有可能的，Dr Elliott更進一步發(fā)現(xiàn)一種識別單詞和句子方法”可知這段主要告訴我們他所研發(fā)的程序的工作方法，故選A。

【4】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第五段“If a message is received from outer space, it could be compared against this database”可知來自外星人的信息可以與這個數(shù)據(jù)庫進行比較，故選D。

【5】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第六段“Dr Elliott also said that in order to translate what the aliens are actually saying, it may till be necessary to have a “code book”可知為了翻譯外星人所說的話，可能還需要一本“代碼手冊”；將一種外來語言與世界上60種不同語言的數(shù)據(jù)庫進行比較到最后形成一種新的代碼，還需要付出很多的工作，故選B。