Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
As Dr. Samuel Johnson said in a different era about ladies preaching, the surprising thing about computers is not that they think less well than a man, but that they think at all. The early electronic computer did not have much going for it except a marvelous memory and some good math skills. But today the best models can be wired up to learn by experience, follow an argument, ask proper questions and write poetry and music. They can also carry on somewhat puzzling conversations.
Computers imitate life. As computers get more complex, the imitation gets better. Finally, the line between the original and the copy becomes unclear. In another 15 years or so, we will see the computer as a new form of life.
The opinion seems ridiculous because, for one thing, computers lack the drives and emotions of living creatures. But drives can be programmed into the computer's brain just as nature programmed them into our human brains as a part of the equipment for survival.
Computers match people in some roles, and when fast decisions are needed in a crisis, they often surpass them. Having evolved when the pace of life was slower, the human brain has an inherent defect that prevents it from absorbing several streams of information simultaneously and acting on them quickly. Throw too many things at the brain at one time and it freezes up.
We are still in control, but the capabilities of computers are increasing at a fantastic rate, while raw human intelligence is changing slowly, if at all. Computer power has increased ten times every eight years since 1946. In the 1990s, when the sixth generation appears, the reasoning power of an intelligence built out of silicon will begin to match that of the human brain.
That does not mean the evolution of intelligence has ended on the earth. Judging by the past, we can expect that a new species will arise out of man, surpassing his achievements as he has surpassed those of his predecessor. Only a carbon chemistry enthusiast would assume that the new species must be man's flesh-and-blood descendants. The new kind of intelligent life is more likely to be made of silicon.
31. What do you suppose was the attitude of Dr. Samuel Johnson towards ladies preaching?
A) He believed that ladies were born worse preachers than men.
B) He was pleased that ladies could preach, though not as well as men.
C) He disapproved of ladies preaching.
D) He encouraged ladies to preach.
32. Today, computers are still inferior to man in terms of .
A) decision making C) growth of reasoning power
B) drives and feelings D) information absorption
33. In terms of making quick decisions, the human brain cannot be compared with the computer because .
A) in the long process of evolution the slow pace of life didn't require such ability of the human brain
B) the human brain is influenced by other factors such as motivation and emotion
C) the human brain may sometimes freeze up in a dangerous situation
D) computers imitate life while the human brain does not imitate computers
34. Though he thinks highly of the development of computer science, the author doesn't mean that .
A) computers are likely to become a new form of intelligent life
B) human beings have lost control of computers
C) the intelligence of computers will eventually surpass that of human beings
D) the evolution of intelligence will probably depend on that of electronic brains
35. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A) Future man will be made of silicon instead of flesh and blood.
B) Some day it will be difficult to tell a computer from a man.
C) The reasoning power of computers has already surpassed that of man.
D) Future intelligent life may not necessarily be made of organic matter.
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