2014年12月英语四六级考试离我们还有几个月的时间，同学们可以提早开始备考，这样在冲刺的时间大家就不用那么慌张了。英语四级的阅读部分需要多练习才能掌握，小编在备考阶段为大家准备了练习题，希望能帮助到同学们。

　　The human brain contains 10 thousand million cells and each of these may have a thousand connections. Such enormous numbers used to discourage us and cause us to dismiss the possibility of making a machine with human-like ability,but now that we have grown used to moving forward at such a pace we can be less sure. Quite soon，in only 10 or 20 years perhaps，we will be able to assemble a machine as complex as the human brain,and if we can we will. It may then take us a long time to render it intelligent by loading in the right software (软件)or by altering the architecture but that too will happen.

　　I think- it certain that in decades not centuries*machines of silicon (桂)will arise first to rival and then exceed their human ancestors. Once they exceed us they will be capable of their own design. In a real sense they will be able to reproduce themselves. Silicon will have ended carbon‘s long control. And we will no longer be able to claim ourselves to be the finest intelligence in the knowledge.

　　As the intelligence of robots increases to match that of humans and as their cost dec ines through economies of scale we may use them to expand our frontiers first on earth through their alnlity to withstand environments, harmful to ourselves. Thus deserts may bloom and the ocean beds be mined. Further ahead, by a combination of the great wealth this new age will bring and the technology it will provide, the construction of a vast,man-created world in space，home to thousands or millions of people， will be within our power.

　　1. In what way can we make a machine intelligent _____.

　　[A] By making it work in such environments as deserts, oceans or space.

　　[B] By either properly programming it or changing its structure.

　　[C] By working hard for 10 or 20 years.

　　[D] By reproducing it.

　　2. What does the writer think about machines with human-like ability _____.

　　[A] He believes they will be useful to human beings.

　　[B] He believes that they will control us in the future.

　　[C] He is not quite sure in what way they may influence us.

　　[D] He doesn't consider the construction of such machines possible.

　　3. The word "carbon"(Line 4,Para.2) stands for ______.

　　[A] intelligent robots

　　[B] a chemical element

　　[C] human beings

　　[D] an organic substance

　　4. A robot can be used to expand our frontiers when ______.

　　[A] it is able to bear the rough environment

　　[B] its intelligence and cost are beyond question

　　[C] it is made as complex as the human brain

　　[D] its architecture is different from that d the present ones

　　5. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

　　[A] after the installation of a great number of cells and connections, robots will be capable of self-reproduction.

　　[B] robots will have control of the vast, man-made world in space

　　[C] once we make a machine as complex as the human brain, it will possess intelligence

　　[D] with the rapid development of technology, people have come to realize the possibility of making a machine with human-like ability.

　　答案与解析：

　　1.C 2.A 3.D 4.A 5.B