[单选题]PASSAGETWO(1)Sincethedawnofhumaningenuity,peoplehavedevisedevermorecunningtoolstocopewithworkthatisdangerous,boring,burdensome,orjustplainnasty.Thatcompulsionhasresultedinrobotics—thescienceofconferringvarioushumancapabilitiesonmachines.Andifscientistshaveyettocreatethemechanicalversionofsciencefiction,theyhavebeguntocomeclose.(2)Asaresult,themodernworldisincreasinglypopulatedbyintelligentgizmoswhosepresencewebarelynoticebutwhoseuniversalexistencehasremovedmuchhumanlabor.Ourfactorieshumtotherhythmofrobotassemblyarms.Ourbankingisdoneatautomatedtellerterminalsthatthankuswithmechanicalpolitenessforthetransaction.Oursubwaytrainsarecontrolledbytirelessrobot-drivers.Andthankstothecontinualminiaturizationofelectronicsandmicro-mechanics,therearealreadyrobotsystemsthatcanperformsomekindsofbrainandbonesurgerywithsubmillimeteraccuracy—fargreaterprecisionthanhighlyskilledphysicianscanachievewiththeirhandsalone.(3)Butifrobotsaretoreachthenextstageoflaborsavingutility,theywillhavetooperatewithlesshumansupervisionandbeabletomakeatleastafewdecisionsforthemselves—goalsthatposearealchallenge.“Whileweknowhowtotellarobottohandleaspecificerror,”saysDaveLavery,managerofaroboticsprogramatNASA,“wecan'tyetgivearobotenough‘commonsense’toreliablyinteractwithadynamicworld.”(4)Indeed,thequestfortrueartificialintelligencehasproducedverymixedresults.Despiteaspellofinitialoptimisminthe1960sand1970swhenitappearedthattransistorcircuitsandmicroprocessorsmightbeabletocopytheactionofthehumanbrainbytheyear2010,researcherslatelyhavebeguntoextendthatforecastbydecadesifnotcenturies.(5)Whattheyfound,inattemptingtomodelthought,isthatthehumanbrain'sroughlyonehundredbillionnervecellsaremuchmoretalented—andhumanperceptionfarmorecomplicated—thanpreviouslyimagined.Theyhavebuiltrobotsthatcanrecognizetheerrorofamachinepanelbyafractionofamillimeterinacontrolledfactoryenvironment.Butthehumanmindcanglimpsearapidlychangingsceneandimmediatelydisregardthe98percentthatisirrelevant,instantaneouslyfocusingonthemonkeyatthesideofawindingforestroadorthesinglesuspiciousfaceinabigcrowd.ThemostadvancedcomputersystemsonEarthcan'tapproachthatkindofability,andneuroscientistsstilldon'tknowquitehowwedoit. 26.Humaningenuitywasinitiallydemonstratedin
[单选题]Engineeringstudentsaresupposedtobeexamplesofpracticality(实用性)andrationality(理性),butwhenitcomestomycollegeeducationIamanidealistandafool.InhighschoolIwantedtobeanelectricalengineerand,ofcourse,anysensiblestudentwithmyaimswouldhavechosenacollegewithalargeengineeringdepartment,famousreputationandlotsofgoodlabsandresearchequipment.Butthat’snotwhatIdid.Ichosetostudyengineeringatasmallliberal-arts(文科)universitythatdoesn’tevenofferamajorinelectricalengineering.Obviously,thiswasnotapracticalchoice;Icamehereformorenoblereasons.Iwantedabroadeducationthatwouldprovidemewithflexibilityandavaluesystemtoguidemeinmycareer.Iwantedtoopenmyeyesandexpandmyvisionbyinteractingwithpeoplewhoweren’tstudyingscienceorengineering.Myparents,teachersandotheradultspraisedmeforsuchawisechoice.TheytoldmeIwaswiseandmaturebeyondmy18years,andIbelievedthem.IheadedofftothecollegeandsureIwasgoingtohaveanadvantageoverthosestudentswhowenttobigengineering"factories"wheretheydidn’tcareifyouhadvaluesorwereflexible.Iwasgoingtobeacompleteengineer:technicalgeniusandsensitivehumanistallinone.NowI’mnotsosure.Somewherealongthewaymynobleideascrashedintoreality,asallnobleideasfinallydo.Afterthreeyearsofstrugglingtobalancemath,physicsandengineeringcourseswithliberal-artscourses,Ihavelearnedtherearereasonswhyfewengineeringstudentstrytoreconcileengineeringwithliberal-artscoursesincollege.Therealitythathasblockedmypathtobecomethetypicalsuccessfulstudentisthatengineeringandtheliberalartssimplydon’tmixaseasilyasIsupposedinhighschool.Individuallytheyshapeapersoninverydifferentways;togethertheythreatentoconfuse.Thestruggletoreconcilethetwofieldsofstudyisdifficult.5.Theauthorsuggestsinthispassagethat___________.
