Question

    In the world of digital health, Silicon Valley-based Mindstrong stands out. It has a remarkable team and tens of millions of funding. It also has a fascinating idea--its app, based on mental functioning research, can help detect troubling mental health patterns by collecting data on person’s smartphone usage--how quickly they type, for instance.

The company’s app collects information about how people are typing and runs it through a machine learning algorithm (计算程序) to determine which data can predict their emotional state. The idea is to use that data to establish a “normal” pattern--so it can be compared with someone’s typing habits on any given day. If the habits change, slower or more anxious than normal, the app can warn a health care provider.

The promise of this technology has made Mindstrong incredibly popular since it was launched last year; already more than a dozen counties in California have agreed to apply the company’s app to patients. Does the app live up to its promise? There’s no way to tell. Almost no one outside the company has any idea whether it works, leading some experts to wonder if the technology is ready for the real world. “I wouldn’t waste all that time and money in the wild until they get sure that some of those things are as specific as they hope they are,” said Rosalind Picard, a researcher at MIT Media Lab, who is familiar with Mindstrongs work.

“It has passed the gold-standard clinical tests for depression and anxiety,” said Dr. Paul Dagum, the company’s founder. “We’re confident, and we’re already seeing some really exciting results.” Mindstrong officials said that among their most encouraging results is that its app can even predict how a person will feel next week, kind of like a weather app for your mood. “For a clinician or someone looking after a patient, they know that it could be very, very powerful,” Dagum said.

1.What can Mindstrong’s app do?

A.Improve its users’ mental health.

B.Get its users to type more quickly.

C.Discover its users’ mental state.

D.Work out the causes of its users’ trouble.

2.What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A.The ways of collecting data.

B.The app’s working principle.

C.The analysis of typing habits.

D.The development of the app.

3.What is Rosalind Picard’s attitude towards the app?

A.Skeptical. B.Positive.

C.Uncaring. D.Defensive.

4.What can we infer about Dagum’s opinion on the app?

A.The app has a powerful effect on anxiety.

B.The app can also predict weather conditions.

C.Care providers could be advocates of the app.

D.Doctors benefit more from the app than their patients.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了一款可以发现人们心理状态的app以及不同的人对它的不同态度。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段中的“The company’s app collects information about how people are typing and runs it through a machine learning algorithm (计算程序) to determine which data can predict their emotional state.”可知，该app通过收集用户的打字收集信息预测他们的心理状态，故C项正确。

2.主旨大意题。根据第二段内容，特别是根据“The idea is to use that data to establish a “normal” pattern--so it can be compared with someone’s typing habits on any given day.”可知，该app利用收集到的这些数据建立一个正常的模式，这样就可以将其与某一天的打字习惯进行比较，从而知道用户的心理状态，由此可知，本段主要介绍的是该app的工作原理，故B项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据倒数第二段中的“Almost no one outside the company has any idea whether it works, leading some experts to wonder if the technology is ready for the real world.”可知，公司外部几乎没有人知道该app是否有效，这让一些专家怀疑这项技术是否已经准备好应用于现实世界，紧接着就举了Rosalind Picard的例子，由此可知，Rosalind Picard对这个app持怀疑态度，故A项正确。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中“For a clinician or someone looking after a patient, they know that it could be very, very powerful,”可知，Dagum说对于一个临床医生或照顾病人的人来说，他们知道这可能是非常非常有帮助的，由此可知，医护人员可能是该app的拥护者，故C项正确。