Question

    On August 29th, as Hurricane Dorian tracked towards America’s east coast, Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla, an electric-car maker, announced that some of his customers in the storm’s path would find that their cars had suddenly developed the ability to drive farther on a single battery charge. Like many modern vehicles, Mr. Musk’s products are best thought of as internet-connected computers on wheels. The cheaper models in Tesla’s line-up have parts of their batteries disabled by the car’s software in order to limit their range. At the tap of a keyboard in Palo Alto, the firm was able to remove those restrictions and give drivers temporary access to the full power of their batteries.

Mr. Musk’s computerized cars are just one example of a much broader trend. As computers and connectivity become cheaper, it makes sense to bake them into more and more things that are not, in themselves, computers, creating an “internet of things”.

Such a world will bring many benefits. Consumers will get convenience, and products that can do things non-computerized versions cannot. Businesses will get efficiency, as information about the physical world that used to be uncertain becomes concrete and analyzable.

In the long term, though, the most obvious effects will be in how the world works. Ever more companies will become tech companies; the internet will become everywhere. As a result, a series of unresolved arguments will spill over from the virtual world into the real one.

Start with ownership. As Mr Musk showed, the internet gives firms the ability to stay connected to their products even after they have been sold, transforming them into something closer to services than goods. That has already made the traditional ideas of ownership unclear. When Microsoft closed its ebook store in July, for instance, its customers lost the ability to read titles they had bought (the firm offered refunds). That shifts the balance of power from the customer to the seller.

Virtual business models will jar in the physical world. Tech firms are generally happy to move fast and break things. But you cannot release the beta version (测试版) of a fridge. Apple, a smartphonemaker, provides updates for its phones for only five years or so after their release; users of Android smartphones are lucky to get two. But goods such as washing machines or industrial machinery can have lifespans of a decade or more. Firms will need to work out how to support complicated computerised devices long after their original programmers have moved on.

Data will be another flashpoint. For much of the internet the business model is to offer “free” services that are paid for with valuable user data, collected with consent (同意) that is half-informed at best. In the virtual world, arguments about what should be tracked, and who owns the resulting data, can seem airy and theoretical. In the real one, they will feel more urgent.

Predicting the consequences of any technology is hard — especially one as universal as computing. The emergence of the consumer internet, 25 years ago, was met with starry-eyed optimism. These days the internet’s faults dominate the headlines. But the people have the advantage of having lived through the first internet revolution — which should give them some idea of what to expect.

1.From the passage we can tell that Tesla can ______.

A.drive faster than usual in extreme weather B.adjust the range of its battery power

C.charge the battery at the tap of a keyboard D.operate when the battery is fully drained

2.Which of the following is NOT an example of the “unresolved arguments” mentioned in the passage?

A.Early adopters of certain apps find that they ceased to work after the firm lost interest.

B.The insurance company uses data from fitness trackers to adjust customers’ premiums(保费).

C.Computerized machinery can’t predict its breakdowns or schedule preventive maintenance.

D.A high-tech fridge company restricts its customers from repairing their fridges themselves.

3.The underlined word jar probably means _______ in this context.

A.boom B.conflict C.vanish D.expand

4.This passage is mainly about _______.

A.how the world will change as computers spread into everyday objects

B.the adoption of electric vehicles and the possible problems to expect

C.what should be done to prevent the breakdown of computerized devices

D.different views on the current application of Internet Technology

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。文章表达了物联网可以给生活带来很多好处，同时也存在着一些无法解决的问题。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段中的“The cheaper models in Tesla’s line-up have parts of their batteries disabled by the car’s software in order to limit their range. At the tap of a keyboard in Palo Alto, the firm was able to remove those restrictions and give drivers temporary access to the full power of their batteries.（Tesla产品线上较便宜的车型的部分电池被汽车的软件禁用，以限制其续航里程。在Palo Alto轻敲一个键盘后，该公司取消了这些限制，并允许司机临时使用电池的全部电力。）”可知，Tesla可以调整可使用的电量范围。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据第五段中的“When Microsoft closed its ebook store in July, for instance, its customers lost the ability to read titles they had bought”和A选项的“they ceased to work（停止工作）”相呼应。第七段中的“For much of the internet the business model is to offer “free” services that are paid for with valuable user data（互联网上的大部分商业模式都是用免费的服务换取有价值的用户数据）”与B选项中的“保险公司使用来自于健康追踪器的数据取调整消费者的保费”相呼应。第六段中的“Firms will need to work out how to support complicated computerised devices long after their original programmers have moved on.（在最初的程序员离开之后很久，公司将需要研究如何支持复杂的计算机化设备。）”与D选项中的“restricts its customers from repairing their fridges themselves. ”相呼应，可知C项没有在文中提到。故选C。

3.词义猜测题。由后文当中的“Tech firms are generally happy to move fast and break things. But you cannot release the beta version (测试版) of a fridge.”可知，这是虚拟商业模式与现实世界中产生的冲突。A. boom暴涨； B. conflict冲突； C. vanish 消灭；D. expand扩张。故选B。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章表达了在物联网给我们的生活带来的好处和问题，故A项“how the world will change as computers spread into everyday objects（随着计算机技术扩展到日常生活中，世界会发生怎样的变化？）”符合主题。故选A。