Question

    At Englands University of Plymouth, Professor Eduardo Miranda has been programming pairs of robots to compose music. Miranda's robots have simple “ vocal cords”(声带)and are programmed to sing and to listen to each other. The robots' unique warbling sounds (颤音) do not perfectly match the human voice, but each machine is exactly sharing music with the other in a new and unique way.

Each robot is equipped with speakers, software that mimics the human voice, a mouth that opens as it “sings,” a microphone for ears, and a camera for eyes. The robots also move. Miranda hopes that by studying his robot vocalists, he can discover something about how and why humans create, perform, and listen to music.

When the robots sing, first one robot makes six random sounds. Its partner responds with more sounds. The first robot analyzes the sounds to see if their sequences (序列)) are similar. If they are, it nods its head and commits the sounds to memory, and the second robot notices and “memorizes” the musical sequence, too. If the first robot thinks the sounds are too different, it shakes its head and both robots ignore the sounds. Then the process continues.

Miranda set up an experiment in which he left the two robots alone in his study for two weeks. When he returned, his little warblers had, by imitating each other, not only shared notes but combined them. The product of their cooperation was far from symphonic, but the robots had begun to combine the notes into their own self-developed “songs”.

With the help of his warbling robots, one of Miranda's goals is to create music that no human would ever compose. Miranda believes the robots are ideal for this purpose because they would not be influenced by any existing musical styles or rules.

1.Which is closest in meaning to the underlined word “mimics” in Paragraph 2?

A.Substitutes. B.Interrupts.

C.Controls. D.Copies.

2.What did the two robots do during Miranda's experiment?

A.They interacted with each other.

B.They ignored the unique sound.

C.They learned to sing better than humans.

D.They committed random sounds to memory.

3.What does Miranda want his robots to do?

A.Sing as well as humans do. B.Create new styles of music.

C.Memorize a variety of music. D.Promote traditional musical forms.

4.What is the text mainly about?

A.Future robots. B.Special songs.

C.Music by robots. D.Experiments by Miranda.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。英国普利茅斯大学教授爱德华多·米兰达一直在为成对的机器人编写作曲程序。短文介绍了机器人的工作原理以及教授所要达到的目标。

1.词句猜测题。根据第二段“Each robot is equipped with speakers, software that mimics the human voice, a mouth that opens as it “sings,” a microphone for ears, and a camera for eyes.”可知，每个机器人都配备了扬声器、mimics人类声音的软件、“唱歌”时会张开嘴、耳朵用的是麦克风和眼睛用的是摄像头。所以根据所在句子的上下文语境可以判断出，每个机器人都配备了扬声器、模仿人类声音的软件。故换线词的意思是“模仿”。故选D项。

2.细节理解题。根据第四段“Miranda set up an experiment in which he left the two robots alone in his study for two weeks. When he returned, his little warblers had, by imitating each other, not only shared notes but combined them. The product of their cooperation was far from symphonic, but the robots had begun to combine the notes into their own self-developed “songs”.”米兰达做了一个实验，他让两个机器人在他的书房里呆了两个星期。当他回来的时候，他的鸣鸟们通过互相模仿，不仅分享了音符，而且还把它们组合在一起。他们合作的成果远非交响乐，但机器人已经开始将音符组合成他们自己开发的“歌曲”了。所以在米兰达的实验中，这两个机器人互相交流。故选A项

3.细节理解题。根据第五段“With the help of his warbling robots, one of Miranda's goals is to create music that no human would ever compose.”可知，在机器人的帮助下，米兰达的目标之一就是创作出人类永远无法创作的音乐。所以米兰达想让他的机器人创造新的音乐风格。故选B项。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文尤其是第一段“At Englands University of Plymouth, Professor Eduardo Miranda has been programming pairs of robots to compose music. Miranda's robots have simple “ vocal cords”(声带)and are programmed to sing and to listen to each other. The robots' unique warbling sounds (颤音) do not perfectly match the human voice, but each machine is exactly sharing music with the other in a new and unique way.”可知英国普利茅斯大学教授爱德华多·米兰达一直在为成对的机器人编写作曲程序。米兰达的机器人有简单的“声带”,被编程唱歌、彼此倾听。机器人的独特吟唱的颤音不完全吻合人类的声音,但每台机器人完全以一种新的和独特的方式与另一台机器人共享音乐。所以短文主要是关于机器人创造的音乐。故选C项。