Question

    In order to help cope with the vast number of student questions in the online class, Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence, Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching assistant. This online course is a core requirement of Georgia Tech’s online Master of Science in Computer Science program. Professor Goel already had eight teaching assistants, but that wasn’t enough to handle the vast number of daily questions from students.

Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to fade. Professor Goel decided to do something to remedy this situation and his solution was to create a virtual assistant named Jill Watson, which is based on the IBM Watson platform.

Goel and his team developed several versions of Jill Watson before releasing her to the online forums. At first, the virtual assistant wasn’t too great. But Goel and his team sourced the online discussion forum to find all the 40,000 questions that had ever been asked since the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill with the questions and answers. After some adjustment and ample time, Jill was able to answer the students’ questions correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn’t know she was a computer. The students, who were studying artificial intelligence, were interacting with the virtual assistant and couldn’t tell it from a real human being. Goel didn’t inform them about Jill’s true identity until April 26. The students were actually very positive about the experience.

The goal of Professor Goel’s virtual assistant next year is to take over answering 40% of all the questions posed by students on the online forum. The name Jill Watson will, of course, change to something else next semester. Professor Goel has a much rosier forecast on the future of artificial intelligence than, say, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak.

1.What do we learn about Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence?

A.It is a robot that can answer students’ questions.

B.It is a high-tech device that revolutionizes teaching.

C.It is a course designed for students to learn online.

D.It is a computer program that aids student learning.

2.What does the underlined word “remedy” in the paragraph 2 mean?

A.Boycott. B.Improve. C.Evaluate. D.Corrupt.

3.What do we learn about Jill Watson?

A.She was unwelcome to students at first.

B.She got along pretty well with students.

C.She turned out to be a great success.

D.She was released online as an experiment.

4.What does Professor Goel plan to do next with Jill Watson?

A.Assign her to answer more of students’ questions.

B.Upgrade her intelligence to the level of top scientists.

C.Launch different versions of her online.

D.Encourage students to interact with her more freely.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.C

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文，主要介绍了戈尔教授为解决在线课程学生答疑的需求，开发了人工智能教学答疑助理，取得了很好的效果。

1.

细节理解题。根据原文第一段“In order to help cope with the vast number of student questions in the online class, Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence.”可知“知识型（基于知识）的人工智能”是一门在线课程，而不是机器人、高科技设备亦或是计算机程序。本题的易错点在于，学生容易将局部内容与全文主体内容混淆导致错选，这位教授专攻人工智能，开设相关课程，还自己开发人工智能教学助理，题干中的名称对应的是课程名，切勿被绕进去，故本题选C。

2.

词义猜测题。根据第二段中，该词所在句子的上文“Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to fade.”可知，很多学生因缺乏相应的教学支持而从线上课程掉队或退课，当他们感觉疑惑又孤立无援，问题得不到解答时，继续学下去的动力便会开始减退，这是一种负面的情形。而本句中提到教授要做些什么来 这一情形（decided to do something to remedy this situation），可猜测remedy有扭转、改变、改善之类的含义，A. Boycott联合抵制，拒绝参加；B. Improve改善，提高，改进，变得更好；C. Evaluate评价，评估；D. Corrupt使腐烂、堕落、恶化，综上故选B。

3.

推理判断题。Jill Watson是虚拟教学助理的名字，根据原文倒数第二段“Jill was able to answer the students’ questions correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn’t know she was a computer. The students, who were studying artificial intelligence, were interacting with the virtual assistant and couldn’t tell it from a real human being. Goel didn’t inform them about Jill’s true identity until April 26. The students were actually very positive about the experience.”可知，这个人工智能助理极其逼真，连学习人工智能的学生都没法把它和真正的人区分开来，它能正确解答当时学生提出的问题中的97%，学生体验都很好，所以说这是一个巨大的成功，故本题选C。

4.

细节理解题。根据原文最后一段“The goal of Professor Goel’s virtual assistant next year is to take over answering 40% of all the questions posed by students on the online forum.”可知，教授的下一步目标是让它能解答学生所有问题中的40%，也就是让它更进一步，能解答更多问题，故选A。