A
One evening in February 2007, a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a stop on a remote road in Wales. She got out to open a metal gate that blocked her path .That’s when she heard the whistle sounded by the driver of a train. Her Renault Clio was parked across a railway line. Seconds later, she watched the train drag her car almost a kilometre down the railway tracks.
Ceely’s near miss made the news because she blamed it on he GPS (导航仪). She had never driven the route before. It was dark and raining heavily. Ceely was relying on her GPS, but it made no mention of the crossing. “I put my complete trust in the device and it led me right into the path of a speeding train,” she told the BBC.
Who is to blame here? Rick Stevenson, who tells Ceely’s story in his book When Machines Fail Us, points the finger at the limitations of technology. We put our faith in digital devices, he says, but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job. They are filled with small problems. And it’s not just GPS devices: Stevenson takes us on a tour of digital disasters involving everything from mobile phones to wireless keyboards.
The problem with his argument in the book is that it’s not clear why he only focuses on digital technology, while there may be a number of other possible causes. A map-maker might have left the crossing off a paper map. Maybe we should blame Ceely for not paying attention. Perhaps the railway authorities are at fault for poor singalling system. Or maybe someone has studied the relative dangers and worked out that there really is something specific wrong with the GPS equipment. But Stevenson doesn’t say.
It’s a problem that runs through the book. In a section on cars, Stevenson gives an account of the advanced techniques that criminals use to defeat computer-based locking systems for cars. He offers two independent sets of figures on car theft; both show a small rise in some parts of the country. He says that once again not all new locks have proved reliable. Perhaps, but maybe it’s also due to the shortage of policemen on the streets. Or changing social circumstances. Or some combination of these factors.
The game between humans and their smart devices is amusing and complex. It is shaped by economics and psychology and the cultures we live in. Somewhere in the mix of those forces there may be a way for a wiser use of technology.
If there is such a way, it should involve more than just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines. After all, we have lived with them for thousands of years. They have probably been fooling us for just as long.
41.What did Paula Ceely think was the cause of her accident?
A. She was not familiar with the road.
B. It was dark and raining heavily then.
C. The railway workers failed to give the signal.
D. Her GPS device didn’t tell her about the crossing.
42.The phrase “near miss” (Paragraph 2) can best be replaced by______.
A. close hit B. heavy loss C. narrow escape D. big mistake
43. Which of the following would Rick Stevenson most probably agree with?
A. Modern technology is what we can’t live without.
B. Digital technology often falls short of our expectation.
C. Digital devices are more reliable than they used to be.
D. GPS error is not the only cause for Ceely’s accident.
44. In the writer’s opinion, Stevenson’s argument is _______.
A. one-sided B. reasonable C. puzzling D. well-based
45. What is the real concern of the writer of this article?
A. The major causes of traffic accidents and car thefts.
B. The relationship between human and technology.
C. The shortcomings of digital devices we use.
D. The human unawareness of technical problems.
【解析】
41.答案D。主人翁对这件事情发表的原因，我们因为着重关注第二段。她完全依靠GPS帮她引路，但是这个高科技居然把她带到了火车铁轨上，害得她险些送命。根据第二段最后一个话得出。C答案，主人翁没有提到，B 选项是天气影响因素，并不是造成此次事件的主要原因。A 很有迷惑性，但是我们仔细想一下，既然使用GPS，说明她本来就对路线不熟，才会借助高科技。
42. 答案C。GPS把她带到了飞速运行的火车线路上，这是一次非常危险的经历，但是她并没有发生意外，算是死里逃生，near miss， narrow escape表达的就是这层含义。其实根据第一段最后一句the train drag her car almost a kilometer down the railway tracks，火车拖着她的车差点就进入铁轨了，所以是死里逃生啊。
43. 答案B。出现Stevenson观点就3、5，所以我们要着重把这三段看仔细了。“We put our faith in digital device, he says, but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job.”我们把信仰关注在数码设备上，但是往往，他们却不合我们的心意，所以数码技术常常没有达到我们的期望。词眼“expectation”和“faith”相关，值得关注。
44. 答案A。选项四个褒贬都有，说明文章中肯定存在着与他看法相悖的理论。我们看第四段，“while there may be a number of other possible causes. A map makes might have left the…. Maybe we should blame Ceely for not paying attention, Perhaps the railway authorities are at fault for poor signaling system…… work out that there really is something specific wrong with the GPS equipment.”造成此次事故或者其他高科技失灵事件，可能还有其他很多原因，比如主观人为的，或者是火车信号系统不好等等， But Stevenson doesn’t say. 所以他的观点是片面的。
45. 一般性最后一体都会问到主旨大意，作者的观点等等，要做好这一题，我们要继续往后看，6、7两段点出了文章的主题思想。The game between humans and their smart devices is amusing and complex . 是人与科技之间的游戏是复杂的，所以文章讲的是人类与科技之间的关系。
B
46. What does the word “pump” mean in “He ran in every five minutes to pump me about the case”?
A. Talk with. B. Ask for information. C. Listen to. D. Provide with evidence.
47. When Sally says “The TV program kept pumping out commercials”, she may be______.
A. excited B. interested C. annoyed D. worried
48. What will the government most probably provide if it is engaged in a pump-priming program?
A. Sums of money. B. Raw materials. C. Human resources. D. Media support.
49. When Sylvia says “His speech was OK but it had no real punch”, she thinks it was not_____.
A. fluent and impressive B. logical and moving
C. informative and significant D. interesting and powerful
【解析】
46. 答案B。这道题是现学现卖型，考查的是学生的查阅资料能力。第二个三角形顺数第六行讲到，“to keep asking some for information: she was pumping me for details of the new project”跟问句中“pump me about the case”，跟这句话意思相符，这样，答案就很好得出了。
47. 答案C。第四个三角形，讲的是Pump的一些固定词组搭配，第一个pump sth out 第四行，to produce words or loud music in a way that is repeated, forceful and continuous, 也可从the government keeps pumping out the same old propaganda(政治宣传)得出。或者我们结合生活常识，当我们在看喜欢的电视剧时，忽然出现一次又一次的广告，我们的情绪是不是会很厌烦呢。所以选择C
48.答案A。在文中找到pump-priming, the government is awarding small, pump-priming grants to single mothers who are starting their own business”, award是本题的词眼，与解题有关。说到奖励，当然跟钱少不了关系，所以选择A
49.答案D。前面的一些题目是围绕pump, 本段跳跃到punch，所以要毫无顾忌地跳过pun，直接寻找有punch的板块。顺数第三行，the power to be interesting and have a strong effect on people, 以及紧随其后的例子 I felt the performance /speech/presentation lacked punch.看出，尤其是词眼“speech”刚好有对应，所以选D
C
In the more and more competitive service industry, it is no longer enough to promise customer satisfaction. Today, customer “delight” is what companies are trying to achieve in order to keep and increase market share.
It is accepted in the marketing industry, and confirmed by a number of researchers, that customers receiving good service will promote business by telling up to 12 other people; those treated badly tell tales of woe to up to 20 people. Interestingly, 80 percent of people who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal.
New challenges for customer care have come when people can obtain goods and services through telephone call centers and the Internet. For example, many companies now have to invest (投资) a lot of money in information technology and staff training in order to cope with the “phone rage”---- caused by delays in answering calls, being cut off in mid-conversation or left waiting for long periods.
“Many people do not like talking to machines,” says Dr, Storey, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at City University Business School. “Banks, for example, encourage staff at call centers to use customer data to establish instant and good relationship with then. The aim is to make the customer feel they know you and that you can trust them – the sort of comfortable feelings people have during face-to-face chats with their local branch manager.”
Recommended ways of creating customer delight include: under-promising and over-delivering (saying that a repair will be carried out within five hours, but getting it done within two) replacing a faulty product immediately; throwing in a gift voucher (购物礼券)as an unexpected “thank you” to regular customers; and always returning calls, even when they are complaints.