专项提能计划——阅读理解（四） 夹叙夹议类 (2011·高考浙江卷·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 her GPS device (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 signalling 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. D 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
C 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. B 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 A 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 humans and technology. B C．The shortcomings of digital devices we use. D．The human unawareness of technical problems. 破题思路 随着时代的发展，科技越来越先进，人类也越来越依赖科技，但有时候科技也会给人们带来麻烦，文章中作者将会告诉我们什么呢？让我们去了解一下吧！ 疑难剖析 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.(Paragraph 4) 该句使用了that引导的表语从句，从句中又使用了why引导的主语从句。 句意：他在书中争论的问题是不清楚他为什么只是关注数码技术，而这些技术也有可能成为造成事故的原因。 名师支招 在高考阅读理解题中，有时为了增加试题的区分度，命题者常常会选择一些看似合理的句子作为干扰项，这时考生可依据文章提供的信息并结合常识对干扰项进行排除。 比如第41题，根据第二段最后一句话可得出答案。A项有很大的迷惑性，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。本题答案为D项，正是由于GPS没有告诉她“前方有交叉口”这一 信息，才导致了这一事故。