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AOneeveninginFebruary2007,astudentnamedPaulaCeelybroughthercartoastoponaremoteroadinWales.Shegotouttoopenametalgatethatblockedherpath.That’swhensheheardthewhistlesoundedbythedriverofatrain.HerRenaultCliowasparkedacrossarailwayline.Secondslater,shewatchedthetraindraghercaralmostakilometredowntherailwaytracks.Ceely’snearmissmadethenewsbecausesheblameditonheGPS(导航仪).Shehadneverdriventheroutebefore.Itwasdarkandrainingheavily.CeelywasrelyingonherGPS,butitmadenomentionofthecrossing.“Iputmycompletetrustinthedeviceanditledmerightintothepathofaspeedingtrain,”shetoldtheBBC.Whoistoblamehere?RickStevenson,whotellsCeely’sstoryinhisbookWhenMachinesFailUs,pointsthefingeratthelimitationsoftechnology.Weputourfaithindigitaldevices,hesays,butourdigitalhelpersaretoooftennotuptothejob.Theyarefilledwithsmallproblems.Andit’snotjustGPSdevices:Stevensontakesusonatourofdigitaldisastersinvolvingeverythingfrommobilephonestowirelesskeyboards.Theproblemwithhisargumentinthebookisthatit’snotclearwhyheonlyfocusesondigitaltechnology,whiletheremaybeanumberofotherpossiblecauses.Amap-makermighthaveleftthecrossingoffapapermap.MaybeweshouldblameCeelyfornotpayingattention.Perhapstherailwayauthoritiesareatfaultforpoorsingallingsystem.OrmaybesomeonehasstudiedtherelativedangersandworkedoutthattherereallyissomethingspecificwrongwiththeGPSequipment.ButStevensondoesn’tsay.It’saproblemthatrunsthroughthebook.Inasectiononcars,Stevensongivesanaccountoftheadvancedtechniquesthatcriminalsusetodefeatcomputer-basedlockingsystemsforcars.Heofferstwoindependentsetsoffiguresoncartheft;bothshowasmallriseinsomepartsofthecountry.Hesaysthatonceagainnotallnewlockshaveprovedreliable.Perhaps,butmaybeit’salsoduetotheshortageofpolicemenonthestreets.Orchangingsocialcircumstances.Orsomecombinationofthesefactors.Thegamebetweenhumansandtheirsmartdevicesisamusingandcomplex.Itisshapedbyeconomicsandpsychologyandthecultureswelivein.Somewhereinthemixofthoseforcestheremaybeawayforawiseruseoftechnology.Ifthereissuchaway,itshouldinvolvemorethanjustanawarenessoftheshortcomingsofourmachines.Afterall,wehavelivedwiththemforthousandsofyears.Theyhaveprobablybeenfoolingusforjustaslong.41.WhatdidPaulaCeelythinkwasthecauseofheraccident？A.Shewasnotfamiliarwiththeroad.B.Itwasdarkandrainingheavilythen.C.Therailwayworkersfailedtogivethesignal.D.HerGPSdevicedidn’ttellheraboutthecrossing.42.Thephrase“nearmiss”(Paragraph2)canbestbereplacedby______.A.closehitB.heavylossC.narrowescapeD.bigmistake43.WhichofthefollowingwouldRickStevensonmostprobablyagreewith?A.Moderntechnologyiswhatwecan’tlivewithout.B.Digitaltechnologyoftenfallsshortofourexpectation.C.Digitaldevicesaremorereliablethantheyusedtobe.D.GPSerrorisnottheonlycauseforCeely’saccident.44.Inthewriter’sopinion,Stevenson’sargumentis_______.A.one-sidedB.reasonableC.puzzlingD.well-based45.Whatistherealconcernofthewriterofthisarticle?A.Themajorcausesoftrafficaccidentsandcarthefts.B.Therelationshipbetweenhumanandtechnology.C.Theshortcomingsofdigitaldevicesweuse.D.Thehumanunawarenessoftechnicalproblems.【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，nearmiss，narrowescape表达的就是这层含义。其实根据第一段最后一句thetraindraghercaralmostakilometerdowntherailwaytracks，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。“Weputourfaithindigitaldevice,hesays,butourdigitalhelpersaretoooftennotuptothejob.”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，“whiletheremaybeanumberofotherpossiblecauses.Amapmakesmighthaveleftthe….MaybeweshouldblameCeelyfornotpayingattention,Perhapstherailwayauthoritiesareatfaultforpoorsignalingsystem……workoutthattherereallyissomethingspecificwrongwiththeGPSequipment.”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，ButStevensondoesn’tsay.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。Thegamebetweenhumansandtheirsmartdevicesisamusingandcomplex.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。OneofthegreatestcontributionstothefirstOxfordEnglishDictionarywasalsooneofitsmostunusual.In1879,OxfordUniversityinEnglandaskedProf.JamesMurraytoserveaseditorforwhatwastobethemostambitiousdictionaryinthehistoryoftheEnglishlanguage.ItwouldincludeeveryEnglishwordpossibleandwouldgivenotonlythedefinitionbutalsothehistoryofthewordandquotations(引文)showinghowitwasused.Thiswasahugetask.SoMurraryhadtofindvolunteersfromBritain,theUnitedStates,andtheBritishcoloniestosearcheverynewspaper,magazine,andbookeverwritteninEnglish.Hundredsofvolunteersresponded,includingWilliamChesterMinor.Dr.MinorwasanAmericanSurgeonwhohadservedintheCivilWarandwasnowlivinginEngland.Hegavehisaddressas“Broadmoor,Crowthorne,Berkshire,”50milesfromOxford.MinorjoinedthearmyofvolunteerssendingwordsandquotationstoMurray.Overthenextyears,hebecameoneofthestaff’smostvaluedcontributors.Buthewasalsoamystery.Inspiteofmanyinvitations,hewouldalwaysd