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1、 11 11. Can the Computer Learn from Experience计算机会总结经验吗1 Computers have been taught to play not only checkers, but also championship chess, which is a fairly accurate yardstick for measuring the computers progress in the ability to learn from experience.2 Because the game requires logical reasoning,
2、 chess would seem to be perfectly suited to the computer .all a programmer has to do is give the computer a program evaluating the consequences of every possible response to every possible move, and the computer will win every time. In theory this is a sensible approach; in practice it is impossible
3、. Today, a powerful computer can analyze 40 000 moves a second. That is an impressive speed. But there are an astronomical number of possible moves in chessliterally trillions. Even if such a program were written (and in theory it could be ,given enough people and enough time), there is no computer
4、capable of holding that much data.3 Therefore, if the computer is to compete at championship levels, it must be programmed to function with less than complete data. It must be able to learn from experience, to modify its own programm, to deal with a relatively unstructured situationin a word, to “th
5、ink” for itself . In fact, this can be done. Chess-playing computers have yet to defeat world champion chess players, but several have beaten human players of only slightly lower ranks. The computers have had programs to carry them through the early, mechanical stages of their chess games. But they
6、have gone on from there to reason and learn, and sometimes to win the game.4 There are other proofs that computers can be programmed to learn, but this example is sufficient to demonstrate the point. Granted , winning a game of chess is not an earthshaking event even when a computer does it . But th
7、ere are many serious human problems which ban be fruitfully approached as games. The Defense Department uses computers to play war games and work out strategies for dealing with international tensions. Other problemsinternational and interpersonal relations , ecology and economics , and the ever-inc
8、reasing threat of world faminecan perhaps be solved by the joint efforts of human beings and truly intelligent computers .Notes1. check:a game played on a checkerboard by two players ,each using 12 pieces2. ecology:the relationship between organisms and their environment 生态关系，生态学Reading comprehensio
9、n1 The purpose of creating chess-playing computers is _A to win the world chess championB to pave the way for further intelligent computersC to work out strategies for international warsD to find an accurate yardstick for measuring computer progress2 Today , a chess-playing computer can be programme
10、d to _A give trillions of reponses in a second to each possible move and win the gameB function with complete data and beat the best playersC learn from chess-playing in the early stage and go on to win the gameD evaluate every possible move but may fail to give the right response each time3 For a c
11、omputer to “think” , it is necessary to _A mange to process as much data as possible in a secondB program it so that it can learn from its experiences 2C prepare it for chess-playing firstD enable it to deal with unstructured situations4 The authors attitude towards the Defense Department is_A criti
12、cal B unconcerned C positive D negative 5 In the authors opinion,_A winning a chess game is an unimportant eventB serious human problems shouldnt be regarded as playing a gameC ecological problems are more urgent to be solvedD there is hope for more intelligent computers1 b 2 c 3 b 4 c 5 d2 You Call
13、 This a Good Economy这能称之为上佳经验1 You have to have lived in the 1950s and 1960s to have experienced a good economy. In the period between 1950 and 1970 it was the rulerather than the exceptionthat an ordinary family, without higher education, could sustain itself decently on the income of a single brea
14、dwinner（养家糊口的人） . In 1955, when I was 19 and living in Brooklyn, N. Y., my father, who had a sixth-grade education, maintained our family of five on a wage of $82 a week as a bookbinder. My mother taught us fairness and compassion; my father, discipline and enterprise.2 The U. S. economy in those ye
15、ars was good. Then where did this good economy go? It was inflated away. The price of gold, which I take as proxy for the prices of all goods, was $35 an ounce in those years. It is at roughly ten times that price today.3 There is another answer, though: inflation caused the entire work force to be
16、moved into higher tax groups, thus reducing after-tax purchasing power. That is, my fathers bindery job in1954 paid $82 a week, with $80 after deductions; today, at $ 820 per week the net would be $662.4 To ordinary people, the economy doesnt look very good at all. After-tax incomes continue to decrease in purchasing power. The jobs offered in the employment ads pay only a little more than the minimum wage, ma
