Question

【题目】 A computer program that could help catch and even translate messages from aliens in outer space has been developed by a British scientist.

If aliens are discovered one day, scientists fear their language may make it impossible to understand them. But John Elliott of Leeds Metropolitan University in Britain has come up with a program that can figure out the structure(结构) of their language. He thinks that’s the first step in understanding what they are saying.

Dr Elliott’s program would compare an alien language to a database(数据库) of 60 different languages in the world to look for a similar structure. He believes that even an alien language will have its won structure. “Language has to be structured in a certain way, or it will be hard to use,” he told New Scientist Magazine.

Research has shown that it is possible to know if a signal(信号) carries a language rather than a picture or music. Dr Elliott has gone a step further by finding a way to pick out what might be words and sentences. Because languages have different word orders, Dr Elliott has set up a library of the sentence structures of 60 human languages.

If a message is received from outer space, it could be compared against this database. Scientists would then be able to see if it’s similar to any human language, or a mix of the languages.

However, Dr Elliott also said that in order to translate what the aliens are actually saying, it may still be necessary to have a “code(密码) book”.

【1】Why did Dr Elliott come up with the program?

A.To learn more about outer space.B.To develop a new language.

C.To help translate messages from aliens.D.To compare an alien language to human languages.

【2】According to Dr Elliott, what’s the first step of understanding an alien language?

A.Coming up with a programB.Knowing its structure

C.Understanding aliensD.Discovering aliens

【3】What does Paragraph 4 mainly tell us?

A.A way to make the program work.

B.Dr Elliott’s findings about different kinds of languages.

C.Three important functions of the program.

D.The number of sentence structures of human languages.

【4】How does the program work when it receives a message from aliens?

A.Mix the message with 60 human languages.

B.Translate the message and send it to the database.

C.Pick out the sentence structure and translate it.

D.Compare the message to the database of 60 human languages.

【5】What can we infer from the story?

A.Not all languages have their own structures.

B.To translate alien languages, there is much work to do.

C.The structure of alien languages is similar to that of human languages.

D.Alien languages are signals carrying pictures and music.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】A

【4】D

【5】B

【解析】

英国科学家研发一个计算机程序，可以帮助捕捉和翻译外星人的信息；这个程序可以找出他们语言的结构，埃利奥特博士建立了60种人类语言的句子结构库，当接收到外星人的信息，就可以与该数据库进行比较、识别；要翻译外星人的信息还需要很多的努力。

【1】细节理解题。根据第一段“A computer program that could help catch and even translate messages from aliens in outer space has been developed by a British scientist.”可知Dr Elliott研发这个程序是为了帮助翻译外星人的信息，故选C。

【2】细节理解题。根据第二段“But John Elliott of Leeds… has come up with a program that can figure out the structure of their language. He thinks that’s the first step in understanding what they are saying.”可知了解一门外星人语言的第一步是了解它的结构；故选B。

【3】主旨大意题。根据第四段“研究显示弄明白信号是否搭载一种语言而不是图片或音乐是有可能的，Dr Elliott更进一步发现一种识别单词和句子方法”可知这段主要告诉我们他所研发的程序的工作方法，故选A。

【4】细节理解题。根据第五段“If a message is received from outer space, it could be compared against this database”可知来自外星人的信息可以与这个数据库进行比较，故选D。

【5】推理判断题。根据第六段“Dr Elliott also said that in order to translate what the aliens are actually saying, it may till be necessary to have a “code book”可知为了翻译外星人所说的话，可能还需要一本“代码手册”；将一种外来语言与世界上60种不同语言的数据库进行比较到最后形成一种新的代码，还需要付出很多的工作，故选B。