北京市高考英语阅读
1. 2020年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解D
Certain forms of AI are indeed becoming ubiquitous. For example, algorithms carry out huge volumes of trading on our financial markets, self-driving cars are appearing on city streets, and our smartphones are translating from one language into another. These systems are sometimes faster and more perceptive than we humans are. But so far that is only true for the specific tasks for which the systems have been designed. That is something that some AI developers are now eager to change.
某些形式的AI （人工智能）确实正变得无处不在。例如，金融市场上进行大量交易的算法，出现在城市街道上的自动驾驶汽车，智能手机将一种语言翻译成另一种语言。这些系统有时比我们人类更快、更敏锐。但到目前为止，这些只适用于系统所设计的特定任务，一些AI开发者正在期待改变。
Some of today's AI pioneers want to move on from today's world of “weak” or “narrow” AI, to create “strong” or “full” AI, or what is often called artificial general intelligence (A GI). In some respects, today's powerful computing machines already make our brains look weak. A GI could, its advocates say, work for us around the clock, and drawing on all available data, could suggest solutions to many problems. DM, a company focused on the development of A GI, has an ambition to “solve intelligence”. “If we're successful,” their mission statement reads, “we believe this will be one of the most important and widely beneficial scientific advances ever made.”
当代一些AI先驱希望从今天的“弱”或“窄”的AI世界中走出来，创造“强”或“全”的AI，也就是通常所说的A GI（人工通用智能）。在某些方面，今天强大的计算机已经让我们的大脑看起来很弱。A GI的支持者认为A GI可以24小时为我们工作，利用所有可用的数据，可以为许多问题提供解决方案。DM是一家专注于A GI开发的公司，有着“解决智能问题”的雄心。“如果我们成功了，”他们的任务声明写道，“我们相信这将是有史以来最重要、最广泛有益的科学进步之一。”
Since the early days of AI, imagination has outpaced what is possible or even probable. In 1965, an imaginative mathematician called Irving Good predicted the eventual creation of an "ultra-intelligent machine…that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man, however clever." Good went on to suggest that “the first ultra-intelligent machine" could be “the last invention that man need ever make."
自AI诞生之初，想象力的发展速度已经超过了你的想象。1965年，一位富有想象力的数学家欧文·古德预言，最终将创造出一台“超智能机器……它将远远超过人类的所有智能活动，无论多么聪明。”古德接着表示，“第一台超智能机器”可能是“人类需要创造的最后一项发明”。
Fears about the appearance of bad, powerful, man-made intelligent machines have been reinforced by many works of fiction—Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the Terminator film series, for example. But if AI does eventually prove to be our downfall, it is unlikely to be at the hands of human-shaped forms like these, with recognisably human motivations such as aggression. Instead, I agree with Oxford University philosopher Nick Bostrom, who believes that the heaviest risks from A GI do not come from a decision to turn against mankind but rather from a dogged pursuit of set objectives at the expense of everything else.
人们对于出现强大而又邪恶的人造智能机器的担忧已经加剧，例如，玛丽·雪莱的《弗兰肯斯坦》科幻小说和《终结者》系列电影。但如果最终证明AI 是我们的垮台，它就不太可能掌握在这样的人形形态手中，而这些形态具有明显的人类动机，比如敌对行为。相反，我同意牛津大学哲学家尼克·博斯特罗姆的观点，他认为，A GI带来的最大风险不是来自于反对人类的决定，而是来自于不惜牺牲一切代价执着地追求既定目标。
The promise and danger of true A GI are great. But all of today's excited discussion about these possibilities presupposes the fact that we will be able to build these systems. And, having spoken to many of the world's foremost AI researchers, I believe there is good reason to doubt that we will see A GI any time soon, if ever.
真正的A GI的前景和危险都是巨大的，但是今天所有关于这些可能性的激动人心的讨论都是以我们能够建立这些系统为前提。而且，在与许多世界上最重要的AI研究人员交谈后，我相信有充分的理由怀疑我们是否会很快看到A GI，如果有的话。
2. 2019年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解D
By the end of the century，if not sooner，the world's oceans will be bluer and greener thanks to a warming climate，according to a new study.
根据一项新的研究，到本世纪末，如果没有更早的话，由于气候变暖，世界海洋将变得更蓝更绿。
At the heart of the phenomenon lie tiny marine microorganisms called phytoplankton. Because of the way light reflects off the organisms，these phytoplankton create colourful patterns at the ocean surface. Ocean colour varies from green to blue，depending on the type and concentration of phytoplankton. Climate change will fuel the growth of phytoplankton in some areas，while recing it in other spots，leading to changes in the ocean's appearance.
这种现象的核心是被称为浮游植物的海洋微生物。由于光从生物体反射的方式，这些浮游植物在海洋表面形成了五颜六色的图案。海洋的颜色从绿色到蓝色不等，这取决于浮游植物的种类和浓度。气候变化将在某些地区助长浮游植物的生长，而在其他地区则会相反，这导致了海洋外观的变化。
Phytoplankton live at the ocean surface，where they pull carbon dioxide into the ocean while giving off oxygen. When these organisms die，they bury carbon in the deep ocean，an important process that helps to regulate the global climate. But phytoplankton are vulnerable to the ocean's warming trend. Warming changes key characteristics of the ocean and can affect phytoplankton growth，since they need not only sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow，but also nutrients.
浮游植物生活在海洋表面，在那里它们将二氧化碳吸入海洋，同时释放氧气。当这些生物死亡时，碳就会埋在深海中，这是一个有助于调节全球气候的重要过程。但浮游植物很容易受到海洋变暖趋势的影响。变暖改变了海洋的主要特征，并可能影响浮游植物的生长，因为它们的生长不仅需要阳光和二氧化碳，还需要营养物质。
Stephanie Dutkiewicz，a scientist in MIT's Center for Global Change Science，built a climate model that projects changes to the oceans throughout the century. In a world that warms up by 3℃，it found that multiple changes to the colour of the oceans would occur. The model projects that currently blue areas with little phytoplankton could become even bluer. But in some waters，such as those of the Arctic，a warming will make conditions riper for phytoplankton，and these areas will turn greener. “Not only are the quantities of phytoplankton in the ocean changing. ”she said，“but the type of phytoplankton is changing. ”
麻省理工学院全球变化科学中心的科学家斯蒂芬妮·杜特凯维奇建立了一个气候模型，预测整个世纪海洋的变化。在一个温度升高3℃的世界里，会发现海洋的颜色发生多重变化。该模型预测，目前几乎没有浮游植物的蓝色区域可能会变得更蓝。但在一些水域，如北极水域，变暖将使浮游植物生长条件更加成熟，这些地区将变得更加绿色。”不只是海洋中浮游植物的数量在变化，”她说，“浮游植物的种类也正在改变。”
3. 2018年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解C
Plastic-Eating Worms
吃塑料的蠕虫
Humans proce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year. Almost half of that winds up in landfills， and up to 12 million tons pollute the oceans. So far there is no effective way to get rid of it, but a new study suggests an answer may lie in the stomachs of some hungry worms.
人类每年生产超过3亿吨塑料，其中几乎一半被作为垃圾填埋， 多达1200万吨污染海洋。目前还没有有效的方法来消除它，但一项新的研究表明，答案可能在于一些饥饿蠕虫的胃。
Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the greater wax moth can break down polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of plastics. The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it. To confirm that the worms' chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste and applied it to plastic films. 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass--apparently broken down by enzymes from the worms' stomachs. Their findings were published in Current Biology in 2017.
西班牙和英国的研究人员最近发现，大蜡螟的蠕虫可以分解聚乙烯，聚乙烯占塑料的40%。研究小组将100只蜡虫蠕虫放在一个商用聚乙烯购物袋中12小时，这些蠕虫消耗并分解了约92毫克，约占总量的3%。为了证实蠕虫的咀嚼并不是聚乙烯分解的原因，研究人员将一些蠕虫制成糊状物并将其放置于塑料薄膜。14小时后，这些胶片失去了13%的质量——显然被蠕虫胃里的酶分解了。他们的发现发表在2017年的《当代生物学》上。
Federica Bertocchini, co-author of the study, says the worms' ability to break down their everyday food-beeswax--also allows them to break down plastic. "Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in polyethylene, the carbon-carbon bond, is there as well, "she explains. "The wax worm evolved a method or system to break this bond. "
这项研究的合著者费德丽卡·贝尔托基尼说，蠕虫分解日常食物——蜂蜡的能力，也可以让它们分解塑料。“蜡是一种复杂的混合物，但聚乙烯中的基本键——碳碳键——也存在，”她解释道，“蜡虫进化出一种方法或系统来破坏这种键。”
Jennifer Debruyn, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme proced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes?
田纳西大学的微生物学家詹妮弗·德布鲁恩没有参与这项研究，她说，这种蠕虫可以破坏聚乙烯，这并不奇怪。但与之前的研究相比，她发现这次研究的分解速度令人兴奋。德布鲁恩说，下一步将是确定分解原因。这种酶是由蠕虫自身产生还是肠道微生物产生？
Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team’s findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of instrial process-not simply "millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic.”
贝尔托基尼对此表示同意，并希望她的研究小组的发现有朝一日能利用这种酶在垃圾填埋场分解塑料。但她希望在某种工业过程中使用这种化学物质，而不仅仅是将“数百万只蠕虫扔在塑料上”。
4. 2020年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解C
For the past five years, Paula Smith, a historian of science, has devoted herself to re-creating long-forgotten techniques. While doing research for her new book, she came across a 16th-century French manuscript consisting of nearly 1,000 sets of instructions, covering subjects from tool making to finding the best sand.
在过去五年里，科学历史学家保拉·史密斯一直致力于重现人们早已遗忘的技术。在为她的新书做研究时，她偶然发现了一本16世纪的法国手稿，包括近1000份说明书，涵盖范围从工具制作到如何寻找最佳沙子。
The author's intention remains as mysterious as his name; he may have been simply taking notes for his own records. But Smith was struck mainly by the fact that she didn't truly grasp any of the skills the author described. "You simply can't get an understanding of that handwork by reading about it," she says.
作者的意图如同他的名字一样神秘；他可能只是在为自己的记录做笔记。但让史密斯备受打击的是，她并没有真正掌握作者描述的任何技能。“你根本无法通过阅读来理解手工作品”，她说。
Though Smith did get her hands on the best sand, doing things the old-fashioned way isn't just about playing around with French mud. Reconstructing the work of the craftsmen who lived centuries ago can reveal how they viewed the world, what objects filled their homes, and what went on in the workshops that proced them. It can even help solve present-day problems: In 2015, scientists discovered that a 10th-century English medicine for eve problems could kill a drug-resistant virus.
尽管史密斯确实得到了最好的沙子，但用传统的方法做事情并不只是玩法国泥。重建生活在几个世纪前的工匠作品可以揭示他们是如何看待世界，他们的家中装满的物品，以及这些物品在作坊里如何进行生产。它甚至可以帮助解决当代问题：2015年，科学家发现，一种用于解决女性问题的10世纪英国药物可以杀死耐药病毒。
The work has also brought insights for museums, Smith says. One must know how on object was made in order to preserve it. What's more, reconstructions might be the only way to know what treasures looked like before time wore them down. Scholars have seen this idea in practice with ancient Greek and Roman statues. These sculptures were painted a rainbow of striking colours. We can't appreciate these kinds of details without seeing works of art as they originally appeared-something Smith believes you can do only when you have a road map.
史密斯说，这项工作也为博物馆带来了启发。为了保存文物，人们必须知道这个物体是如何制作的。更重要的是，重建可能是了解宝藏在时间磨损之前是什么样子的唯一途径。学者们在古希腊和古罗马雕像的实践中看到了这种想法，这些雕塑被漆成了鲜艳的彩虹色。如果不看艺术作品最初出现的样子，我们无法欣赏这些细节——史密斯认为，只有当你有路线图时，你才能做到这一点。
Smith has put the manuscript's ideas into practice. Her final goal is to link the worlds of art and science back together: She believes that bringing the old recipes to life can help develop a kind of learning that highlights experimentation, teamwork, and problem solving.
史密斯把手稿的想法付诸实践。她最终的目标是将艺术和科学的世界重新联系起来：她相信，将古老的食谱带到生活中有助于发展一种强调实验、团队合作和解决问题的学习方式。
Back when science—then called “the new philosophy”—took shape, academics looked to craftsmen for help in understanding the natural world. Microscopes and telescopes were invented by way of artistic tinkering, as craftsmen experimented with glass to better bend light.
当科学——也就是所谓的“新哲学”——初具雏形时，学术界寻求工匠帮助理解自然世界。正如工匠尝试用玻璃更好地弯曲光线，显微镜和望远镜因为艺术修补而发明。
If we can rediscover the values of hands-on experience and craftwork, Smith says, we can marry the best of our modern insights with the handiness of our ancestors.
史密斯说，如果我们能重新发现动手经验和工艺的价值，我们就能把我们最好的现代洞察力与我们祖先的灵巧结合起来。
5. 2020年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解B
Baggy has become the first dog in the UK—and potentially the world—to join the fight against air pollution by recording pollutant levels near the ground.
Baggy已经成为英国乃至全世界第一只通过记录地面附近污染物水平来参与对抗空气污染的狗。
Baggy wears a pollution monitor on her collar so she can take data measurements close to the ground. Her monitor has shown that air pollution levels are higher closer to ground level, which has helped highlight concerns that babies and young kids may be at higher risk of developing lung problems.
Baggy在衣领上戴着一个污染监测器，这样她就可以在地面附近进行数据测量。监测器显示越接近地面，空气污染水平越高，这有助于突显人们的担忧，即婴幼儿患肺部疾病的风险可能更高。
Conventional air pollution monitors are normally fixed on lampposts at about nine feet in the air. However, since Baggy stands at about the same height as a child in a pushchair, she frequently records pollution levels which are much higher than the data gathered by the Environment A gency.
传统的空气污染监测器通常安装在九英尺高的灯柱上。不过，由于Baggy的身高与婴儿车里的婴儿身高差不多, 她记录的污染水平通常远高于环境部门所收集的数据。
The doggy data research was the idea of Baggy's 13-year-old owner Tom Hunt and his dad Matt. The English youngster noticed that pollution levels are around two-thirds higher close to the ground than they are in the air at the height where they are recorded by the agency. Tom has since reported the shocking findings to the government in an attempt to emphasise that babies are at higher risk of developing asthma.
用狗做数据研究是Baggy13岁的主人汤姆·亨特和他的父亲马特的想法。这位英国男孩注意到，接近地面的污染水平比机构记录高度的空气污染水平高出约三分之二。汤姆后来向政府报告了这一令人震惊的发现，用来强调婴儿患哮喘的风险更高。
Matt Hunt said he was "very proud" of his son because “when the boy gets an idea, he keeps his head down and gets on with it, and he really does want to do some good and stop young kids from getting asthma."
马特·亨特说，他为自己的儿子“感到非常自豪”，因为“当这个男孩有了一个想法时，他会低下头继续往下做，他真的想做点好事，阻止小孩子患哮喘。”
“Tom built up a passion for environmental protection at a very early age," Matt added. “He became very interested in gadgets. A bout one year ago, he got this new piece of tech which is like a test tube. One Sunday afternoon, we went out to do some monitoring, and he said, why don't we put it on Baggy's collar and let her monitor the pollution？'So we did it."
“汤姆在很小的时候就对环保产生了热情，”马特补充道，“他对小装置非常感兴趣。”大约一年前，他得到了这项新技术产品，看起来像一只试管。一个星期天下午，我们出去做了一些监测，他说，我们为什么不把它戴在Baggy的衣领上，让她来监测污染呢？于是我们就这样做了。"
Tom said, "Most of the time, Baggy is just like any other dog. But for the rest of the time she is a super dog, and we are all really proud of her."
汤姆说：“大多数时候，Baggy 和其他狗一样。但在余下的时间里，她就是一只超级狗，我们都为她感到骄傲。”
6. 2011年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解D
As the railroads and the highways shaped the American West in the past centuries, a new electrical generating and transmission system for the 21th century will leave a lasting mark on the West, for better or worse. Much of the real significance of railroads and highways is not in their direct physical effect on the scenery, but in the ways that they affect the surrounding community. The same is true of big solar plants and the power lines that will be laid down to move electricity around.
在过去的几个世纪里，随着美国西部铁路和高速公路的发展，21世纪一种新的电力发电运输系统应运而生，无论好坏，都将在西方留下持久的印记。铁路和公路的真正意义不在于它们对风景的直接物理影响，而在于它们对周围社区的影响。大型太阳能发电厂和将铺设的输电线路也是如此。
The 19th century saw land grants offered to railroad companies to build the transcontinental railroads, leaving public land in between privately owned land. In much of the West, some of the railroad sections were developed while others remained undeveloped, and in both cases the landownership has presented unique challenges to land management. With the completion of the interstate highway system, many of the small towns, which sprang up as railway stops and developed well, have lost their lifeblood and died.
19世纪政府拨地给铁路公司建造横贯大陆的铁路，将公共土地置于私有土地之间。在西部大部分地区，一些铁路路段已经开发，而另一些尚未开发，在这两种情况下，土地所有权对土地管理提出了独特的挑战。随着州际公路系统的建成，许多作为铁路车站而兴起并发展良好的小城镇已经失去了生命力，继而消逝。
Big solar plants and their power lines will also have effects far beyond their direct footprint in the West. This is not an argument against building them. We need alternative energy badly, and to really take advantage of it we need to be able to move electricity around far more readily than we can now.
大型太阳能发电厂及其输电线的影响也将远远超出它们在西部的直接影响。这不是反对建造它们的理由。我们迫切需要替代能源，要真正利用它，我们需要比现在更容易地输送电力。
So trade-offs will have to be made. Some scenic spots will be sacrificed. Some species will be forced to move, or will be carefully moved to special accommodations. Deals will be struck to rece the immediate effects.
因此，必须做出权衡。一些景点将被牺牲，一些物种将被迫搬家，或被小心地转移到特殊地点。将达成协议以减少直接影响。
The lasting effects of these trade-offs are another matter. The 21th century development of the American West as an ideal place for alternative energy is going to throw off a lot of power and money in the region. There are chances for that power and money to do a lot of good. But it is just as likely that they will be spent wastefully and will leave new problems behind, just like the railroads and the highways.
这些权衡的持久影响是另一回事。21世纪，作为替代能源的理想之地美国西部开发将给本地区带来大量的电力和资金。这种权力和金钱有可能带来很多好处，但也有可能被浪费掉，并留下新的问题，就像铁路和公路一样。
The money set aside in negotiated trade-offs and the institutions that control it will shape the West far beyond the immediate footprint of power plants and transmission lines. So let's remember the effects of the railroads and the highways as we construct these new power plants in the West.
通过谈判达成的交易和控制交易的机构所预留的资金，将远远超出发电厂和输电线路的直接影响范围，开发西部。所以，让我们记住在西部建设这些新发电厂时对于铁路和公路的影响。