《2025年天利38套五年高考真题汇编详解英语》

D
What is life? Like most great questions, this one is easy to ask but difficult to answer. The reason is simple: we know of just one type of life and it's challenging to do science with a sample size of one. The field of artificial life—called ALife for short—is the systematic attempt to spell out life's fundamental principles. Many of these practitioners, so - called ALifers, think that somehow making life is the surest way to really understand what life is.
So far no one has convincingly made artificial life. This track record makes ALife a ripe target for criticism, such as declarations of the field's doubtful scientific value. Alan Smith, a complexity scientist, is tired of such complaints. Asking about “the point” of ALife might be, well, missing the point entirely, he says. “The existence of a living system is not about the use of anything,” Alan says. “Some people ask me, ‘So what's the worth of artificial life?’ Do you ever think, ‘What is the worth of your grandmother?’ ”
As much as many ALifers hate emphasising their research's applications, the attempts to create artificial life could have practical payoffs. Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife's cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamoured by a concept called open - ended evolution(演化). This is the capacity for a system to create essentially endless complexity, to be a sort of “novelty generator”. The only system known to exhibit this is Earth's biosphere. If the field of ALife manages to reproduce life's endless “creativity” in some virtual model, those same principles could give rise to truly inventive machines.
Compared with the developments of AI, advances in ALife are harder to recognise. One reason is that ALife is a field in which the central concept—life itself—is undefined. The lack of agreement among ALifers doesn't help either. The result is a diverse line of projects that each advance along their unique paths. For better or worse, ALife mirrors the very subject it studies. Its muddled(混乱的) progression is a striking parallel (平行线) to the evolutionary struggles that have shaped Earth's biosphere.
Undefined and uncontrolled, ALife drives its followers to repurpose old ideas and generate novelty. It may be, of course, that these characteristics aren't in any way surprising or singular. They may apply universally to all acts of evolution. Ultimately ALife may be nothing special. But even this dismissal suggests something: perhaps, just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable.
31. Regarding Alan Smith's defence of ALife, the author is ________.
A. supportive
B. puzzled
C. unconcerned
D. doubtful
32. What does the word “enamoured” underlined in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?
A. Shocked.
B. Protected.
C. Attracted.
D. Challenged.
33. What can we learn from this passage?
A. ALife holds the key to human future.
B. ALife and AI share a common feature.
C. AI mirrors the developments of ALife.
D. AI speeds up the process of human evolution.
34. Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Life Is Undefined. Can AI Be a Way Out?
B. Life Evolves. Can AI Help ALife Evolve, Too?
C. Life Is Undefined. Can ALife Be Defined One Day?
D. Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ALife Evolve, Too?

答案： 31.A 观点态度题 【解析】根据第二段第四句中的“Asking about ‘the point’ of ALife might be, well, missing the point entirely”可知，Alan Smith认为询问ALife的意义可能完全错过了重点；结合第五段最后一句中的“just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable”可知，就像贯穿整个宇宙的生命本身一样，人工生命的崛起将被证明是不可避免的。由此可推知，关于Alan Smith对ALife的辩解，作者持支持的态度。故选A。 32.C 词义猜测题 【解析】根据第三段第一句中的“the attempts to create artificial life could have practical payoffs”可知，创造人工生命的尝试可能会带来实际的回报；结合画线词所在句中的“by a concept called open-ended evolution(演化)”可推知，这两个领域的研究人员都迷恋于一种被称为开放式进化的概念。因此，画线词应意为“使迷恋”，与C项意思相近。故选C。 33.B 推理判断题 【解析】根据第三段第二句“Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife's cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamoured by a concept called open-ended evolution(演化).”可知，人工智能可能被认为是人工生命的表亲，因为这两个领域的研究人员都迷恋于一种被称为开放式进化的概念。由此可推知，人工智能和人工生命有一个共同的特点——开放式进化。故选B。 34.D 标题概括题 【解析】根据第二段第一句“So far no one has convincingly made artificial life.”可知，到目前为止，还没有人令人信服地制造出人工生命；结合最后一段第三句“They may apply universally to all acts of evolution.”和最后一句“But even this dismissal suggests something：perhaps, just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable.”可知，它们可能普遍适用于所有进化行为，也许，就像整个宇宙中的生命本身一样，人工生命的崛起将被证明是不可避免的。由此可知，本文主要介绍了“人工生命”的含义、局限性、可能的回报及未来前景。因此，D项“生命在进化，创造人工生命的尝试也能进化吗？”体现了本文主旨，是本文的最佳标题。故选D。 【教材溯源】新译林版教材选择性必修第二册Unit 4 Living with technology的Reading部分的标题Artificial intelligence：friendly or frightening?（教材第44页）。 【亮点句积累】Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife's cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamoured by a concept called open-ended evolution(演化).（第三段第二句） 译文：人工智能可能被认为是人工生命的表亲，因为这两个领域的研究人员都迷恋于一种被称为开放式进化的概念。 【词汇积累】so-called adj. 被称为……的 convincingly adv. 令人信服地 repurpose v.（为适合新用途）对……稍加修改，略微改动 【常见搭配】be tired of 厌倦 give rise to 引发 第二节 体裁：说明文 主题语境：人与社会——社会热点问题——如何选择大学 【文章大意】文章主要介绍了大部分美国家长在面对为孩子选择哪所大学的问题上都太依赖于已知的大学排名，然而大学排名并不代表该学校真实的教学水平。这种关注排名而忽视教学水平的现象并不容易改变，所以学生和家长在选择大学的时候应该注重学校的实际教学质量而不仅仅是排名。 【语篇结构】 |结构划分|具体信息| |--|--| |第一段|引出主题：大学排名系统忽略了对教学质量的关注| |第二段—第五段|分析现状并说明大学的高质量教学水平的重要性| |第六段|总结：在选择大学时应注重其教学质量而不是排名高低|