One
evening in February 2007 . a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a
stop on a remote in Wales . She got out to open a metal gate that blocked her
path . That's when she heard the whistle sounded by the driver of a train.Her
Renault Clio parked across a railway line. Second later,she watched the
train drag her car almost a kilometre down the railway tracks.
Ceely's near
miss made the news because she blamed it on her GPS device(導(dǎo)航儀).She had never driven the route
before .It was dark and raining heavily . Ceely was relying on her GPS. But it
made no mention of the crossing ."I put my complete trust in the device
and it led me right into the path of a speeding train ,"she told the BBC.
W ho is to blame here ? Rick
Stevenson ,who tells Ceely's story in his book When Machines Fail US, finger at
the limitations of technology. We put our faith in digital devices, he says,
but our digital helpers are
too often not up to the job. They are filled with small problems. And
it’s not just GPS devices: Stevenson takes us on a tour of digital disasters
involving everything from mobile phones to wireless key boards.
The problem with his argument in
the book is that it’s not clear why he only focuses digital
technology,while there may be a number of other possible causes. A
map-maker might have left the crossing off a paper map. Maybe we should blame
Ceely for not paying attention. perhaps the railway authorities are at fault
for poor signaling system. Or maybe someone has studied the relative dangers
and worked out that there really is something specific wrong with the CPS
equipment. But Stevenson doesn’t say.
It’s a problem that runs
through the book. In a section on cars, Stevenson gives an accout of the
advanced techniques that criminals use to defeat computer-based locking systems
for cars. He offers two independent sets of figures on car theft; both show a
small rise in some parts of the country. He says that once once again not all
new locks have proved reliable. Perhaps, but maybe it’s also due to the
shortage of policemen on the streets. Or changing social circumstances. Or some
combination of these factors .
The game between humans and
their smart devices is complex. It is shaped by economics and psychology
and the cultures we live in. Somewhere in the mix of those forces there may
be way a wiser use of technology.
If there is such a way, it should involve more than
just an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines. After all, we have
lived with them for thousands of years. They have probably been fooling
us for just as long .
1.
What did Paula Ceely think was the cause of her accident?
A. She was not familiar with the road.
B. It was dark and raining heavily then.
C. The railway works failed
to give the signal.
D. Her GPS device didn’t
tell her about the crossing
2.
The phrase”near miss” (paragraph 2 ) can best be replaced by _______.
A. closebit B. heavy loss C.narrow
escape D. big mistake
3.
Which of the following would Rick Stevenson most probably agree with? A.
Modern technology is what we can’t live without.
B. Digital technology often falls
short of out expectation.
C. Digital devices are more
reliable than they used to be.
D. GPS error is not the only
cause for Celery’s accident.
4.
In the writer’s opinion, Stevenson’s argument is________.
A.
one-sided B. reasonable
C.puzzling D.well-based
5.
What is the real concern of the writer of this article?
A.The major causes of
traffic accidents and car thefts.
B.The relationship between
humans and technology
C. The shortcomings of digital
devices we use.
D. The human
unawareness of technical problems.