"Down the line ,it could be used as credit cards and such ,"says Chris Hables Gray , a professor of cultural studies of science and technology at the University of Great Falls in Montana,"A lot of people won't have to carry wallets anymore ,"he says,"what the implications are for this technology,in the long run,is profound.”

　　Indeed, some are aleady wondering what this sort of technology may do to the sense of personal privacy and liberty.

　　“Any technology of this kind is easily abusive of personal privacy.”says Lee Tien,senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.“If a kind is trackable,do you want other people to be able to track your kid?It’s a double-edged sword.”

　　Tiny Chips That Know Your Name

　　The research of embedding microchips isn’t entirely new.Back in 1988,Brian Warwick,a professor of cybernetics(控制論) at Reading University in London,implanted a chip into his arm as an experiment to see if Warwick’s computer could wirelessly track his whereabouts with the university’s building.

　　But Applied Digital Solutions,Inc,in Palm Beach,Fla. is one of the latest to try and push the experments beyond the realm of academic research and into the hands——and bodies——of ordinary humans.

　　The company says it has recently applied to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to begin testing its VeriChip device in humans.About the size of a grain of rice,the microchip can be encoded with bits of information and implanted in humans under a layer of skin.When scanned by a nearby reader,the embedded chip yields the data——say an ID number that links to a computer database file containing more detailed information.

　　Chipping Blocks

　　Most embedded chips designs are so-called passive chip which yield information only when scanned by a nearby reader.But active chips——such as the proposed Digital Angel of the future——will need to beam out information all the time.And that means designers will have to develop some sort of power source that can provide a continuous source of energy ,yet be small enough to be embedded with the chips.

　　Another additional barrier,developing tiny GPS receiver chips that cuold be embedded yet still be sensitive enough to receive signals from thousnads of miles out in space.In addition to technical hurdles(需要克服的困難),many suspect that all sorts of legal and privacy issues would have to be cleared as well.

　　1. A chip is able to do the following EXCEPT——

　　A telling the location of your child

　　B telling doctors your child’s medical history

　　C telling whether your child needs immediate help

　　D telling the rescue workers which medicine your child should take at once

　　2. The word“paramedic”refers to ——

　　A one who is trained to assist a doctor

　　B one who drives the ambulance

　　C an ambulance

　　D a disease

　　3. The implications for chip technology are proound because——

　　A it can help people a lot in their daily life

　　B it is easily abusive if personal privacy

　　C it is easily abusive if personal liberty

　　D it is a double-edged sword

　　4. What has Applied Digital Solutions,Inc,recently done?

　　A It has recently implanted a chip into Professor Brian Warwick’s arm.

　　B It has recently pushed the expermients into the realm of academic research.

　　C It has recently made the research of embedding microchips.

　　D It has recently applied to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to test its VeriChip device in humans.

　　5. To produce active chips,the problems designers need to solve are as many as — —

　　A two B three

　　C four D five

　　1.D細節理解題。根據第二段第一、二句“…if your child has fallen and needs immediate help. Once paramedics arrive ,the chip will also be able to tell the rescue workers…”得出此結論。

　　2.A猜測詞義題。根據第四段第一句“To some ,this may…”得出此結論。

　　3.D推論題。根據第七段最后一句話“It’s a double-edged sword.”得出此結論

　　4.D細節理解題。根據第十一段第一句“The company says it has recently…”得出此結論。

　　5.C細節理解題。根據文章最后兩段敘述得出此結論。

　　Feminist sociolinguists(社會語言學家),over the course of the last few decades,have conducted studies that they believe support the conclusion that women are routinely discriminated against in Endlish-speaking society.They point to the words used to describe women,as well as the words used to describe society as a whole,as indications that the English language ,and therefore the English-speaking culture,is slanted towards the advantage of males.

　　The words used to describe women are used as instrument by feminist sociolinguists to denote an inherent sexism in the English language.Word pairs such as master and mistress and sir and madam,they claim ,epitomize such sexism.All of the words in question once held positive connotations but,while the masculine (男性的)forms have retained their respectable associations,the feminine forms have undergone pejoration and now imply sexual promiscuity(混雜) and other negative characteristics.Feminist researchers assume that such pejoration indicate that the status of women in English-speaking society is relatively low.

　　These researchers also find fault with the use of masculine words to describe unisex entities .For example ,they feel that there is nothing inherently mainly about mankind, the best man for the job,or the common man.Similarly,the use of such constructions as the “the average students is worried about his grades” indicate to these researchers an inherent sexism in English that is reflective of the cultures in which they are produced .

　　Carolyn Jacobson ,author of Non-sexist Language has proposed a solution to this conundrum(難題).She advocates the elimination of all sexed words in favor of gender-neutral terms.No longer should we refer to actors and actresses or waiters and waitresses, as such dichotomies(男女有別) allow for the possibility of negative connotations being associated with the feminine designation.Likewise,she believes that phrases such as mankind should give way to human kind and that the use of the masculine pronoun as the default should be abandoned in favor of neutral constructions.Thus, when sexism is eliminated from the English language ,the culture will be more amenable to he deliverance of women as well .

　　1. The primary purpose of this passage is to——

　　A compare and contrast ideology in various cultures

　　B prove a commonly held belief to be wrong

　　C describe a problem and a possible solution

　　D analyze the historical origins of a modern situation

　　2 According to the passage,gender-neutral constructions should be advocated because——

　　A the elimination of sexism in the English language will precede the elimination of sexism in the culture

　　B they are more grammatically sound than sexed structures

　　C unisex terms are less awkward in casual speech

　　D sex-specific terms always carry negative connotations

　　3 The author refers to mankind ,the best man for the job,and the common man in order to ——

　　A demonstrate the superiority of males in English-speaking society

　　B provide an example of speech that is slanted towards the advantage of males

　　C list the characteristics of the feminist socialinguist movement

　　D discount the notion that the English language discriminates against women

　　4 The word“perjoration most probably means——

　　A negative connotation

　　B positive connotation

　　C sexual characteristic

　　D respectable characteristic

　　5 In favor of gender-neutral terms,which of the following words can be used to describe unisex entities?

　　A mankind B chairperson

　　C superman D dragon lady

　　1. C主旨題。文章第一、二、三段描述問題，第四段提供解決方案。

　　2. A推論題。文章第一段、三段最后一句分別指明了語言文化的聯系。

　　3. B 細節理解題。題目中所舉的例子為“an example of speech”。

　　4. A猜測詞義題。根據該詞的下文“ … and now imply sexual promiscuity and other negative characteristics”可以做出判斷。

　　5. B詞義判斷題。該詞可不分性別地使用，而其他三詞都有明確的性別指向。