Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
The other day I had to log into a service I hadn't used before. Since I was a new user, the website decided that it needed to check I wasn't a robot and so set me a Captcha test to determine whether the user is a person or a machine.
I was presented with an image of a roadside scene over which was laid a grid. My “challenge“ was to click on each cell in the grid that contained a traffic sign. I did so, a bit irritated. Then I was presented with another image and another grid—also with a request to identify road signs. Like a lamb, I complied, after which the website accepted my input.
And then I realised what I had been doing was adding to a dataset fbr training the machine-learning software that guides self-driving cars. So, to gain access to an automated service that will benefit financially from my input, I first have to do some unpaid labour to help improve the performance of autonomous vehicles.
Neat, eh? But note also the delicious additional irony that the Captcha is described as an ""automated Turing test”. The Turing test was conceived, you may recall, as a way of enabling humans to determine whether a machine could respond in such a way that one couldn't tell whether it was a human or a robot. So we have wandered into a world in which machines make us do tricks to prove that we are humans!
The strangest aspect of this unparalleled shift is how under-discussed it has been. The metaphor of the boiling frog comes to mind. Have we become so subtly conditioned by digital technology that we don't see whafs been happening to us? Have we been conditioned to accept a world governed by “smart" tech, trading convenience to the point where we become a bit like machines ourselves?
In a recent startling and thoughtful book, two scholars- Brett Frischmann, a law professor, and Evan Selinger, a philosopher- argue that the answer to that question is "yes".
And they're right. There's nothing technophobic (技术恐，惧的)about that. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us. Technology is supposed to provide tools that serve human ends. But, as the machine-learning Captcha demonstrates, a significant proportion of digital tech now sees (and uses) humans as means to ends that are not ours. In the process, they reduce us to the status of cheery rats running on treadmills (踏车)designed by people who do not have our interests at heart. So back to the frog metaphor. Are we smart enough to jump out before ifs too late? You don't even have to Google it to know the answer.
51. How did the author respond to the Captcha test?
A) He clicked on the cells randomly. C) He completed it confidently.
B) He accepted the challenge readily. ' D) He worked on it submissively.
解题思路：
首先，抓住题干核心词“Captcha test”，理解题目问的是作者对“Captcha test”如何反应，即作者的心态、态度，我们甭管““Captcha test”的精确中文意思。
其次，定位原文，发现Captcha首先出现在第一段末句。快速扫描第二段，关注作者应对“Captcha test”的关键词和关键短语：“I was presented”（被动语态）、“My ‘challenge”（双引号强调“挑战”）、“a bit irritated”（直接反映作者心情或态度的词语“有点烦躁”）、“Like a lamb”（作者将自己比作“像个羊羔”）。
然后，根据以上关键词和关键短语判断，作者对“Captcha test”的反应和态度是不喜欢的且被迫接受的。
最后，认真看选项，A选项说作者“randomly（随机地）”，而原文写作者按部就班操作，并非随意、任意的；B选项说作者“readily（乐意地；欣然地），很明显错误；C选项说作者“confidently自信地”，原文没有体现作者积极乐观、满怀信心的相关表述，因此错误。D选项说作者“submissively（顺从地）”，反映作者像小羊羔那样被迫受机器牵引一步步操作。
因此D为正确答案。
52. What is ironic about the Captcha test?
A) A machine can respond to the test as well as humans do.
B) A machine can outperform humans in object identification.
C) A test designed to test machines is now used by machines to test humans.
D) A test conceived to tell a human from a robot can now do tricks humans can't.
解题思路：
首先，抓住题干的核心词“ironic（讽刺的）”，理解题目问的是作者认为“Captcha test”在哪方面令人讽刺，即作者的心态、态度。
其次，定位原文，发现第四段首句含有名词“irony”（讽刺），相关句子可能在其后，可猜测后文可能描述Captcha test如何令人哭笑不得、表现矛盾。
然后，快速扫描，找到关键词和关键短语“automated Turing test”（所有带双引号的词汇均为有用信息）、“do tricks to prove that we are human（搞把戏以证明我们是人类）”，由此可判断Captcha test“的目的是验证使用者是否为人类。
最后，认真看选项，A选项称机器和人类对测试的反应相同，但原文仅述作者如何对机器即Captcha test的反应”，故错误；B选项说机器在物体识别上胜过人类，属于嫁接全新的无关内容，故错误；C选项指出旨在测试机器的测试被用于测试人类，几乎可以确定为正确选项；D选项称旨在区分人类和机器的测试如今能完成人类无法做到的技巧、把戏，系断章取义将关键词“do tricks”嫁接到错误叙事，故错误。
因此C为正确答案。
53. Why does the author use the metaphor of the boiling frog?
A) To show that humans are unwilling to trade convenience for control by smart tech.
B) To show that humans are unaware of the potential danger brought by smart tech.
C) To question whether humans are conditioned to accept digital tech.
D) To question whether humans are as vulnerable as the boiling frog.
解题思路：
首先，抓住题干的核心词“metaphor of the boiling frog” （温水煮青蛙的比喻），六级阅读理解常考查作者使用比喻的意图。
其次，定位原文，发现第五段第二句提及“metaphor of the boiling frog”，相关句子很可能紧跟随后，可猜测后文可能进一步解释该比喻。
然后，快速扫描，找到关键词和关键短语“subtly conditioned by digital technology”（被动句，意为“不知不觉地被数字技术调控/调整/影响”）、“conditioned to accept a world governed by ‘smart technology’（人类受到影响而被动接受智能技术管控的世界）”和“trading convenience”（人类以便利性去交换，即牺牲便利）。
最后，认真看选项， B选项“are unaware of”（没意识到…）对应原文的“subtly”；”the potential danger brought by smart tech”（智能技术带来的潜在危险）对应原文“人类受到影响而被动接受……”和“牺牲便利”，因此B为正确答案。
阅读题正确选项的特征：对原文的关键词、短语或整句进行同义、近义的转述、归纳。
54. Why does the author think that Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger are right?
A) A large part of digital tech is now making use of humans to meet its own ends.
B) Humans are now fast locked in a race against digital tech to control the world.
C) Digital tech can serve human needs in ways previously thought impossible.
D) Digital tech is now doing thinking while humans are doing repetitive work
解题思路：
首先，抓住题干的核心词“Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger” （两人），六级阅读也常考所举例子中代表人物的意图，该题问为什么他俩的观点正确。
其次，定位原文，发现第六段开头分别出现“Brett Frischmann”和“ Evan Selinger”，相关句子多在其后，可猜测后文有可能提及他们的研究成果。
然后，快速扫描，在原文最后一段的开头找到结论句“And they’re right.”（他们是对的。），其后可能对该结论进行说理论证。关键词“But”后面阐述往往体现作者的观点，须重点关注，句中“a significant proportion of digital tech now sees(and uses) humans as means to ends…”（相当大比例的数字技术目前都把人类视为（且用作）达到目的的工具/途径。）
最后，认真看选项， A选项“a large part of digital tech”（大部分的数字科技）对应原文的“a significant proportion of digital tech”，“make use of humans to meet its own ends”对应原文“uses humans as means to ends”，只不过稍做同义转述而已，因此A为正确答案。
55. What does the author imply by asking “Are we smart enough to jump out before it's too late?” at the end of the passage?
A) It is not sensible to expect digital tech to take humans5 interest to heart.
B) It is hard to say whether technology or humans will get the upper hand.
C) We may have to search the web to get the answer to the question.
D) We may not awake in time to the danger digital tech poses to us.
解题思路：
首先，抓住题干的核心词“imply” （暗示）和引用的原文“Are we…”，六级阅读理解常考文末作者所提的问题，考查作者的意图。
其次，定位原文，文末倒数第二句为题干的引用句，其后仅有一句“You don’t even have to Google it to know the answer.”（你甚至都不必要用谷歌搜索便知道答案了。），但此句意思暧昧，难以判断。
然后，快速扫描，在原文最后一段的引用句前，找到了关键句“So back to the frog metaphor.”（所以我们回归到温水煮青蛙的比喻），这表明了作者的意图。
最后，认真看选项， D选项”We may not awake in time to the danger digital tech poses to us.”（我们对数字科技带来的危险尚未及时觉醒。），此为对“温水煮青蛙”现象的具体阐释，因此D为正确答案。
答题技巧总结：
考试时间紧张，建议先读题、浏览选项，再直接回原文找答案。
若时间稍充裕，可通读原文每段的首末句。
阅读理解正确选项的特征是对原文进行同义或近义转述、概括总结。
正确选项的关键短语或近（同）义词常对应原文的关键词，以增强隐秘性。
原文短语对应选项的同义词或短语，选项与通常不与原文逐字对应。
错误选项常通过张冠李戴原文词汇、短语或捏造事实来制造迷惑性。
干扰选项的另一特征是过度延伸，即编造原文未提及的内容作为理由。
欢迎私信交流六级考试真题阅读的正确率、常见问题及疑惑。
