A
(2020·辽宁五校模拟)While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world’s first kids to be “taught” by a digital teacher. Before you start imagining a humanlike robot walking around the classroom, Will is just an avatar(化身) that appears on the students’ desktops, or smartphone screens, when ordered to come.
The autonomous animation(动画制作) platform has been modeled after the human brain and nervous system, allowing it to show humanlike behavior. The digital teacher is assigned to teach “Be sustainable with energy”—a free program for Auckland elementary schools.
Just like the humans it replaced, Will is able to instantly react to the students’ responses to the topic. Thanks to a webcam and microphone, the avatar not only responds to questions the kids may have, but also picks up nonverbal cues(暗示). For instance, if a student smiles at Will, he responds by smiling back. This twoway interaction not only helps attract the students’ attention, but also allows the program’s developers to monitor their involvement, and make changes if needed.
Nikhil Ravishankar believes that Willlike avatars could be a novel way to catch the attention of the next generation. He says, “I have a lot of hope in this technology as a means to deliver costeffective, rich, educational experience in the future.”
The program, in place since August 2018, has been a great success thus far. Ravishankar says, “What was fascinating to me was the reaction of the children to Will. The way they look at the world is so creative and different, and Will really captured their attention.” However, regardless of how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon.
【解题导语】 新西兰奥克兰的一些小学生成为世界上第一批由数字化老师“教”的孩子。数字化老师Will能和学生积极互动，吸引学生的注意力。
1．What was special for some elementary school students in Auckland?
A．A digital teacher taught them.
B．They first saw something digital.
C．This was the start of a new school year.
D．They could get close to smartphone screens.
A 解析：细节理解题。根据第一段第二句“They became the world’s first kids to be ‘taught’ by a digital teacher.”可知，他们成为世界上第一批由数字化老师“教”的孩子。由此可知，对奥克兰的一些小学生来说其特别之处在于有一位数字化老师“教”他们。故选A。
2．What is the benefit of this twoway interaction?
A．It can smile back.
B．It can use a microphone.
C．It can talk any topic for free.
D．It can change if necessary.
D 解析：细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句“This twoway interaction not only helps attract the students’ attention... and make changes if needed.”可知，这种双向的互动不仅有助于吸引学生的注意力，还允许该程序的开发人员监视他们的参与度，并在需要时做出改变。由此可知，这种双向互动的好处就在于其可以在必要的情况下适时进行改变。故选D。
3．What’s the author’s attitude to Will’s replacing human educators soon?
A．Optimistic. B．Doubtful.
C．Unclear. D．Disapproving.
D 解析：观点态度题。根据最后一段最后一句“However, regardless of how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon.”可知，作者认为无论它变得多么受欢迎，Will都不太可能在短期内取代人类教育工作者。由此可推知，D项符合题意。
4．What might be the best title for the passage?
A．New Hightech Contributes to Education
B．The World’s First Digital Teacher Appears in the Classroom
C．The World’s First Digital Teacher, a Help to Students
D．New Zealand Will Replace Teachers in the Classroom
B 解析：标题归纳题。本文为新闻报道类文章，第一段交代了文章的中心，即世界上第一个数字化老师走进课堂“教”孩子们，然后文章后面的段落围绕这个中心，交代了具体的上课内容、交流方式及对这种授课方式的看法。故B项最适合作本文标题。
