A
Robots will have taken over most jobs within 30 years leaving humanity facing its “biggest challenge ever” to find meaning in life when work is no longer necessary，according to experts.
Professor Moshe Vardi, of Rice University, in the U．S.，says that many middleclass professionals will be assisting the work of machines within the next few decades leaving workers with more leisure(休闲)time than they have ever experienced.
Prof Vardi said the rise of robots could lead to unemployment rates greater than 50 percent.
“We are approaching a time when machines will be able to do better than humans at almost any task，” said Vardi, a professor in computational engineering.
Robots are doing more and more jobs that people used to do. I believe that society needs to face this question before it's upon us. If machines can do almost any work humans can do, what will humans do?
“The question I want to put forward is，‘Does the technology we are developing finally benefit mankind？’”
Prof Vardi said existing robotic and artificial intelligence (AI)technologies were already getting rid of a growing number of middleclass jobs and that pace of advancement in the field is increasing.
But Prof Vardi is not sure that a workforce of humanlike robots will be good for mankind.
“A typical answer is that if machines will do all our work, we will be free to pursue(追求)leisure activities，”he said.
“I do not find this a promising future, as I do not find the idea of leisureonly life appealing. I believe that work is essential to human wellbeing.”
“Humanity is about to face perhaps its greatest challenge ever, which is finding meaning in life.”
“We need to rise to the occasion and meet this challenge before human labor becomes out of date.”
“What' s different this time is computer scientists are working on building machines that can do everything we can do, only better. If machines can do all the work or even 50 percent of the jobs that we used to do, what will people do？”
【语篇解读】 本文是一篇说明文。专家警示，30年内机器人将接管大部分工作。
1．What does Professor Moshe Vardi say about future human jobs?
A．They will be more challenging.
B．Most will disappear completely.
C．Most will be replaced by robots.
D．They will require higher degrees.
C [细节理解题。由第二、三段的描述可知，在未来的几十年内，人类的大部分工作将由机器人来完成。]
2．What is Prof Vardi concerned about?
A．The rapid population growth.
B．The fast development of robots.
C．Whether robots will rule humans.
D．Whether robots will do good to humans.
D [细节理解题。由第六段中的‘Does the technology we are developing finally benefit mankind？’以及第八段But Prof Vardi is not sure that a workforce of humanlike robots will be good for mankind.可知，Vardi教授担心人类发明的技术是否最终会让人类受益。]
3．How does Prof Vardi find leisureonly life?
A．Ideal. B．Undesirable.
C．Carefree. D．Interesting.
B [推理判断题。由倒数第四段中的I do not find this a promising future，as I do not find the idea of leisureonly life appealing.可知，Vardi教授并不觉得只有休闲的生活吸引人。]
4．What will humans face in the next few decades?
A．Labor shortage.
B．Production surplus.
C．Fierce competition.
D．Lack of life purposes.
D [细节理解题。由倒数第三段的Humanity is about to face perhaps its greatest challenge ever，which is finding meaning in life.以及最后一段中的If machines can do all the work or even 50 percent of the jobs that we used to do，what will people do？可知，如果机器能够做所有的工作，抑或甚至百分之五十的工作，人类即将面临最大的挑战，那就是找到生活的意义。]
