A
Several recent studies examine how machine automation and artificial intelligence(AI) will change the future of work.
Some researchers predict these technologies could replace up to 30 percent of workers worldwide by 2030. The risk of being replaced will greatly increase for workers with less education, said Price Waterhouse Coopers, an international company providing financial and tax services. It estimated that in Britain, up to 46 percent of workers without a college degree could be at risk due to automation. This would drop to about 12 percent for workers with undergraduate degrees of higher.
“New smart machines have the possibility to replace our minds and to move around freely in the world，” the study said. It added that the greatest job replacement is expected to come in the areas of transportation, storage, manufacturing and retail.
The Rand Corporation recently issued its own report on the future effects of automation and AI on jobs and the workplace. Sonde Osoba was a coauthor of the report. He noted that fears over machines taking jobs from humans go back centuries. He agrees there will be major job disruptions due to AI and automation, especially for lower skilled workers. But he believes the future problems have been overestimated without historical evidence to support the predictions. “It's not so much that the jobs are getting replaced, but it's more likely tasks are getting replaced and jobs are reconfiguring over time to account for that automation.” He added that it would be very difficult for companies to completely automate most jobs, because they require a worker to perform many different duties and to react to unexpected situations.
“If you are thinking about things, an individual might do to prepare themselves, I guess being more adaptable, being more flexible and being able to reeducate yourself to fit into a different job are important，” Sonde Osoba suggests.
( B )1．According to the whole passage, who are most likely to lose their jobs?
A．Officers in governments.
B．Deliverers in milk companies.
C．Scientists in laboratories.
D．Teachers in colleges and universities.
( C )2．What's Sonda Osoba's opinion about the job replacement in the near future?
A．Many more jobs will be replaced as time goes by.
B．People could do nothing in the face of the job replacement.
C．People are too worried about it since there is a lack of proof of the job replacement.
D．Companies will completely automate some jobs by using machines instead of workers.
( A )3．What is the best title of the passage?
A．Automation and AI: How to Change the Future Job
B．Future Workers: What to Do to Keep the Job
C．Job Replacement: Who Is to Blame
D．New Studies: Who Is to Replace the Future Job
答案及解析：
【语篇解读】文章介绍了最近的几项研究探讨了机器自动化和人工智能将如何改变未来的工作。
1．B 推理判断题。由第二段可知，对于受教育程度较低的工人来说，被取代的可能性将大大增加，根据语境和常识可知，因受教育程度较低，牛奶公司的送货员最有可能失业，故选B。
2．C 细节理解题。由倒数第二段“he believes the future problems have been overestimated without historical evidence to support the predictions”可知，Sonda Osoba认为缺乏替代工作的证据，人们过于担心了。故选C。
3．A 主旨大意题。通读全文尤其是第一段“Several recent studies examine how machine automation and artificial intelligence(AI) will change the future of work.(最近的几项研究探讨了机器自动化和人工智能将如何改变未来的工作)”可知，本文主要讲述的是最近的几项研究探讨了机器自动化和人工智能将如何改变未来的工作。文章还说明了未来可能失业的工人类型，介绍了一份关于自动化和人工智能未来对工作和工作场所的影响的报告。故可知A选项“自动化和人工智能：如何取代未来的工作”最适合作为文章标题，故选A。
