1."Does my smile look big in this?"Future fitting-room mirrors in clothing stores could subtly adjust your reflection to make you look─and hence feel─happier,encouraging you to like what you see.
That's the idea behind the Emotion Evoking System developed by Shigeo Yoshida and colleagues at the University of Tokyo in Japan.The system can manipulate,or in other word,control your emotions and personal preferences by presenting you with an image of your own smiling or frowning face.
The principle that physiological changes can drive emotional ones─that laughter comes before happiness,rather than the other way around─is a well-established idea.
The researchers wanted to see if this idea could be used to build a computer system that manipulates how you feel.The system works by presenting the user with a web-camera image of his or her face─as if they were looking in a mirror.The image is then subtly altered with software,turning the corners of the mouth up or down and changing the area around the eyes,so that the person appears to smile or frown (皱眉).
Without telling them the aim of the study,the team recruited (招募) 21volunteers and asked them to sit in front of the screen while performing an unrelated task.When the task was complete the participants rated how they felt.When the faces on screen appeared to smile,people reported that they felt happier.On the other hand,when the image was given a sad expression,they reported feeling less happy.
Yoshida and his colleagues tested whether manipulating the volunteers'emotional state would influence their preferences.Each person was given a scarf to wear and again presented with the altered webcam image.The volunteers that saw themselves smiling while wearing the scarf were more likely to report that they liked it,and those that saw themselves not smiling were less likely.
The system could be used to manipulate consumers'impressions of products,say the researchers.For example,mirrors in clothing-store fitting rooms could be replaced with screens showing altered reflections.They also suggest people may be more likely to find clothes attractive if they see themselves looking happy while trying them on.
"It's certainly an interesting area,"says Chris Creed at the University of Birmingham,UK.But he notes that using such technology in a shop would be harder than in the lab,because people will use a wide range of expressions."Attempting to make slight differences to these and ensuring that the reflected image looks believable would be much more challenging,"he says.
Of course,there are also important moral questions surrounding such subtly manipulative technology."You could argue that if it makes people happy what harm is it doing?"says Creed."But I can imagine that many people may feel manipulated,uncomfortable and cheated if they found out."
74.What's the main purpose of the Emotion Evoking SystemA?
A.To see whether one's feeling can be unconsciously affected.
B.To see whether one's facial expressions can be altered.
C.To see whether laughter comes before happiness.
D.To replace the mirrors in future clothing-store fitting rooms.
75.What can we learn about the web-camera image in the studyB?
A.It recorded the volunteers'performance in the task.
B.It gave the volunteers a false image.
C.It attempted to make the volunteers feel happier.
D.It beautified the volunteers'appearance in the mirror.
76.What does Creed mention as a limitation of the technologyD?
A.It only changes the areas around the mouth and the eyes.
B.It only works in clothing stores.
C.It only makes subtle changes to people's expressions.
D.It only deals with a limited number of facial expressions.
77.What does Creed's comment on the moral issues with this technology imply?C
A.Nothing is more important than happiness.
B.Technology is unable to manipulate people.
C.People should make their decisions independently.
D.People should neglect the harm of the technology.
分析 本文属于说明文阅读,作者通过这篇文章向我们介绍了未来服装店里的试衣间的镜子可以巧妙的调整你的影像,让你看上去很漂亮并且感觉到很开心,从而使你喜欢上你看到的东西,这就是日本东京大学的繁熊吉田和同事开发的情绪系统背后的理念,这个系统能通过呈现给你一个你自己的笑脸或者哭脸来控制你的情绪以及个人偏好.
解答 74.A 细节理解题,根据第二段The system can manipulate,or in other word,control your emotions and personal preferences by presenting you with an image of your own smiling or frowning face.可知这个系统是为了观察一个人的感觉是否可以不自觉地受到影响,故选A.
75.B 细节理解题,根据第四段The system works by presenting the user with a web-camera image of his or her face─as if they were looking in a mirror.The image is then subtly altered with software,turning the corners of the mouth up or down and changing the area around the eyes,so that the person appears to smile or frown (皱眉).可知网络摄像头的图象是让志愿者感觉他们在照镜子,让他们相信自己所看到的图象,然而这个图象是被修改过的,由此可知这是一种假象,故选B.
76.D 细节理解题,根据第八段But he notes that using such technology in a shop would be harder than in the lab,because people will use a wide range of expressions."Attempting to make slight differences to these and ensuring that the reflected image looks believable would be much more challenging,"he says.可知克里德指出在商店中很难采用这项技术是因为人们的表情过于丰富,由此可知这项技术的局限性是只能处理一些相对简单的表情,故选D.
77.C 推理判断题,根据最后一段"You could argue that if it makes people happy what harm is it doing?"says Creed."But I can imagine that many people may feel manipulated,uncomfortable and cheated if they found out."可知克里德提出虽然这项技术可以使人感到快乐,但是也会让人产生被操控感,人们会感到不安以及被欺骗,由此可知人们认为自由意志高于一切,故选C.
点评 考查学生的细节理解和推理判断能力.做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句,和题干进行比较,再做出正确选择.在做推理判断题时不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实,要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断.