四川省历年中考真题分类汇编：阅读理解（二）科普类

    Chinese companies lead in global 5G patent applications(专利应用) with Huawei taking the crown, according to a report by IPlytics, an authorized patent data company. Three companies from China were included in the top 10 list of 5G Standards﹣Essential Patents(SEPs)family owner. Huawei ranked first. ZET Corp, and China Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT)grabbed fifth and ninth places, respectively.

    Chinese companies topped the list for most 5G SEPs applications in communication systems by the end of April 2019, accounting for 34 percent of the world's total. Chinese tech giant Huawei has taken a leading role by owning 15 percent of SEPs, according to the report Who Is Leading the 5G Patent Race？

    5G SEP are patents that any company will have to use when carrying out 5G technology and no one can avoid them.

    Different from 3G and 4G technologies, 5G technology will influence various industries and encourage the appearance of many new products, services and industries.

    The automotive sector will most likely be one of the first industries to depend on 5G, which will connect vehicles to other vehicles, roadsides, traffic lights, buildings and the Internet, according to the report.

    "It is 5G that is going to be a huge jump forward for communication systems because only with 5G's higher bandwidth can a number of applications be more advanced (尖端的) and used by most consumers," said Nicole Peng, senior director of the market research company Canalys.

    As 5G technology has combined various industries and technologies, the number of 5G SEPs rose to more than 60,000 globally by the end of April 2019, the report said.

    In recent years, a number of Chinese technological innovations (科技创新) have been making waves around the world. Among them, four stand out. They are known as "four new great inventions of modern China. They have made our daily lives more convenient.

    High-speed trains

    China created its first high-speed railway line in 2008. Since then, the number of passenger trips has grown by over 30 percent every year. By 2016, more than 5 billion trips had been taken on China's bullet trains(高铁), according to Xinhua News Agency.

    China is currently working on the next-generation bullet trains that will have a top speed of 400 kilometers per hour. By 2020, one-fifth of the country's 150, 000-km railway network will be used by high-speed trains. This network will link more than 80 percent of major cities across China, said Xinhua.

    Mobile payment

    Mobile payment is turning China into a "cashless society" led by the third-party payment companies like Alipay. For example, instead of paying by cash, customers now pay for goods simply by typing a short password into Alipay app on their mobile devices.

    Users can also pay their bills through Alipay, such as their water and electricity bills. Alipay also supports cross-border(跨境的)online and in-store payment, which allows users to buy things on international websites and apps.

    Shared bikes

    Shared bike services started in Western countries. But China has surprised the world with how

quickly it has adopted dockless(无柱的) shared bikes.

    Unlike traditional bike-sharing method, dockless bikes allow users to simply pick up or park a bike on the street through GPS and smartphone app.

    To unlock a bike, you just need to scan a QR code on a shared bike with a smartphone app. After you finish riding, you can park it at available parking areas, lock it and pay for ride through mobile payment services.

    Online shopping

    With around 751 million internet users, China has been the world's largest and fastest-growing line shopping market.

    Online shopping now accounts for 15. 5 percent of total retail sales in China, according to Xinhua. Thanks to lower costs and fewer licensing requirements(执照要求), it's easier for sellers

to open an online shop in China than a brick-and- mortar shop(实体店).

    It also helped to create jobs of rural areas. In 2016, online shopping created more than 20 million jobs in rural areas, with over 8. 1 million running their own online shops, said Xinhua.

    A computer program that could help catch and ever translates from aliens in outer space has been started by a British scientist.

    If aliens are discovered one day, scientists fear their language may make it possible to understand them. But John Elliott of needs Metropolitan University in Britain has come up with a program that can figure out the structure(结构)of their language. He thinks that's the first step in understanding what they are saying.

    Dr. Elliott's program would compare an alien language to a database (数据库)of 60 different languages in the world to look for a similar structure. He believes that even an alien language will have its own structure. Language has to be structured in a certain way, or it will be harder to use, he told New Scientist magazine.

    Research had shown that it is possible to know if a signal(信号)carries a language rather than a picture or music. Dr. Elliott has gone a step further by finding a way to pick out what might be words and sentences. Because languages have different word orders, Dr. Elliott has set up a library of the sentence structures of 60 human languages.

    If a message is received from outer space, it could be compared against this database. Scientist would then be able to see if ti's similar to any human language, or a mix of the language.

    However, Dr. Elliott also said that in order to translate what the aliens are actually saying, it may still be necessary to have a code book.

    Artificial intelligence(AI)(人工智能)is the ability of a computer program or a machine. The computer or the machine with AI can think and learn. It is also a field of study that tries to make computers "smart". John McCarthy, a scientist, came up with(提出)the name "artificial intelligence" over 60 years ago. Many things such as learning and problem solving can be done by computers, though not in the same way as people do.

    An unusual goal of AI research is to create computer programs. They can learn, solve problems, and think logically(逻辑地). At present, Al can successfully understanding human speech, recognizie (识别)human faces, operate self-driving cars and compete in some game systems like playing Chess. However, Some people also consider(认为）AI a danger to humans if it develops too quickly. A famous British scientist also was not for this kind of technology.

    Math is the basic language of AI. If students are good at math, they will be more likely to become successful AI designers(设计者)in the future. We need not only bright students, but also average(普通的)students. As for(对于)average students ，if they get enough math skills, they can also become successful AI designers. Besides, a good knowledge of computer science is also necessary for AI designing.

    Scientists hope to create creative(有创造力)and emotional (有感情的)AI. The AI can possibly understand human feelings or create art. Many ways and tools have been tried to discover this wide and exciting field.

    Many environmental groups are warning that oceans of the world are in great danger. In the past 50 years, the number of water with zero oxygen(氧气) in the open ocean has increased more than four times. In the near coast water bodies, including the river mouth and seas, low-oxygen areas have increased more than 10 times since 1950.Scientists discover that oxygen continues dropping ever outside these zones as the Earth warms. To stop the drop, the world needs to control in both climate change and nutrient(养分) pollution.

    Oxygen is a must to life in the oceans. The drop in ocean oxygen is among the most serious effects of human activities on the Earth's environment.

    This is the first time for the scientists to take such a deep look at the causes, results and solutions to low oxygen worldwide, in both the open ocean and the near coast waters. About half of the oxygen on Earth comes from the ocean. However, mixed effects of nutrient loading and climate change are greatly increasing the number and size of "dead zones" in the open ocean and the near coast waters, where oxygen is too low to support most sea life.

    In the areas traditionally called "dead zones", like those in Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, oxygen drops to levels so low that many animals have trouble in breathing and die. As fishes run away from these zones, their living areas become smaller and smaller. But the problem goes far beyond "dead zones". Even smaller oxygen drops can hold up the growth in animals and lead to disease or even death. Low oxygen also can cause the release of dangerous chemicals. Although a few animals can grow well in dead zones, overall biodiversity(多样性)falls.

    Shanghai University of Engineering Science has become the first university in China to be covered by a 5G network, the university announced on Tuesday.

    Chinese mobile carriers(运营商) are expected to spend 1.2 trillion yuan（US＄176.5 billion） on 5G by 2025,50 percent more than their total 4G investment (投资), Nomura said yesterday. Carriers including China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, are expected to build over 4.9 million 5G base stations by 2025.

    5G is a" game﹣changing" opportunity for carriers as they can explore new business like smart manufacturing, super high definition video and smart driving, instead of just being a "pipeline" for voice and data services.

    China will supply "temporary "5G licenses in several aimed cities this year. Consumers(消费者) will be able to use the first batch of 5G smart﹣phones and tablet computers in the second half. It's the first time that China's top industry regulator clarified the 5G industry timeline, especially the first appearance of 5G phones.

    But 5G services will become accessible to normal consumers later than expected. More work needs to be done to make the 5G industry fully developed, which won't happen until 2020, said UBS recently. New business projects and organizations, rather than normal consumers, will enjoy 5G services at first. The first batch of 5G services will be available to consumers in about 10 cities only.

    Earlier this year, China achieved a new milestone(里程碑) in space exploration(探索). On Jan 3, Chang'e 4 became the first space probe(探测器) in history to land on the far side of the moon, People's Daily reported.
    From Earth, we can only see one side of the moon. The other side has been a mystery. Scientists have long wondered what lies on this side of the moon.

    Chang'e 4 has sent back photos of the far side of the moon. It is also used to carry out experiments, such as growing seeds in a low-gravity(低重力) environment. The data(数据) collected from these experiments could be used to help us build a base on the moon in the future.

    The success of the Chang'e 4 mission(任务) is a main achievement for China's space program. It marks a new stage in China's deep space exploration, said Wu Yanhua, head of China National Space Administration.

    China launched(启动) its lunar(月球的) exploration program in 2004, naming it Chang'e. Chinese scientists set three goals —“orbiting(环绕运行), landing and sample(样本) returning”— referring to launching probes that could circle around the moon, touch down on its surface and bring lunar materials back to Earth.

    Chang'e 4 has realized the goal of landing. The third will be achieved during the Chang'e 5 mission, which is set to take place before the end of this year, China Daily reported.

    Following the success of the Chang'e missions, Chinese scientists are looking even farther into our solar system (太阳系). China's first Mars(火星) mission is expected to be carried out by 2020, Wu said.