Question

It’s the place where smart people make smart machines work even smarter. But for the people who work in it, Silicon Valley (硅谷) is more than just a high technology hothouse. It’s also in the heart of sunny California, a great place to start a family and raise kids. What could be better?

But something is happening to the children. Up until the age of two they develop normally. Their proud parents watch and smile as they take their first steps and speak their first words. But then everything seems to go backwards. The children become locked into their own small world, unable to communicate at all.

They call it the “curse of Silicon Valley,” but the medical name for the condition is autism（孤獨癥）. It used to be thought that autism was a mental illness. Now doctors are sure that it is a disease transmitted genetically (遺傳). It seems that the people leading the communications revolution are having children who cannot communicate at all.

But even the parents have trouble communicating. Asperger’s Syndrome (綜合癥) is connected with autism. People who have it are highly intelligent and often brilliant with numbers or systems but have no social skills, which makes Asperger’s sufferers into excellent computer professionals. Unfortunately, many of the children of two Asperger’s parents in Silicon Valley seem to be developing serious autism.

There is little anyone can do. And there is no cure in sight. Some argue that no cure should be found．“It may be that autistics are essentially (本質上) different from normal people, but that these differences make them valuable for the evolution (進化) of the human race,” says Dr Kirk Wilhelm of the University of California．“To remove the genes (基因) for autism could be terrible.

It seems that the children of Silicon Valley are paying the price of genius.

A person who has autism usually _____.

       A．has difficulty in speaking       B．loses communication skills

       C．has difficulty in working D．hates people around

Which of the following best explains “curse of Silicon Valley”?

       A．The children are brought up in Silicon Valley.

       B．Autism is just a result of working in Silicon Valley.

       C．The children suffer from autism due to their parents in Silicon Valley.

       D．Autism makes the children in Silicon Valley unable to communicate.

Some people think that no cure of autism should be found because ______.

       A．autism cannot be cured    B．autism isn’t a disease

       C．harm will be done to the children   D．autism is necessary in some way

What does the writer seem to feel about the children of Silicon Valley?

       A．It’s a pity that they cannot have a normal life.

       B．They are the pride of the human race.

       C．They are sure to have a bright future.

       D．It’s likely that they will have a normal life.

Answer 1

【小題1】B

【小題2】C

【小題3】D

【小題4】A

解析:

【小題1】細節題。根據The children become locked into their own small world, unable to communicate at all.可知，患了這種孤獨癥的人喪失了交際能力。

【小題2】詞義猜測題。根據Now doctors are sure that it is a disease transmitted genetically(遺傳).可知兒童患上這種病與父母在硅谷工作有關，是父母惹的禍，故稱之為curse of Silicon Valley（硅谷之禍）。

【小題3】 細節題。根據these differences make them valuable for the evolution(進化) of the human race,” 和“To remove the genes(基因) for autism could be terrible.可知這種不同與普通人的品質是必要的。

【小題4】推斷題。根據It seems that the children of Silicon Valley are paying the price of genius.可知孩子們為天才付出了代價，可知作者對這些孩子持一種同情的態度。