Passage 2

Thanks to endless photos on social media and the wealth of information on the internet, future people should have a clear picture of how we lived in the 21st century.

But Martine Rothblatt, a businesswoman from the US, wants to go a step further by digitally cloning (克隆) human minds.

These “mindclones” would have all of our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes, and be able to think just like us. Rothblatt imagines that mindclones will first begin as digital assistants in our mobile devices (安置), until they become walking, talking versions of us - but these are far from reality at the moment.

Mindcloning technology is still very young, and it might be a long time before we can send our artificial selves to school so we don’t have to sit through math class. However, scientists at Stanford University in the United States recently created a circuit (电路) board modeled on the human brain that could simulate 1 million neurons (神经元) and billions of connections in the brain.

Eventually, Rothblatt sees mindclones having their own rights as people, and even falling in love and getting married.

“Let’s say [the ex Apple CEO] Steve Jobs meets another mindclone. They fall in love. Mindclones are just people without bodies. Once the mindclones fall in love, they are going to get married. That’s what people do,” she said.

But Rothblatt’s idea that the digital versions of ourselves would have the same rights as people is not shared by everyone. Some people have argued that the mind must be embedded (嵌入) in biology for it to be considered “life”, HuffPost reported.

1. According to Rothblatt, mindclones ______.

A. will eventually become robots          B. will be used in our mobile devices

C. will become reality soon              D. have more rights than people

2. Which of the following best explains the underlined word “artificial” in Paragraph 4?

A. Useful.     B. Man-made.     C. Human-like.    D. Different.

3. What is the latest development in mindcloning technology?

A. We can send our artificial selves to school.

B. People can improve their studies by using mindclones.

C. Steve Jobs and a mindclone will get married.

D. A circuit board has been modeled after a human brain.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?

A. The writer agrees with Rothblatfs idea.

B. The writer disagrees with Rothblatfs idea.

C. Not everyone agrees with Rothblatt about mindclones’ rights.

D. It’s pointless to discuss the rights of “mindclones”.