Ⅰ.阅读理解
[2019·南昌三模]
In this Year of the Pig, many Chinese pigs are dying from a deadly swine (猪) disease, threatening the country's supply of pork. Chinese companies are pushing facial and voice recognition as a way to protect the country's pigs.
“If they are not happy and not eating well, you can predict in a way whether the pig is sick，” said Jackson He, CEO of Yingzi Technology, a small firm that has introduced its plan of a “future pig farm” with the facial and voice recognition technology.
The disease has no known vaccine or cure. It can spread through contact between animals or through infected(感染的) pig products, meaning it can remain for months in sausages or ham. It doesn't affect humans, but they can carry it.
Earlier in October, Chinese government said it wanted to promote “intelligent farming” and the application of information technology in agriculture. So when African swine fever(猪瘟) swept through China's farms, the country's technology companies saw an opportunity.
The companies backing the recognition technology say they can help farmers separate disease carriers and reduce unnatural deaths. They regard their approach as an alternative to the tagging (给……贴标签) of pigs' ears, a practice that many farmers find cruel. The tags — which are far cheaper — may fall off if pigs get into fights, they point out.
Not everybody in the pig technology field agrees on the newly applied approach.Chen Haokai, a founder of SmartAHC, said farmers do not really need facial recognition According to Chen, the cost of trying to map a pig's face is about $7 versus $ 0.30 for tagging a pig's ear. Wang Lixian, a research fellow of animal and veterinary science at the CAAS, is optimistic that the cost of the technology will drop. “Right now, these applications may not have reached their desired levels，” he said, “but in future they will become more and more extensive.”
1．Why do people promote facial and voice recognition on pigs?
A．To track their healthy status.
B．To encourage their growth.
C．To tag and identify each pig.
D．To improve their life quality.
2．What do we know about the facial and voice recognition?
A．It is more effective than other technology.
B．It is still hard to win everyone's approval.
C．It has been widely applied among farmers.
D．It is much cheaper than tagging a pig's ear.
3．What's Wang Lixian's attitude towards the technology application?
A．Hopeful. B．Doubtful.
C．Cautious. D．Practical.
4．What's the main idea of the passage?
A．China's smart pig farm has boomed.
B．Deadly swine disease broke out in China.
C．Information technology is popular in China.
D．China is seeking technology to save pigs.
