Talking to Technology

1. The details in paragraph 5 support the idea that —

• A. humans use a lot of sarcasm and humor in everyday speech

• B. miscommunication between humans is more likely when they cannot see facial expressions

• C. language software is designed for communicating information rather than making jokes

• D. human communication involves features that cannot easily be replicated by computers

2. What is the main idea of paragraphs 7 and 8?

• A. When people use speech-recognition applications, their privacy may be invaded

• B. As people talk more to computers, they may become less able to interact with humans.

• C. Advances in technology may cause humans to lose their jobs to computers.

• D. The use of speech-recognition technology poses a variety of potential problems.

3. Which idea does the author emphasize throughout the selection?

• A. Speech-recognition technology saves companies time and money.

• B. The technology for speech-recognition systems is constantly improving.

• C. Virtual personal assistants are an important achievement in talking computers.

• D. The earliest speech-recognition systems had limited capabilities.

4. The author’s main purpose in writing this selection is to —

• A. describe the history of and advances in speech-recognition technology

• B. share concerns about problems with speech-recognition technology

• C. suggest that consumers rely too much on speech-recognition technology

• D. explain how speech-recognition technology understands human language

5. Which sentence from the selection best explains why some people may prefer human-to human communication?

• A. Despite the efficiency of these systems, many people find them impersonal, stilted, and sometimes frustrating.

• B. Simply put, the reason is that human beings rely on more than words to produce utterances and derive meaning from them

• C. One significant recent achievement in the realm of talking computers is the debut of virtual personal assistants (VPAs) on mobile phones.

• D. While the potential for spontaneous communication between a human and a machine may seem exciting, this possibility concerns some people.

6. The author organizes the information in the selection mainly by —

• A. explaining the development of speech-recognition technology over time

• B. describing advancements in speech-recognition technology as well as some concerns about it

• C. providing details about the technical processes that computers use to understand speech and construct a response

• D. comparing the ways humans and computers interpret spoken language

7. What is the main idea of paragraph 9?

• A. Speech-recognition is thriving and a thrilling process.

• B. Leading companies in speech recognition world are not confident in their product.

• C. Companies want humans’ communication with machines to be as natural as talking to another human.

• D. Speech-recognition technology does not require internet services to function.

8. Which sentence from the selection best explains that people can still determine when they are communicating with a machine rather than a human?

• A. Even the advanced human-machine interfaces used today are unable to trick the judge consistently into thinking a computer is a human.

• B. If you tell Siri that you want to schedule lunch with a friend, “she” can set the appointment in your phone in seconds.

• C. They worry that people won’t be able to display the right emotion or tone in conversations because they haven’t been practicing those skills.

• D. Asking for and acquiring information from an automated source has never been easier.