Super realistic masks are made from flexible materials such as silicone and are designed to imitate real human face—down to every last detail.
In a study by the Universities of York and Kyoto, researchers asked participants to look at pairs of photographs and decide which showed a ___26___ face and which showed a person wearing a mask.
Surprisingly, participants made the wrong call in one-in-five cases.
The 20% error rate ___27___ in the study likely underestimates the extent to which people would struggle to tell an ___28___ face from the real thing outside of the lab.
The researchers collected data from participants from both the UK and Japan to ___29___ any differences according to race. When trial participants were asked to choose between photographs of faces of a different race from theirs, response times were slower and selections were 5% less ___30___.
There are now dozens of criminal cases in which offenders have ___31___ themselves off as people of a different age, race or gender, sending police investigations down the wrong path.
In one recent case, an international gang used an ___32___ realistic mask to pose as a French minister, ___33___ business executives out of millions of pounds.
Dr Jet Sanders, who worked on the study while a PhD student at the university of York, said: "Failure to detect synthetic faces may have important implications for security and crime prevention as super realistic masks may ___34___ the key characteristics of a person's appearance to be ___35___ identified."
A) accurate I) incorrectly
B) allow J) normal
C) artificial K) observed
D) cheating L) passed
E) deserted M) reminding
F) establish N) reparable
G) extremely O) resolve
H) immediately
答案解析：
根据上下文，"...decide which showed a ___26___ face and which showed a person wearing a mask."(决定哪张照片展示的是一张脸，哪张展示的是戴着面具的人)。实验的目的是让参与者区分“真人”和“戴面具的人”，因此，这里需要一个与“戴面具的”相对的词，表示“正常的、真实的”人脸。所以选 J. normal (正常的)。
根据上下文，"The 20% error rate ______ in the study likely underestimates..."(在这项研究中到的20%的错误率可能低估了……)。空格处需要一个动词来修饰“错误率”，表示这个错误率是“在研究中被观察到”的。过去分词作后置定语，符合语境。所以选 K. observed (观察到)。
根据上下文，"...struggle to tell an ______ face from the real thing outside of the lab."(在实验室外，人们很难分辨出人脸和真脸)。文章的核心议题是“超逼真面具”，即人造的、非真实的面部。这里需要一个词来概括“面具”的属性，与“the real thing”(真东西)形成对比。所以选 C. artificial (人造的)。
根据上下文，"...to ______ any differences according to race."(为了根据种族来任何差异)。研究人员收集来自不同国家参与者的数据，其目的必然是为了“确定”或“证实”是否存在种族差异。所以选 F. establish (确定，证实)。
根据上下文，"...selections were 5% less ______."(选择结果的准确性低了5%)。前文提到，当参与者辨认不同种族的面孔时，反应时间变慢了。这里进一步说明，他们的选择“准确度”也下降了。所以选 A. accurate (准确的)。
根据上下文，"...offenders have ______ themselves off as people of a different age..."(罪犯们自己伪装成不同年龄、种族或性别的人)。"pass oneself off as..." 是一个固定搭配，意为“冒充，伪装成”。所以选 L. passed (通过，冒充)。
根据上下文，"...used an ______ realistic mask..."(使用了一逼真的面具)。这里需要一个副词来修饰形容词 "realistic"(逼真的)，以强调面具的逼真程度。所以选 G. extremely (极其，非常)。
根据上下文，"...pose as a French minister, ______ business executives out of millions of pounds."(伪装成法国部长，商业高管们数百万英镑)。罪犯冒充部长的目的，是为了通过欺骗手段骗取钱财。"cheat sb. out of sth." 意为“骗取某人的某物”。所以选 D. cheating (欺骗)。
根据上下文，"...super realistic masks may ______ the key characteristics of a person's appearance to be ______ identified."(超逼真面具可能会一个人的关键外貌特征被识别)。这句话的意思是，面具使得人的真实特征“可以被错误识别”。空格处需要一个动词，表示“使得……能够发生”。所以选 B. allow (允许，使得)。
根据上下文，"...to be ___35___ identified."(被识别)。根据全文主旨，面具会迷惑人，导致人们无法正确识别身份。因此，这里的识别应该是“不正确地”。所以选 I. incorrectly (不正确地)。
