研究人员在实验室里培养出的脑细胞已经学会玩 20 世纪 70 年代模拟乒乓球比赛的电子游戏《乓》（ Pong ）。研究人员表示，他们培养出的 “迷你大脑” 能感知并对周围环境作出反应。

Pong was one of the very first computer games. Released in 1972, it involves keeping a dot in play by sliding a paddle on each side of the screen.

《乓》是最早问世的电子游戏之一。这款游戏于1972年发行，玩家通过滑动屏幕两侧的球拍击球，使球保持在界内。

Researchers at Cortical Labs in Melbourne grew 800,000 brain cells from a mixture of mouse neurons and stem cells. They then connected them to a computer. With a little coaxing, the cells learnt how to play within five minutes.

澳大利亚墨尔本脑科学公司 “Cortical Labs” 的研究人员用小鼠神经元和干细胞的混合物培养出了80万个脑细胞。然后，他们将这些脑细胞连接到计算机上。在稍加引导后，“迷你大脑” 在五分钟内就学会了玩这个游戏。

Mini-brains are currently being used to research brain development and to find new treatments for disorders. But this experiment has taken the technology a step further and could be used to develop a more flexible type of artificial intelligence.

“迷你大脑” 技术一直被用于研究大脑发育和寻找疾病的新疗法。但这个实验将该技术向前推进了一步，使其有望用于研发更灵活的人工智能类型。

词汇表

released 发行
brain cells 脑细胞
neurons 神经元
stem cells 干细胞
coaxing 引导
disorders 疾病，（身心机能的）失调
artificial intelligence 人工智能

阅读理解：请在读完上文后，回答下列问题。

1. When was the computer game Pong first released?

2. What were these new artificial brain cells grown from?

3. How long did it take for the brain cells to learn how to play Pong?

4. True or false? This experiment has had similar results to other research into brain development.

答案  

1. When was the computer game Pong first released?
The game was first released in 1972.

2. What were these new artificial brain cells grown from?
They were grown from a mixture of mouse neurons and stem cells.

3. How long did it take for the brain cells to learn how to play Pong?
With a little coaxing, the cells learnt how to play within five minutes.

4. True or false? This experiment has had similar results to other research into brain development.
False. This experiment has taken the technology a step further and could be used to develop a more flexible type of artificial intelligence.