Unthinkable as it may be, humanity, every last person, could someday be wiped from the face of the Earth. We have learned to worry about asteroids( 小行星) and super volcanoes, but the more likely _26_ , according to Nick Bostrom, a professor of philosophy at Oxford, is that we humans will destroy ourselves.
Professor Bostrom, who directs Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, has argued over the course of several papers that human _27_ risks are poorly understood and, worse still,_28_ underestimated by society. Some of these existential risks are fairly well known, especially the natural ones. But others are _29_ or even exotic. Most worrying to Bostrom is the subset of existential risks that _30_ from human technology, a subset that he expects to grow in number and potency over the next century.
Despite his concerns about the risks _31_ to humans by technological progress, Bostrom is no luddite(科技进步反对者). In fact, he is a longtime _32_ of trans-humanism— the effort to improve the human condition, and even human nature itself, through technological means. In the long run he sees technology as a bridge, a bridge we humans must cross with great care, in order to reach new and better modes of being. In his work, Bostrom uses the tools of philosophy and mathematics, in _33_ , probability theory, to try and determine how we as a _34_ might achieve this safe passage. What follows is my conversation with Bostrom about some of the most interesting and worrying existential risks that humanity might _35_ in the decades and centuries to come, and about what we can do to make sure we outlast them.
A) advocate
B) arise
C) emphasized
D) encounter
E) essential
F) evaporation
G) extinction
H) obscure
I) particular
J) posed
K) scenario
L) severely
M) shrewdly
N) species
O) variety
答案解析：
26. 根据 "the more likely..." 可知，这里需要一个名词，与 "asteroids and super volcanoes" 并列，表示一种可能的情景。空格所在句句意为“……更可能的情况是，我们人类将毁灭自己”。scenario意思是“情景，设想”，符合句意，所以选K。
27. 根据 "existential risks"(生存风险)和后文 "wiped from the face of the Earth" 可知，这里需要一个形容词修饰 "risks"，表示与人类存亡相关的风险。空格所在句句意为“人类生存风险被社会……低估了”。extinction意思是“灭绝”，existential extinction risks指“可能导致人类灭绝的生存风险”，符合句意，所以选G。
28.根据 "poorly understood and, worse still,... underestimated" 可知，这里需要一个副词来修饰 "underestimated"，与 "poorly"(糟糕地)形成递进关系。空格所在句句意为“……被社会严重低估了”。severely意思是“严重地”，符合句意，所以选L。
29. 根据 "Some of these existential risks are fairly well known... But others are..." 可知，这里需要一个形容词，与 "well known"(众所周知的)形成对比。空格所在句句意为“但另一些则是晦涩难懂的，甚至是奇特的”。obscure意思是“晦涩的，鲜为人知的”，符合句意，所以选H。
30. 根据 "the subset of existential risks that... from human technology" 可知，这里需要一个动词，表示风险的来源。空格所在句句意为“最让Bostrom担心的是源于人类技术的生存风险”。arise from是固定搭配，意为“源于，产生于”，符合句意，所以选B。
31. 根据 "the risks... to humans by technological progress" 可知，这里需要一个过去分词构成被动语态，表示技术进步带来的风险。空格所在句句意为“尽管Bostrom担心技术进步给人类带来的风险……”。pose a risk是固定搭配，意为“构成风险”，所以选J。
32. 根据 "Bostrom is no luddite. In fact, he is a longtime..." 可知，这里需要一个名词，说明Bostrom对技术进步的真实态度。空格所在句句意为“事实上，他长期以来是超人类主义的倡导者”。advocate意思是“倡导者，拥护者”，符合句意，所以选A。
33. 根据 "he uses the tools of philosophy and mathematics, in..." 可知，这里需要一个固定搭配，用于举例说明。空格所在句句意为“他使用哲学和数学的工具，特别是概率论……”。in particular是固定搭配，意为“特别是”，符合句意，所以选I。
34. 根据 "how we as a... might achieve this safe passage" 可知，这里需要一个名词，指代人类这个整体。空格所在句句意为“我们作为一个物种如何才能实现这种安全过渡”。species意思是“物种”，符合句意，所以选N。
35. 根据 "existential risks that humanity might... in the decades and centuries to come" 可知，这里需要一个动词，表示人类未来可能面临的风险。空格所在句句意为“……人类在未来几十年和几个世纪里可能遇到的最有趣和最令人担忧的生存风险”。encounter意思是“遇到，遭遇”，符合句意，所以选D。
