Artificial Societies is a company that uses AI to predict how people may react to new information. It looks at many online talks and news stories to find out how people feel. Big companies use its reports before making important plans, so that they can change their plans in time. “We predict how people might react to information,” a team member says. “This helps companies see problems before they grow big.” To the young team, understanding the public is real work.

The story begins with a young man from Chengdu, a city in China. At home, the boy loved books, music and asking questions. His mother loved learning, too, and often took him to different classes. When he was 14, he left home alone to study in New Zealand. There, he was more free in mind. “Keep an open mind, and everything is possible,” he later said.

At university, he was immersed in science fiction and the lives of famous inventors. He often asked “why” and looked for answers in books. He also learned a little coding and began to use computers to study how people influence each other on social media. Later, he built his research on a simple algorithm that finds patterns in how people think. That idea later became Artificial Societies.

Today he is the CEO of the company. “Communication comes through listening, asking good questions and trusting your team,” he says. Looking ahead, he wants his technology to test big social changes — like a new economic rule — in a digital world first, before trying them in real life. In that digital world, the company can test an idea, see the results and make changes before anyone is hurt. He believes such tests could help countries make better rules before they spend too much money.

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1.1. What does Artificial Societies help big companies do with AI?

A To know the mind of the crowd.

B To play games with young robots.

C To make new movies for children.

D To find jobs for old computers.

解析：选A。A　细节理解题。根据第一段“predict how people may react to new information”和“find out how people feel”可知，该公司用人工智能预测人群对新信息的反应，即“了解大众的想法”。故选A。

2.2. Why does the writer mention the founder’s mother in Paragraph 2?

A To explain the family’s travel plan.

B To show where his open thinking began.

C To prove that mothers are often strict.

D To compare life in two big cities.

解析：选B。B　推理判断题。第二段写母亲“loved learning, too, and often took him to different classes”——母亲的言传身教培养了他爱学习、乐于接触新事物的习惯；结合后文“Keep an open mind”可知，提到母亲是为了交代他开放思想的来源。A、C、D文中均无依据。故选B。

3.3. What do the underlined words “That idea” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A A reading habit from childhood.

B A way of asking questions always.

C Stories of the great inventors.

D A research plan on human thoughts.

解析：选D。D　词义猜测题。根据第三段末“That idea later became Artificial Societies”回看上文“He also learned a little coding and began to use computers to study how people influence each other on social media. Later, he built his research on a simple algorithm that finds patterns in how people think”可知，That idea指“用计算机研究人们如何相互影响、探寻人们思考模式”这一研究构想，即“关于思维的研究计划”。故选D。

4.4. What is the best title for the passage?

A Using AI to See the Future.

B How People Learn Coding.

C The Life of Great Inventors.

D Why Teams Fail at Work.

解析：选A。A　主旨大意题。全文围绕用人工智能预测人群反应（公司使命、创始人经历、愿景）展开，故“Using AI to See the Future”最能概括主旨；B/C为单点细节，D系无中生有。故选A。