Britons are opening their arms to a new wave of technologies but have yet to be won over by wearable technology, despite the spotlight thrown on smartwatches by Apple.

Just 25% people believe that wearable technology will improve their day-to-day life, a new survey shows, while one-in-10 Britons thinks that wearable technology will actually make their lives harder. By contrast, 56% of respondents are looking forward to the benefits of connected home devices, 43% expect artificial intelligence to make life easier, and three-in-10 people think driverless cars and 3D printers will improve their everyday experiences.

The survey of 2,000 adults, conducted for Hive by British Gas, comes as the Government unveiled multi-million pound investments in automatic vehicles and connected home devices. In the Budget speech on Wednesday, George Osborne announced £100m of funding for the development of driverless cars and £40m for research into the Internet of Things - a measure that allowed the Chancellor to make a “two fridges” joke at Ed Miliband’s expense.

The Hive by British Gas survey, published just a month before the launch of the Apple Watch on April 24, suggests that the British public are less sold on the positive effects wearable technology could have on their lives.

British kept silent over the products due to a thought of smartwatches as luxury fashion items rather than tools to improve daily life. Apple’s first involvement into wearable technology will be sold for £299, although a luxury version - the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition - will cost £13,500. Tag Heuer announced on Thursday that it will be releasing a smartwatch powered by Google’s Android operating system in time for Christmas, while music artist and entrepreneur Will.i.am revealed a smartband cooperation with Gucci.

Although millions of smartwatches have already been bought, Apple’s entrance to this market could change the public’s view of wearable technology. After all, how many people thought they needed a personal digital music player before the iPod was released?

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1.How many Britons surveyed expect that artificial technology makes life easier?

A 43%.

B 25%.

C 56%.

D 10%.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据文章第2段第2句43% expect artificial intelligence to make life easier可知，有43%的受访者希望智能技术能够为生活带来更多便利。

2.What can we infer from the passage?

A Wearable technology is well accepted in the UK.

B The British government are supportive to artificial intelligence.

C Few Britons are interested in the “two fridges” joke.

D Music artists have taken the opportunity of the Apple Watch.

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据文章第3段multi-million pound investments in automatic vehicles and connected home devices可知，英国政府打算在车辆自动行驶及家居自动化方面投入大量资金进行研发，由此判断，政府对于人工智能技术应用于生活是非常支持的。

3.Why didn’t British people show enthusiasm in Apple’s smartwatches?

A They thought smartwatches could make daily life harder instead of easier.

B They didn’t think wearable technology had positive effects on their life.

C They found the operating system of smartwatches unfit for them.

D They thought smartwatches as luxury fashion items costing too much.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据文章第5段…due to a thought of smartwatches as luxury fashion items rather than tools to improve daily life可知，英国人对将要在英国发布的苹果智能手表反应平淡是因为他们认为这是一款奢饰品，而不是能够对日常生活有很大用处的工具。

4.What does the underlined sentence mean in the last paragraph?

A Few people thought they needed a digital music player at the beginning.

B People will change their views and need the smartwatches later on.

C An iPod provides people with large quantities of favorite music.

D The iPod market attracted few people when it was first released.

解析：选B。B 句意理解题。作者用iPod被人们接受的时间过程暗喻Smartwatches同样会走这样的路—一开始人们观望，质疑，但随着时间的发展，人们对这种高技术产品又情有独钟，爱不释手。

5.What can be the best title of the passage?

A Apple attempts to put Smartwatches to the British market.

B Apple focuses on the development of wearable technology.

C Britons seem hard to be won over by Apple’s Smartwatches.

D British government plans to invest in Artificial Intelligence.

解析：选C。C 主旨大意题。通读全文可知，本文介绍了苹果将于四月份在英国发布智能手表，但英国人反应并不热烈的情况，作者根据调查结果对存在的原因进行了分析。