The Robotics Revolution.
Задание 5. Read the text again. Choose the best sentence from the list below to complete each gap.
Many of the robots in use today do jobs that are especially difficult for human workers. These are the types of jobs that require great strength or pose danger. 1 ____. A welding tool used by a human worker weighs about 100 pounds or more and is difficult to handle. As mechanical supermen, robots may be called upon to do anything from moving heavy components between workstations on a factory floor to carrying bags of cement.
Spay painting is another task suited to robots because robots do not need to breathe. 2 ____. Robots are better at this task, not because they are faster or cheaper than humans, but because they work in a place where humans cannot.
Third in the list of useful jobs for robots is the assembly of electronic parts. Robots shine at installing chips in printed circuit boards because of a capability that robots have that people don’t. 3 ____. This automatic accuracy is particularly valuable in this kind of industry because locating and fixing mistakes is costly.
Earlier robots were usually blind and deaf but newer types of robots are fitted with video cameras and other sensing devices that can detect heat, texture, size, and sound. 4 ____.
In their efforts to expand the range of robotic applications, researchers are looking beyond traditional designs to examine a variety of potential models from the biological world. The industrial arm is a classic example. Scientists have been able to model robots to imitate the vertebrate spine of a snake in order to paint the interior of automobiles. 5 ____.
The challenge of equipping robots with the skills to operate independently, outside of a factory or laboratory, has made heavy demands on the ingenuity and creativity of academic, military, and industrial scientists for years. Simply put, robot hands — like robot legs, or eyes, or reasoning powers – have a long way to go before they can approach what biological evolution has achieved over the course of hundreds of millions of years. Much more will have to happen in laboratories around the world before robots can be compared to nature’s handwork.
In the meantime, the robotics revolution is already beginning to change the kind of work that people do. The boring and dangerous jobs are now performed by robots. By the turn of the century, more and more humans will be required for tasks that machines cannot do.
a) These robots are used in space projects, nuclear reactor stations, and underwater exploration research.
b) Unlike human painters, they are unaffected by the poisonous fumes.
c) For example, robots are particularly useful in the auto-manufacturing industry where parts of automobiles must be welded together.
d) They have simulated the muscle structure and movement of an elephant’s trunk in an attempt to create a robotic arm capable of lifting heavy objects.
e) A robot, once properly programmed, will not put a chip in the wrong place.
Ответ:
1- с) For example, robots are particularly useful in the auto-manufacturing industry where parts of automobiles must be welded together.
2- b) Unlike human painters, they are unaffected by the poisonous fumes
3- e) A robot, once properly programmed, will not put a chip in the wrong place.
4- a) These robots are used in space projects, nuclear reactor stations, and underwater exploration research.
5- d) They have simulated the muscle structure and movement of an elephant’s trunk in an attempt to create a robotic arm capable of lifting heavy objects.
Задание 6. Choose the best answer to these questions according to the text.
1. What kind of job do robots do today?
a) They usually do the types of jobs, which are interesting for human workers.
b) They usually do the types of jobs, which are very simple for human workers.
C) They usually do the types of jobs, which are very dangerous and require great strength.
2. Why do robots do very well at installing chips in printed circuit boards?
a) Because robots work very quickly.
b) Because this kind of job is very dangerous for people.
C) Because robots have the ability to put a chip in the proper place if they are once programmed properly.
3. Where do researchers try to find examples of potential models?
a) in the technical world,
b) in the chemical world,
C) in the biological world.
4. What do researchers try to teach robots to do?
a) They try to teach robots to operate independently, outside of a factory or laboratory.
b) They try to teach robots to fly.
c) They try to teach robots to write fiction books.
5. What kind of jobs will more and more humans be required for by the end of the century?
a) for jobs which are too dangerous for robots.
b) for jobs which are too easy for robots.