In the future, when robots can be used both in homes and in other areas, they could improve the living standards of people.
Experts believe robots can be used on certain jobs to avoid accidents caused by careless behavior of some people. When robots are used on such work, it does not risk any human life due to accidents at the workplace. Human resources can be efficiently used by performing tasks which demand human skills like critical thinking and problem solving.
While some people talk about how robots can be useful to humans, others voice their concerns. When robots become cheaper to produce, employers may prefer to use more robots than humans. As the technology constantly improves the abilities of robots, it could weaken the value of humans.
| A．Robots have been widely used in Japan. |
| B．Many people may rely on robots heavily. |
| C．They can free people from such tasks as cooking. |
| D．Most people believe robots have changed their life. |
| E．Japan sees it as a must to build robots to take care of the elderly. |
| F．Robots can be also used on low-end jobs like moving heavy things. |
| G．However, many elderly people would prefer human helpers to robots. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Scientists have developed a fingerlike device that maps an object’s internal structure in 3-D by touching its surface. “This bionic finger has exciting application prospects in material characterization and biomedical engineering,” says Zhiming Chen, an engineer at China’s Wuyi University. “The technology could also be combined into robots and medical fields, which is our next research topic.”
The new “finger” contains a carbon fiber tactile sensor (触觉传感器), which returns a stronger signal when pressed against firmer objects. The device moves across an object’s surface to feel for increasing levels of pressure. This process can reveal subsurface details, such as hard layers inside soft er materials. “When pressed by this bionic finger, hard objects maintain their shape, whereas soft objects de form when sufficient pressure is applied,” says Jian Yiluo, the study’s senior author. “This information is sent to a computer, along with the recorded position, and displayed in real time as a 3-D image.”
Other imaging methods, including X-ray, PET, MRI and ultrasound, have their own advantages and disadvantages. X-ray s carry health risks, and other options lack portability or speed. Many are expensive. The new device is unlikely to be significantly cheaper than ultrasound, but it may provide better resolution (清晰度).
In man-made human tissue, the device can exactly find bones and a blood vessel (血管). For a flexible electronic circuit enveloped in soft material, it detected a circuit break and an incorrectly drilled hole. “When we make those devices, we always worry that if something is broken, the only way you can know is to take it apart,” engineer Subramanian says.
The device will struggle to map objects whose outer surfaces are too hard, and it may miss details underneath hard layers. The researchers plan to extend their invention into more dimensions, however, perhaps exploring from other directions as well. “This system might be expanded to multiple fingers, just like our hands, to realize detection in all directions,” Chen says. “This would enable it to get more complete information.”
1. What does Zhiming Chen think of the fingerlike device?| A．Convenient. | B．Promising. | C．Popular. | D．Complicated. |
| A．How the new finger works. | B．What benefits the finger brings. |
| C．Where the finger is applied. | D．Why the finger is welcomed. |
| A．It is cheaper. | B．It is quicker. | C．It is clearer. | D．It is safer. |
| A．The sense of direction. | B．The exploration of human hands. |
| C．The application field. | D．The detection accuracy. |
【推荐2】An impressive invention made by a 17-year-old teenager, called Anna Du, is helping to clean up small pieces of plastic from the ocean.
While walking along her local beaches in Massachusetts, the young student began collecting waste plastic bags and bottles. But what she noticed was a large number of tiny pieces of plastic or microplastics that were impossible to pick up. At just 12 years old, Du set out to solve the problem. After testing a few prototypes(原型)in her backyard, she invented a remotely operated vehicle that uses the infrared camera(红外摄像机)to detect microplastics on the ocean floor. More recently, Du has also created a simulation(模拟)model that uses artificial intelligence to predict where microplastics are located.
Du’s robot invention has earned her awards at top science fairs in the US, and she’s now a nationally recognized advocate for microplastic awareness and pollution prevention. “When I first started doing science fairs, I had no idea that a young girl without lots of money and just a little advanced engineering knowledge could make a difference in the world. I’ve learned that I truly love working on a problem that’s so much larger than me,” Du said.
Du has also released a new book to help spread the word not only about the dangers of microplastics but also about the ways to relieve the problem. Titled Microplastics &Me, the book follows Du’s own story of how she went from worrying about the environment to designing award-winning solutions. Writing for kids her own age, the young girl alerts her readers to the threat of microplastic pollution and urges them to care about the environment. The book hopes to encourage young students to get into science, technology, engineering and math(STEM)subjects and to inspire a new generation of inventors and engineers. What’s more, Du has even raised more than $7,000 to distribute the book free to kids and libraries in high-need communities.
1. What inspired Du to make the invention?| A．There was too much rubbish along the beaches. | B．The plastics were too small to collect by hand. |
| C．The sea was polluted seriously. | D．She was interested in AI. |
| A．She has a spirit of challenge. | B．She is too poor to make a difference. |
| C．She doesn’t study hard in engineering. | D．She wins international recognition. |
| A．Innovation. | B．Voice. | C．Culture. | D．Art. |
| A．To inspire readers to share their stories. |
| B．To raise the awareness of microplastics pollution. |
| C．To encourage high schools to offer STEM subjects. |
| D．To collect money for kids in high-need communities. |
【推荐3】More than 1,800 teen researchers came to the Valley of the Sun this week (May 12-17). Those who shone brightest took home big prizes. The prizes are from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Top winner Krithik Ramesh took home $75,000. He developed a system to help doctors do spinal surgery (脊椎外科手术) better. Using the technology, doctors can finish the surgery more quickly.
Krithik’s system can map a patient’s spine. It can give doctors advice about how to carry out spinal surgery. It can be used not only in cities, but also in the countryside. The new system could take the place of the methods being used by today’s doctors, says Krithik,16, who attends Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, Colo, USA. Krithik’s project won the Gordon E. Moore Award. It’s named for a founder of Intel. Other winners took home sizeable awards as well, this year. Together, these awards totaled about $5 million.
The Intel ISEF has been honoring (表扬) young researchers since 1950. This competition was created and is still run by Society for Science & the Public(SSP). It is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition. Now supported by Intel, the 2019 ISEF brought together students from more than 80 countries and areas.
“I am inspired by all of the creativity on show this week,” said SSP President Maya Ajmera. “Congratulations to our winners and all our finalists. They are, showing that world-changing ideas can come from anywhere in the world.”.
1. Krithik Ramesh won the prize for his ________.| A．computer skills |
| B．wonderful results |
| C．advice about surgery |
| D．system to help doctors |
| A．Intel. | B．Competition. |
| C．Prize. | D．System |
| A．Teenagers. | B．Scientists. |
| C．Engineers. | D．Doctors. |
| A．To praise the Intel ISEF. |
| B．To admire the young winners. |
| C．To encourage the competition. |
| D．To introduce a new technology. |
【推荐1】Swimming in an ocean of stars
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s my great honor to receive the Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society. Thank you.
I started writing sci-fi because I looked for a way to escape the dull life, and to reach out, with imagination, to the mysterious time and space that I could never truly reach. But then I realized that the world around me became more and more like science fiction, and this process is speeding up. Future is like pouring rain. It reaches us even before we have time to open the umbrella. Meanwhile, when sci-fi becomes reality, it loses all its magic, and that frustrates me. Sci-fi will soon become part of our lives. The only thing I can do, is to push my imagination further to even more distant time and space to hunt for the mysteries of sci-fi. As a sci-fi author, I think my job is to write things down before they get really boring.
This being said, the world is moving in the direction opposite to Clarke’s predictions. In 2001, A Space Odyssey, in the year of 2001, which has already passed, human beings have built magnificent cities in space, and established permanent colonies on the moon, and huge nuclear-powered spacecraft have sailed to Saturn. However, today, in 2018, the walk on the moon has become a distant memory. And the furthest reach of our manned space flights is just as long as the two-hour mileage of a high-speed train passing through my city.
As a sci-fi writer, I have been striving to continue Arthur Clarke’s imagination. I believe that the boundless space is still the best direction and destination for human imagination. I have always written about the magnitude and mysteries of the universe, interstellar expeditions, and the lives and civilizations happening in distant worlds. This remains today, although this may seem childish or even outdated. It says on Arthur Clarke’s epitaph,“He never grew up, but he never stopped growing.”
Many people misunderstand sci-fi as trying to predict the future, but this is not true. It just makes a list of possibilities of what may happen in the future, like displaying a pile of cobblestones for people to see and play with. Science fiction can never tell which scenario of the future will actually become the real future. This is not its job. It’s also beyond its capabilities. But one thing is certain: in the long run, for all these countless possible futures, any future without space travel is gloomy, no matter how prosperous our own planet becomes.
Sci-fi was writing about the age of digital information and it eventually became true. I now look forward to the time when space travel finally becomes the ordinary. By then, Mars and the asteroid belts will be boring places and countless people are building a home over there. Jupiter and its many satellites will be tourist attractions. The only obstacle preventing people from going there for good, will be the crazy price.
But even at that time, the universe is still unimaginably big that even our wildest imagination fails to catch its edge. And even the closest star remains out of reach. The vast ocean of stars can always carry our infinite imagination.
Thank you all.
1. What does the writer mean by the underlined sentence in the second paragraph?| A．Science technology has been developing fast before we realize it. |
| B．What happened in our life was mysterious and beyond our imagination. |
| C．We had a good outlook for the future and were desperate to realize our dream. |
| D．We managed to escape from the boring life and looked forward to the prosperous future. |
| A．What Clarke foresaw is childish and out of date, going against scientific theories. |
| B．It is feasible for human beings to fulfill challenging space missions that Clarke forecast. |
| C．Human beings have deserted imaging and exploring the attractive and boundless space. |
| D．Clarke’s predictions haven’t happened in real life and the reality won’t change very soon. |
| A．What is written in science fiction can never become a reality. |
| B．The writer considers it his duty to create sci-fi with author Clarke. |
| C．Science fiction provides readers with possibilities that future will bring about. |
| D．High price will likely stop humans from dreaming of living on other planets. |
| A．Curious | B．Passionate |
| C．Concerned | D．Suspicious |
【推荐2】It’s 2035. You have a job, a family and you’re about 40 years old. Welcome to our future life.
Getting ready for work, you pause in front of the mirror. “Turn red,” you say. Your shirt changes from sky blue to deep red. Tiny preprogrammed electronics (智能电子元件) are rearranged in your shirt to change its color. Looking into the mirror, you find it hard to believe you’re 40. You look much younger. With amazing advances in medicine, people in your generation may live to be 150 years old. You’re not even middle aged!
As you go into the kitchen and prepare to pour your breakfast cereal（谷物） into a bowl, you hear, “To lose weight, you shouldn’t eat that,” from your shoes. They read the nutrition details on the cereal box. You decide to listen to your shoes. “Kitchen, what can I have for breakfast?” A list of possible foods appears on the table as the kitchen checks its food supplies.
“Ready for your trip to space,” you ask your son and daughter. In 2021 only specially-trained astronauts went into space---and very few of them. Today anyone can go to space for daytrips or longer vacations. Your best friend even works in space. Thanks to medical advances, vaccination shots (防疫针) are a thing of the past. Ordinary foods like strawberries contain specific vaccines(疫苗). With the strawberries in their mouths, the kids head for the front door.
It’s time for you to go to work. Your car checks your fingerprints and unlocks the doors. “My office,” you command. Your car drives itself down the road and move smoothly into traffic on the highway.
1. What changes the color of your shirt?| A．The mirror. | B．The shirt itself |
| C．The counter. | D．The medicine. |
| A．By pouring the breakfast into a bowl. |
| B．By listening to the doctor’s advice. |
| C．By testing the food supplies in the kitchen. |
| D．By checking the nutrition details of the food on the cereal box. |
| A．breakfast | B．lunch | C．vaccines | D．nutrition |
| A．In order of time. | B．In order of frequency. |
| C．In order of preference. | D．In order of importance. |
【推荐3】Japan's biggest airline is betting that the future of travel isn't traveling at all. For the last month, a married couple has been interacting with a robot—called an Avatar—that's controlled by their daughter hundreds of miles away. Made by ANA Holdings Inc., it looks like a vacuum cleaner with an iPad attached. But the screen displays the daughter's face as they chat, and its wheels let her move about the house as though she's really there.
“Virtual travel” is nothing new,of course.Storytellers, travel writers and artists have been stimulating the senses of armchair tourists for centuries. It's only in recent decades that frequent, safe travel has become available to the non- wealthy.
Yet even as the world's middle classes climb out of the armchair and into economy-class seat, there are signs of a post-travel society emerging. Concerns about environmental sustainability cause loss to airlines which release much carbon. And the aging of abundant societies is both restricting physical travel and creating demand for alternative ways to experience the world. For the travel industry, virtual reality offers an attractive response to these trends.
Of course, new technologies encourage far-out claims. ANA doesn't plan to start selling Avatars until next year. Profits, too, will probably be difficult to make: By one estimate, the global market for this kind of technology will be worth only about $300 million by 2023. By contrast, ANA's traditional travel business brought in more than $19 billion last year.
But if the business value for virtual vacations is still weak, the market for technologies that bridge physical distances between families and coworkers seems likely to only expand. ANA's robots may not replace its airplanes any time soon, but they ll almost certainly be a part of travel's high-tech future.
1. Why does the author use the example of a couple interacting with a robot?| A．To show the Japanese are crazy about travel. |
| B．To indicate virtual travel begins to enter people's real life. |
| C．To show the couple are very enthusiastic over robots. |
| D．To express the close relationship between the couple and their daughter. |
| A．Storytellers, travel writers and artists have been using it for centuries. |
| B．Frequent and safe travel has become available to the ordinary people. |
| C．People are worried about the air pollution caused by airlines. |
| D．More and more people lose interest in travel. |
| A．They will be put on the market soon. |
| B．They will bring ANA a lot of money, |
| C．They will replace ANA's airplanes soon. |
| D．They are almost unavoidable in travel's future. |
| A．Your Next Travel May Be Virtual |
| B．Easy Travel in the Future |
| C．Virtual Travel Benefits |
| D．Air Travel Disappearing |
