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题型:阅读理解-阅读单选 难度:0.85 引用次数:40 题号:19745734

Nao, a small robot, looks like a person. If Nao begged you not to shut it off, what would you do? Would you follow its wishes?

Scientists did a study to see how people treat robots that act like people. Eighty-nine people volunteered for the study. They were asked to help to improve Nao’s social skills by finishing two tasks with it.

The tasks with the robot didn’t matter, though. What the scientists really wanted to see was how the participants (参与者) reacted once the tasks were over. They were asked to talk with Nao and finally shut Nao off but it was not easy to do. Some people did not want to turn the robot off while others take a long time to do it.

People often communicate with non-human objects such as TVs and computers nowadays. But robots seem more human than TVs. Robots can show social characters themselves, like speaking with human voices or taking the shape of a human body. Scientists said people might have seen Nao’s cries as a sign of independent thought. In turn, this could have led people to see the robot as having human-like characters. For thousands of years, humans have lived in a world where they are the only ones who could have conversations, the study said. Our brains have learned to react to social situations in a certain way. But our brains are not used to telling the difference between the real people and fake people. The robot expresses feelings and desires, which gets people to want to treat the robot as if it was alive.

1. What’s the purpose of the study?
A.To test how fast human-like robots do tasks.
B.To improve human-like robots’ facial expressions.
C.To invent human-like robots to keep people company.
D.To learn how people might respond to human-like robots.
2. In the study, what is special about the participants behavior?
A.They had feelings for Nao.
B.They refused Nao’s requests.
C.They shut Nao off immediately.
D.They praised Nao’s social skills.
3. What does the underlined word “fake” in the last paragraph probably mean?
A.Not active.B.Not tall.C.Not real.D.Not smart.
4. The test is most probably taken from a magazine about ________.
A.healthy lifestylesB.popular science
C.sport eventsD.successful people
【知识点】 发明与创造 说明文

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