4. A. Read the text and choose the most suitable title.

1. Will Robots Replace Humans in the Future&

2. Historical Background of Robots

3. Robots – the Ideal Workers?

We hear many complaints about work in factories; the work is often "boring, heavy and repetitive; the operative doesn't have to think about the work; he gets no job satisfaction.

The answer is a robot. For many jobs a robot is much better than human operative. Once it has been programmed, it will do its job over and over again. It never gets bored; it works at a constant speed; it doesn't make mistakes; its work is always of the same standard; it doesn't get tired; it can work 24 hours a day without breaks for food, rest or sleep.

Robots have other advantages, too. They are designed to do almost any job. You can't change the human body, but a robot's arms, for example, can be made to move in any direction. Robots also do very heavy work and they can operate in conditions that are too dangerous, too hot or too cold for people to work in. They work under water, in poisonous gas and in radioactive areas.

It is obvious that robots have many advantages over human beings. However, it is also true that humans can do many things that robots can't. For example, humans can carry out a task without having to be told exactly how to do it first – in other words, they don't always have to be programmed.

Humans can move, but robots are usually fixed in one place. If they are able to move, robots do it only in a very limited way. Unlike robots, people can know whether what they are doing is good or bad, and whether it is boring or interesting. Also robots are only just beginning to be able to understand speech and writing, but humans communicate easily with each other by these methods, and by many others – telephone, drawing, radio, and so on – as well.

And we should not forget that robots owe their existence to humans – we make them, repair them and control them, not the other way round.

B. Answer the following questions.

1. Why operative doesn’t get job satisfaction?

2. Why robot is much better than human operative?

3. What advantages do robots have?

4. What things can humans do that robots can't?

C. Give your view of ideal robot.

5. A. Read the text and name the advantages of Makiis. The robot that’s facing the future

How can we apply the new technology of robotics to old problems? That’s now an option on offer to engineering students at the University of Central Lancashire, and already this novel subject is inspiring revolutionary ideas.

In the heart of the hi-tech north-west’s aerospace industry, students are imagining new possibilities. Imagine being able to be in two places at the same time. Or having another version of yourself doing all the jobs you’re not keen to do.

These ideas are, thanks to new and surprisingly inexpensive technologies, finally becoming possible, and that’s part of the thinking behind ‘Makiis’.

An acronym for Makroskopic Intelligent Interaction System, Makiis is a popular name for boys in Greece – and also is a prototype ‘telepresence’ robot which allows people to interact with others anywhere in the world. We think Makiis is one of the world’s first robots that can provide enhanced human-like interaction and presence at a distance.

The fantastic thing about Makiis is that it instantaneously allows people to transport their ‘presence’ to another location. But Makiis is different to other telepresence robots; it is more than just ‘Skype on wheels’ because it also hears where sounds come from and turns to face them automatically, exactly as a human would do.

Makiis is one example of how modern technology is being used to break down traditional barriers to learning.

B. Which of these ideas are not mentioned in the text.

1. The engineering students at the University of Central Lancashire are working at the problem of robotics.

2. Robot is a machine which has a specific program.

3. New possibilities in the sphere of robotics are becoming possible.

4. Makiis is an acronym.

5. The task of Makiis is to perform scientific research, particularly in the handling of radioactive or other hazardous materials.

6. Makiis is to break down traditional barriers to learning.

7. Robots have already taken human form, but they do not have minds of their own.