Reading

1. Read the text.

2. Guess the meaning of the underlined words.

3. Define true and false sentences:

(a) The first digitally operated and programmable robot, the Unimate, was installed in 1958.

(b) Fully autonomous machines only appeared in the 18th century

(c) Robots are not widely use today.

(d) A robot is a mechanical or virtual artificial agent

(e) Robots are widely used in manufacturing, assembly and packing, transport, earth and space exploration.

(f) the Unimate lifted hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them.

(g) The word robot can refer to both physical robots and virtual software agents.

Speaking

1. Answer the following questions:

(a) Do you imagine your life without robots?

(b) When appeared the first autonomous machines?

(c) Would you like to have your own robot at home? Why?

(d) Do you agree with that statement that robots will work at factories and plants instead of people in the nearest future?

(e) What do you think about automatic parts of body?

(f) What can you say about commercial robots?

(g) Do you see any disadvantages of robot?

(h) Do robots use in transport, surgery and space exploration?

(i) Does our life become easier with robots?

2. Ask your partner questions about:

(a) the first digitally operated and programmable robot ; (b) the Unimate; (c) robots in surgery ; (d) robots in transport ; (e) robots in cosmos ; (f) future robots ;

3. Retell the text.

4. How do you understand the joke? Discuss it with your partner.

An IBM customer had troubles installing software and rang for support. "I put in the first disk, and that was OK. It said to put in the second disk, and I had some problems with the disk, but I squeezed it in. When it said to put in the third disk - I couldn't even fit it in..." The user hadn't realized that "Insert Disk 2" meant to remove Disk 1 first.

Grammar Past Simple

Past Simple Tense is used to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past. You state when it happened using a time adverb.

You form the Past Simple Tense of a verb by adding -ed onto the end of a regular verb but, irregular verb forms have to be learned.

Statements.Verb To be

+Statements – Statements Questions/?

I was. I wasn't. Was I?

He was. He wasn't. Was he?

She was. She wasn't. Was she?

It was. It wasn't. Was it?

You were. You weren't. Were you?

We were. We weren't. Were we?

They were. They weren't. Were they?

Regular Verb to work

+Statements – Statements Questions +Short answer – Short answer

I worked. I didn't work. Did I work? Yes, I did. No, I didn't.

He worked. He didn't work. Did he work? Yes, he did. No, he didn't.

She worked. She didn't work. Did she work? Yes, she did. No, she didn't.

It worked. It didn't work. Did it work? Yes, it did. No, it didn't.

You worked. You didn't work. Did you work? Yes, you did. No, you didn't.

We worked. We didn't work. Did we work? Yes, we did. No, we didn't.

They worked. They didn't work. Did they work? Yes, they did. No, they didn't.

Past Simple Tense Timeline

For example:

"Last year I took my exams."

"I got married in 1992."

It can be used to describe events that happened over a period of time in the past but not now.

For example:

"I lived in South Africa for two years."

The Past Simple Tense is also used to talk about habitual or repeated actions that took place in the past.

For example:

"When I was a child we always went to the seaside on bank holidays."