Suplemetary Reading Text 1

Robot Characteristics

Read this short text, then match each robot type with the appropriate definition.

Classification of types of robot

One way of classifying robots is in terms of their similarity to humans. An automator is any machine capable of operating independently, such as clothes dryer. A flexible machine is a special case of an automator with different capabilities that can be programmed as the need arises. An example is a welding robot on the factory floor that can be programmed to participate in other production operations. A mobile robot is a flexible machine capable of moving freely in its own environment. It can partly select its own goals and communicates with other agents, including humans. An android or humanoid is a mobile robot whose structure approximately resembles a human structure. Finally, a cyborg is a humanoid with organic structures. Cyborgs have some physiological structures similar to those of humans.

1.	___	Mobile robot	a)	Machine capable of independent operation following a predetermined series of behaviours, e.g. a cuckoo clock
2.	___	Cyborg	b)	Flexible machine capable of moving and communicating with humans, e.g. a sentry robot
3.	___	Automator	c)	Humanoid having both organic and inorganic structures, with some physiological similarity to humans
4.	___	Flexible machine	d)	Mobile robot of human proportions
5.	___	Android Humanoid	e)	Versatile, programmable automator, e.g. an assembly robot

Text 2

“Just press a button and Micro Mum will wake you up, make the tea, read the news, pay the bills and cook the bacon just the way you like it…”

Skim this short text and answer these questions:

1. Was the passage intended for:

1. specialists

2. students

3. general readers

4. academics and others with an interest in science

5. schoolchildren?

2. Is the purpose of the extract:

1. to teach a subject

2. to interest people in a new subject

3. to provide new information

4. to persuade people to adopt a particular point of view

5. to tell people how to do something?

3. Does the extract assume that the reader:

1. has a scientific background

2. is familiar with the nature and use of microprocessors

3. already knows about calculators and robots

4. has a specialist knowledge of the devices used to store data?

The robot age has begun – thanks to the silicon chip, which can do the work of a massive computer bank. Already the cheap brainpower of these quarter-inch chips – called microprocessors – has put a calculator in almost everyone's pocket and created a £25 million industry for TV games.

Imagine your home being run by an electronic Micro Mother.

A push-button brain that organizes the shopping and the cooking, pays the bills, and even remembers your birthday!

And imagine all the household chores being handled by a robot Mrs Mop that washes the floor, cleans the carpet and even mows the lawn!

No, it's not just a futuristic dream – tomorrow's world is already here…

Micro Mum and Mrs Mop are the forerunners of the first generation of computerized home robots created by the silicon chip.