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  3. Robots have been the stuff of popular culture for so long that We think of them mostly as a fun. In the next decade they will fi

Robots have been the stuff of popular culture for so long that We think of them mostly as a fun. In the next decade they will fi

admin2010-04-28  28
问题    Robots have been the stuff of popular culture for so long that We think of them mostly as a fun. In the next decade they will finally become practical beyond factory assembly lines. Granted, they won’t perform the wonderous stunts they do in movies; the first generation of "real" robots may seem a bit crude. But by the end of the decade, we may well encounter tiny robots cooking hamburgers in fast - food restaurants, mopping up shopping malls, even delivering meal trays in hospitals.
   Two factors are pushing the development of robotics: technology and economics. Artificial intelligence is the key to a successful robot, but some of the simplest tasks for a human mind are difficult for a robot. One example: the ability to look at the comer of a room, where walls and ceiling meet, and know that the corner goes in, not out. Easy for humans, very tough for real -world R2D25. But new neural-network computers, which more closely resemble the human brain ,look particularly promising for teaching robots how to adapt to: their surroundings.
   Economics is the key to the acceptance of robots. As declining birthrates lead to a shortage of entry- level workers in much of the industrialized world, researchers are designing robots that can manage at least portions of such jobs as burger flippers or hospital orderlies.
   Fast -food robots will probably cook and package food; humans will still greet the public at the counter and make incorrect change.
   By the late 90’s,improved robots will be inexpensive enough to serve as aides for the disabled, giving even quadriplegics the ability to feed themselves and perform office work. Not all robots will be so benign. Another model in production is a security guard designed to wander deserted warehouses and signal a human guard when it encounters intruders. At least one American firm has designed an armed security robot capable of firing a weapon.
   And the long-promised home robot? This little electronic servant, capable of delivering a frosty beer from the fridge, picking up the kids’ toys and washing the occasional window, probably won’t be a mass - market item in the 90’s--unless we modify our homes to accommodate them. Every room would need to have tiny radio beacons to tell the robot where it is, and staircases would need special construction for easy robot access. Sound unlikely? Perhaps. But in 1890 a person might have thought it unlikely if he had been told that the entire urban landscape of the planet would be modified to accommodate the automobile.
What’s the author’s attitude towards long-promised home robot?
选项 A、Optimistic
B、Pessimistic
C、Skeptical.
D、Disbelieving.
答案A
解析 在听力原文的最后一段中先谈到了家用机器人的普及所面临的难题，即要改变家里的设备构造。作者用了“sound unlikely perhaps”这么一个—问一答的句式，看似一种否定和怀疑，但紧接的一句话即早在1890年，如果有人被告知整个地球的城市地形构造，将被改变以适应汽车的需要，他也会觉得不可能，言下之意即汽车都能改变城市规划，何况家用机器人呢?从这一句话可以推断作者对家用机器人的前景还是比较乐观的，因此选A。
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