When you think of a robot, do you envision ashiny, metallic device having the same general shape as a human being,perfming humanlike functions, responding to your questions in a monotonevoice accentuated by high-pitched tones beeps? This is the way many of usimagine a robot, but in the real wld, a robot is not humanoid at all. Insteada robot often is a voiceless, box-shaped machine that efficiently carries outrepetitive dangerous functions usually perfmed by humans. Today’s robot is me than an automatic machine that perfms one taskagain again. A modern robot is programmed with varying degrees ofartificial intelligence—that is, a robot contains acomputer program that tells it how to perfm tasks associated with human intelligence,such as reasoning, drawing conclusions, learning from past experience.
A robot does not possess a human shape fthe simple reason that a two-legged robot has great difficulty remainingbalanced. A robot does, however, move from place to place on wheels axlesthat roll rotate. A robot even has limbs that swivel move incombination with ts mots. To find its way in its surroundings1, arobot utilizes various built-in senss. Antennae attached to the robot’s base detect anything they bump into. If the robot starts to teeteras it moves on an incline, a gyroscope a pendulum inside it senses thevertical differential. To determine its distance from an object how quicklyit will reach the object，the robot bounces beams oflaser light ultrasonic sound waves off obstructions in its path2. These other senss constantly feed infmation to the computer, which then analyzesthe infmation crects adjusts the robot’sactions. As science technology advance, the robot too will progress in itsfunctions use of artificial-intelligence programs.
詞匯：
envision v. 想象，預想
device n. 裝置
accentuate v. 強調，重讀
artificial intelligence n. 人工智能
limb n. 臂
antennae n. 天線
incline v. 傾斜
pendulum n. 鐘擺
ultrasonic adj. 超聲的
metallic adj. 金屬的
monotone n. 單調的
humanoid adj. 像人的
axle n. 輪軸
rotate v. 旋轉
swivel n. 旋轉
teeter v. 搖晃
gyroscope n. 陀螺儀，回轉儀
vertical n. 直立的
注釋：
1.To find its way in its surroundings...：為了在周圍找到路……
2.the robot bounces beams of laser light ultrasonic sound waves off obstructions in its path：機器人發(fā)射激光束和超聲波，反射到障礙物上(以此來探知路徑)。
練習：
1.Another good title f this passage wouldbe
A Robots: Taking thePlace of Humans.
B ArtificialIntelligence Programs.
C Today’s Robots How They Function.
D Modern-Day Senss.
2.Artificial intelligence is
A the unnatural wayin which robots move.
B a voiceless,box-shaped machine that perfms repetitive tasks.
C senss such asantennae a gyroscope.
D a computer programthat imitates human intellectual processes.
3.The last paragraph suggests that futurerobots will be
A me humanlike inbehavi actions.
B me like automaticmachines.
C better able to moveon inclines.
D better equippedwith laser light senss.
4.The writer begins the passage by comparing
A the shape of ahuman being with a box.
B a modem robot witha fictional robot.
C an imaginarymachine with a human.
D a computer programwith artificial intelligence.
5.The wd humanoid means
A lacking humanacteristics.
B anything having theappearance of a humanoid.
C being void vacant.
D having a human fm acteristics.
答案與題解：
1.C 從文中得知，文章主要介紹了機器人和它們的運行方式，因此選擇C選項。
2.D Artificial是“人工”的意思，intelligence是“智能”的意思。另外從文中得知，機器人使用artificialintelligence能夠進行與人類類似的推理分析等活動，因此可知它是一種類似人類智能的計算機程序。
3.A 最后一段講機器人的發(fā)展方向是更加智能，能夠自己判斷并修正行為，而不僅僅是完成重復性的工作。
4.B 文章開頭的時候作者讓讀者描述他們腦海中的機器人概念，并隨后介紹了實際的機器人是怎樣的，因此選擇B選項。
5.D 從humanoid的詞根human可看出這個詞是形容與人類有關的特征。另外根據文章對這個詞的描述可以得出這個詞是表示和人類類似的特征，不管是外形上，還是行為方式上。
A robot does not possess a human shape fthe simple reason that a two-legged robot has great difficulty remainingbalanced. A robot does, however, move from place to place on wheels axlesthat roll rotate. A robot even has limbs that swivel move incombination with ts mots. To find its way in its surroundings1, arobot utilizes various built-in senss. Antennae attached to the robot’s base detect anything they bump into. If the robot starts to teeteras it moves on an incline, a gyroscope a pendulum inside it senses thevertical differential. To determine its distance from an object how quicklyit will reach the object，the robot bounces beams oflaser light ultrasonic sound waves off obstructions in its path2. These other senss constantly feed infmation to the computer, which then analyzesthe infmation crects adjusts the robot’sactions. As science technology advance, the robot too will progress in itsfunctions use of artificial-intelligence programs.
詞匯：
envision v. 想象，預想
device n. 裝置
accentuate v. 強調，重讀
artificial intelligence n. 人工智能
limb n. 臂
antennae n. 天線
incline v. 傾斜
pendulum n. 鐘擺
ultrasonic adj. 超聲的
metallic adj. 金屬的
monotone n. 單調的
humanoid adj. 像人的
axle n. 輪軸
rotate v. 旋轉
swivel n. 旋轉
teeter v. 搖晃
gyroscope n. 陀螺儀，回轉儀
vertical n. 直立的
注釋：
1.To find its way in its surroundings...：為了在周圍找到路……
2.the robot bounces beams of laser light ultrasonic sound waves off obstructions in its path：機器人發(fā)射激光束和超聲波，反射到障礙物上(以此來探知路徑)。
練習：
1.Another good title f this passage wouldbe
A Robots: Taking thePlace of Humans.
B ArtificialIntelligence Programs.
C Today’s Robots How They Function.
D Modern-Day Senss.
2.Artificial intelligence is
A the unnatural wayin which robots move.
B a voiceless,box-shaped machine that perfms repetitive tasks.
C senss such asantennae a gyroscope.
D a computer programthat imitates human intellectual processes.
3.The last paragraph suggests that futurerobots will be
A me humanlike inbehavi actions.
B me like automaticmachines.
C better able to moveon inclines.
D better equippedwith laser light senss.
4.The writer begins the passage by comparing
A the shape of ahuman being with a box.
B a modem robot witha fictional robot.
C an imaginarymachine with a human.
D a computer programwith artificial intelligence.
5.The wd humanoid means
A lacking humanacteristics.
B anything having theappearance of a humanoid.
C being void vacant.
D having a human fm acteristics.
答案與題解：
1.C 從文中得知，文章主要介紹了機器人和它們的運行方式，因此選擇C選項。
2.D Artificial是“人工”的意思，intelligence是“智能”的意思。另外從文中得知，機器人使用artificialintelligence能夠進行與人類類似的推理分析等活動，因此可知它是一種類似人類智能的計算機程序。
3.A 最后一段講機器人的發(fā)展方向是更加智能，能夠自己判斷并修正行為，而不僅僅是完成重復性的工作。
4.B 文章開頭的時候作者讓讀者描述他們腦海中的機器人概念，并隨后介紹了實際的機器人是怎樣的，因此選擇B選項。
5.D 從humanoid的詞根human可看出這個詞是形容與人類有關的特征。另外根據文章對這個詞的描述可以得出這個詞是表示和人類類似的特征，不管是外形上，還是行為方式上。