Advanced English Reading and Comprehension

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1
Artiicial Intelligence: Can machines think? 183

13 · 7


EXERCISE

Reading for interpretation and inferenceIndicate which of the following
statements about robots are positive (+) and which are negative (−).


  1. “The theme of crazed, uncontrollable killing machines bent on their creators’
    destruction continued in the science-iction novels and movies of the 1950s.”

  2. “... such inventions, as amazing as they were, ended up in various museums as
    objects of curiosity.”

  3. “Although the Cart could sense what was in front of it, follow a white line and
    eventually compute the best path to its goal, it functioned poorly in an uncontrolled
    environment.”

  4. “... advanced robotic systems and custom-built robots perform repetitive jobs
    around the clock that require a high degree of precision and lawlessness.”

  5. “Built for amusement parks, Asimo remained a remote-controlled puppet rather than
    a truly autonomous creature.”

  6. “Vision systems equipped with a video camera can distinguish colors, but cannot tell
    the diference between a baseball and an orange.”

  7. “A machine is still a machine, and in the inal analysis, a machine lacks the spark
    of life.”

  8. “... humans and machines could merge in the future like the cyborgs of science
    iction, as robotic components are integrated into our bodies for medical purposes
    or as a means of enhancing our abilities to see, hear, and move.”


Reading strategies


Summarizing


13 · 8


EXERCISE

Summarizing Condense and summarize each of the following passages from the
reading text, using techniques covered in Chapters 6 through 12.


  1. “Beginning with the steam engine in 1705, the Industrial Revolution brought about massive
    economic and social changes that continued into the twentieth century. With the train and
    automobile came increasing urbanization and mobility, and the telegraph—and later the
    telephone, radio, and television—enabled people to communicate over long distances.”

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