Although the dream of the home robot has not died, robots have had their greatest impact in factories. Unimate, the first industrial robot, went to work for General Motors in 1961. Even at a time when computing power was costly, robots made excellent workers and proved that machines controlled by computers could perform some tasks better than humans. In addition, robots can work around the clock and never go on strike. There are now about 800 000 industrial robots around the world, and orders for new robots in the first half of 2007 were up a record 26% from the same period in 2006, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Demand is increasing as prices fall: a robot sold in 2007 cost less than a fifth of an equivalent robot sold in 1990, for example. Today, in car factories in Japan, Germany and Italy, there is more than one robot for every ten production workers. Similarly, agricultural robots harvest billions of tones of crops every year. There are six-legged timber cutters, tree-climbing fruit-pickers, robots that milk cows, and others that wash windows, trucks and aircraft. Industrial robotics is a 5.6 billon industry, growing by around 7% a year. But the UNECE report predicts that the highest growth over the next three years will be in domestic rather than industrial robots. Sales of such devices, it predicts will grow ten-fold between 2007 and 2010, overtaking the market for industrial robots. The broader application of robotics is becoming possible thanks to the tumbling (暴跌) cost of computing power, says Takeo Kanade. This lets programmers write more sophisticated software that delivers more intelligent robotic behavior. At the same time, he notes, the cost of camera and sensor chips has tumbled, too. "The processing power is so much better than before that some of the seemingly simple things we humans do, like recognizing faces, can begin to be done", says Dr. Kanade. While prices drop and hardware improves, research into robotic vision, control systems and communications have jumped ahead as well. America’s military and its space agency, NASA, have poured billions into robotic research and related fields such as computer vision. The Spirit and Opportunity Rovers (漫游者) exploring Mars can pick their way across the surface to reach a specific destination. Their human masters do not specify the route; instead, the robots are programmed to identify and avoid obstacles themselves. The new trend in robotic development in the coming future is that robots will______.
A. become more and more popular among families
B. be made just like the ones in Hollywood movies
C. be used more widely in agricultural, contexts
D. be able to do housework with high intelligence
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Scientific research has revealed that throughout the animal world, communication is just as important as it is to human beings. Countless animals lack the(67) for human speech, yet they employ entirely different methods in order to communicate (68) each other. Some of the most dramatic examples of this are provided by birds. There are roughly 10 000 (69) of birds in the world, each of which has its own miraculous features. (70) you may live, you can see a great number of these feathered creatures and can (71) different and extraordinary properties. In addition to their flawless flight mechanisms, expertise (72) the routes and timing of migrations, and ability to build nests, their methods to communicate is (73) wonder. At critical times in birds’ lives, their (74) of hearing becomes particularly important. Experiments have shown that in order for birds to learn the (75) song of their own species, they need an auditory feedback system. (76) this system, young birds learn to (77) the sounds they produce with the song they have memorized. If they were (78) , it wouldn’t normally be (79) for them to recognize songs. Birds’ extremely sensitive hearing functions perfectly. Clearly, if this sense failed to (80) properly, the bird would not be able to hear any sounds (81) Moreover, birds also produce (82) communications by their facial expressions, beak movements, feather ruffling, and (83) their wings. Although each species has its own body language, many different species (84) movements in the same way. Via facial expression, birds can (85) a variety of messages to those around them--negative feelings such as dislike and resentment, as well as (86) ones like pleasure, enthusiasm and curiosity.
A. listen
B. equal
C. compare
D. match
Questions 11 to 18 are based on the conversation yon have just heard.
A. He didn’t have enough money
B. Radios of all, brands were sold out then.
C. He couldn’t get the right brand of radio.
D. The store will sell the radio tomorrow.
Although the dream of the home robot has not died, robots have had their greatest impact in factories. Unimate, the first industrial robot, went to work for General Motors in 1961. Even at a time when computing power was costly, robots made excellent workers and proved that machines controlled by computers could perform some tasks better than humans. In addition, robots can work around the clock and never go on strike. There are now about 800 000 industrial robots around the world, and orders for new robots in the first half of 2007 were up a record 26% from the same period in 2006, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Demand is increasing as prices fall: a robot sold in 2007 cost less than a fifth of an equivalent robot sold in 1990, for example. Today, in car factories in Japan, Germany and Italy, there is more than one robot for every ten production workers. Similarly, agricultural robots harvest billions of tones of crops every year. There are six-legged timber cutters, tree-climbing fruit-pickers, robots that milk cows, and others that wash windows, trucks and aircraft. Industrial robotics is a 5.6 billon industry, growing by around 7% a year. But the UNECE report predicts that the highest growth over the next three years will be in domestic rather than industrial robots. Sales of such devices, it predicts will grow ten-fold between 2007 and 2010, overtaking the market for industrial robots. The broader application of robotics is becoming possible thanks to the tumbling (暴跌) cost of computing power, says Takeo Kanade. This lets programmers write more sophisticated software that delivers more intelligent robotic behavior. At the same time, he notes, the cost of camera and sensor chips has tumbled, too. "The processing power is so much better than before that some of the seemingly simple things we humans do, like recognizing faces, can begin to be done", says Dr. Kanade. While prices drop and hardware improves, research into robotic vision, control systems and communications have jumped ahead as well. America’s military and its space agency, NASA, have poured billions into robotic research and related fields such as computer vision. The Spirit and Opportunity Rovers (漫游者) exploring Mars can pick their way across the surface to reach a specific destination. Their human masters do not specify the route; instead, the robots are programmed to identify and avoid obstacles themselves. The sales of robots have been on the rise chiefly because______.
A. the technology robots use is really advanced
B. robots greatly increase the efficiency in factories
C. robots are becoming economically available
D. most car factories around the world need robots
Scientific research has revealed that throughout the animal world, communication is just as important as it is to human beings. Countless animals lack the(67) for human speech, yet they employ entirely different methods in order to communicate (68) each other. Some of the most dramatic examples of this are provided by birds. There are roughly 10 000 (69) of birds in the world, each of which has its own miraculous features. (70) you may live, you can see a great number of these feathered creatures and can (71) different and extraordinary properties. In addition to their flawless flight mechanisms, expertise (72) the routes and timing of migrations, and ability to build nests, their methods to communicate is (73) wonder. At critical times in birds’ lives, their (74) of hearing becomes particularly important. Experiments have shown that in order for birds to learn the (75) song of their own species, they need an auditory feedback system. (76) this system, young birds learn to (77) the sounds they produce with the song they have memorized. If they were (78) , it wouldn’t normally be (79) for them to recognize songs. Birds’ extremely sensitive hearing functions perfectly. Clearly, if this sense failed to (80) properly, the bird would not be able to hear any sounds (81) Moreover, birds also produce (82) communications by their facial expressions, beak movements, feather ruffling, and (83) their wings. Although each species has its own body language, many different species (84) movements in the same way. Via facial expression, birds can (85) a variety of messages to those around them--negative feelings such as dislike and resentment, as well as (86) ones like pleasure, enthusiasm and curiosity.
A. deaf
B. dull
C. dumb
D. numb