2019年高考英语一轮复习 Unit 2 Robots分层演练直击高考 新人教版选修7.docVIP

Unit 2 Robots 阅读理解 （2018·武昌高三调研） Kanda really doesn’t like to walk alone.The scientist from a research institute of intelligent robots finds the experience so boring that he’d rather drive—even though he lives close to his lab and knows that walking is healthy.“I enjoy walking with someone，like with my wife，with my daughter，” Kanda said.“But they are not always available.” So Kanda，who specializes in human-like bots，developed a robotic walking partner that could make small talk based on its surroundings，which，he hopes，might motivate people to get out and exercise more.The bot rests on a person’s shoulder like a boxy parrot.It weighs about a pound and a half and sits roughly 8.5 inches high，and is 3.5 inches wide and 10 inches long.A microphone，a speaker，and an internal camera allow it to communicate.It’s even equipped with a smile. Kanda and his team collected video from five different locations，including a garden and a shopping mall，and created a dataset of small talk topics related to each location.Then they programmed the robot to associate visual cues with specific topics.A special speech software provided the robot with a voice.Near a group of parked cars，for example，it might say，“In a big parking lot， sometimes I forget where I parked.” They tested the robot on 15 volunteers，10 males and 5 females，who were paid and averaged about 26 years old.“Have you ever blown a puff of dandelion（蒲公英） seeds into the air？”The robot asked a participanthen I was a child.” Although several participants noted the robot’s weight，Kanda was surprised that no one considered the experience strange or funny.“I guess people enjoy new technologies，” he said. Just like a human partner，Kanda’s bot isn’t perfect.It’s not able to go for walks in heavy rain and，while the robot can make expressions，it can’t really hold a conversation，about which Kanda is most worried.Despite its limits，Kanda was comforted by the bot’s presence.“I felt a kind of sense of being with someone，” he said，“particul