Robots in class

    Over 600,000 children in the United States spend their long time in hospital each year．Many of them say that they have difficult in returning to school after hospital stays．Thanks to technology，kids who are sick in the hospital no longer have to miss time in the classroom．

    A program called PEBBLES makes it possible for kids in hospital to take part in classroom discussions by using robot．PEBBLES(Providing Education by Bringing Environments to Students)supplies robots to help kids who are staying in hospital keep up with their classmates．

    For Achim Nurse，a 13-yers-old patient at Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla，New York，PEBBLES helped him so much．When he first learned about the program，he wasn’t so sure it would work．    

   “When I first saw it，it looked difficult，”said Achim．

    However，after 30 minutes of working with the robot，Achim discovered that he had gotten good at operating it．

    The robots work in pairs—一one in the hospital with the student，the other in the classroom．

    The robot in the classroom gives the student in the hospital a feel of“tele-presence．”A live picture of the students is shown on a video screen in the classroom．Meanwhile，in the hospital room，the student knows clear about what is going on in the classroom．

    The robot at the school has four wheels．so it can move around from class to class．Its“face” is an auto-focus(可以自动调焦的)camera．By using a control box，the student call turn the robot’s head，raise its hand，and adjust the volume(音量)．It is even equipped with a scanner(扫描器)and printer，so if the teacher want to have an exercise or testing class，the student can participate from the hospital．

   “The robot is greeted by students in the classroom．It is also greeted by the sick student。”said Andrew Summa，national director of the robot project．

根据短文内容完成下面各题。

1．Try to use the phrase underlined in the first paragraph to make a sentence．

2．Guess the Chinese meaning of“keep up with”．

3．The robot is greeted by students in the classroom．It is also greeted by the student in the hospital．(改写为同义句)

4．According to the passage，we can know that____

  A．We can operate this kind of robot easily．   

  B．the student in hospital cannot adjust the volume by using control box．

  C．The teacher wants to have a test in the class now. Although the student in the hospital has this kind of robot，he also cannot participate it．

5．What do you think of the robot project in the United States? Do you think it can help sick students? What do you think are its limitations?

Not long ago, the only time you could see a robot was when you were reading a novel or watching a movie such as Star Wars (星球大战) . Today, however, a lot of things in science stories have been science facts. Robots are starting to appear in our everyday lives. These robots have different sizes, shapes, and colors. But they all have the same type of man-made “brain”. Leading the robot revolution （革命）are industrial(企业) robots that work in factories. Industrial（工业） robots can do different kinds of jobs that are often boring and sometimes dangerous. Robots are also coming to American homes, though not as quickly as they are entering factories. These robots aren’t as friendly and bright as those you saw in  Star Wars. But, their makers say, today’s home robots “walk”, sense objects(感知物体) in their way (and sometimes knock into them), and even carry objects (which they sometimes drop). Well, nobody is perfect.
We may laugh at home robot today, but some day they may see and hear better than humans do. We humans can only see certain wavelengths（波长） of light, and hear certain sounds. That’s because the abilities of our eyes and ears are limited. Robots, however, need not have the same limits as we have. Robot may also be equipped with devices that pick up information humans can’t. To understand what their sensing devices(传感器) pick up is a hard job. Remember, man—made brains handle(处理)information, including all kinds of data, as zeroes and ones. Imagine the difficulty in trying to explain to a robot what a football looks like—using only zeroes and ones.
【小题1】 From the passage, we can see that factory robots _________.

A．help to improve other types of robots

B．are most active in industrial revolution

C．are playing a more important role than other types of robots

D．are the tallest type among robots

【小题2】 It seems that home robots are __________________.

A．more widely used than factory robots

B．less common than factory robots

C．capable of doing any kind of housework

D．free from making mistakes while performing(执行) duties

【小题3】 Robots may deal with information that humans can’t. Which of the following is not one of the reasons?

A．They do not have so many limits as humans do.

B．They have man-made brains.

C．They may be equipped with a special kind of sensing device.

D．They handle information by using zeroes and ones.

【小题4】The development of robots suggests that _________.

A．science and technology are developing fast

B．people are interested in new inventions

C．machines are more capable than humans

D．robots can be very interesting

【小题5】 According to this passage, present home robots ________.

A．are better than human in seeing and hearing

B．are as capable as those in Star Wars

C．can pick up objects more quickly than humans

D．sometimes perform wrong actions

	Friday  January 28.2011
	China's world number seven Li Na became the first Chinese tennis player to reach a Grand Slam final at this year's Australian Open. "It was the first match  easy or tough? Nothing between." said Li, who has defeated Zahlavpva Strycova on her way to the Australian Open final.
	Tuesday March 5\2011
	Besides China, more than 70 countries have offered Japan help after the earthquake. Two US search and rescue teams, with 144 stuff and 12 dogs, have begun work; The southern Afghan city of Kandahar announced it would donate (捐赠) $50.000 to die "brothers and sisters" of Japan
	Thursday May 19,2011
	Canada pop star Justin. Bieber got a hugely disappointing greeting when he arrived in Hong Kon8 on Wednesday. Just seven fans showed up at the city's airport to greet Bieber. Bieber's concert—one of the last shows in his "My World" tour—is on Friday in Hong Kong,
	Monday May 30. 2011
	A serious drought aloft] the Yang River has affected over 34 million people, leaving farmers and livestocks (牲畜) without water. Over 4.23 million people are having difficulty finding enough drinking water, |while more than 5 million need help to tight against the drought.

【小题1】Li Na__,

A．is one of the top table tennis players in the world

B．is the first player to reach a Grand Slam final

C．didn't say anything about the match

D．beat Zahlavpva Strycova on her way to the Australian Open final

【小题2】Two search and rescue teams from_______ have begun work in Japan,

A．Australia

B．the US

C．the UK

D．Afghanistan

【小题3】Justin Bieber might feel_______ when he arrived at Hong Kong airport.

A．disappointed

B．happy

C．excited

D．bored

【小题4】When a drought happens, people are short of________.

A．money

B．oil

C．food

D．water

【小题5】Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the news''

A．An Afghan city of Kandahar will donate $50,000 to Japan.

B．More than 4.23 million people find it difficult to get enough drinking water,

C．All the Chinese were proud of Li Na after she won the match.

D．The concert Bieber will have in Hong Kong is one of his last shows in his "My World'' tour.

Not long ago, the only time you could see a robot was when you were reading a novel or watching a movie such as Star Wars (星球大战) . Today, however, a lot of things in science stories have been science facts. Robots are starting to appear in our everyday lives. These robots have different sizes, shapes, and colors. But they all have the same type of man-made “brain”. Leading the robot revolution （革命）are industrial(企业) robots that work in factories. Industrial（工业） robots can do different kinds of jobs that are often boring and sometimes dangerous. Robots are also coming to American homes, though not as quickly as they are entering factories. These robots aren’t as friendly and bright as those you saw in  Star Wars. But, their makers say, today’s home robots “walk”, sense objects(感知物体) in their way (and sometimes knock into them), and even carry objects (which they sometimes drop). Well, nobody is perfect.
We may laugh at home robot today, but some day they may see and hear better than humans do. We humans can only see certain wavelengths（波长） of light, and hear certain sounds. That’s because the abilities of our eyes and ears are limited. Robots, however, need not have the same limits as we have. Robot may also be equipped with devices that pick up information humans can’t. To understand what their sensing devices(传感器) pick up is a hard job. Remember, man—made brains handle(处理)information, including all kinds of data, as zeroes and ones. Imagine the difficulty in trying to explain to a robot what a football looks like—using only zeroes and ones.
【小题1】 From the passage, we can see that factory robots _________.

A．help to improve other types of robots

B．are most active in industrial revolution

C．are playing a more important role than other types of robots

D．are the tallest type among robots

【小题2】 It seems that home robots are __________________.

A．more widely used than factory robots

B．less common than factory robots

C．capable of doing any kind of housework

D．free from making mistakes while performing(执行) duties

【小题3】 Robots may deal with information that humans can’t. Which of the following is not one of the reasons?

A．They do not have so many limits as humans do.

B．They have man-made brains.

C．They may be equipped with a special kind of sensing device.

D．They handle information by using zeroes and ones.

【小题4】The development of robots suggests that _________.

A．science and technology are developing fast

B．people are interested in new inventions

C．machines are more capable than humans

D．robots can be very interesting

【小题5】 According to this passage, present home robots ________.

A．are better than human in seeing and hearing

B．are as capable as those in Star Wars

C．can pick up objects more quickly than humans

D．sometimes perform wrong actions