Like most robots, social robots use artificial intelligence to decide how to act on information received through cameras and other sensors. The ability to respond in ways that seem lifelike has been informed by research into such issues as how perceptions (知觉) form, what constitutes social and emotional intelligence, and how people can infer others’ thoughts and feelings. Advances in Al have enabled designers to translate such psychological and neuroscientific insights into algorithms that allow robots to recognize voices, feces and emotions; interpret speech and gestures; respond appropriately to complex verbal and nonverbal cues; make eye contact; speak conversationally; and adapt to people’s needs by learning from feedback, rewards and criticisms.
A 47-inch humanoid (类人物) called Pepper (from SoftBank Robotics) recognizes faces and basic human emotions and engages in conversations via a touch screen in its “chest,” About 15,000 Peppers worldwide perform such services as hotel check-ins, airport customer service, shopping assistance and fast-food checkout. Temi (from Temi USA) and Loomo (Segway Robotics) are the next generation of personal assistants—like Amazon Echo and Google Home but mobile, providing a new level of functionality. Loomo, for instance, is not only a companion but can also transform on command into a scooter (小型摩托车) for transport.
Social robots have particular appeal for assisting the world’s growing elderly population. The PARO Therapeutic Robot (developed by Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology), which looks like a seal, soft and cute, is meant to stimulate and reduce stress for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other patients in care facilities: it responds to its name by moving its head, and it cries for petting. Mabu (Catalia Health) engages patients, particularly the elderly, as a wellness aide, reminding them to take walks and medication and to call family members. Social robots are also gaining popularity with consumers as toys. Early attempts to include social behavior in toys, such as Hasbro’s Baby Alive and Sony’s AIBO robotic dog, had limited success. But both arc resurging (复活), and the most recent version of AIBO has advanced voice and gesture recognition, can be taught tricks and develops new behaviors based on previous interactions.
Worldwide sales of consumer robots reached an estimated $5.6 billion in 2018, and the market is expected to grow to $19 billion by the end of 2025, with more than 65 million robots sold a year. This trend may seem surprising given that multiple well-funded consumer robot companies, such as Jibo and Anki, have failed. But a wave of robots is lining up to take the place of old robots, including BUDDY (Blue Frog Robotics), a big-eyed mobile device that plays games in addition to acting as a personal assistant and providing home automation and security.
1.What does the first paragraph mainly talk about?
A.How social robots receive information.
B.What research has been conducted about social robots.
C.Why social robots can respond in lifelike ways.
D.How designers translate insights into social robots.
2.Examples are used in Paragraph 2 to show that social robots are ________.
A.filling an expanding variety of roles B.getting higher intelligence
C.interacting with people D.learning to respond in lifelike ways
3.According to the passage we know that ________.
A.social robots can have various forms and appearances
B.PARO can interact with people by moving its head like a dog
C.the most recent version of AIBO has achieved as great success as before
D.the sales of consumer robots have been increasing as ever expected
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A.More companies will invest on social robots.
B.Social robots play nicely with human beings.
C.Social robots have great effects on elder people’s life.
D.Artificial intelligence enables social robots to make decisions.
Psycholinguistics is a field at the intersection (交叉) of psychology and linguistics, and one if its recent discoveries is that the languages we speak influence our eye movements. For example, English speakers who hear candle often look at a candy because the two words share their first syllable. Research with speakers of different languages revealed that bilingual speakers not only look at words that share sounds in one language but also at words that share sounds across their two languages. When Russian-English bilinguals hear the English word marker, they also look at a stamp, because the Russian word for stamp is marka.
Even more surprising, speakers of different languages differ in their patterns of eye movements when no language is used at all. In a simple visual search task in which people had to find a previously seen object among other objects, their eyes moved differently depending on what languages they knew. For example, when looking for a clock, English speakers also looked at a cloud. Spanish speakers, on the other hand, when looking for the same clock, looked at a present, because the Spanish names for clock and present—reloj and regalo—overlap at their onset (开始) .
The story doesn't end there. Not only do the words we hear activate other, similar-sounding words—and not only do we look at objects whose names share sounds or letters even when no language is heard—but the translations of those names in other languages become activated as well in speakers of more than one language. For example when Spanish-English bilinguals hear the word duck in English, they also look at a shovel, because the translations of duck and shovel—pato and pala, respectively—overlap in Spanish.
Because of the way our brain organizes and processes linguistic and nonlinguistic information, a single word can set off a domino effect (多米诺效应) that cascades (像洪水般倾泻) throughout the cognitive system. And this interactivity and co-activation is not limited to spoken languages. Bilinguals of spoken and signed languages show co-activation as well. For example, bilinguals who know American Sign Language and English look at cheese when they hear the English word paper because cheese and paper share three of the four sign components in ASL (hand shape, location and orientation but not motion).
What do findings like these tell us? Not only is the language system thoroughly interactive with a high degree of co-activation across words and concepts, but it also impacts our processing in other areas such as vision, attention and cognitive control. As we go about our everyday lives, how our eyes move, what we look at and what we pay attention to are influenced in direct and measurable ways by the languages we speak.
The implications of these findings for applied settings range from consumer behavior (what we look at in a store) to the military (visual search in complex scenes) and art (what our eyes are drawn to). In other words, it is safe to say that the language you speak influences how you see the world not only figuratively (比喻地) but also quite literally, down to the mechanics of your eye movements.
1.What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
A.Languages we know determine our eye movements.
B.The words we hear remind us of similar words.
C.We look at objects even if no language is heard.
D.Translations of words in other languages can be activated.
2.According to Paragraph 4, the ''domino effect'' is caused by ________.
A.American Sign Language B.brain processes
C.oral languages D.co-activation
3.What can we learn from these findings?
A.Words are closely related to concepts in language system.
B.The combination of words and concepts activates language system.
C.The language we speak influences what we pay attention to.
D.What we speak in everyday lives controls how our eyes move.
EXPEDITION (探险) OVERVIEW
● Go on an early morning photo shoot in Lamar Valley, zooming in on wildlife against the sparkling snow.
● Capture (拍摄) unique angles on famous sites like Old Faithful geyser without the crowds and discover some of the park’s lesser known areas, exploring in the comfort of heated snow coaches.
● Learn about the reintroduction of Yellowstone’s wolves and meet a cinematographer who has produced films on the park and its wildlife for National Geographic.
ITINERARY
Yellowstone in winter is a photographer’s delight: mineral pools bum through the snow, revealing their gem-colored depths; waterfalls freeze mid-spill; and elk and moose stand out clearly against the glistening white landscape. Record the beauty of winter in our oldest national park, catching the interplay of steam and snow on Mammoth Hot Springs, and rising early for a sunrise photo shoot in the Lower Geyser Basin.
WHAT TO EXPECT
This trip has an activity rating of light. Travelers should be in good health and comfortable walking and sitting for extended periods. We travel through the park in heated snow coaches. Excursions include walking on boardwalks and on ice and snow at elevations between 8,000 and 11,000 feet. Minor changes to the daily itinerary may occur depending on location of wildlife.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We stay in comfortable |hotels, classic lodges within the park, and a traditional ranch.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
● Transfers upon arrival and departure
● Accommodations
● All tips
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED
● Airfare to and from destination
● Visas
● Alcoholic beverages
1.A visitor to Yellowstone can ________.
A.record the unique angles with the crowds around
B.live in the high-ranked hotels during all the trip
C.calculate the depth of gem-colored mineral pools
D.enjoy the transfer service to and from destination
2.This article is mainly intended to ________.
A.advertise an expedition in Yellowstone in winter
B.emphasize the importance of wildlife protection in Yellowstone
C.uncover the secret of the interplay of snow and stream in Yellowstone
D.reveal the skills of photo shoot in Yellowstone in winter
A closet (储藏室) is a years - long collection of exactly what makes you the person you are. The _________ rose in my chest when my mom recently decided to move _________ it meant we would have to _________ out Dad's closet, nearly a decade after his death.
In the years after his death, I would sometimes walk into that closet. I had moved many miles away, starting a life elsewhere as my mom took pains to slowly _________ her home-sweeping away the dust of sadness, and making it once again a place for _________ and gathering.
In the closet, I could _________ the dad I had before he had a brain cancer. I _________ that would go away when my mom moved.
I rolled around _________ in bed. Could I stand to see this closet one last time before Mom moved? Would I find the _________ to help clear that stuff out?
Then, a __________: ''I had no idea, '' my mom said. ''I cleaned it out already. ''
The announcement knocked me sideways. What had she thrown out? Would seeing this __________ closet to which I’d __________ attributed such meaning jolt (震动) my heart and cause me to have a meltdown?
I flew home shortly thereafter, trying to keep my mind __________ it with fitful naps (打盹) on the plane. When I finally got through the front door, I knew where I was going: to see this empty closet that I swore would __________ me.
I pulled the doors open. What happened next __________ me: There was no panic—just __________. Sure, Dad's stuff was mostly __________, but I realized then that I didn't need to see it to __________ what we had. The objects were just an outer layer above the warm __________ I held within.
__________, clothes don't make the man, and though objects may help us tell a story, they are not stories themselves.
1.A.happiness B.relief C.tension D.mercy
2.A.if B.unless C.though D.because
3.A.pick B.clean C.find D.take
4.A.evolve B.design C.decorate D.love
5.A.depression B.warmth C.regret D.sleeping
6.A.support B.blame C.remember D.protect
7.A.anticipated B.confirmed C.swore D.worried
8.A.excitedly B.nervously C.mercifully D.hopelessly
9.A.strength B.chance C.privilege D.excuse
10.A.reply B.shock C.comfort D.blessing
11.A.outdated B.fashionable C.empty D.familiar
12.A.randomly B.openly C.secretly D.purposely
13.A.with B.off C.in D.to
14.A.crush B.raise C.heal D.astonish
15.A.surprised B.pressed C.frightened D.puzzled
16.A.excitement B.reluctance C.peace D.regret
17.A.worn B.sold C.gone D.left
18.A.discover B.understand C.abandon D.remember
19.A.services B.memories C.relationships D.events
20.A.Above all B.In addition C.By contrast D.After all
—Have you heard that Simon has got an offer from the big corporation in Shanghai?
—Yes. After some ups and downs, he has finally ________.
A.mended his ways B.sat on his hands C.landed on his feet D.pulled his leg
Although quite a lot of people regularly participated in sports events in 2019, some ________ ''sports'' with just going to the gym.
A.equated B.equipped C.combined D.impressed
