LESSON 41

SOME FACTS ABOUT ROBOTS [2]

Task 1. Read and translate the text:

Задание 1. Прочитайте и переведите текст:

It is estimated that by the end of the century the overwhelming majority of people will be occupied in science, education, administration and the service industry. Machines and robots will be the primary producers of material wealth.

1. A Robot Laboratory Assistant. When a research worker studies biological objects, the brain, for example, he has to operate with tremendous figures: 15 thousand million neurons, 150 thousand million interneuron elements. One cubic millimeter of blood has 5 million red blood cells.

Our scientists have developed a machine to count and determine these biological microobjects. This robot laboratory assistant does in one to three minutes the work that usually takes a month using conventional technique. This robot, besides counting the objects, also determines their size.

2. Robot Assists Surgeon. A cybernetic device which collects information on the main physiological processes taking place in the organism of a patient undergoing an operation has been made at one of St.Petersburg's clinics. A special screen shows the patient's pulse rate, blood pressure and body temperature. It has been decided to improve the device to give recommendations to the operator of artificial heart. A computer being assembled at the clinic, after collecting and processing all the necessary information about the patient, will be able to control a "heart-lung" apparatus automatically.

3. An Underwater Robot. An underwater robot with the TV camera, the first of its kind, has been successfully tested in our country. Intended for detailed studies of the ocean bed at depths as low as 4,000 meters, it was remote-controlled from the shore and could perform previously programmed operations. It could be given "hands" adjusted delicately enough to thread a needle underwater.

4. Sрасе Robots. Space research in our country opens up vast perspectives for robots, Artificial satellites are already circulating the globe. The orbital stations are added to them nowadays. This equipment involves maintenance, repair, part replacement and other jobs which cannot be planned beforehand. Spacecrafts fitted with robots are already in use.

The great advantage of the space robots are that they need no life support. They could be left in orbit for ever (навсегда), or sent off in a moon vehicle (летательный аппарат) to explore some remote area without anyone worrying about⁹ whether it would come back or not. They are also very useful for repairing the outside of a spacecraft or for assembling a space station in orbit.

5. Artificial Man for Medical Students. Science fiction has become reality at a research laboratory in California with the creation of a 6 ft. 2 in. artificial man which breathes and blinks.

"Sim-l"-the first of a series of simulators - was created by several scientists from California universities. He is to serve as a "patient" for medical students. His inventors believe that increasingly complex Sims will be built, shortening from eight to six the number of years of study required for a medical degree.

"Sim-1" human characteristics include ability to breathe, blink his eyes, open his jaws - which contain a full set of teeth - move his tongue and vocal cords and be affected by drugs in much the same way as a human being. Speech and mobility have not yet been built in, although the inventors say this would be no problem.

6. Robots on a Stroll. In 1910, news was received in Japan that a magic box (a robot using springs) was displayed at the World Exposition in London. This news captured the interest of a boy in the fifth form of an elementary school who started to construct his own robot of tin and cardboard. Ten years passed and the boy, now a young man of 21, had already received a patent for a robot Which could speak. This was the young Aizawa who, since then, has spent all his life in making toys.

Aizawa has created 700 robots, ranging from 2 meters tall to those of only 30 centimeters. But he is particularly proud of eight of his creations, which are life-size robot brothers. These eight robots not only walk, but also can shake hands, wink, bow, nod and talk. Numerous requests are received by Aizawa for the services of his eight robots, which are dispatched to children's halls and children's science museums.

Aizawa brought out two of eight brother robots for a stroll outside his home. One is Goro. He is 165 centimeters tall and weighs 123 kilograms. The other is Hachiro, weighing 60 kilograms and 115 centimeters in height.

Task 2. Answer the following questions:

Задание 2. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What will be the primary producers of material wealth by the end of the century?

2. What functions does the machine have, which our scientists have developed?

3. How does Robot assist a surgeon?

4. What can you say about underwater and space Robots?

5. What is “Sim — 1”?

6. What robot was displayed at the world Exposition in London?

7. What did you find out about Aizawa?

Task 3. Find the English equivalents for the words and word — combinations given below in the text:

Задание 3. Найдите эквиваленты следующих слов в тексте:

Огромный, просьба, способность, клетка, подземные воды, мерцание, отдаленный, гордиться, лекарство, многочисленный, картон, определять.

Task 4. Translate the following words and word — combinations into Russian:

Задание 4. Прочтите следующие слова и словосочетания и переведите их на русский язык:

Creatе, shake, wink, nod, request, dispatch, rate, pressure, intend, adjust, thread, maintenance, circulate, beforehand, science fiction, capture, wealth.

Task 5. Make the sentences interrogative:

Задание 5. Поставьте следующие предложения в вопросительную форму:

1. Aizawa brought out two of eight brother robots for a stroll outside his home.

2. Machines and robots will be the primary producers of material wealth.

3. He is particularly proud of eight of his creations.

4. This news captured the interest of a boy in the fifth form of an elementary school.

5. He is to serve as a "patient" for medical students.

Task 6. Fill in the blanks with the following words from the text given below:

Задание 6. Вместо пропусков вставьте соответствующие слова из текста: