Technology

Test correction

Guessing a piece of equipment that

measures the temperature of the air, of your body, etc.

machine used to blow dry one’s hair.

machine used to wash dishes. pair of optical devices used to view

distant objects, people or events; piece of electrical kitchen

equipment used for keeping food and drink cool or fresh.

machine used to regulate room temperature.

thermometre

hairdryer

dishwasherbinoculars

fridge

air-conditioner

Guessing home appliance used to

vacuum clean houses and buildings.

satellite-based navigation system used to tell us the way to another place.

gadget used to play, select and transfer music files.

winged vehicle used to transport people by air.

machine used to make copies of written documents or images.

vacuum cleaner

GPS

iPod /mp3 / cell

phoneairplanecopier

Guessing machine used to deposit,

transfer or withdraw money from one’s account.

two-wheeled vehicle used to transport people by road.

four or six-wheeled vehicle used to carry a great number of people by road.

ATM

bicycle / motorbike

van / bus

True /False 1. The idea of creating machines to do work

previously done by people is quite recent.

“Even in ancient times man dreamed of making living statues ... 18th century.” (paragraph 2)

2. The word robot was first used by a European dramatist in one of his plays.

“Karel Capek, a Czech, used the word "Robot" for the first time in his theatre play of 1923, to mean "necessary work“ (paragraph 3)

false

true

True / False 3. The first robot dates back to the early 18th

century.

“theatre play of 1923, to mean "necessary work". In this period Unimat appeared. This was the first robot with a moveable arm.” (paragraph 3)

4. Robots have replaced human workers in mass production lines.

Robots today are used a lot in production line work. (paragraph 4)

false

true

True / False 5. Robots can not be used to perform delicate

or sensitive tasks.

“Thanks to sensors, the pressure with which they take objects in their "hands" can be regulated.” (Paragraph 4)

“In Japan, there's even been a robot pianist constructed. Its artificial fingers have the same sensitivity as ours.” (paragraph 5)

false

Synonyms

resemble

refined

risky

disarm

put out

unexpected

servants

unemployment

look like

improved

dangerous

dismantle

extinguish

not predicted

employees

having no job

Questions 1. Is the dream of creating a mechanical

servant a very old one? Justify.

2. When was the word robot first used?

3. When was the first robot built?

Yes, it is. That dream existed since ancient times and became a mania in the 18th century.

The word robot was first used in 1923.

The first robot was built more or less at the same time, i.e. 1923.

Questions 4. What kind of tasks/jobs can today’s robots

do?

5. Which negative effect can the invention of robots have?

6. How different are they from man?

Today robots can play games, musical instruments, climb stairs, defuse bombs, fight fires, etc.

Unemployment can grow because robots replace workers.

Robots can’t react to unexpected circumstances.

since - for - yet – already – still – never - ever

Scientists have not created the perfect robot . They are …………... working on it.

They have …………… made some progress.

They have been working on this project ……… 5 years.

They have been working on it ……….….. 2007.

They had ………. thought it would take so much time.

yet

still

already

for

since

never

Present Perfect, or Simple Past?

Have you ever seen a film about robots?

When did you see the film ‘I, Robot’ ?

Japan started producing their first robot in 1983.

They have just produced another version of,

Asimo, the most human-like robot.

Robots have been used in industries since the

1970s.

Sony presented their last model in December.

Modal verbs 1. Machines _____________ work faster than

men. (ability) 2. Robots _____________ obey humans’ orders.

(obligation) 3. Robots ____________ attack human beings in

any case. (prohibition) 4. You look tired! You ___________ work so hard!

(advice) 5. When I was younger, I _____________ watch

movies for hours. (past ability)

can

must

mustn’t

Shouldn’t

could

Modal verbs

You mustn’t use a cell phone here.

You mustn’t smoke int his place.

You mustn’t take photos.

You mustn’t drink water

Modal verbs

You can find a restaurant here.

You can cross the road here.

You can find the information

desk on the right.

You can find a toilet.

You can smoke in this area.

You can find a fire extinguisher

here.

Modal verbs

You must / should be careful.

You must slow down

Writing a biography

Mark Zuckerber is best known for being the co-founder and president of Facebook and the world's youngest billionaire, but he started as a computer programmer and inventor and became a successful businessperson.

His full name is Mark Elliot "Zuck" Zuckerberg and he was born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, USA.

Biography  From 1998 to 2000 he attended Ardsley

High School, where he began teaching himself how to write software and created some computer programs.

Between 2000 and 2002 he attended Phillips Exeter Academy and continued to develop new computer programs.

In this period Microsoft and AOL tried to recruit Zuckerberg.

In 2003, he started attending Harvard University, and he created the technical platform for what became Facebook. But, to work full time on it, Zuckerberg dropped out of school in the following year.

Two years after its creation, Facebook already had more than 5.5 million users and five years later the number reached 500 million users.

In that same year, Zuckerberg donated $100 million to the Newark Public School System.

Meanwhile, Facebook has kept growing until today.

Listening comprehension test A long time ago, robots belonged to science fiction.

Children loved looking at movies with robots. Today, robots are real, and they are helping us. In the future, we will all have robots. They will vacuum the floor, wash the dishes, perhaps even drive our cars. I even think one day we’ll have robot friends. In Japan today, robot engineers are making robots to help old people and to keep them company. It’s still early days. I’d say we are another 20 to 30 years away from robots being everywhere in our lives. What will happen to us when the world is full of robots? There’ll be no jobs. McDonalds will be full of smiling robots. Maybe one day we won’t be able to tell robots and humans apart. Maybe they’ll take over the world.

It’s hard to believe that no one had computers a few years ago. I wonder how people lived. There must have been a lot of paperwork. I can’t imagine writing everything by hand. I also wonder how everything worked without computers. We need computers today for everything. Hospitals, airports, the police… nothing can work without computers. I’m sure I’d be ten times busier than now if I didn’t have a computer. Imagine having to find a piece of paper and an envelope and then walking down the street to mail a letter! I love my computer. It makes everything in my life so convenient. Sure, it freezes and crashes sometimes. Sure I lose some data. But that’s not often. Most of the time my computer is like my best friend.