话题一 科普热点 第1节.docx

第一节　原汁原创Test 1A Robot with a Sense of Humor机器人也有“幽默细胞”，不仅会讲笑话，还能判断自己的笑话有没有“笑果”。 Wanna hear a joke？This nifty little robot’s got a few—and it can tell if you’re interested.Recently the Japanese company Hitachi has invented a robot that has its own sense of humor and the ability to understand when someone else doesn’t share it.The red-and-white robot is known as EMIEW2.It stands at 80 centimeters—no taller than a small child—and is equipped with a pair of roller skates that allow it to quickly move around.The robot is programmed to recognize key words in a sentence，such as “how many”，in order to understand what sort of question it’s being asked.The little robot is further programmed to understand a wide range of human responses，such as shrugs or nods.It has the ability to carry on a short conversation with a human—without being given a script and it allows the robot to work out whether or not the person it’s talking to understands its joke.For example，the robot is asked how many people work at the Hitachi lab，and it answers，“We have two swans.” When its human conversation partner appears puzzled，the robot says，“You got it？I’m kidding.We have about 800 people working here.”“Maybe EMIEW2’s sense of humor needs a lot of work，” said Hitachi’s Hisashi Ikeda，“its ability to understand human reactions was an important step forward.”“The new technology makes it possible for a robot to understand what a human means，even if they gesture，” he said.EMIEW2 is short for Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as a Workmate.Hitachi hopes to have EMIEW2 provide company to people，serving as a house-pet or even a receptionist or caregiver.http：///articles/wanna-hear-joke-nifty-little-robots-got-few-and-it-can-tell-if-yNotes：1．nifty [′nIftI]adj.俏皮的；漂亮的2．Hitachi日立，日本一家全球最大的综合跨国集团3．response [rI′sp?ns]n．反应4．shrug [?r?ɡ]n． v．耸肩5．script [skrIpt]n．剧本6．Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as a Workmate具有卓越的灵活性和交互性的工作伴侣7．receptionist [rI′sep??nIst]n．接待员Have a Try：1．How does the ro