2015年教材新增内容.doc

2015年职称英语考试理工类教材对比 第四部分 阅读理解 第九篇 An Essential Scientific Process 替换第九篇 Egypt Feled by Famine 第二十二篇 Real-World Robots替换 第二十二篇 Snowflakes 第五部分 补全短文 第九篇 Lightening Strikes替换 第九篇 Heat Is Killer 第五篇 A Record-breaking Rover 替换第五篇 The Magic of Sound 第十三篇 Affectionate Androids 替换第十三篇 Sleeping Giant 2015年新版职称英语教材新增文章系列之 理工类阅读理解第二十二篇 Real World Robots 　　When you think of a robot, do you envision a shiny, metallic device having the same general shape as a human being, performing humanlike functions, and responding to your questions in a monotone voice accentuated by high-pitched tones and beeps? This is the way many of us imagine a robot, but in the real world, a robot is not humanoid at all. Instead a robot often is a voiceless, box-shaped machine that efficiently carries out repetitive or dangerous functions usually performed by humans. Today’s robot is more than an automatic machine that performs one task again and again. A modern robot is programmed with varying degrees of artificial intelligence—that is, a robot contains a computer program that tells it how to perform tasks associated with human intelligence, such as reasoning, drawing conclusions, and learning from past experience. 　　A robot does not possess a human shape for the simple reason that a two-legged robot has great difficulty remaining balanced. A robot does, however, move from place to place on wheels and axles that roll and rotate. A robot even has limbs that swivel and move in combination with joints and motors. To find its way in its surroundings1, a robot utilizes various built-in sensors. Antennae attached to the robot’s base detect anything they bump into. If the robot starts to teeter as it moves on an incline, a gyroscope or a pendulum inside it senses the vertical differential. To determine its distance from an object and how quickly it will reach the object，the robot bounces beams of laser light and ultrasonic sound waves off obstructions in its path2. These and other sensors constantly feed in