2. Read the text and choose the correct answer, A, B or C.
MAN AND MACHINE
BY MARK RAVENS
Science and technology have developed a lot since the fifteenth century, when the artist Leonardo da Vinci drew mechanical figures that looked like men – the first known robot designs. Now, of course, robots are everywhere, from factories to space stations, and they safely carry out all sorts of tasks, from cutting the grass to performing surgery. However, until recently most of them haven’t looked like humans at all, as Leonardo imagined, and they certainly haven’t had feelings. But now all that is beginning to change.
Imagine a world in which robots not only look like us but also know our moods, and have feelings themselves. It might even be possible for robots to become our friends! Science fiction writers have written about a world just like that for many years, and scientists are now predicting that intelligent robots like these will exist quite soon. In fact, they’ve already produced one that recognizes sound, movement and touch. Its bright red heart, which you can see through its plastic body, beats faster if you are rough with the robot, or shout at it. But its heart slows down if you are gentle with it. Although it can’t talk, it’s easy to believe the robot actually has feelings!
It’s true that so far ‘human’ robots do not really move, talk or respond in the way we humans do, but they are becoming more advanced all the time. At some point in the future, a robot will definitely be created that may not look like us, but will be capable of doing anything that we can. And then we will truly be in the world of science fiction stories!
1. Mark says that when da Vinci drew some robots, he...
A copied earlier work from someone else.
B also built the robots he’d designed.
C made them look like real people.
2. Mark says that robots nowadays...
A don’t seem safe in some of the jobs they do.
B are better at simple tasks than difficult ones.
C can already do a wide range of tasks.
3. In the second paragraph, Mark says that...
A it will not be long before robots develop feelings.
B science fiction writers were wrong about robots.
C he can’t imagine having a robot as a friend.
4. How does Mark describe one robot that already exists?
A It knows what’s going on around it.
B It understands what you’re feeling.
C It can have a conversation.
5. Mark thinks that in the future, robots will...
A look just like we do.
B do all the things that we do.
C be more advanced than we are.

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