Programming Pain

Robots are useful and taking place of humans in some areas because they never get tired and can't feel pain. However, some researchers believe it's a good idea to program robots to feel pain.

Researchers from Leibniz University of Hannover in Germany are working to develop an artificial(人造的)robot nervous system to teach robots how to feel pain. "Pain is a system that protects us," said Johannes Kuehn, one of the researchers. "When we try to avoid the pain, it helps us not get hurt.”

Think about how many injuries you would receive if you couldn't feel pain. Even though pain hurts, it helps us avoid danger and treat our wounds. The same will be true for robots. As a great number of people work closely with robots, the robots must behave in a safer manner. Kuehn believes that by protecting robots from damage(伤害),they'll be protecting people as well. Damage,to robots if left unseen could lead to workplace accidents.

Rather than feel pain, some robots are designed to show pain or see it in others. Asada, an engineer at Osaka University in Japan, and his workmates have made sensors (传感器)that pick up many types of touch signals(信号).These touch and pain signals can turn into emotions and expressions on a robot’s face. Asada believes that these systems could finally lead to robots seeing the pain on human faces, an important skill for robots designed to care for elderly people, for example.

Antonio Damasio, a professor at the University of Southern California, argues that programming robots with a sense of pain may cause an artificial sense of feeling to develop. But he says that this communication is not the same thing as a robot truly feeling and expressing emotions or pain. If one day, robots could actually feel as humans do, Damasio has a suggestion for the number one rule for robots: Feel good.

1.What does the word in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A.The feeling of pain. B.The injury we receive.

C.An artificial system. D.A new kind of robot.

2.Which is the right process to show and see the pain?

① Turn signals into expressions.

② Notice pain on human faces.

③ Make some sensors.

④ Pick up touch signals.

A.③④①② B.③①②④ C.②③①④ D.②④①③

3.What can express Antonio Damasio's attitude(态度)about the program?

A.Hopeless B.Opposite C.Expected D.Worried

4.The aim of programming robots to feel pain is ________

A.to take place of humans B.to avoid human accidents

C.to control robots completely D.to serve humans better

When you are talking about someone, but at that time you can't remember his or her name. What should you do then? Don't worry! In English, you can use other names to replace (代替) their real (真实的) names.

In the US, if you forget someone's name, you can just use the name John Doe for a man or Jane Doe for a woman. For example, "Did you see that boy who was running in the rain?" "Ah, yes, poor John Doe."

People use these names in US courts (法庭). This is to keep the person's identify (身份) a secret (秘密). People use the name so often that there was even a film in 1941 called Meet John Doe.

But in the UK, unknown people are called John Smith. This name is used so often that John is one of the most common first name in English, and Smith is the most common family name.

So next time you forget someone's name, you know what to say.

1.When Americans can't remember a woman's name, they call her ________.

A.John Doe. B.Jane Doe. C.Jane Smith

2.John Smith is used among unknown people in ________.

A.America. B.the UK. C.Canada.

3.In US courts, people don't use real names because ________.

A.using real names is not allowed (允许)

B.they think using real names may bring them bad luck

C.they just want to keep their identify a secret

4.The meaning of the underlined word "common" in paragraph 4 is ________.

A.普通的 B.普遍的 C.共同的

5.The passage is mainly about ________.

A.why people sometimes can't remember others' names

B.differences in names between the UK and the US

C.the names American and British people use when they forget someone's name

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