Home robots on sale in Japan

UNIT 2

ROBOTICS

Vocabulary

major functions

features

to recognize

a manufacturer

futuristic

a human being

to be on sale

at a price

an independent personality

humanoid

to navigate

to provide

to be available

to be affordable

Warming up

1. HOME ROBOT: If you had a home robot, what would you want it to do? Look at the following functions and features and talk about which ones you like.

a. The robot can talk. It has a vocabulary of 10, 000 words.

b. It can recognize your face and say “good morning”.

c. It can tell you when you have e-mail and read it to you.

d. When you are not at home, it will e-mail you if a burglar enters your house.

e. You can see what it sees with its camera on your cell phone.

f. It makes toast and coffee in the morning.

g. It gives you advice on what to wear to work / school / a party.

h. It will answer and open the front door.

2. CHAT: decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring:

Japanese manufacturers / futuristic homes / home robots / housework / Mitsubishi / machines / large vocabulary / daily schedules / prices

3. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Have the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates.

a. Robots will control us one day. vs. Impossible.

b. Robots will give us more free time. vs. Something else will take up our time.

c. Robots are scary. vs. Don’t be ridiculous.

d. Robots will make us lazier and fatter. vs. Robots will help us exercise.

e. Robots will be more intelligent than us. vs. We will always be more intelligent.

f. One day, it will be difficult to tell humans and robots apart. vs. Impossible.

g. Robots will attack humans in the future. vs. Impossible.

h. Robots will always be too expensive. vs. Prices will come down.

4. MY ROBOT: Make the plans for your own robot. Explain all of its features and functions.

Before listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

Home robots on sale in Japan

a. You can now buy a robot in convenience stores in Japan.

b. Housework has become a thing of the past in Japan.

c. A new robot is on sale in Japan for $150, 000.

d. The robot has an independent personality.

e. The robot has a vocabulary of 10, 000 words.

f. The robot can help its owners become rich and live longer lives.

g. The robot will give you your daily schedule.

h. The robot will relax and watch television when no one is at home.

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article: