A.

READ THE TEXT ATTENTIVELY AND THEN SAY IN WHICH BLANK THESE WORDS FIT:

It has been the same promise over decades of invention - the prospect of households inhabited by people, staffed by
robots and run by technology. For years and engineers have been working to bring us the futuristic homes, but in
reality the dream has remained firmly in the realm of films.
Despite the hype, however, the public still has a voracious appetite for the concept of a
helping hand around the house. An ICM poll commissioned by the Guardian showed that 55%
of people would be prepared to use robotics in the home, and a majority would appreciate
extra free time which new technologies might bring. More than four out of every five
respondents said they would use any advances which increased their free time at home to
relax more, while 23% would use the extra time to work.
According to the Guardian's ICM survey, most people would like to use robots to help with
the thankless grind of domestic tasks such as cleaning or . More than half of respondents
said they would use robots for chores, with almost six in 10 women responding positively.
While just 15% said they would be happy to use robots to drive their cars, the most surprising
result, perhaps, was that 13% of people surveyed said they envisage using robots for childminding.
On a basic level, ordinary tasks like vacuuming and cleaning are very slowly becoming the domain of home robotics.
The Roomba vacuum cleaner, an intelligent automated machine which was first launched in 2002, has now sold more
than 2 million units around the world.
Other forms of household hi-tech, too, are becoming increasingly common. Most people in the survey used such
equipment for entertainment, including cable or satellite TV (59%), computers (71%) and flat-panel TV screens (38%).
And these are clearly aspirational products - almost three in 10 respondents said they would like a flat television in their
homes, for example. Experts say that the next few years will be vital in bringing these different technologies together.
Among some wealthy early adopters the concept of the "networked home", one by computers, in which the many
devices and systems around the building are connected to each other, is already beginning to find its feet.
Graham Whitehead, a futurologist with BT Vision - the research arm of the telecommunications giant - says that the
arrival of new digital home technologies rivals* the rise of the 20th century's labour-saving devices such as the washing
machine, vacuum cleaner and microwave oven.
But in some parts of the world, such ideas are already being used to enhance people's everyday lives, not just their
leisure time. In South Korea the electronics company LG is establishing a division which designs digital apartments
using its Homnet networking to create hi-tech households. Tasks such as answering the door, managing power and
opening the curtains can be , as well as the management of appliances like washing machines, air conditioners and
dishwashers. And these services can not only be accessed from inside the home, but also via the internet - or even a .
LG has currently wired up several apartment blocks in South Korea and has contracts in place to connect a further
30,000 homes in the next two years. This kind of shift could be one of the reasons that attitudes towards new
technologies in the home are also changing. The eagerness* to adopt such systems is growing, with 55% of the survey
sample saying they believed new technology would afford them increased amounts of spare time. Young people aged
18-24 were particularly keen, though the figures dropped away among the middle aged. Just 47% of 45-54 year olds
agreed, despite the fact that such developments would hold greater for them.
So, with robotics in the home finally beginning to arrive and the inexorable rise of the home PC and internet, experts
believe its time is for a change in the way we live. "Do you remember in 1987 when you first saw a man walking down
the road with a brick of a phone on his shoulder?" says Graham Whitehead. "Now mobile phones are tiny, and
everybody's got ."
We might not live in a Jetsons-style futuristic world founded on flying cars and holidays in space, but smaller
movements in lifestyle are having a strong effect. Despite perceptions that the way we live at home hasn't
fundamentally changed for decades, our home lives are becoming radically different in the 21st century. Bit by bit the
future is arriving; even if we don't realise it. http://www.guardian.co.uk/zurichfuturology/story/0,,1920334,00.html
B. MATCH EACH WORD OR EXPRESSION FROM THE TEXT WITH ITS EXPLANATION:

1. realm (1#paragraph) A. improve the quality 1. ____

2. voracious (2#paragraph) B. that cannot be stopped or changed 2. ____
3. grind (3#paragraph) C. area 3. ____
4. envisage (3#paragraph) D. result 4. ____
5. childminding (3#paragraph) E. taking care of children 5. ____
6. enhance (7#paragraph) F. imagine what will happen in the future 6. ____
7. inexorable (9#paragraph) G. an activity that is tiring or boring and takes a lot of time 7. ____
8. effect (10#paragraph) H. gradually 8. ____
9. bit by bit (10#paragraph) I. wanting a lot of new information and knowledge 9. ____

C. REPHRASE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES AS STATED. THE MEANING MUST REMAIN THE SAME:

1. People believe that robots will be able to perform all house chores.
Robots

2. The Roomba vaccum cleaner has sold more than 2 million units around the world.
The reporter announced)

3. They are already using such ideas to enhance peoples everyday lives.
Such ideas)

4. A single mobile phone can manage domestic appliances like washing machines and dishwashers.
Domestic appliances .

5. I would love to have a robot to drive my car.

I wish .

6. New technologies are essential. However, many old people disapprove of it.
Despite the

D. COMMENT ON THE FOLLOWING QUOTATION BY MARK KENNEDY. EXPRESS YOUR PERSONAL OPINION

All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says less about
his intelligence, but more about his laziness.

GOOD WORK !

key:

A. READ THE TEXT ATTENTIVELY AND THEN SAY IN WHICH BLANK THESE WORDS FIT:
 3 1 4 9 6
0
0
7 5 1 8 2

B. MATCH EACH WORD OR EXPRESSION FROM THE TEXT WITH ITS EXPLANATION:
1. C, 2. I, 3. G, 4. F, 5.E, 6.A, 7.B, 8.D, 9.H

C. REPHRASE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES AS STATED. THE MEANING MUST REMAIN THE SAME:

1. People believe that robots will be able to perform all house chores.
Robots are believed to be able to perform all house chores.

2. The Roomba vaccum cleaner has sold more than 2 million units around the world.
The reporter announced that the Roomba vaccum cleaner had sold more than 2 million units around the world.

3. They are already using such ideas to enhance peoples everyday lives.
Such ideasare already being used to enhance peoples everyday lives.

4. A single mobile phone can manage domestic appliances like washing machines and dishwashers.
Domestic appliances . washing machines and dishwashers can be managed by a single mobile phone.

5. I would love to have a robot to drive my car.

I wish . I had a robot to drive my car. / I could have a robot to drive my car.

6. New technologies are essential. However, many old people disapprove of it.
Despite the being essential, many old people disapprove of new technologies.

D. COMMENT ON THE FOLLOWING QUOTIATION BY MARK KENNEDY:

All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says less
about his intelligence, but more about his laziness.

PERSONAL ANSWER.