阅读理解
Scientists from the Faculty
of Engineering, Information and Systems at the University of Tsukuba designed a
text message mediation robot that can help users control their anger when
receiving upsetting news. This device may help improve social interactions as
we move towards a world with increasingly digital communications.
While a quick text message
apology is a fast and easy way for friends to let us know they are going to be
late for a planned meeting, it is often missing the human element that would
accompany an explanation face-to-face, or even over the phone. It is likely to
be more upsetting when we are not able to perceive the emotional weight behind
our friends' regret at making us wait.
Now, researchers at the
University of Tsukuba have built a handheld robot called OMOY, which was
equipped with a movable weight driven by mechanical components inside its body.
By shifting the internal weight, the robot could express simulated emotions.
The robot was used as a mediator for reading text messages. A text with
unwelcome or frustrating news could be followed by a persuasion by OMOY. The
robot tries to make the user not get upset, or even expresses sympathy for the
user. "With the medium of written digital communication, the lack of
social feedback redirects focus from the sender to the content of the message
itself," author Professor Fumihide Tanaka says.
The mediator robot was
designed so that it can help suppress
the user's anger and other negative interpersonal motivations. The researchers
tested 94 people with a message like "I'm sorry. I am late. The
appointment slipped my mind. Can you wait another hour?" The team found
that OMOY was able to reduce negative emotions. "The mediator robot can
relay a frustrating message followed by giving its own opinion. When this
speech is accompanied by the appropriate weight shifts, we saw that the user
would sense the ‘intention' of the robot to help them calm down,"
Professor Tanaka says.
(1)
What influence may the message mediation robot have on society?
A . It can improve social health.
B . It can control a person's emotion.
C . It can promote social communication.
D . It can increase digital communications.
(2)
How can the robot express simulated emotions?
A . By shifting its internal structure.
B . By moving its inside weight.
C . By changing the colour of its body.
D . By observing its user s expression.
(3)
What does the underlined word "suppress" mean in paragraph 4?
A . Prevent.
B . Enrich.
C . Express.
D . Conduct.
(4)
What can be a suitable title for the text?
A . Ways To Improve Social Interactions
B . Messages Upset Humans Reading Them
C . Robots Help Control Negative Emotions
D . Science Involved In Robot Communication
答案: C
B
A
C