Unit 8: Life in the future - Reading

Exercise 1: Read the passage carefully and decide whether statements are True, False or No information What happens if, or when, robots are more intelligent than us? If we are going to start to see robots running around with personalities equivalent to human beings, in fifteen or twenty years. It is about time that we start thinking about that now. These machines are being developed. What will be the ultimate effect of this? Should they be allowed to make decisions regarding the application of labour force? What form and how intimate should human-robot relationships become? Is it a good or bad thing if robots become our natural successors and we fade into extinction? Today's computers operate using transistors, wires and electricity. Future computers might use atoms, fibers and light. A new NASA-developed computing device allows machines to work much like the brain. This technology may allow fast-thinking machines to make decisions based on what they see. A planetary rover might use this technology to avoid obstacles. A spacecraft might use the technology to avoid hazards and identify a pre-selected landing site with very high precision. The device works much like the brain, whose power comes from the complex networks of interconnections called "synapses" between brain cells. Networks of these brain cells, called neurons, allow humans to make instant decisions based on an observed image or scene. What might the world be like, if computers with the size of molecules become a reality? There will be the types of computers that may be everywhere, but never be seen. Bio - computers with very small size will target specific areas inside your body. Imagine the ways that billions of tiny, powerful computers will change our society. 

Exercise 2: Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer. In the future, maybe all cars that run on petrol will be replaced by solar cars, which have been around for a while, but with recent developments in solar car design and the measurement of photovoltaic cells becoming smaller, the dream of a truly efficient solar car is more reality than fantasy. A solar car is a vehicle powered by photovoltaic cells, also called solar cells, which convert sunlight (light energy) into electrical energy. As a source of energy on earth, there is nothing like the sun: in a mere one thousandth of one second (.001), the sun emits enough energy to fulfill our planet's energy needs for the next 5,000 years. It is a staggering fact, and an exciting one. Since the energy from the sun is responsible for renewable resources such as wind, tides, and heat, solar energy seems to offer the brightest future for not only cars, but for the entire energy crisis. Despite the appearance that solar energy may be the least feasible among the current crop of alternative fuel propositions, new solar powered devices and more specifically solar powered cars are beginning to be developed. How do Solar. Cars work? The photo-voltaic cells absorb photons from sunlight. This action generates heat, which the cells then convert into electrical energy and stores in an on-board battery. This process of conversion is called the photovoltaic effect. Not surprisingly, such a vehicle has zero emissions, and is very environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, at the moment photovoltaic cells are extremely inefficient, yet as time progresses the efficiency of these cells will grow. This will make solar energy and solar cars the fuel and car of the future-a closer reality.