Задание 1. Укажите номера предложений, в которых окончание «-s» является показателем: a) множественного числа имени существительного; b) притяжательного падежа имени существительного; c) глагола в 3-м лице ед. числа Present Simple.
1. The computer uses this information to determine where the stylus is.-с
2. The computer’s LCD screen is covered by a sheet of glass with a transparent conductive coating.-b
3. Users input data by printing individual letters directly on the screen.-a

Задание 2. Укажите номера предложений, в которых указательные местоимения this, these, that, those выступают как заместители ранее упомянутых существительных. Назовите эти существительные.
1. A work generated by a computer may resemble that of a certain artist in both style and form.
2. The simplest materials are those which have only one kind of atoms.
3. The robots became so intelligent that they revolted.

Задание 3. Укажите номера предложений, в которых встречаются сравнительные конструкции, имеющие значение: a) такой же, … как;
b) не такой, … как; с) чем; d) чем … тем.
1. The new machines were smaller and less expensive than earler models.-c
2. The greater the number of free electrons in a substance, the better this substance conducts electricity.-d
3.There are several advantages in making computers as small as one can.-a
4. A bike isn’t as safe as a car.-b

Задание 4. Read the text. Then read the titles. Which of the following titles is the best?
1. Robots and Their Masters.
2. Robots in Education.
3. Robots in Medicine.
4. Robots: Past, Present and Future.

Задание 5. Read the text again. Choose the best sentence from the list below to complete each gap.
1. The word ‘robot’ was invented by the Czech playwright, Karel Čapek. It comes from the Czech word for ‘work’. In Čapek’s play RUR (Rossum’s Universal Robots), which came to London in 1921, the robots became so intelligent and so disillusioned with their human masters that they revolted. They destroyed the humans and created a new world inhabited only by robots. 1____.
2. In 1954, the American inventor George Devol began work that eventually led to the industrial robot as we know it today. 2____. Since then, many companies have entered the robotics market.
3. Between 1967 and 1969, researchers at the Stanford Research Institute in the United States developed a robot with wheels named Shakey. Shakey was fitted with bump detectors, a sonar range finder, and a TV camera. 3____. However, at the time, Shakey was thought to be a failure. This was because it could only be controlled by a separate mainframe computer, which sent its commands to the robot through a radio channel.
4. The next important step was the development of robots with legs. In 1967, the General Electric Corporation had developed a four- wheeled machine for the US Department of Defense. The machine carried a human operator who had to control each of the four legs. 4____.
5. Later devices were more successful – for example, a four-legged robot developed at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1980. This system combined a human controller with automatic processing of information about the terrain, right down to the foot movements needed to ensure smooth movement.
6. In 1983, a six-legged robot was developed by Odetics Incorporated, for commercial production. 5____. This machine could walk over obstacles and lift loads several times its own weight.
7. Meanwhile, research continues on machines that rely on one or two legs. In 1984, Marc Raibert developed one-legged hopping robots at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA.

a. His company, the Unimation Company, developed flexible industrial
machines and began to market them in the early sixties.-2
b. This was an extremely difficult job for the driver, and the machine regularly became unbalanced and fell over.-4
c. A battery-powered model, Odex I, used a radio channel for leg control and a video link for conveying images.-5
d. All three helped Shakey to move freely and avoid obstacles.-3
e. This theme of ungrateful robots rebelling against their human creator is one that has been used by many science fiction writers.-1

Задание 6. Choose the best answer to these questions according to the text.
1. Who invented the word ‘robot’?
a) American scientists,
b) Czech scientists,
c) the Czech playwright.
2. When did George Devol begin his work that led to the industrial robot?
a) in 1921,
b) in 1954,
c) in 1967.
3. Where was a robot with wheels named Shakey developed?
a) in the UK,
b) in the USA,
c) in Canada.
4. What corporation developed robots with legs?
a) the British Broadcasting Corporation,
b) Xerox Corporation,
c) the General Electric Corporation.
5. What kind of robot was developed by Odetics Incorporated?
a) a one — legged hopping robot,
b) a four — legged robot,
c) a six — legged robot.

Задание 7. Translate paragraphs 3 and 4 into Russian.

3 Между 1967 и 1969 исследователи в Стэндфордском Исследовательском институте в США изобрели робота с механизмом, назвав его Шэки. Шэки был оснащен толчковыми детекторами, гидролокационным дальномером и ТВ камерой. Все это помогало Шэки легко двигаться и избегать препятствий. Однако в то время все думали, что Шэки ждет провал. Это было вызвано тем, что он мог управляться только с помощью отдельного головного компьютера, который посылал свои команды роботу по радиоканалам.
4 Следующим важным шагом в развитии роботов были ноги. В 1967 году Генеральная Электрическая Корпорация разработала машину с четырьмя механизмами для Департамента по Защите США. Машина переносила человека-оператора, который должен был контролировать все четыре ноги. Это была очень сложная работа для водителя, и машина постоянно теряла равновесие и падала.