Unit 2 Robots

Lead-in: Do you think the story “Satisfaction guaranteed” is a love story?

First listening Listen to Molly (M) and Kate (K) discussing the story “Satisfaction Guaranteed”. What do they argue about?

Second listening Read Exercise 1 and then listen to their conversation. Tick the correct boxes. Answer key for Exercise 1: 1 Molly2 Kate 3 Molly 4 Kate 5 Molly6 Kate

Third listening Read Exercise 2 and then listen again. You should pay special attention to what Kate said.

Answer key for Exercise 2: 1 Robots can’t feel emotion of any kind. 2 By seeing herself in a negative way (By her lack of confidence). 3 She likes the idea of a handsome man whose only purpose was to please her. 4 Making the robot look so much like a real man.

Fourth listening Do you know any expression of supposition and belief? Give some examples. e.g. I think/believe/guess/suppose… Listen again and write down the expressions of supposition and belief. Answer key for Exercise 3: Yes, maybe Claire fell in love with him,… So it must have hurt her when he was taken away.

Expressions of supposition and belief I think/don’t think… I wonder… I believe/don’t believe… Maybe … I guess/suppose… It must have… Is it possible that… Could it be that… Are you sure that…? It is possible/impossible that... It could be that… I am sure that… It is most likely/ unlikely that… There is a belief that… I am positive that…

Discuss Imagine it is the future and people have household robots. Discuss what positive or negative effect the situation would be.Use the expressions in Exercise 3 in your discussions.

Positive effects People will be relieved from doing household cleaning or cooking. Robots will be able to rebuild and decorate the home and design and do the garden. People will be free to work or enjoy their leisure time. Life will become an endless paradise!

Negative effects People will become fat and lazy if they no longer have to take care of their houses or their gardens. There will be many medical problems with people who are overweight or do not do enough exercise. The hospitals will be crowded with lazy and sick people. What is worse, if a robot breaks down people will no longer have the useful skills of decorating and cooking, therefore, they would find it very difficult to manage their lives. Life will become a doctor’s nightmare!

Writing Write a paragraph describing a new type of robot.

Imagine you are engineers in a company that makes robots and you have been asked to design a new type of robot. Your robot can be used : (1)In the home (2) In a workplace (3)In the street (4)In the natural environment (5)In space or anywhere else

It’s your time to design your group’s robot.

You can follow the steps as below: 1.Decide the purpose of the robot. 2. Make a list of the abilities the robot has. 3.Draw a picture on a piece of paper and name its parts and explain what each part does. 4.Write a paragraph describing the robot and what it can do. 5. Introduce your design to your classmates.

A sample of a new type of robot. The rubbish collector The rubbish collector is a robot about half the size of a small car. Its body is square and contains a large rubbish bin inside it. It has a camera attached to the top front of its body. Also at the front is a pair of arms.

Underneath it has four wheels and six legs. With the camera it can “see” rubbish such as paper, glass, and plastic. If the surface of the ground is smooth, it runs on its wheels, and if the ground is rough, it unfolds its legs and walks.

When it sees a piece of rubbish, it stops and uses its arms to pick it up and put it in its rubbish bin. However, when it sees a person, an animal or a plant, it goes around it as it is able to recognize when something is not a piece of rubbish.

The company should make this robot as it would be very popular with schools. It would clean the outside grounds of school and so give the students more time to spend on their studies. It would also be a great advantage to have at sports grounds or any other area where rubbish is dropped by the public.

Homework Write a paragraph describing the robot and what it can do.

Celine Dion – Then you look at me