The idea of robots originated in 1920. At that time the Czech author Karl Capek made a great impression with his futuristic drama of artificial men, a play entitled R.U.R . This mysterious title stood for "Rossum's Universal Robots", machines built in the outward appearance of men but free from human weakness. These curious creature were provided with thinking apparatus,nerves and muscles, like later genuine robots. In the last act of the play there occured what the playgoers had expected from the beginning: the mechanical men revolted and destroyed their creators and then each other. Only two experimental models escaped destruction a scientist had secretly given them the capacity to reproduce themselves and they now set about founding a new race of artificial men. Futuristic stories of this kind were very popular in the twenties; the "golden" years of science fiction emerged in later years.
Over and over again in all fields of science and technology as well as in the intellectual activities of mankind events initially attract little attention however these relationships were our earlier underestimated later assume greater importance when seen from another angle this was the case with cybernetics the branch of control of machines which in 1947 reached a very high level with the automatic flight. Automatic slide over the Atlantic attracted no interest for several years only the specialists paid some attention to it and they raised the important question as to whether control of machines would bring in a new industrial revolution.
A distinction must be made between the enormous new calculators which are calculating machines working at very high speed and automation which is the automatic execution of entire manufacturing processes in which machines take over the functions of large number of human operators. Towards the end of the second World war not even the boldest scientists would have imagined the extent to which automation would be introduced to replace human work by mechanical operation. But ten years later a commentator in the New York Times wrote "And now we are in the middle of a second industrial revolution with is proceeding at the sensational speed. Its effects seem likely to be as far-reaching as those of the first. A typical trend in this development is the attempt to use machines for the operation and control of other machines. This process is known as automation". "Cybernetics and Automation,electronic calculators and unmanned factories"- these features of the latest chapter of technology's history are typical of the struggle for innovation.
Q. What happened to the creators of the robots in the last act of the play?
Q. Which truth is revealed, in "all fields of science and technology as well as in the intellectual activities of mankind."
Q. Distinguish between "the new calculators" and "automation".
Q. What could not have been anticipated at the end of the second World war? Give the meaning of automation as per the report of the New York Times.
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Answers
Woah what a big question, this will take me some time to read, so please give me some time, thank you!
Answer:
Question 4 (a) Give the meanings of the following words as used in the passage: One word answers or short phrases will be accepted. (i). curious (line 4) ……………………………………………………………. Ans. strange. (ii). creators (line 7) ……………………………………………………………. Ans. those who made them. (iii). initially (line 13) ……………………………………………………………. Ans. in the beginning. (b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words. (i). State two qualities of the robots as they are portrayed by the Czech author. Ans. According to the Czech author, (1) the robots had outer appearance of men (2) they had the ability to think and were devoid of human weaknesses.. (ii). What happened to the creators of the robots in the last act of the play? Ans. In the last act of the play, the robots revolted against their creators and destroyed them. (iii). Which truth is revealed, in “all fields of science and technology as well as in the intellectual activities of mankind.”(lines 12-13)? Ans. The truth revealed is that all the technological innovations attract little attention but assume great importance when their results are seen. (iv). Distinguish between “the new calculators” and “automation”. Ans. The calculators perform the function of calculating at very high speed whereas automation is meant for executing the entire manufacturing processes by replacing human operators with machines. (v). What could not have been anticipated at the end of the Second World War? Give the meaning of automation as per the report of the New York Times. Ans. As per the report of the New York Times, automation meant the use of machines to operate and control other machines. (c) In not more than 50 words, State how the process of machines doing the work of human beings developed. Ans. The idea of machines doing the work of human beings gained importance in 1947 with the automatic flight over Atlantic. Ten years after the end of the Second World War, scientists realised the importance of machines for not only replacing human beings but also for operating and controlling other machines.