SECOND C, D, F READINGS

Copy the both readings and answer the questions in the English notebook.

1.      ROBOTS SMARTER THAN HUMANS BY 2029

A scientist said robots will be more intelligent than humans by 2029. The scientist's name is Ray Kurzweil. He works for Google as Director of Engineering. He is one of the world's leading experts on artificial intelligence (A.I.). Mr. Kurzweil believes computers will be able to learn from experiences, just like humans. He also thinks they will be able to tell jokes and stories, and even flirt. Kurzweil's 2029 prediction is a lot sooner than many people thought. The scientist said that in 1999, many A.I. experts said it would be hundreds of years before a computer was more intelligent than a human. He said that it would not be long before computer intelligence is one billion times more powerful than the human brain.

Mr. Kurzweil joked that many years ago; people thought he was a little crazy for predicting computers would be as intelligent as humans. His thinking has stayed the same but everyone else has changed the way they think. He said: "My views are not radical any more. I've actually stayed consistent. It's the rest of the world that's changing its view." He highlighted examples of high-tech things we use, see or read about every day. These things make us believe that computers have intelligence. He said people think differently now: "Because the public has seen things like Siri [the iPhone's voice-recognition technology] where you talk to a computer; they've seen the Google self-driving cars."

TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	This research is from a scientist from Google.	T / F
b.	The article says the scientist is an expert on jokes around the world.	T / F
c.	Many people thought robots would be smarter than humans in 1999.	T / F
d.	The scientist believes computers will be a billion times smarter than us.	T / F
e.	Most people now think about robots more like the scientist does.	T / F
f.	The scientist said his views about robots are more radical than ever.	T / F
g.	The scientist said our everyday things show us computer intelligence.	T / F
h.	The article says Siri is the name of Google's self-driving cars.	T / F

2.     FUTURE RATS COULD BE THE SIZE OF SHEEP

Rats that are the size of sheep might be a good horror movie story. However, scientists from the University of Leicester in England say that in the future, there could really be giant rats on the Earth. They could be as big as sheep and weigh up to 80kg. Rats are spreading all over the Earth. They are now the strongest animals on many small islands. One of the reasons for this is that they travel on ships and relocate to areas that never had rats before. Another reason is that many larger animals are becoming extinct, so there are fewer animals that might kill rats. Researcher Dr. Jan Zalasiewicz said: "Given enough time, rats could probably grow to be…the world's largest rodent."

Dr. Zalasiewicz said rats are one of the best examples of a species that we have spread around the world, and have successfully adapted to many of the new environments. He said: "There will be future thin rats, future fat rats, slow and heavy rats, fast and ferocious rats, probably future aquatic rats - the list goes on." After the dinosaurs died out, many small animals slowly grew bigger and bigger. The same thing could happen with rats if there are no animals left that hunt and kill them. Dr, Zalasiewicz also believes that "super-rats" will start killing other species to make them extinct. This will have a big impact on food chains. He did not say what humans would do about giant rats running around everywhere.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1.	What kind of movies could this story be good for?	6.	Who spread rats around the world?
	a) horror movies b) action c) love romances d) mysteries		a) pet lovers b) zoo keepers c) 19th-century explorers d) we did
2.	How much could rats weigh in the future?	7.	What have rats successfully adapted to?
	a) 8kg b) 18kg c) 80kg d) 8 million kg		a) organic food b) new environments c) new technology d) life in the fast lane
3.	Where are rats spreading?	8.	What happened to animals after the dinosaurs died out?
	a) underground b) all over the Earth c) London d) in cyberspace		a) they got smaller b) they died out too c) they became less ferocious d) they got bigger
4.	What is happening to many larger animals?	9.	What happens if "super-rats" start killing other species?
	a) they are getting smaller b) they are getting larger c) they are starting to eat rats d) they are becoming extinct		a) the other species will fight back b) humans will kill the rats c) the species will become extinct d) all animals will die out
5.	What did a doctor say could happen to rats, given enough time?	10.	What did the doctor say humans would do about giant rats?
	a) they could be the largest rodents b) they could fly c) they'll all die out d) they'll be the only animals left		a) he said humans would hunt them b) he didn't say c) they'd live inside giant walls d) they'd live on rat-free islands

Read more: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1402/140206-rats.html#ixzz2xwOxZzIh