10th D

Student
TEACHER: Conceição
Moreira Francisca Bastos Nº.: 13
Matilde Tavares nº17
Beatriz Cruz nº3
Guilherme Tavares nº10

The final task you have to do is to write an argumentative text for a school debate about this statement: The
increased use of robots benefits society. Activities A and B will give you input for Activity C.

Activity A
12 points
1. Look at these pictures. What tasks can these robots perform?

2 3 3

1. Musician;
2. Maths teacher
3. House keeper
2. Rewrite these sentences beginning them with the words/expressions given. 15 points

The school teacher has used Max and Ben in lessons. (Max and Ben)
Max and Ben were used in the lessons by the teacher at school.
Robots were supporting autistic children. (Autistic children)
- autistic children were being supported by robots.
c. You can programme them to teach language. (They)
they can program to teach languages.

3. How can robots take part in our everyday lives? What tasks can they perform? 24 points
 Write about 50 words.
Robots can participate in our daily lives by helping us with our tasks. They can
clean the house and cook for us whenever we don't feel like it and also help us
finding something that is missing. Robots can be with us whenever we feel
lonely and make sure we are ok.

Activity B
Read the text and do the tasks that follow.

Dancing Robots in the Classroom

Humanoid robots are being used as classroom buddies to support children with autism in a

project that aims to improve social interaction and communication .

Max and Ben, two robots who move like humans and who can
dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, were developed by researchers
at the University of Birmingham’s School of Education. The
university has showcased them at the Festival of Social Science this
week, focusing on a project at Topcliffe Primary School, where the
robots have been aiding children’s learning since March.
Topcliffe is the first school in the country to trial the use of
innovative technology for children with autism. The intelligence of
such students is often marked by an exceptionally high capacity for focus and attention to detail
but tempered in and outside of the classroom by a difficulty with social interaction. Topcliffe is a
mainstream school with 30 autistic pupils for whom it receives specialist funding support.
Research has shown that children with autism tend to respond well to computers and
technology, which they find safer and more predictable than complex human interactions. Karen
Guldberg, director of the Autism Centre for Education and Research at Birmingham, has been
working with a research team to analyse how best to use the robots. She said: "We have been
looking at how technology can support pupils with autism to communicate more effectively."
Pupils and teachers are experimenting with the robots and other technologies in a
developmental way and they are showing significant benefits for the classroom.
Adapted from: http://www.tes.co.uk

1. Fill in the table below with information taken from the text. 20 points
 a. Aims of the b. Max and c. Topcliffe d. Autistic children’s
project Ben’s skills characterisation profile
Improve social They can move is the first school in the children with autism
interactions and like humans country to trial the use tend to respond well to
comunications and dance the of innovative technology computers and
mickael for children with autism technology, which they
jackson’s find safer and more
thriller predictable than complex
human interactions

2. Complete the following sentences using information from the text.

21 points
a. Researchers at the University of Birmingham’s School of Education developed two
robots that move like humans
b. Autistic children interact better with computers and technology.
c. The use of technology in the classroom has supported pupils with autism to
communicate more effectively."

3. Find in the text words that mean the same as these. 18 points
a. partners buddies
b. helping aiding
c. common/conventional mainstream
d. Important/marked significant

Activity C 60 points

Now write an argumentative text for a school debate about this statement: The increased use
of robots benefits society. Write about 120-150 words. You may use the input provided by
Activities A and B.
The increased use of robots on society has vantages and disadvantages. How is it possible?
Firstly, imagine this example: A man who lived selling tickets was fired and replaced by a
machine. The first thing we think is how unfair it was for the man and the economic problems
that he ended up with. But if we think deeply we realize that, maybe, his job wasn’t desirable.
Think about it: sitting all day waiting for clients over and over. In this example we think that the
negative aspects overcame the positives because although his job was boring at least he had a
job. On the other hand think about this example: A robot was sent to another planet to explore it.
The only negative aspect about this is the price of the robot but we think that the price covers
the benefits. If there was no robot we had to send a human to explore which would be very
dangerous. Besides, if there were no robots we wouldn’t even get to space. Like in the space
industry, robots also are really useful in the medicine. Precise treatments as surgery are made
with the help of robots which increase the chance of the surgery to be successful. As we’ve
showed you, robots can help in some things but if the increase of robots is to quickly it can be
negative in the society.

Activity D – Listening Listen to these people giving their opinion about this 30 points
question ‘Should robots have the same moral and ethical standards as humans?’ and
complete their statements.

SPEAKER 1 (Andrew)
This is a (1) highly complex question to which I do not claim to know all the answers. But I can (2)
definitely say that we must hold robots to at least the same moral and (3) ethical standards that we
hold ourselves. Obviously, we cannot (4) lead robots to do things to humans that we do not allow
amongst one another. The big question here, I think, is whether we have a (5) moral to treat robots in
the same way we treat people.
SPEAKER 2 (Amir)
Any question of ethics and morality should be the sole enterprise of the (6) human beings behind the
machines, and not the other (7) . It may be that we one day inhabit a world where robots (8) exist
autonomously , but the reality is no matter how advanced a robot (9) may become, they will never be
considered “real” and should always be the responsibility of their “creators.” Therefore any legal or
ethical standards need to apply to (10) whoever develops , builds, and operates them rather than the
robots themselves.

SPEAKER 3 (George)
I think there must be at least a (11) a minimum code f ethics that guide how we treat and interact with
these mechanical beings. The scientists, engineers, and corporations that create robots should be (12)
held responsible for the actions of their contraptions. Just because robot-makers must follow certain
(13) ethical guidelines, however, doesn’t mean that those of us who interact with robots cannot also
follow a code. Of course, I don’t believe this code should be, or even can be,the same as the moral code
that guides our interactions with (14) fellow humans. But I do believe that it is possible for humans to
act immorally toward robots, even if the robot can never be (15) truly conscious of the actions in the
same way a human is aware.

Beatriz Cruz , Francisca Bastos, Guilherme Tavares, Matilde Tavares