Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech"s Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. The smartphone-enabled (智能手机支持的), one-foot-tall robot is billed as an interactive "musical friend".
"Shimi is designed to change the way that people enjoy and think about their music," said Professor Gil Weinberg, the robot"s creator. He will unveil the robot at the June 27th Google I/O conference in San Francisco. A band of three Shimi robots will perform for guests, dancing in sync with music created in the lab and composed according to its movements.
Shimi is essentially a docking station with a "brain" powered by an Android phone. Once docked the robot gains the sensing and musical generation capabilities of the user"s mobile device. In other words, if there"s an "app" for that, Shimi is ready. For instance, by using the phone"s camera and face-detecting software, Shimi can follow a listener around the room and position its "ears", or speakers, for optimal sound. Another recognition feature is based on rhythm and tempo. If the user taps a beat, Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone"s musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestions. Once the music starts, Shimi dances to the rhythm.
"Many people think that robots are limited by their programming instructions," said Music Technology Ph. D. candidate Mason Bretan, "Shimi shows us that robots can be creative and interactive." Future apps in the works will allow the user to shake their head in disagreement or wave a hand in the air to alert Shimi to skip to the next song or increase/decrease the volume. The robot will also have the capability to recommend new music based on the user"s song choices and provide feedback on the music play list.
Weinberg hopes other developers will be inspired to create more apps to expand Shimi"s creative and interactive capabilities. "I believe that our center is ahead of a revolution that will see more robots in homes." Weinberg said.
Weinberg is in the process of commercializing Shimi through an exclusive licensing agreement with Georgia Tech. Weinberg hopes to make the robot available to consumers by the 2013 holiday season. "If robots are going to arrive in homes, we think that they will be this kind of machines—small, entertaining and fun," Weinberg said. "They will enhance your life and pave the way for more intelligent service robots in our lives."
单选题
Which of the following is NOT true according to the first three paragraphs?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 判断题。分别定位四个选项的关键词，可知A，C，D的信息与原文信息一致，只有B项与原文信息不一致，利用B项的关键词creator可以定位到第二段“...Professor Gil Weinberg, the robot"s creator.”意为“Gil Weinberg教授是机器人Shimi的创造者。”因此本题答案为B。
单选题
What does Shimi do if the user taps a beat?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。利用题干关键词tap a beat可以定位到第三段“If the user taps a beat, Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone"s musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestions”，即“如果使用者轻拍一个节奏，Shimi就会分析这个节奏，并扫描手机的音乐库，然后马上播放与节奏最匹配的歌曲”。可知D为正确选项。
单选题
Compared with those robber limited the programming, Shimi is ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。利用题干关键词limited by programming可以定位到第四段“Many people think that robots are limited by their programming instructions...Shimi shows us that robots can be creative and interactive.”即“许多人认为机器人会受其程序指令所限…Shimi则给我们展示了机器人也能很有创新，也有互动。”由此，D为正确答案。
[考点] be limited by(为……所限)；interactive(互动的，互相影响的)，programming(程序，编程)。
单选题
What is the prediction of Weinberg about Shimi?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。本题需要利用选项关键词进行定位，由此可知，A项是错的(原文The smartphone—enabled, one-foot-tall robot说明非智能手机无法使用)，C项原文没有提及相关信息，D项也是错的(原文Weinberg hopes to make the robot available to consumers by the 2013 holiday season可知Shimi要到2013年假期才能上市)，所以该题答案为B。原文最后一段有相关信息“we think that they will be this kind of machines—small, entertaining and fun”，即“我们认为它们将会是这类机器——小型、好玩和有趣”。