导语：2013年职称英语综合类新增了一些文章，小编为大家精心整理出来了，希望能帮到大家！下面就来做一做这篇Musical Robot Companion Enhances Listener Experience吧！

第十九篇Musical Robot Companion Enhances Listener Experience

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech's1 Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping2 based on listener feedback. The smartphone-enabled3, 0ne-foot-tall robot is billed as4 an interactive"musical friend". "Shimi is designed to change the way that people enjoy and think about theft 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 station5 with a "brain" powered by an Android6 phone. Once docked7, the robot gains the sensing and musical generation capabilities8 of the user's mobile device. In other words, if there's an "app9" 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 beat10, Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone’s musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestion. 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 Breran. "Shimi shows us that robots can be creative and interactive. " Future apps in the works11 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 robots12 in our lives."

词汇：

Pump v, 用抽水机抽；不断播放(音乐)

Scan v. 扫描；浏览 Skipv. 轻跳，跳跃

sync n.踞.同步，同时；v. 使同步

tempon. 速度；节奏

注释：

1.Georgia Tech：全称是Georgia Institute of Technology, 佐治亚理工学院，建于1885年，位于亚特兰大市中心。佐治亚理工学院是美国南部最大的公立理工学院，也是全美最顶尖的理工学院之一，排名仅次于麻省理工学院(MIT)和加州理工学院（CalTecb）。

2. pump：不断播放（音乐）。例如：This radio station recently pumps out pop music. 这家广播电台近来连续播放流行音乐。

3. smartphone.enabled：出智能手机系统支持的

4. is billed as：相当于is advertised as, 意为“被标榜为”。

5. docking station：插接站，扩充基座，扩展插口

6.Android：（科幻小说里的）机器人。本文指用于智能手机和便携式计算机移动设备的一种以Linus为基础的开放源代码操作系统，通过接口和插槽连接多种外部设备。目前Android尚未有统一中文译名，国内较多人翻译成“安卓”或“安致”。据2012年2月数据， Android占据全球智能手机操作系统市场52.5％的份额，中国市场占有率为68. 4％。

7. dock：对接

8. the sensing and musical generation capabilities：传感和音乐生成能力

9. app：应用程序（=application）

10. if the user taps a beat：如果用户打出某个（音乐）拍子

11. in the works：正在准备阶段；在进行中或准备中

12. intelligent service robots：智能服务型机器人

练习

1. Which of the following is NOT true according to the first three paragraphs?

A. Shimi is a one foot tall robot.

B. Shimi is the creator of the musical companion.

C. Shimi is a docking station with a“brain”powered by all Android phone.

D. Shimi Can gain the sensing and musical generation capabilities of the user’s mobile device

2.What does Shimi do if the user taps a beat?

A. It stores the beat in the musical library.

B. It transmits the beat to the docking station.

C. It positions its speakers for optimal sound.

D. It selects a perfectly-matched song and plays it in sync with that beat.

3. Which of the following about Shimi is true?

A. Robots are limited by their programming instructions, and Shimi is no exception.

B . Present apps allow the user to shake their head to alert Shimi to skip to the next song.

C. Exiting app allow the user to wave a hand to alert Shimi to rum up/down the volume.

D. Shimi call be creative and interactive.

4. What does the author want to tell us?

A. The research center is developing a sponger and more versatile Shimi.

B. Weinberg only expects staffs from Georgia Tech. to develop more apps for Shirni.

C. Shimi is not yet technologically ready for commercialization.

D. Robots such as Shimi are created for large corporations rather than homes.

5. Which of the following is Weinberg’s assertion?

A. Shimi as a robotic musical companion call be applied to all types of smart phones.

B. human lives will be filled with more fun if Shimi is going to arrive in homes.

C. Shimi’s creative and interactive capabilities are appreciated by most of its users.

D. Weinberg has reached all agreement with Georgia Tech to commercialize Shimi.

答案与题解：

1. B在前三段中均可找到与选项A、C、D相应的句子，强调Shimi是一种电子设备；B与原文不符，Shimi不是该机器人的发明者，Gil Weinberg教授才是the robot's creator.

2. D选项D简要地表述了第三段的倒数第二句 "If the user taps a beat, Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone's musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestion" 的意思，所以是答案。选项A、B. C都不符合上述句子的含义。

3. D选项A的意思与原文相反。虽然人们认为机器人受到程序指令的限制，值Shimi却表现出具有创造能力和互动能力，所以A不是答案。选项D的意思与原文相同，因而是答案。第四段第三句指的是未来的应用程序：future apps in the works, 而选项B, C是指目前的应用程序，两者的表述均与原文有出入。

4. A第三段介绍Shimi的多种功能，第四段和第五段说Weinberg还在开发更多的应用程序来丰富Shimi的功能，还希望其他研发者也参与开发，因此，A是答案。选项B说Weinberg仅仅希望Georgia Tech员工参与开发恩多的应用软件，这与原文不符。文章最后一段告诉我们，Weinberg正在与Georgia Tech进行有关Shimi商业化的谈判，选项C的意思与此相反，不会是答案。选项D也与原文不符。

5.B选项A、C和D的内容Weinberg都没有说过。第三段告诉我们，Shimi是Android smartphone的扩充基座，并不适用于所有智能手机，所以A选项不正确；Shimi尚未进入市场，还谈不上公众对Shimi欣赏与否的问题，因此选项C不符合原意；Shimi正在进行商业化运作，但绝非已经完成，所以D也不是正确选项。本题的答案是B，依据是最后一段倒数第二句。