Question

While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some students at White Cloud Primary School. They became the world's first kids to be taught by an electronic teacher. This electronic teacher is not a human-like robot walking around the classroom Instead, he is a computer-created head that appears, when needed, on students computer or phone screens. His name is Bill.

Created by technology company Smart Machines, Bill is able to show human-like behavior. He is designed to teach a special program about environmental-friendly power created by the sun and wind. This program, started in 2005, used to be taught by human teachers.

Just like human teachers, Bill is able to immediately respond to the students' questions and opinions about the topic. Thanks to computer cameras, he is also able to see and react to students physical actions. For example, if a student smiles at Bill, he responds by smiling back. This two-way exchange helps get the students' attention. More importantly, it allows the program developers to improve Bills behavior and knowledge base when needed.

The program has been a great success, according to Smart Machines spokesman Robert Frost Frost says, “What is interesting to me is the children's reaction to Bill. He really captures their attention.” Frost thinks kids don't find the experience of being taught by smart machines as strange as older people because they have grown up in a time of computers and smart phones.

It is doubtful, however, that human educators will lose their jobs to Bill any time soon. For one,his talking head's knowledge base is not large. More importantly, even the smartest computer programs can't guess and react to all the unexpected situations that educators face daily. Bill’s future might be as a “personal tutor”, providing kids with one-on-one help for different subjects and topics.

1.What is Bill?

A. A human-like robot

B. A kind of computer game

C. A computer recording tool

D. A computer-created talking head

2.How does the two-way exchange help the program developers?

A. It lets them correct students' mistakes

B. It allows Bill to respond more quickly

C. It helps them know how to improve Bill

D. It helps them study students' body language

3.The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 4 refers to

A. kids

B. older people

C. smart machines

D. program developers

4.What is Bill NOT good at doing?

A. Attracting students' attention

B. Understanding body language

C. Responding to students' questions

D. Dealing with unexpected situations

5.How might Bill be used in the future according to the last paragraph?

A. To work as human classroom teachers

B. To encourage students' interest in computers

C. To give students personal help with different subjects

D. To watch over the behavior of the students in the classroom

Answer 1