A group of students in Japan have created a realistic robot baby to motivate young people to start planning a family so as to increase the country’s birth rate. The automated (自動化的)doll developed at the University of Tsukuba, called Yotara, laughs and “wakes up” when a rattle is shaken.
He can become angry and sleep like a real baby and he smiles when his stomach is pressed. The robot can also sneeze and have a runny nose, thanks to a heated water pump system. The students of the Graduate school of Comprehensive Human Science at the university created the robot last year with touch sensors. A projector sends the facial features onto a warm silicon balloon which makes up Yotara’s face. The robot’s facial expression and body movements change according to pressure applied to different parts of its body.
The information collected through touch sensors（傳感器）under the silicon skin is processed by a special programme. It then changes the baby’s expression projected onto the balloon-face from behind. There is a hat on the robot’s head and a colorful blanket covering the robot’s limbs which simulate wiggling(擺動) with the help of a geared motor. “We wanted to create a new type of robot that is soft, cuddly and cute,” said project leader Hiroki Kunimura.
“We’d like people to experience the innocent, joyful expressions typical of small babies. Through this experience, it would be great if some people started feeling that they wanted to have their own baby, if they started feeling that work is not everything.”
Japan’s birth rate is among the lowest in the developed world at 1.37%, compared to 2.12% in the United States and l.84%in Britain. Japan is facing serious economic consequences with over a quarter of its citizens expected to be aged over 65 by 20l5.The population is expected to reduce by a third within 50 years if the birth rate does not increase．
【小題1】. What is the students’ purpose of creating such a baby?

A．To help old people who live alone．B．To give small children some pleasure
C．To comfort lonely young people．D．To increase the population of Japan．
【小題2】What’s the new type of robot like in Hiroki Kunimura’s mind?
A．It can do everything for humans．B．It is clever, humorous and loyal．
C．It is gentle, lovely and smart．D．It makes humans unhappy．
【小題3】. What can we learn from the passage?
A．Many young people in Japan don’t want to get married．
B．There may be a lack of workers in Japan in the future．
C．The lifespan(壽命)of Japanese people will decrease in the future．
D．The birth rate in Japan will start to increase slowly soon．


【小題1】.D
【小題1】.C
【小題1】.A

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