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（单词翻译）

BBC Learning English

Video Words in the News 

7 August 2013

Space robot

Transcript¹:

This is Japan's latest astronaut.

Kirobo the robot was exposed to zero gravity before being blasted into space. Its destination: the International Space Station. 

The tiny android has been sent into orbit as a companion for Japan's human space traveller. 

Its creator says Kirobo's most important skill is that it can mimic² human emotions. He wants its sense of compassion³ to help lonely astronauts during their stay in space.

Vocabulary:

blasted

movement which started with an explosion

android

robot that looks like a human

orbit

route of an object around a planet or star

mimic

imitate

compassion

awareness⁴ of the suffering of others

Exercise:

Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports. 

Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.

blasted / android / orbit / mimic / compassion

1.  The European Space Agency (Esa) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Mars Express mission. Launched on 2 June 2003, the probe went into __________ around the Red Planet in the December of that year.

2.  "All I can say is it makes you proud to be a human being when people show that kind of __________." 

3.  A Chinese rocket carrying a probe destined⁵ for the Moon has __________ into space. A Long March 3C rocket with the Chang'e-2 probe took off from Xichang launch centre at about 1100 GMT.

4.  The story of __________ on the silver screen cannot pass without mention of three contemporary classics: The replicants rebelling against their preprogrammed demise⁶ in Blade Runner (1982); Arnold Schwarzenegger's gun-toting turn as 2029-vintage cyborg in The Terminator (1984); and Peter Weller as officer Alex J Murphy's alter ego⁷ in the dystopic Detroit of RoboCop (1987). 

5.  A diabetes⁸ pill has anti-ageing effects and extends the life of male mice, research suggests. Scientists believe the drug, metformin, may __________ the effects of extreme calorie restriction⁹.

Answers:

1.  The European Space Agency (Esa) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Mars Express mission. Launched on 2 June 2003, the probe went into orbit around the Red Planet in the December of that year.

Source: Europe's Mars Express spacecraft celebrates 10 years

2.  "All I can say is it makes you proud to be a human being when people show that kind of compassion."

Source: Lindsay Sandiford appeal receives ￡1,800 from man aged¹⁰ 87

3.  A Chinese rocket carrying a probe destined for the Moon has blasted into space. A Long March 3C rocket with the Chang'e-2 probe took off from Xichang launch centre at about 1100 GMT.

Source: China launches Moon mission

4.  The story of androids on the silver screen cannot pass without mention of three contemporary classics: The replicants rebelling against their preprogrammed demise in Blade Runner (1982); Arnold Schwarzenegger's guntoting turn as 2029-vintage cyborg in The Terminator (1984); and Peter Weller as officer Alex J Murphy's alter ego in the dystopic Detroit of RoboCop (1987). 

Source: The evolution of movie robots

5.  A diabetes pill has anti-ageing effects and extends the life of male mice, research suggests. Scientists believe the drug, metformin, may mimic the effects of extreme calorie restriction.

Source: Pill linked to long life in mice