Task 1
Directions: After reading the following passage, you will find 5 questions or unfinished statements numbered 36 to 40. For each question or statement there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. You should make the correct choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
This new school year is especially for some elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand. They became the world’s first kids to be “taught” by a digital teacher. Before you start imagining a human-like robot walking around the classroom, Will—the digital teacher, is just an avatar that appears on the student’s desktop, or smartphone screen, when ordered to come.
Just like humans, Will is able to instantly react to the students’ responses to the topic. He not only responds to the kids’ questions, but also picks up non-verbal cues. For instance, if a student smiles at Will he responds by smiling back. This two-way interaction not only helps attract the students’ attention, but also allows the program’s developers to monitor their engagement, and make changes if needed.
Nikhil Ravishankar believes that Will-like avatars could be a new way to catch the attention of the next generation. He says, “I have a lot of hope in the technology. However, regardless of how popular it becomes, Will is unlikely to replace human educators any time soon!”
