Questões de Inglês - Pronome subjetivo | Subjective pronoun para Concurso

IMPORTANT SAFEGUARDS

For your protection, please read these safety
instructions completely before operating the appliance, and
keep this manual for future reference.

Carefully observe all warnings, precautions and
instructions on the appliance, or the one described in the
operating instructions and adhere to them.

POWER SOURCES - This set should be operated
only from the type of power source indicated on the marking
label. If you are not sure of the type of electrical power supplied
to your home, consult your dealer or local power company. For
those sets designed to operate from battery power, or other
sources, refer to the operating instructions.

OBJECTAND LIQUID ENTRY - Never push objects
of any kind into the set through openings as they may touch
dangerous voltage points or short out parts that could result in
a fire or electric shock. Never spill liquid of any kind on the set.

ATTACHMENTS - Do not use attachments not
recommended by the manufacturer, as they may cause
hazards.

CLEANING - Unplug the set from the wall outlet
before cleaning or polishing it. Do not use liquid cleaners or
aerosol cleaners. Use a cloth lightly dampened with water for
cleaning the exterior of the set.

OVERLOADING - Do not overload wall outlets,
extension cords or convenience receptacles beyond their
capacity, since this can result in fire or electric shock.

ACCESSORIES - Do not place the set on an
unstable cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table. The set may
fall, causing serious injury to a child or an adult, and serious
damage to the set. Use only a cart stand tripod, bracket, or
table recommended by the manufacturer.

WATER AND MOISTURE - Do not use power-line
operated sets near water - for example, near a bathtub,
washbowl, kitchen sink, or laundry tub, in a wet basement, or
near a swimming pool, etc.

SERVICING - Do not attempt to service the set
yourself as opening or removing covers may expose you to
dangerous voltage or other hazards. Refer all servicing to
qualified service personnel.

SAFETY CHECK - Upon completion of any service
or repairs to the set, as the service technician to perform
routine safety checks (as specified by the manufacturer) to
determine that the set is in safe operating condition.

(Adapted from SONY manual - Sony Corporation - 2000 - Printed in Japan).

          Repliee is more than a humanoid robot ? it is an
     honest-to-goodness android, so lifelike that it seems like
     a real person. It has moist lips, glossy hair and vivid
     eyes that blink slowly. Seated on a stool with hands
 5    folded primly on its lap at the 2005 World Exposition in
     Japan's Aichi prefecture, it wore a bright pink blazer and
     gray slacks. For a mesmerizing few seconds from several
     meters away, Repliee was virtually indistinguishable from
     an ordinary woman in her 30s. In fact, it was a copy of
 10    one.
          Japan is proud of the most advanced humanoids in
     the world, which are expected to eventually be used as
     the workforce diminishes among the decreasing and aging
     population. But why build a robot with pigmented silicone
 15    skin, smooth gestures and even makeup? To Repliee's
     creator, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Director of Osaka University's
     Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, the answer is simple:
     "Android science."
          Besides the justification for making robots
 20    anthropomorphic and bipedal so they can work in human
     environments with architectural features such as stairs,
     Ishiguro believes that people respond better to very
     humanlike automatons. Androids can thus elicit the most
     natural communication. "Appearance is very important
 25    to have better interpersonal relationships with a robot,"
     says the 42-year-old Ishiguro. "Robots are information
     media, especially humanoid robots. Their main role in
     our future is to interact naturally with people."
          Mild colorblindness forced Ishiguro to abandon his
 30    aspirations of a career as an oil painter. Drawn to
     computer and robot vision instead, he built a guide robot
     for the blind as an undergraduate at the University of
     Yamanashi. A fan of the android character Data from the
     Star Trek franchise, he sees robots as the ideal vehicle
 35    to understand more about ourselves.
          To imitate human looks and behavior successfully,
     Ishiguro combines robotics with cognitive science. In turn,
     cognitive science research can use the robot to study
     human perception, communication and other faculties.
 40    This novel cross-fertilization is what Ishiguro describes
     as android science. In a 2005 paper, he and his
     collaborators explained it thus: "To make the android
     humanlike, we must investigate human activity from the
     standpoint of cognitive science, behavioral science and
 45    neuroscience, and to evaluate human activity, we need
     to implement processes that support it in the android."
          One key strategy in Ishiguro's approach is to model
     his artificial creations on real people. He began research
     four years ago with his then four-year-old daughter,
 50    casting a rudimentary android from her body, but its
     mechanisms resulted in strange, unnatural motion.
          Humanlike robots run the risk of compromising
     people's comfort zones. Because the android's
     appearance is very similar to that of a human, any subtle
 55    differences in motion and responses will make it seem
     strange. Repliee, though, is so lifelike that it has
     overcome the creepiness factor, partly because of the
     natural way it moves.
          Ishiguro wants his next android, a male, to be as
 60    authentic as possible. The model? Himself. The scientist
     thinks having a robot clone could ease his busy schedule:
     he could dispatch it to classes and meetings and then
     teleconference through it. "My question has always been,
     Why are we living, and what is human?" he says. An
 65    Ishiguro made of circuitry and silicone might soon be
     answering his own questions.

adapted from www.scientificamerican.com - May 2006