Robotic“tail”to help elderly people stay upright

山東聊城市水城中學 楊 蕊

體裁 篇幅 建議用時說明文330 6分鐘

A research team in Japan has worked to develop an artificial, robotic tail that could eventually help elderly people keep their balance,as well as remain upright.

Students and researchers at Keio University have built a device called Arque.About 1 meter in length,it closely follows the movements of an animal's tail,according to a Reuters report.

Junichi Nabeshima is a researcher and graduate student at the school's Embodied Media Project.“The tail keeps balance like a pendulum（鐘擺）,”Nabeshima said.“When a human tilts （傾斜）his or her body one way,the tail moves in the opposite direction.”

Japan is one of the leaders in the industrial world when it comes to lifespan.As its population grows older,scientists and researchers seek new ways to keep them alive—and upright.New technology developed by its bright,young minds seems to be the answer.

Here's how it works.The tail uses compressed（壓縮）air to move four artificial muscles in eight different directions.The tail is still at the prototype （原型）stage,and researchers are trying to find other ways and methods to make the tail more flexible.

In addition to the benefits that an artificial tail could provide to the elderly—or younger people who may have some mobility issues or problems with their balance—the researchers are also studying ways their device can help the working population.For example,they're looking at ways it can help stabilize warehouse and factory workers who often do heavy lifting and carrying.

A robotic tail would be far from the first mechanical devices developed for the human body.Scientists have created robotic arms and hands that use muscle memory to pick up objects.Mechanical legs have been developed to help people recover after losing a leg. These have become even more complicated over the last 30 years as US service members come back from war zones，suffering the loss of either one or two legs.

閱讀檢測

1.Why is Junichi Nabeshima mentioned in the text?

A.To comment on the device.

B.To show how the device works.

C.To stress the importance of the device.

D.To introduce the inventor of the device.

2.What is the purpose of the fourth paragraph?

A.To show the significance of the device.

B.To add some background information.

C.To explain Japan's population conditions.

D.To describe some challenges Japan faces.

3.What can we know about the robotic tail?

A.It's merely intended for those old people.

B.It's something heavy to balance its users.

C.It has been used widely by people in life.

D.It works by making use of compressed air.

4.What is the limitation with the device according to its creators?

A.It can't stabilize those overweight people.

B.It sometimes gives its users discomfort.

C.Its muscles can't move flexibly enough.

D.It isn't strong enough to bear heavy things.

語言學習

難句分析

In addition to the benefits that an artificial tail could provide to the elderly—or younger people who may have some mobility issues or problems with their balance—the researchers are also studying ways their device can help the working population.人造尾巴除了能給老年人或有移動困難或平衡困難的年輕人帶來好處之外，研究人員還在研究人造尾巴如何幫助工作人群。

該句為主從復合句,句中that 引導定語從句修飾the benefits，who 引導定語從句修飾younger people，ways 后的定語從句省略了引導詞that 或in which。

背景知識

助老機器人

行動不便的老年人主要是在行走時需要借助人力或者器械，而助老機器人可以像貼身保鏢一樣扶著老人行走。有的設地款機器人是穿戴式的，老人可以把機器人“穿”在腿上，機器人啟動后即可帶動老人的腿部進行運動。

唯一的缺陷是助老機器人需要根據人類的指令完成各種不同的任務，可能需要穿梭于家庭、公共場所等地方，這就要求機器人保持足夠的靈活性。在執行任務的過程中，機器人需要正確判斷障礙物，迅速避障，而現階段這方面的技術還有待完善。

另一方面，助老機器人時時刻刻都要和人進行接觸，它的安全性就顯得非常重要。比如機器人在給老人端茶的時候，機器人就要正確判斷它和老人之間的距離，否則距離過近，杯子撞在老人身上就麻煩了。