3 Where Does the Word “ Robot ” Come From ？

The word robot comes from the Czech word robota ， meaning
heavy labour ． A robot is a machine that works automatically ．
Robots can do a wide variety of tasks ． They are especially
suitable for doing jobs too boring ， difficult ， or dangerous
for human beings ． Robots efficiently carry out such routine
tasks as welding ， drilling and painting automobile body parts
． They also produce plastic food containers and wrap ice cream
bars ． Some industrial robots can even make electronic
equipment and watches ． The science and technology that deals
with robots is called robotics ．
A typical robot performs a task by following a set of instructions
that tells it exactly what must be done to complete the job ．These
instructions are entered and stored in the robot's “ brain ” of a
computer or part of a computer ．

efficiently ? 有效率地
routine ? 日常的，例行的
weld焊接
drill ? 鉆孔
electronic ? 電子的

“ Robot ”（機器人）是如何得此名字的？

機器人 (Robot) 來源于捷克語 Robota 一詞，意思是“累人的活”。機器人就是一種能自動操作的機器。機器人可以做許多工作，尤其適用于從事那些人們看來單調、困難、危險的工作。

機器人能有效地做那些重復性的勞動，如焊接、鉆孔和為汽車零部件噴漆。它們還能用于制造塑料食品包裝容器或包扎雪糕等工作。有些工業機器人還能組裝電子設備和手表。研究機器人的科技叫人工智能學。一臺典型的機器人必須通過精確執行它被告知的完成一項工作的一系列指令才能完成任務，這些指令儲存在其“頭腦”即計算機內