# Robots and us: answers and explanations

Cambridge IELTS 20, Test 3, Reading Passage 3

Source: Passage, questions and answer key from Cambridge IELTS 20, Test 3, Reading Passage 3. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Used for educational practice. Explanations and evidence notes are written by Testmigo.

## Answer key

| Q | Answer | Proof |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 27 | A | we should ensure that robots remain as no more than 'idiot savants' lacking the capacity to outwit us |
| 28 | C | it seems unlikely that they ever will ... we tend to imagine they are greater and more powerful than they really are |
| 29 | B | Expecting a machine close to the creative intelligence of a human within the next 50 years would be highly ambitious. |
| 30 | A | Should we feel guilty about exploiting [sophisticated robots]? |
| 31 | B | Using robots to gather resources nearer to home would seem to be a better use of our robotic tools. |
| 32 | A | perhaps no more likely to be wrong |
| 33 | C | many people welcome machine intelligence |
| 34 | C | should be preserved with a status that is analogous to Antarctica ... the idea of 'colonisation' of other planets seemed morally dubious |
| 35 | B | Robots are still limited in their ability to sense their environment ... In a limited sense it already has. |
| 36 | D | we have already seen the damaging effects of artificial intelligence in the form of computer viruses ... none have in fact risen up and challenged human supremacy |
| 37 | B | it stems from humans' tendency to personify inanimate objects |
| 38 | C | these could behave like a single 'brain' with a mind of its own |
| 39 | B | almost no science fiction envisages a future without robots |
| 40 | C | we need to bring these different understandings together to get a whole perspective |

## Why these answers are right

**27. A.** Rees says we should ensure robots remain no more than idiot savants, lacking the capacity to outwit us. Deliberately keeping robots below the level where they could outsmart people is restricting their abilities for our safety, so the expert is Martin Rees.

**28. C.** Richardson argues that we imagine machines are more powerful than they really are, and that since robots have never challenged humans it seems unlikely they ever will. Saying the threat is overestimated matches the statement, so the answer is Kathleen Richardson.

**29. B.** Wolpert says that expecting a machine near human creative intelligence within the next 50 years would be highly ambitious. Creative matches imaginative, and doubting it will happen within 50 years means it will take many decades, so the expert is Daniel Wolpert.

The why and the trap for questions 30 onwards are free with an account on the [answers page](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/robots-and-us/answers).

[Practice Robots and us](https://testmigo.com/ielts/reading/robots-and-us)