Like doting parents, …………..robot researchers worry about …………..inner lives of their machines and how best to guide them through sticky social situations. Bullying by children has already been …………..problem. Researchers at …………..University of California, San Diego were horrified when toddlers learning vocabulary at the university’s early Childhood Education Centre took only minutes to bash apart …………..robotic arm assembled over more than six months.

Complete these sentences with the correct comparative or superlative form of the adjectives in (brackets)

i IBM is one of the ……………………………..(big) computer companies in America. ii A notebook computer is ……………………………..(expensive) than a desktop one.

iii I think a desktop computer is ……………………………..(good) than a Notebook.

iv In my opinion, telephone is the ……………………………..(important) piece of office equipment.

v The ……………………………..(fast) way to contact a client is by phone.

Here are the answers to some questions. What are the questions? 

i When ………………………………………….? I joined the company six years ago.

ii What ………………………………………….? I was an office assistant.

iii Which ………………………………………….? I worked in After-sales.

iv How long ………………………………………….? I worked in that department for 18 months.

v Where………………………………………….? It was just 6 kms from my home.

You have been asked to write a presentation on what improvements can be made to increase effective academic/practical counselling at your study centre. Consider the capacity building and use of faculty, course material, discussions and labs.

You visit an electronic stores since you want to purchase a new Android Smart TV. Write out the dialogue that you have with the sales person at the store.

As part of the recruitment process you have to participate in a Group Discussion. Prepare the proceedings of the GD which includes all the aspects of the discussion from the introduction to the conclusion. You may choose any one of the following topics.

i Corporate Companies venturing into education.

ii FDI in Retail

iii Social Media Tools (FaceBook and Twitter)

vi Young people must do voluntary work before entering the job market.

Difference between phone and walk-in-interview

An effective presentation

Make sentences of your own with the following phrases. You make relevant changes to the phrase.

i put an idea to the test

ii call a first

iii take their lessons to heart iv give-and-take relationship

v bristled at the thought

Find words from the text which mean the same as following:

i fantastic

ii eroding

iii imitate

iv turning

v adding new features

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:

Scientists have theorized for decades that robots would make the perfect helper and companion. Now a handful of public schools in the US are putting that idea to the test.

This year, robots will be teaching everything from math to vocabulary to nutrition inside classrooms in California and New York, a move the researchers call a first in American Education.

The Los Angeles experiment, scheduled to start later this spring, will use a robotic “dragon” to teach first-graders about healthy lifestyle habits. Students will help show the robot how to prepare for a race; the hope is that by sharing tips with the dragon, they take their own lessons to heart.

Researchers see the classroom robots not as replacements for teachers but as whimsical assistants programmed to push kids’ buttons. But some see the mechanization as the latest example of technology undermining the importance of human connections in the classroom.

The robot educators, most of which are small enough to perch on a table, don’t replace teachers, exactly. Kids generally take turns with them in special sessions in a library or on the side of the classroom. The robots are programmed to mimic human behaviours: swiveling their heads when students speak, crying out when overeager kids get physical, and gesturing as they talk.

“How can you get the kids to do more math? They don’t want to. But they do want to play with the robots,” said Maja Matari, professor of computer science, neuroscience and pediatrics at USC, who is helping to lead the project in Los Angeles. Robots in the experiments are teaching and reinforcing lessons over several weeks, researchers say, even though it seems they are merely serving as electronic playmates.

The New York robot experiment relies on a basic insight: Children don’t like admitting mistakes but they enjoy pointing out someone else’s. The idea was to “use that to our advantage,” said

Sandra Okita, an assistant professor at Teachers College, Columbia Univeristy, who is leading the experiment.

She programmed her robot – a $14,000 android nicknamed “Projo,” with glowing eyes, bulging triceps and a futuristic-looking white and orange spacesuit – to make carefully calculated errors when working with students. As the children correct their 2-foot-tall partner, she hopes they become more aware when they make the same mistakes.

“I think the imperfect robot is good for humans,” Okita said, “It has to be a give-and-take relationship where you influence the robot and the robot influences you.”

But some critics remain skeptical that robots could ever become true companions.“It could be the greatest robot in the world, said Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT. A robot teacher still won’t understand what is going on in these human interactions.

In Los Angeles, some parents have bristled at the thought of robots supplanting teachers. “I don’t think they’ll take over the world but they may take all our jobs,” laughed Victor Sanchez. Still, he counted the robots as an example of the school’s innovations. “That’s what we’re promoting,” Sanched said.

(a) Suggest a title for the passage. Give reasons why you think your title is appropriate.

(b) What is the main purpose of the Los Angeles experiment?

(c) Do you think such an experiment would actually “undermine the importance of human connection in the classroom”? Discuss.

(d) How can an “imperfect” robot help children correct their own mistakes?

(e) What is the criticism against robots in the classroom?

Solve the following Initial Value Problem using (i)R-K method of O(h2 ) and (ii) R-K method of O(h⁴ )

Find y(0.4) taking h = 0.2, where y' means dy/dx

Solve the Initial Value Problem, using Euler’s Method for the differential Equation:

y^, = 1+3xy, given that y(0) = 1.

Find y(1.0) taking (i) h = 0.25 and then (ii) h = 0.5

Compute the value of the integral

By taking 12 equal subintervals using (a) Trapezoidal Rule and then (b) Simpson's 1/3 Rule. Compare the result with the actual value.

Find the values of the first and second derivatives of y = 2x2+3x-2 for x=1.25 from the following table using Lagrange’s interpolation formula. Compare the results with (a) part above.

Find the values of the first and second derivatives of y = 2x²+3x-2 for x=1.25 using the following table. Use forward difference method. Also, find Truncation Error (TE) and actual errors.

The depositions in a Bank for 5 different years are given in the following table:

(i) Using Stirling's central difference formula estimate the deposits for the year 2014

(ii) Using Newton’s forward formula estimate the deposits for the year 2012.

(iii) Using Newton’s backward formula estimate the deposits for the year 2018.

(b) Derive an expression of forward difference operator in terms of δ.

Using the Lagrange's inverse interpolation method, find the value of x when y is 7.

(a) Find Lagrange’s interpolating polynomial that fits the following data. Hence obtain the value of f(4).

Determine the smallest positive root of the following equation:

f(x) = 3x⁴ – 5x² – 11x - 13 = 0

The root should be correct up to 2 decimal places, using (a) Regula-falsi method (b) Newton-Raphson method (c) Bisection method

(d) Secant method