New Scientist reporter Celeste Biever, the robot can perform recorded sound by simply playing it back. It can also act out programmed pieces from Shakespeare or just about anything else.

　　"Another of the robot's advantages is more surprising. Because I feel less empathy (同感) for RoboThespian than for the human comedians, I feel more relaxed during his performances，" Biever added. And of course, RoboThespian is unlikely to feel as nervous as other comedians, or be affected too badly by an audience member shouting at it.

　　The Queen Mary researchers say they're most interested in how audiences can be part of live performances. So in the future, we may be watching robots performing exactly the show we want to see. Do you think it's time for the robot to write some more jokes?

　　语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。伦敦玛丽皇后大学的研究人员组织了机器人RoboThespian的表演来测试它是否可以像人一样滑稽，并介绍了机器人表演的优势。

4．Why was RoboThespian originally developed?

　　A．To help human comedians perform better on stage.

　　B．To find out if robots could understand human jokes.

　　C．To see if robots could perform like human comedians.

　　D．To assist human comedians to make up some better jokes.

　　解析：选C　细节理解题。根据第二段内容可知，伦敦玛丽皇后大学的研究人员组织了 RoboThespian的表演，目的是测试它能否像人一样滑稽。故选C。

5．When RoboThespian gave performances on stage, it ________.

　　A．imitated the audience's voices to make them laugh

　　B．was affected easily by an audience member shouting at it

　　C．performed completely different jokes from human comedians

　　D．recorded each audience member's reaction and acted accordingly

　　解析：选D　 细节理解题。根据第四段的内容可知，研究人员使用计算机视频和音频软件来捕捉每一个观众的反应，RoboThespian 则利用这些信息来决定去看谁以及使用哪些手势做出相应的表演。故选D。

6．What is the article mainly talking about?

　　A．The robot comedian RoboThespian and its advantages.

　　B．Robot technology used to help us with our future daily tasks.

　　C．Predictions of the comedy of the future and concerns about it.

D．A comparison between human comedians and robot comedians.