Robot“ chefs”机器人“厨师”

徐云

主題语境：现代科技 篇幅：365词 建议用时：7分钟

1 Owning four eateries in Wuhan，Hubei Province， Li Xianghui“ employs” anarray of cooking machines， which can oper?ate tirelessly day and night. Packed in kits，all dishes are semifinishedand can be servedwithin minutes after they are put into themachines.

2“ Automation is the future for the catering industry. It can avoid pressure from laborcosts in running a traditional restaurant and increase efficiency，” Li says.“ There is a standardizedprocess by the machines， which can guarantee consistency in the taste of eachorder，” the 37yearoldman adds.

3 The cooking machine can make about 2000 recipes， according to Li. Once seated，diners scan a QR code and use an app to make their meal selection and pay. With the onlywaiter putting the semifinishedfood kit into the machines， the meal will be served inminutes. What's more， robot“ chefs” have attracted an increasing number of diners sincethe restaurants opening in October， 2022.“ The taste is good and the price is not expensive，”a regular customer， surnamed Xu， says.

4 With such eateries springing up across the country， robot“ chefs” are not only taking over restaurants but also coming into homes. Behind the scenes is the country's growing servicerobotics industry， which， as of 2021， had a market value of more than 58 billion yuan，according to a database portal. The industry is projected to reach a value of 291 billionyuan by 2027.

5 Service robots are constantly improving the level of social services in catering， retail，logistics distribution， medical rehabilitation and other fields，” says Wang Hong， an officialwith the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The“ smart” restaurant forthe Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games may indicate what the future of the food serviceindustry looks like. With no human chefs and waiters， robots took charge of everything.

6 In 2018， the popular hot pot brand Haidilao opened its first“ smart” restaurant. Thekitchen， equipped with two rows of robotic arms， can automatically collect prepackageddishes from cold storage. For Li， it is only a matter of time before such machinery becomesa common sight in kitchens. He adds that he plans to open 20 more eateries， staffed byrobot“ chefs”.

Reading

Check

1. What is the advantage of robot“ chefs” according to Li Xianghui？

A. It can hold a greater variety of dishes.

B. It can do any work without any worker.

C. It provides entertainment to the customers.

D. It can reduce labor costs and increase efficiency.

2. What's the market attitude to robot“ chefs”？

A. Appreciative.

B. Indifferent.

C. Puzzled.

D. Critical.

3. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games is mentioned to show that .

A. the traditional method of restaurant service

B. the potential future of the food service industry

C. a temporary experiment for further development

D. a cause of new technologies in the food service industry

4. What future plans does Li Xianghui have for his eateries？

A. To maintain the current number of eateries.

B. To reduce the workers due to robot“ chefs”.

C. To replace all human staff with service robots.

D. To open 20 more eateries staffed by robot“ chefs”

Language

Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

Owning four eateries in Wuhan， Hubei Province， Li Xianghui“ employs” an array ofcooking machines， which can operate tirelessly day and night. 李向輝在湖北武汉拥有四家餐馆，他“雇用”了一系列烹饪机器，这些机器可以日夜不停地工作。

【点石成金】本句中，Owning作状语，它的逻辑主语是Li Xianghui；which引导的是定语从句，在从句中作主语，从句的先行词为an array of cooking machines。

Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks with the words and phrases in the box in proper form

efficiency consistency attract take over be equipped with

1. We must make the most__________use of the available financial resources.

2. But remember， everything needs to be__________when it comes to referencing.

3. It has been suggested that mammals__________from dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

4. Cooperation was more than just an__________option; it was an obligation.

5. It__________a library， meeting rooms， a kitchenette and activities facilities.