Despite the fact that he died almost 30 years ago, Bob Marley is still one of the best-known names in world music. He invented a style of music called reggae, and his recordings are still popular all over the world today. Marley grew up on the island nation of Jamaica. He began to play in clubs there when he was 18. In 1980, near the end of his life, he traveled around Europe with his group, Bob Marley and the Wailers. These performances attracted the largest audiences of any musical act in Europe at that time.

Marley's music was a lively combination of Jamaica's African music and American blues music. His first songs talked about the difficulties faced by people living in the poorest neighborhoods in Jamaica. These songs were especially popular with young people who wanted to help change things for the better. Throughout his life, this issue was always present in his work. In his early 20s, Marley joined a religious organization in Jamaica called the Rastafarians. They believe strongly in human rights for everyone. From that time on, his Rasta beliefs heavily influenced the way he lived his life as well the songs he wrote.

Read the article and complete the sentence.

Read the article and complete the sentence.

                                                     

We’ve all seen humanoid robots in the movies or on TV. Most of them are created as part of the story line and only appear to function independent of human control. However, there is one robot that does a fine job on its own and is truly special. His name is ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) and he is the product of more than 20 years of work by the Honda Motor Company.

ASIMO is the first robot that can walk independently and climb stairs. Because he has human-like hands, he can operate light switches, open and close doors, carry objects and push a cart. In order to get him to walk well, researchers studied insect, animal and human legs. While humans can move their necks, arms and legs in many different directions, robots have less freedom. Engineers build in “degrees of freedom.” One degree of freedom is, for example, up and down or back and forth. ASIMO has three degrees of freedom in his neck, seven in each arm and six in each leg. This enables him to have humanlike movements.

ASIMO’s vision system consists of two video cameras for eyes. His eyes can detect more than one object at a time and determine how far away an object is. He can also recognize faces and understand hand signals that have been programmed into his memory. ASIMO also has three microphones in his head. They allow him to hear what people are saying to him. However, they also have another important function. The sounds of voices picked up by these microphones are used by the robot to determine where the person is standing so he can turn and face them. This adds to ASIMO’s eerily human appearance. Engineers are continuing to refine his abilities, believing that someday that many of us will want to have a helper robot like him in our own homes.