World News for Students of English

03-02-2021 07:00

Do you know where the word ’robot’ comes from? The Czech writer Karel Čapek first used the word in a science-fiction play called ‘R.U.R.’.

Karel Čapek was born in 1890 and he wrote many works which criticized the political situation of his time. He wrote ‘R.U.R.’ in 1921, and the play was about a factory which made robots. The robots did not want to listen to people and in the end, they overpowered people.

The word ’robot’ comes from the Czech word ’robota’ which means hard work. Čapek inspired many authors and filmmakers and the topic of the power of robots became very popular.

Today, there are many different types of robots. Some are small, some are big and some can do different tasks. They clean hospital floors, help in hotels and restaurants, and they can even be people’s pets.

Difficult words: criticize (to say openly that something is not good), overpower (to become stronger than somebody else), inspire (when you do something which makes other people want to do something too).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.