General Electric has found robots far more productive in some work than human workers In one case, a robot saved enough to pay for itself in ten months: At Ford Motor Company, about fifty small robots are deftlv fitting light bulbs into dashboards and speakers into car radios.

The next phase of the computer revolution may well turn out to be the robot revolution Robots have been fixtures in comedy and science fiction for a long time, but the first industrial robot wasn't used in the United States until 1961.  Industrial robots scarcely resemble the stereotyped humanoid with flashing eyes and a combinations chest. They're basically just combinations of a computer with very deft and efficient producing machines. What's really new, of course, is the extent to which these electronic wonders are transforming the way people work and the composition of the work force, especially in Japan. There are about 36,000 robots working in Japan and approximately 6,500 in the United States. In early i982. Raymond Donovan, U.S. Secretary of Labor, predicted that by 1990 half the workers in U.S. factories would be specialists trained to service and repair robots.

 It's easy to see why these "steel-collar workers" can be preferable to their human counterparts. They cause fewer personnel problems: they're never absent, and the); never ask for more holidays, take vacations, or file grievances. They also give more consistent attention to quality control, are more efficient and effective performers, and are definitely cheaper to keep. Robots, which cost about $30,000 to $150,000 each, usually work two shifts a gay. The displaced workers would draw salaries and benefits of about $790,000 a year. However, robots still cannot  replace all facets of the human worker. The automated factory is feasible, but when it comes to reason and informed decisions, robots are still in the same league with machines, at least for now.

53. The details given in the underlined sentences in Paragraph 2 ________.
A. illustrate the technical superiority of Japanese technology over American technology
B. show the growth in acceptance of robot workers worldwide
C. demonstrate the need to catch up with Japanese technology
D. warn against the possibility that robot workers will displace human workers

 54. In line 3 Paragraph 1, the word deftly means___________
A. clumsily      B. swiftly      C. expensively      D. skillfully

 55. In this passage the author shows bias in favor of ________.
A. General Electric           B. more factory personnel
C. steel-collar workers       D. Ford Motor Company

 56. The writer of this passage probably ________.
A. sees a role for both robot and human factory workers
B. wants to see more robots employed in factories
C. feels threatened by robots
D. believes robots make manufacturing much easier