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Lesson 2 of 9

Giving exact instructions

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Meet Tinku, a robot. Tinku does exactly what you say.

Tinku the robot does exactly what you say.

What does Tinku do with "it"?

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Tinku cannot tell what "it" is, so Tinku may act wrongly.

An exact instruction names the thing and the place.

An exact instruction leaves nothing to guess.

A person can guess the missing words. A computer cannot. A computer does only what the words say.

A vague instruction is not clear.

Vague and exact instructions side by side
VagueExact
Put it on there.Put the jar on the table.
Turn it on.Press the switch on the lamp.

Watch out!

Short does not mean exact. "Turn it on" is short. But "it" could be a lamp or a fan.

Try the lab to finish this lesson.