Question

閱讀理解 　　PITTSBURGH－For most people, snakes seem unpleasant or even threatening．But Howie Choset sees in their delicate movements a way to save lives． 　　The 37-year-old Carnegie Mellon University professor has spent years developing snake-like robots he hopes will eventually slide through fallen buildings in search of victims trapped after natural disasters or other emergencies． 　　Dan Kara is president of Robotics Trends, a Northboro, Mass．-based company that publishes an online industry magazine and runs robotics trade shows．He said there are other snake-like robots being developed, mainly at universities, but didn’t know of one that could climb pipes． 　　The Carnegie Mellon machines are designed to carry cameras and electronic sensors and can be controlled with a joystick(操縱桿)．They move smoothly with the help of small electric motors, or servos, commonly used by hobbyists in model airplanes． 　　Built from lightweight materials, the robots are about the size of a human arm or smaller．They can sense which way is up, but are only as good as their human operators, Choset added． 　　Sam Stover, a search term manager with the Federal Emergency Management Agency based in Indiana, said snake-type robots would offer greater mobility than equipment currently available, such as cameras attached to extendable roles． 　　“It just allows us to do something we’ve ot been able to do before, ” Stover said, “We needed them yesterday．” 　　He said sniffer dogs are still the best search tool for rescue workers, but that they can only be used effectively when workers have access to damaged building． 　　Stover, among the rescue workers who handled the aftermath(后果)of Hurricane Katrina, said snake robots would have helped rescuers search flooded houses in that disaster． 　　Choset said the robots may not be ready for use for another five to ten years, depending on funding． (1) Which institution is responsible for the development of Choset’s robots? [　　] A． Robotics Trends． B． Pittsburgh City Council． C． Carnegie Mellon University． D． Federal Emergency Management Agency． (2) Choset believes that his invention _______． [　　] A． can be attached to an electronic arm B． can be used by hobbyists in model airplanes C． can find victims more quickly than a sniffer dog D． can sense its way no better than its operators (3) By saying “We needed them yesterday”(Paragraph 7), Stover means that snake-like robots _______． [　　] A． could help handle the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina B． would have been put to use in past rescue work C． helped rescuers search flooded houses yesterday D． were in greater need yesterday than today (4) What is the text mainly about? [　　] A． Snake-like robots used in industries． B． Snake-like robots made to aid in rescues． C． The development of snake-like robots． D． The working principles of snake-like robots．

Answer 1

答案：1．C;2．D;3．B;4．B;
解析：

(1)	這是一道細節推斷題。從文中可看出，Choset是Carnegie Mellon University的教授，而且第四段出現了把Choset’s robots稱作“The Carnegie Mellon machines”，由此可知，C正確。
(2)	這是一道細節推斷題。從第五段“They can sense which way is up，but are only as good as their human operators，Choset added．”可知，robots跟他的操作員辨別道路一樣的水平，因此選D。
(3)	這是一道推理題。這句話后面的段落講到Stover對sniffer dogs只能在工人到達被毀壞的建筑物時才能有效使用感到遺憾，并且認為“snake robots would have helped rescuers search flooded houses in that disaster．”(倒數第二段)。因此，他講這句話的意思是“蛇形機器人應該用在過去的拯救工作中”，選B。
(4)	這是一道主旨題。文中講到Choset研究snake-like robots是因為“he hopes will eventually slide through fallen building in search of victims trapped after natural disasters or other emergencies．”可知，Choset研究的蛇形機器人的目的是為了在自然災害或其他緊急事故的營救中起作用。因此選B。