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 pany 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(操纵杆). They move smoothly with the help of small electric motors, or servos, monly 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 not been able to do before,” Stover said, “We needed them yesterday.”
He said snifter 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.
【小题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.【小题2】Choset believes that his invention .A．can be attached to an electronic armB．can be used by hobbyists in model airplanesC．can find victims more quickly than a snifter dogD．can sense its way no better than its operators【小题3】By saying “We needed them yesterday” (paragraph 7), Stover means that snake-like robots .A．could help handle the aftermath of Hurricane KatrinaB．would have been put to use in past rescue workC．helped rescuers search flooded houses yesterdayD．were in greater need yesterday than today【小题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.C
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(答案→)C
解析：
【小题1】本题考查理解细节信息的能力。由第二段中“The 37-year-old Carnegie Mellon University professor has spent years developing snake-like robots ….”可知蛇形机器人研制者Howie Choset属于Carnegie Mellon University。
【小题2】本题考查理解细节信息的能力。由第五段中 “They can sense which way is up, but are only as good as their human operators, Choset added.”可知目前这种机器人性能还不够完善，主要取决于操作者控制水平。
【小题3】本题考查根据上下文猜测句子含义的能力。联系下文提到的Hurricane Katrina 知道，Howie Choset很希望这种机器人能够早日派上用场，挽救许多生命。注意would have done 的非真实的用法(虚拟语气)。
【小题4】本题考查概括主旨大意的能力。本文为新闻报道，新闻的主旨一般开篇指出，由第一段可知本文介绍了用于紧急情况救助的机器人。