Every year landslides cause 25 to 50 deaths and $2 billion in damage in the United States. And in December, a single
event killed more than 2000 people in the Philippines. Sending workers to stabilize mountainsides using steel bars can help a lot, but it introduces new difficulties because of dust and loosen heavy, dangerous debris from the work. “It’s a quite dangerous job,” says Giorgio Pezzuto of D’ Appolonia, working with eight other companies. Now there may be an answer: a three-ton robot called Roboclimber.
“The idea is to operate a machine far away that can do the stabilizing job without a human being near,”says Pezzuto, manager for the project, which is supported by a European organization. Engineers say that the machine will be faster and cheaper than manual labor. The robot, a large radio-controlled four-legged spider, has cost at least $2 million so far. It should be able to climb mountainsides, drill holes and insert steel bars there. Testing should begin in May.
小题1:The underlined word “event” refers to_____
A.earthquake |
B.debris |
C.dust |
D.landslide |
小题2:The purpose in writing this text is _____
A.to tell people how serious the damage caused by landslides is |
B.to tell people that sending workers to stabilize mountainsides is a dangerous job |
C.to show people how to use a new robot |
D.to introduce a new robot that can be used to stabilize mountainsides |
小题3:What does the robot look like?
A.human being |
B.spider |
C.steel bar |
D.a drill |
小题4:A landslides cause _____________in damage in the United States Every year .
A.25 to 50 deaths |
B.more than 2000 people died |
C.$2 billion |
D.both A and C |
小题5:The biggest advantage of this product is that____
A.it will be faster and cheaper than manual labor |
B.it can climb mountainsides, drill holes and insert steel bars there. |
C.it can do the stabilizing job without human beings near |
D.it is like a spider |