阅读理解。
Every year landslides (山崩) 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 (加固)
mountainsides using steel bars (钢筋) can help a lot, but it introduces new difficulties because of dust and
loosen heavy, dangerous debris (岩屑) 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 (人工). 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 (钻) holes
and insert (插入) steel bars there. Testing should begin in May.
1. The underlined word "event" refers to _____. [ ]
A. earthquake
B. debris
C. dust
D. landslide
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
3. What does the robot look like? [ ]
A. human being
B. spider
C. steel bar
D. a drill
4. 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
