阅读下列短文,回答题目.

　　Every year landslides(滑坡)cause 25 to 50 deaths and$1.5 billion in damage in the United States.They account for l5 percent of the deaths from natural disasters in Europe.And there was ever a single event killed more than 200 people in the Philippines.Sending workers to stabilize mountainsides using steel bars and cement(水泥)Can help prevent disasters，but it introduces new difficulties.Shaking drills produce harmful dust and loosen heavy，dangerous debris(岩屑).

　　“It’s quite a risky job，”says Giorgio Pezzuto of D’Appolonia，an engineering company in Italy.

　　D’Appolonia，working with eight other companies，may have an answer：a three—ton robot called Roboclimber.“The idea is to operate a machine far away that Can drill without a human being on board，”says Pezzuto，the manager for the project，which is supported by the European Commigsion.Engineers claim that the machine will be faster and cheaper than manual labor.The robot，a large radio—controlled four—legged mechanical spider，has cost at least$2 million so far.

　　1.The final product should be able to climb unstable mountainsides，drill holes，insert bars and cement，and collect data on the stability.Testing should begin in May.

　　The underlined word“event”(Paragraph l)refers to__________.

　　A.landslide

　　B.machine

　　C.earthquake

　　D.flood

　　参考答案：A

　　答案及解析

　　A【解析】词语释义题。本文主要是谈landsfide，一开始就谈论land.slide的危害，并且举例子说在菲律宾一次就死了200多人。所以这里的event指代landslide。

　　2.What is the purpose in writing this text?

　　A.Telling people how serious the damage caused by landslides is.

　　B.Telling people that sending workers to stabilize mountainsides is a risky job.

　　C.Introducing a product that Can be used to stabilize mountainsides.

　　D.Showing people how to use a new product.

　　参考答案：C

　　参考解析：C【解析】主旨大意题。本文作者首先介绍了山体滑坡的危害，又说明了普通的防护方法的不足，最后向大家推荐了一种新型的机器人，利用这种新型的滑坡抢险产品，可以有效地防止危害的产生。所以主要的目的是介绍一种用于加固山体的产品。

　　3.What does the robot look like?

　　A.A human being.

　　B.A spider.

　　C.A truck.

　　D.A drill.

　　参考答案：B

　　参考解析：B【解析】细节理解题。读第二段第四句话，The robot，a large radio.controlled four—legged mechanical spider可知，这种新型的产品像一只大蜘蛛。所以正确的答案为B。

　　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，insert bars and cement

　　C.it can collect data on the slope’s stability

　　D.it Can drill without a human being on board

　　参考答案：D

　　参考解析：D【解析】细节判断题。从第二段The idea is to operate a machine faraway that Can drill without a human being on board一句以及第一段讲滑坡人工抢险的危险，可知这种产品的最大优点就是无人操作的安全性。

　　参考译文

　　在美国，山体滑坡每年会造成25到50人死亡以及15亿关元的经济损失。欧洲山体滑坡所造成的死亡占自然灾难死亡人数的15%。菲律宾的一次滑坡事件造成了200多人死亡。利用钢筋、水泥加固山体的确可以预防滑坡，但这样一来又会带来新的问题。钻机不但会产生对人体有害的粉尘，而且还会使那些巨大且危险的岩屑松动。阿波罗尼亚(意大利一家工程公司)的职员佩兹朱特认为，

　　“这是一项危险的工作。”

　　阿波罗尼亚和另外八家公司一起为解决滑坡问题设计了一个重三吨的机器人，还给机器人取名叫做罗伯克利波。该项目得到了欧盟委员会的支持，项目经理是佩兹朱特，他说：“这样一来，在钻机开动的时候，人就可以不用站在那儿了。”工程师们说这个机器比人力工作更快速，更节约。该机器人是一个用无线电控制的巨大的机器蜘蛛，它到目前为止已经花费了最少两百万美元了。该最终产品有望能在松垮的山坡上行走，能打洞，安放钢条灌注水泥以及收集山坡稳定性的数据。这种实验将在五月份进行。

（编辑：何莹莹）