【正文】 ily activities. It navigates (定位) through rooms and around obstacles to find people on its own, provides video instructions on how to do simple tasks and can even lead its owner to objects like their medication or a snack in the kitchen.RAS bines the convenience of a mobile robot with the activity detection technology of a WSU smart home to provide assistance in the moment, as the need for help is detected, said Bryan Minor, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Currently, an estimated 50 percent of adults over the age of 85 need assistance with every day activities such as preparing meals and taking medication and the annual cost for this assistance in the US is nearly $2 trillion. With the number of adults over 85 expected to triple by 2050, researchers hope that technologies like RAS and the WSU smart home will relieve some of the financial strain on the healthcare system by making it easier for older adults to live alone. RAS is the first robot researchers have tried to incorporate into their smart home environment. They recently published a study in the journal Cognitive Systems Research that demonstrates how RAS could make life easier for older adults struggling to live independently. While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising, Minor said. The next step in the research will be to test RAS39。 performance with a group of older adults to get a better idea of what prompts, video reminders and other preferences they have regarding the robot.（1）How does RAS serve elderly people? A.Through sensors.B.Through objects.C.Through a mobile robot.D.Through their daily activities.（2）What can we know about RAS? A.It is the first robot used in daily life.B.Its function remains to be tested.C.It can locate people and do any task.D.It can cook for owners on its own.（3）What39。s Minor39。s attitude toward the future of RAS? A.Doubtful.B.Negative.C.Optimistic.D.Uncertain.（4）What can be a suitable title for the text? A.Elderly people leave the nursing home.B.Smart Home Tests first elderCare robot.C.RAS, the first robot to make home smart.D.Older adults have benefited from RAS.【答案】 （1）A（2）B（3）C（4）B 【解析】【分析】本文是一篇說明文，介紹了一款由美國華盛頓州立大學(xué)的科學(xué)家們研發(fā)的機(jī)器人，可以幫助那些癡呆或有身體缺陷的老年人在家里過上自立的生活。 （1）考查細(xì)節(jié)理解。根據(jù)章第二段中的“ The Robot Activity Support System, or RAS, uses sensors （傳感器）equipped in a WSU smart home to determine where its residents are, what they are doing and when they need assistance with daily activities”可知機(jī)器人活動(dòng)支持系統(tǒng)（RAS）使用WSU智能家居中配備的傳感器（傳感器）來確定其居民在哪里，他們在做什么以及何時(shí)需要日?；顒?dòng)的幫助，說明傳感器起到了重大的作用，故選A。 （2）考查推理判斷。根據(jù)最后一段中的“The next step in the research will be to test RAS39。 performance…”可知，這臺(tái)機(jī)器人的表現(xiàn)還要經(jīng)過進(jìn)一步的測，說明正在測試階段，故選B。 （3）考查推理判斷。根據(jù)最后一段中的“ While we are still in an early stage of development, our initial results with RAS have been promising”可知，Minor對這款機(jī)器人的未來發(fā)展充滿信心、非常樂觀，故選C。 （4）考查主旨大意?？v觀全文可知，本文介紹了一款由美國華盛頓州立大學(xué)的科學(xué)家們研發(fā)的機(jī)器人。再根據(jù)最后一段中的“The next step in the research will be to test RAS39。 performance ”可知，機(jī)器人目前還在華盛頓州立大學(xué)的智能屋里進(jìn)行測試，故選B。 【點(diǎn)評】本題考點(diǎn)涉及細(xì)節(jié)理解，推理判斷和主旨大意三個(gè)題型的考查，是一篇科技類閱讀，考生需要準(zhǔn)確捕捉細(xì)節(jié)信息，同時(shí)根據(jù)上下文進(jìn)行邏輯推理，概括歸納，從而選出正確答案。8．閱讀理解 On December 26, 2004, hundreds of tourists relaxed on Sri Lanka39。s Yala National Park39。s beaches. But at midmorning the park39。s elephants began crying wildly and running away from the ocean and up a nearby hill. The puzzled keepers could tell the animals were worried about something but what? What the keepers did not know was that a 30foot wall of water was headed straight toward them. This tsunami(海嘯) had been caused by an earthquake more than 1, 000 miles away in the Indian Ocean. When the huge wave hit the coast, it caused severe damage. Many people died. The elephants, however, were not swept away by the water. They stood safely on the hill. Scientists have long suspected that animals sense natural disasters before humans do. People have told stories of dogs refusing to go outside and sharks swimming to deeper waters before a hurricane. After the 2004 tsunami, people said they saw tigers, monkeys, and water buffalo escaping to higher ground before the waters rushed in. Even in the hardesthit areas of southern Asia, there were few animal deaths. It39。s unlikely that an animal39。s socalled sixth sense es from some magical power to see into the future. Experts believe that animals may be more sensitive than humans to changes in temperature and other environmental conditions that take place before a natural disaster. The elephants in Sri Lanka, for example, may have picked up vibrations from within the Earth, a sign that earthquake was ing. Because vibrations in the ground travel much faster than an ocean wave, the elephants may have felt the earthquake that caused the tsunami well before the tsunami itself came to the coast. A few scientists are calling for a system to track reports of strange behavior in people39。s pets, hoping that these reports can serve as a warning system that a natural disaster is about to happen. But Marina Haynes, an animal behavior scientist at the Philadelphia Zoo, says, It would be an unreliable way to predict disasters. It can be difficult to know what an animal is doing. Is the animal nervous because an earthquake is about to happen or is it frightened because there is an enemy nearby?（1）What happened to the elephants in Yala National Park on December 26, 2004? A.They died in the natural disaster.B.They were disturbed by the tourists.