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, Massbased company 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, commonly used by hobbyists in model airplanes．
Built from lightweight materials, the robots are about the size of 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 team 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 poles．
“It just allows us to do something we’ve not been able to do before, ” Stover said, “We needed them yesterday．”
He said sniffer dogs are still the best search tool for rescue workers, but that they can only be used effectively when workers have access to damaged buildings．
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．
(1)
Which institution is responsible for the development of Choset’s robots?
[ ]
A．
Robotices Trends．
B．
Pittsburgh City Council．
C．
Carnegie Mellon University．
D．
Federal Emergency Management Agency．
(2)
Choset believes that his invention ________．
[ ]
A．
can be attached to an electronic arm
B．
can be used by hobbyists in model airplanes
C．
can find victims more quickly that a sniffer dog
D．
can sense its way no better than its operators
(3)
By saying “We needed them yesterday”(Paragraph 7),Stover means that snake-like robots ________．
[ ]
A．
could help handle the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
It is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the least important positions． 1 of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility placed upon them at the very 2 of their career．They were 3 to the broom(扫帚), spending the first hours of their business lives 4 the office．
And here is the basic 5 of success, the great secret： 6 your energy, thought, and capital(资本)wholly on the business in which you are 7 ．Having begun in one line, determine to fight it out on that 8 , to lead in it, adopt every 9 , have the best machinery, and know the most about it．
The companies which fail are those which have 10 their capital, which means that they have scattered their brains 11 ．They have investments in this, or that, or 12 , here, there, and everywhere．“Don't put all your eggs in one basket” is all 13 , I tell you．“Put all your eggs in one basket, and then 14 that basket”．Look round you and take 15 ; men who do that do not often fail．It is easy to watch and carry the one basket．It is trying to carry too many baskets 16 breaks most eggs in this country．He who 17 three baskets must put one on his 18 , which is likely to fall down．One 19 of the American businessman is lack of concentration．
Remember：put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket． 20 Emerson says, "no one can cheat you out of final success but yourselves．"
名校课堂系列答案
Among the more colorful characters of Leadville’s golden age were H.A.W. Tabor and his second wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as "Baby Doe". Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West. Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. With his first wife and two children he left Vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homestead in Kansas. Perhaps he did not find farming to his liking, or perhaps he was attracted by rumors of fortunes to be made in Colorado mines. At any rate, a few years later he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. "A large amount of lead is sure to be found here." he said.