WorkingoutsidetheInternationalSpaceStation（ISS）anastronautissuddenlyhitbyapieceofspacedebris（碎片）thatdamageshisspacesuit．Alarmedherealizeshe’sjustsecondsfro

题目详情

Working outside the International Space Station （ ISS ） an astronaut is suddenly hit by a piece of space debris （碎片） that damages his spacesuit ． Alarmed he realizes he’s just seconds from disaster ． Moving fast his prepared robot partner slaps （拍打） an auto-patch over the tear in his spacesuit ． Huge sighs of relief fill the ISS ． Inside the astronaut responsible for saving the spacewalker’s life controls everything the robot avatar has done — including rescuing its human partner — while it works outside the space station ．

R2:The Real Deal

A robot companion can come in handy to space travelers whether they’re as far away as Mars or as close as a space station or moon base ． Space-travelling avatars controlled remotely by humans are still a concept ． But earlier in the year 2011 NASA sent a humanoid robot into space for the first time ． It’s called R2 short for Robonaut 2 ． The robot was delivered by the space shuttle Discovery and will remain on the ISS to be tested ．

NASA expects robots like R2 to be a huge help to astronauts ． “Our goal is for robots to work side by side with humans ” says NASA’s Matt Ondler ． R2 is controlled by humans using laptops ． It’s programmed to perform a number of small tasks such as “find an object ． ” In most situations humans are still far better with their hands than robots ． But that’s not necessarily true in space where astronauts must wear bulky spacesuits and heavy gloves ． And since they don’t need to eat breathe or go to the bathroom robonauts have the advantage for lengthy jobs ．

R2 isn’t ready for spacewalks yet but NASA hopes that future improvements will make this possible ． “Robonauts will help our astronauts with the three D’s: jobs that are dirty dull and dangerous ” says Ondler ．

To The Moon

Someday the space agency hopes to send R2 to the moon ． Sending a robot to the moon will befar less expensive than sending a human ． A robot is stronger can survive in tighter spaces and doesn’t need air ． Even better robots don’t care how long it takes for NASA to return them to Earth ．

Once on the moon the robonaut could perform experiments send live video back to Earth talk to classrooms full of kids and explore the lunar surface ． R2 will be able to move using legs or by attaching its torso （躯干） to a four-wheeled rover （探测器） and becoming part of vehicle ． And when R2’s battery is low it can plug into a solar-powered recharging station and get some much-needed juice ． All in all a pretty sweet life for a humble robot!

The future R2 would be designed to operate by itself ． But for difficult tasks a human operator would control it like an avatar in a video game ． NASA will need people skilled at operating robonauts to ensure the success of future missions ． So the next time your mom complains that you’re spending too much time on video games just tell her you’re training for a job with NASA ．

51 ． In paragraph1 the writer gives a detailed description of a space accident to ．

A ． stress the danger of an astronaut’s walk in space

B ． tell readers the unforgettable experience of an astronaut

C ． show his concern for the present situation of space walk

D ． introduce what robots are likely to do for astronauts

52 ． Why does the writer say Robonaut 2 is “The Real Deal”?

A ． It may have the advantage for complex and small tasks at low costs ．

B ． It has been programmed to help astronauts with three D’s ．

C ． It is flexible and can be easily controlled by humans beings ．

D ． It proves to be a good companion for space travelers ．

53 ． By saying“All in all a pretty sweet life for a humble robot!” the writer means that ．

A ． an ordinary robot will be able to move freely in comfortable surroundings