机器人厨师

    For many years, machines have been doing work that people once did, including some difficult jobs. Search and rescue operations in dangerous environments are often seen as the first areas that will employ high technology robots. But there is another area that may soon take jobs traditionally held by human beings: the restaurant industry.

    Teams from around the world competed in early June at the DARPA Robotic Challenge Finals in California. A team from South Korea and its robot, called DRC-Hubo, won first place in the competition. The second and third place finishers were from the United States.

    The robots were required to drive a vehicle, climb up steps and do mechanical work. Such activities are easy for humans to perform, but more difficult for machines.

    Not all of the competitors were successful. The failures showed how difficult it is to design effective walking machines.

    Recently, crowds gathered for the food machinery and technology show in Tokyo, Japan. They witnessed a robotic chef preparing food. Other machines cooked, baked tasty pastries (面粉糕饼)and even made sushi(寿司).

    Akihiro Suzuki works at Yaskawa Electric, a company that develops robots. He says robots cannot do everything a human can, but they are able to work without becoming tired.

    He says robots cannot taste food, change heating levels or seasonings (调料)to get the best flavor. But he says if a food can be easily prepared, a robot can repeat the same movement to reproduce the same meal.

    Masayo Mori says she would like to have a husband who could work like a robot.

    Suzumo Machinery demonstrated its sushi maker robot. It performs the often difficult work of wrapping the popular Japanese food. Hiroshi Monden is an official with the company.

    He says people all over the world now eat sushi, but there are not enough skilled workers to prepare it. He says his machine can help anyone make sushi. 

    Other robots have been created to help decorate cakes and cut and peel apples.

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1.It is known in the first paragraph that robots will be used___________.

A in doing difficult jobs

B in dangerous environments

C in taking place of people

D in the restaurant industry

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句可知, 机器人有可能很快用于传统的餐饮行业。

2.What did the robots do in the competition this year in California?

A They drove a vehicle and climb up steps.

B They performed easy human actions.

C They won first place in the competition.

D They walked around the world.

解析：选A。A。细节理解题。由第三段可知, 此次机器人大赛的比赛项目是drive a vehicle, climb up steps and do mechanical work. 故选A。

3.What is the difficulty in designing working machines?

A How to make them drive.

B How to make them do mechanical work.

C How to make them walk.

D How to make them compete with others.

解析：选C。C。细节理解题。 参赛的人都知道，这次大赛的难点是to design effective walking machines.即设计出能有效的、能行走的部分（C选项）。

4.The probable meaning of the underlined word ‘witness’ in paragraph 5 is___________.

A prove

B notice

C find

D watch

解析：选D。D。词义猜测题。人们聚集在那儿，应该是”观看”机器人做饭的表演（D选项）。

5.What is the one of the advantages of robots compared with human?

A They can do everything a human can.

B They can get the best flavor themselves.

C They can work without being tired.

D They can make sushi.

解析：选C。C。细节理解题。根据第六段第二句He says robots cannot do everything a human can, but they are able to work without becoming tired.可知，机器人的优点之一就是它不会疲劳（C选项）。