Why do human beings still risk their lives under ground and doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world？It’s an increasingly urgent question，given the recent highprofile(引人注目的) mining accidents in Sago，W.Va.and Huntington，Utah.A small group of engineers and robotics experts look forward to a day in the nottoodistant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work.
Robotic technology，in particular，holds much promise，McAteer says，especially when it comes to mapping mines and rescuing trapped miners—the special operations of the mining industry.
One of the first mining robots was developed five years ago at CarnegieMellon University’s Robotics Institute.It was called Groundhog and it looked like a golf cart.It used lasers(激光器) to “see” in dark tunnels and map abandoned mines—some of the most dangerous work in the business.
The latest design is called Cave Crawler.It’s a bit smaller than Groundhog，and even more advanced.It can take photos and video and has sensors mounted(增加) that can detect the presence of dangerous gases.Incredibly，the robot has a real sense of logic.If it comes across an obstacle it gets confused.It has to think through the process and where to go next，and sometimes it throws_a_fit just like a real person.
The biggest obstacle，though，is cost.The original research project was federally funded，but that money has dried up，and it’s not clear where future funding will come from. Partly for that reason，and partly because of advances in safety，mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past.Since 1990，fatalities(致命性) have declined by 67 percent and injuries by 51 percent，according to the National Mining Association.
Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry.The robots do the most repetitive and dangerous jobs，but don’t eliminate(消除) the need for human workers.
小题1:The underlined phrase “throws a fit” in Paragraph 4 probably means “________”．
A．gets angry
B．gets sick
C．becomes hungry
D．becomes cheerful小题2:We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.
A．robots in mines will serve much in the automotive industry
B．there will be no need for human workers in mines
C．the mine robots will have a very bright future
D．robots in mines have a long way to go小题3:Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
A．Mining robots do most of the mining work at present.
B．Groundhog can discover the presence of dangerous gases.
C．Experts are trying to make robots save miners in danger.
D．Robots cannot do dangerous work in dark areas.小题4:What can be the best title for the text?
A．Mining Accidents in America
B．Could Robots Replace Humans in Mines?
C．Cave Crawler，the Latest Robot
D．The Development of Robots
