单选题 Every year landslides (滑坡) cause 25 to 50 deaths and $1.5 billion in damage in the United States. They account for 15 percent of the deaths from natural disasters in Europe. And in December, a single event killed more than 200 people in the Philippines. Sending workers to stabilize mountainsides using steel bars and cement (水泥) can help prevent disasters, but it introduces new difficulties. Shaking drills produce harmful dust and loosen heavy, dangerous debris (岩屑). "It's quite a risky job," says Giorgio Pezzuto of D'Appolonia, an engineering company in Italy.
D'Appolonia, working with eight other companies, may have an answer: a three-ton robot called Roboclimber. "The idea is to operate a machine far away that can drill without a human being on board," says Pezzuto, the manager for the project, which is supported by the European Commission. Engineers claim that the machine will be faster and cheaper than manual labor. The robot, a large radio-controlled four-legged mechanical spider, has cost at least $2 million so far. The final product should be able to climb unstable mountainsides, drill holes, insert bars and cement, and collect data on the stability. Testing should begin in May.

单选题 The underlined word "event" (Paragraph 1) refers to ______.
A．landslide B．machine C．earthquake D．flood
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 词语释义题。本文主要是谈landslide，一开始就谈论。landslide的危害，并且举例子说在菲律宾一次就死了200多人。所以这里的event指代landslide。
单选题 What is the purpose in writing this text?
A．Telling people how serious the damage caused by landslides is.
B．Telling people that sending workers to stabilize mountainsides is a risky job.
C．Introducing a product that can be used to stabilize mountainsides.
D．Showing people how to use a new product.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨大意题。本文作者首先介绍了山体滑坡的危害，又说明了普通的防护方法的不足，最后向大家推荐了一种新型的机器人，利用这种新型的滑坡抢险产品，可以有效地防止危害的产生。所以主要的目的是介绍一种用于加固山体的产品。
单选题 What does the robot look like?
A．A human being. B．A spider. C．A truck. D．A drill.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。读第二段第四句话，The robot, a large radio-controlled four-legged mechanical spider可知，这种新型的产品像一只大蜘蛛。所以正确的答案为B。
单选题 The biggest advantage of this product is that ______.
A．it will be faster and cheaper than manual labor
B．it can climb mountainsides, drill holes, insert bars and cement
C．it can collect data on the slope's stability
D．it can drill without a human being on board
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节判断题。从第二段The idea is to operate a machine far away that Can drill without a human being on board一句以及第一段讲滑坡人工抢险的危险，可知这种产品的最大优点就是无人操作的安全性。