Question

TOKYO, JAPAN – What do you do when you see a cockroach (蟑螂)? Do you hit it with a newspaper? Do you step on it?

When researchers at Tokyo University see a cockroach, they take the remote control and make the cockroach turn around, run left or right, or go forward. These scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots（機器人）. Each cockroach has a very small packet that has in it a microprocessor (微處理器). Then researchers can send signals (信號) from the remote control to the packet. The signals control the movements of the cockroaches.

Why does anyone want to control a cockroach? “Insects can do many things that people can’t,” says Isao Shimoyama, head of robot research at Tokyo University. In a few years, he says, these robot insects will carry very small cameras. They will be able to move through earthquake rubble (瓦礫) to look for people or move under doors to find information about someone.

This may seem strange, but the Japanese government thinks the research is very important. The government is giving the scientists $ 5 million for this research.

First, the research keeps hundreds of cockroaches. They use only the American cockroach because it is bigger and stronger than other cockroaches. Then they choose the best cockroaches and remove their wings and antennae (觸須). They put small packets where the antennae were. The packets weigh about three grams, or about two times the weight of the cockroaches themselves. “Cockroaches are very strong,” says Ralph Holzer, who is a researcher at Tokyo University. “They can lift 20 times their own weight.”

With a remote control, the scientists send signals to the packets. When a cockroach gets the signal, it moves. The problem is that the cockroaches don’t always move in the right direction.

1.The scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots because ______________________.

A. they want cockroaches to do things people can’t in the future

B. they want to control the movements of the cockroaches

C. they want cockroaches to take photos of the earthquakes

D. they want to send signals to the packets on the cockroaches

2.Scientists control cockroaches’ movements _________________________.

A. by removing their wings

B. by sending signals from the remote control

C. by using very small cameras

D. by removing their antennae

3.What can cockroaches do to help people?

A. They can lift 20 times their own weight.

B. They can help people to carry very small cameras.

C. They can keep hundreds of cockroaches.

D. They can search for those people in rubble after an earthquake.

4.What problem do the cockroaches meet with?

A. The cockroaches sometimes don’t move.

B. The cockroaches are too big to move through earthquake rubble.

C. The cockroaches sometimes move in the wrong direction.

D. The cockroaches can only lift 20 times their own weight.

Answer 1