五、阅读理解。〔人与社会——科技进步〕
In April 2025, an event took place in Beijing. It was a marathon(马拉松赛跑). But this marathon was not only for people. Robots ran too. This was the first time that robots and people had run in the same half - marathon.
The marathon was in E - Town. There were about 12,000 people and over 20 robots competing(参加比赛)in it. The robots had a human - like appearance and walked or ran on two legs. Wheels were not allowed. Humans and robots used separate lanes to avoid accidents.
There was a robot named Xiaomai. It was 1.74 metres tall. A Chinese company had made it. Videos showed Xiaomai running on roads near Taihu Lake. It ran as fast as people. Workers in the company had spent some time making Xiaomai better. They worked on its balance, how it stood, and how long it could run. The marathon was 21.0975 kilometres long. Another robot, Tiangong Ultra, could run at a speed of 10 km per hour. It was also training hard before the event.
There were some rules for robot competitors. They could change batteries in the race. Teams could change robots, but each change would bring a punishment. For example, for the first change, they would get a 10 - minute *
penalty*. Cash prizes were given to the top 3 finishers. There were also special awards for robots.
This marathon showed China wanted to be good at making robots. It was getting ready for the 2025 World Robot Conference. Organizers wanted to show how good robot technology was. They also wanted people to talk about how robots and people could work together in the future.
1. The underlined word "penalty" in Paragraph 4 probably means "
B
".
A. a reward for good performance
B. a punishment for breaking rules
C. a chance to restart the race
D. a tool to help robots run better
2. We can infer from the passage that
C
.
A. robots with wheels were allowed to take part in the marathon
B. Xiaomai was not as fast as an average human runner
C. the marathon was a preparation for the 2025 World Robot Conference
D. robot teams could change their robots without any restrictions
3. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. To introduce a special half - marathon where humans and robots competed together.
B. To tell readers about two famous robots, Xiaomai and Tiangong Ultra.
C. To explain the rules for robot competitors in marathons.
D. To show the development of robot technology in the world.
