Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake places of the world – Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey – rats will soon be man’s new best friends.
What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue(救援) dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “ ‘Robot’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity.
The “ rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “ It would be fantastic. A rat would get into spaces we couldn’t get to and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building ( but only after an earthquake, of course.)
【小題1】In the earthquake places, rats will become man’s best friends because they can __________.
| A．take the place of man in rescue jobs |
| B．find the positions of people alive who are trapped in buildings |
| C．serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings |
| D．send signals for the coming earthquake |
【小題2】The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 4 refers to(所指) _________
| A．treating wounded people. |
| B．helping rescuers. |
| C．smelling people among different smells. |
| D．carry the wounded people to safety. |
【小題3】From the third paragraph we know the rescuers can judge a person is alive by ___________.
| A．the nose made by the rat |
| B．the rat’s unusual behavior |
| C．the signal sent by the radio on the rat’s back |
| D．the smell given off by the person |
【小題4】In doing rescue jobs, __________________________.
| A．rats have better sense of smell than dogs. |
| B．dogs don’t need to be trained to smell people. |
| C．robots’ sense of smell can be affected by other smells around. |
| D．rats can see in the dark and are smaller than robots. |
【小題5】After reading the passage we can know ______________________________.
| A．rats have taken the place of dogs in search for people. |
| B．the “ rat project” has been completed |
| C．people are now happy to see a rat in a building |
| D．now people still use dogs and robots in performing rescue |
