Unit 2 Working the land language points课时作业

Ⅰ.阅读理解

　　A

　　There are robot cleaners and robot mops to help us around the house, so why not a robot to build our homes？Wait no longer.Now there is a set of electronics to do just that, build a house from scratch, and fast.

　　Forget weeks to find a builder and months for house construction; a machine developed in the United States can build a 232 sqm home layer by layer in a single day.University of Southern California's Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis has designed the giant robot that replaces construction workers with a mouth on an arm of crane (起重机), which spits out concrete (混凝土) and can quickly build a home according to a computer pattern.The technology, known as Contour (轮廓) Crafting, could revolutionize the construction industry.

　　Contour Crafting could greatly decrease the cost of homeowning, making it possible for millions of displaced people to_get_on_the_property_ladder.It could even be used in disaster relief areas to build emergency and replacement housing.As Prof Khoshnevis points out, if you look around you almost everything is made automatically these days - "your shoes, your clothes, home appliances, your car.The only thing that is still built by hand is these buildings."

　　The Contour Crafting system is a robot that automates age­old tools normally used by hand.These are applied by a robotic crane that builds a three­dimensional object.The nature of the technology means it will also be possible to create curved walls and architecture that is both "exotic (异国情调的) and beautiful" according to Prof Khoshnevis.As a result, it could be ideal to print out expensive homes according to customers' demands.

　　Furthermore, Prof Khoshnevis believes that the technology could be applied beyond our planet."Contour Crafting technology has the potential to build safe, reliable, and affordable structures, habitats, laboratories, and other facilities on the moon and Mars before the arrival of human beings，" his website reads.

　　According to the International Labour Organisation construction employs nearly 110 million people worldwide and "plays a major role in fighting the high levels of unemployment and in absorbing extra labour from the rural areas"．What the implications are for builders is, of course, a major concern.But Khoshnevis says "the reality is that a lot of new jobs can be created in this field as well"．Instead of building the house workmen are used to maintain the machine.

语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。随着科技的发展，巨型机器人可用于建设房屋，而且具有时间短、成本低等优势，并且能够满足不同收入的人们的实际购房需求。