remote­controlled tanks with a mechanical arm, and they can get hung up on narrow stairwells (楼梯井) and are stopped by ladders. "A lot of the places where you do disaster recovery are only accessible for people，" says Marc Raibert, the president of Boston Dynamics, which is providing advice and help for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) - the scientific research department of the U．S. military (军队) - to create the most advanced robots on earth. "If you're a humanoid - a machine or creature with the appearance and qualities of a human - access can be increased and you can use available tools." In the future DARPA hopes, a humanoid robot will be able to drive trucks, and enter power plants.

　　That future is a long way off. Simple movements like squatting (蹲) are almost impossible for something with metal parts and skin that cannot bend, says Raibert. Still, recent progress is impressive enough that the military has begun to bet on legged bots. The Office of Naval Research is working with Virginia Tech on a humanoid firefighting robot, and Dynamics showed off two of its latest projects: Cheetah, a four­legged robot capable of running 28 miles per hour, and the Legged Squad Support System, a big and awkward headless robot funded by DARPA and the Marine Corps to help carry things in places like mountain areas.

　　"Half the land on earth is too rough, sandy, or rocky for wheeled things，" says Raibert. "Humans and animals can go to those places. They are the only examples of successful systems that do what we're trying to do."

　　None of the walking robots is meant to fight. They're designed to put out fires and clean up industrial accidents. But they are all funded by the military. "I'm well aware of how the world works，" says Dennis Hong, founding director of Virginia Tech's robotics lab. "Robots for me are tools to help society, not to fight in wars. But once a technology leaves our lab, there's no way to control how people can use it."

　　语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。未来的机器人将会设计得越来越像人类，并能完成复杂的任务。

　　5．In Marc Raibert's opinion, robots need to be designed like humans to ________.

　　A．accomplish complex tasks

　　B．be controlled efficiently

　　C．survive disasters

　　D．appear friendly

解析：选A　细节理解题。根据第一段中的"If you're a humanoid ... access can be increased and you can use available tools ... a humanoid robot will be able to drive trucks,