As we know, search and rescue teams often play an important role in rescue work. Usually, the teams are accompanied by man’s best friend. A dog’s greater sense of smell can be important to finding survivors buried under fallen buildings. But now a new animal is being trained to assist search and rescue teams after an earthquake hits, and it’s the rat (老鼠).
These rescue rats are being trained by Dr. Donna Kean, a researcher from Glasgow, Scotland who has been working with rats for years. Kean explained why she and her colleagues at the nonprofit APOPO train rats instead of dogs. “The rats have a comparable sense of smell, and they’re just as trainable as dogs,” she said. “Their size is useful because they will be able to move through different environments that dogs just wouldn’t be able to.”
At the moment, the rats are wearing backpacks that contain microphones, video equipment and location trackers, and then scientists are sending these rats into mock debris (模拟的废墟). Rats would be able to get into small spaces to get to victims buried in the ruins. “We have not been in a real situation yet; we have got a mock debris site. When we track the backpack, we will be able to hear from where the rat is inside the debris,” Kean said. “We may speak to victims through the rat.”
Researchers train them on a basic series of behaviour. Training starts off in a really basic environment: a small and empty room. Then they gradually increase the difficulty in order to make it like real life. They can start adding in debris and making the training area look more like a real ruined building site.
The training just started and researchers still have to run more training outside the research environment. They are working with a search and rescue group called GEA, who are based in Turkey, a country with frequent earthquakes and hoping that by next year they’ll be able to take the rats to Turkey for field experiments.
8. What advantage do rats have over dogs in the rescue work?
A. They are easier to train.
B. They are more suitable with a smaller size.
C. They have a better sense of smell.
D. They adapt to new environments more quickly.
9. What usage is expected of the backpacks?
A. To guide rats to find survivors.
B. To protect rats from being injured.
C. To help rescuers communicate with victims.
D. To provide some food for trapped people.
10. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?
A. The process of training the rats.
B. The difficulty of conducting experiments.
C. The rats’ behaviour in real collapsed sites.
D. The importance of the research environment.
11. What do scientists plan to do next?
A. Train rats for rescue work in more countries.
B. Develop the technology to assist GEA.
C. Conduct further study on disaster warning.
D. Send rats to Turkey for tests in real situations.
【答案】8. B 9. C 10. A 11. D
【解析】【导语】本文是一篇说明文。搜救队在救援工作中往往发挥着重要作用,狗更强的嗅觉对于寻找埋在倒塌建筑物下的幸存者非常重要。但现在一种新的动物正在接受训练,以在地震发生后协助搜救队,它就是老鼠。文章主要介绍了老鼠在救援工作中的优势,以及培训老鼠的过程。
【8题详解】细节理解题。根据第二段中“ “The rats have a comparable sense of smell, and they’ re just as trainable as dogs,” she said. “Their size is useful because they will be able to move through different environments that dogs just wouldn’t be able to.”(“老鼠有类似的嗅觉,而且它们和狗一样容易训练,”她说。“它们的体型很有用,因为它们能够在狗无法做到的不同环境中移动。”)”可知,在救援工作中,老鼠相比狗的优势是它们体型较小,更适合较小尺寸的环境。故选B。
【9题详解】细节理解题。根据第三段中““We have not been in a real situation yet; we have got a mock debris site. When we track the backpack, we will be able to hear from where the rat is inside the debris,” Kean said. “We may speak to victims through the rat.”(“我们还没有处于真实的情境中;我们设有一个模拟的废墟现场。当我们追踪背包时,我们将能够听到老鼠在废墟中的位置,”基恩说。“我们可以通过老鼠与受害者交谈。”)”可知,背包的预期用途是帮助救援人员与受害者进行沟通。故选C。
【10题详解】主旨大意题。根据第四段“Researchers train them on a basic series of behaviour. Training starts off in a really basic environment: a small and empty room. Then they gradually increase the difficulty in order to make it like real life. They can start adding in debris and making the training area look more like a real ruined building site.(研究人员对他们进行一系列基本行为的训练。培训从一个非常基本的环境开始:一个小而空的房间。然后他们逐渐增加难度,以使其像现实生活一样。他们可以开始添加碎片,使训练区域看起来更像一个真正的废墟建筑工地)”可知,第四段主要介绍了训练老鼠的过程。故选A。
【11题详解】推理判断题。根据最后一段中“They are working with a search and rescue group called GEA, who are based in Turkey, a country with frequent earthquakes and hoping that by next year they’ll be able to take the rats to Turkey for field experiments.(他们正在与一个名为GEA的搜救组织合作,该组织的总部位于地震频发的土耳其,希望明年他们能够将老鼠带到土耳其进行现场实验)”可推知,科学家下一步计划将老鼠送到土耳其进行真实情况测试。故选D。
