(2019·石家庄模拟D)Imagine a cat that does not need someone to clean up after it keeps an older person company and helps them remember to take their medicine.That is the shared dream of the toy maker Hasbro and scientists at Brown University in Providence，Rhode Island.The researchers received a $ 3－million－dollar award from the National Science Foundation for a special project.They want to find ways to add artificial intelligence，or A．I.，to Hasbro's “Joy for All” robotic.
The cat has already been for sale for two years.Though priced over 1000 dollars，it sold quite well.It was meant to act as a “companion” for older people.Now the project is aimed at developing additional abilities for the cat.Researchers at Brown's Humanity－Centered Robotics Initiative are working to decide which activities older adults may need the most.They hope to make the cat perform a small number of activities very well.Such activities include finding lost objects and reminding the person to take medicine or visit their doctor.They also want to keep the cost down to just a few hundred dollars.
It is an idea that has appealed to Jeanne Elliott.Her 93－year－old mother Mary Derr lives with her in South Kingstown.Derr has dementia (痴呆)．The Joy for All cat that Elliott bought this year has become a true companion for Derr.The cat stays with Derr and keeps her calm while Elliott is at work.Elliott said a robotic cat that helps her mother to remember to take her medicine and be careful when she walks would be greater.
The researchers are trying to learn how the improved cats will complete helpful activities and how they will communicate.They say that they do not want a talking cat，however.Instead they are trying to design a cat that can move its head in a special way to successfully communicate its message.In the end，they hope to create an exchange between the human and the cat in which the human feels the cat needs them.By doing so，the researchers hope they can even help prevent feelings of loneliness and sadness among elderly people.
【语篇解读】 本文介绍新型的人工智能机器猫。机器猫会给老年人更多的帮助，同时机器猫也离不开他们。被需要的感觉是至关重要的。他们甚至可以帮助防止老年人的孤独和悲伤情绪。
1．What's the purpose of the project?
A．To relieve the pain of the elderly.
B．To promote the sales of a medicine.
C．To invent a robotic cat for the elderly.
D．To help make the robotic cat smarter.
【答案】 D 目的意图题。根据第一段第一句Imagine a cat that does not need someone to clean up after it keeps an older person company and help them remember to take their medicine.项目的目地是帮助机器猫更聪明。故选D。
2．Compared with the old model，the new robotic cat will be ________.
A．smaller B．Cheaper
C．more talkative D．more expensive
【答案】 B 推理判断题。根据第二段最后一句They also want to keep the cost down to just a few hundred dollars.可知，与旧模型相比新的机器猫更便宜。故选B。
3．What does Paragraph 3 intend to tell us?
A．The cat gives much help to the elderly.
B．The more functions of the cat，the better.
C．There is no cure for dementia at present.
D．Mary Derr would have died without the cat.
【答案】 A 段落大意题。根据第三段最后一句Elliott said a robotic cat that helps her mother to remember to take her medicine and be careful when she walks would be greater.可知，机器猫会给老年人更多的帮助。故选A。
4．What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A．A talking cat is quite popular among the elderly.
B．Feelings of sadness among the elderly are unavoidable.
C．Each family can afford such a cat in the future.
D．The feeling of being needed is vital to the elderly.
【答案】 D 推理判断题。根据最后一段最后两句In the end，they hope to create an exchange between the human and the cat in which the human feels the cat needs them.By doing so，the researchers hope they can even help prevent feelings of loneliness and sadness among elderly people.可知，被需要的感觉是至关重要的。故选D。
