A study by St.. Louis University has found that a lovable dog named Sparky and a robotic dog, AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents. The study confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents.
Dr. Andrew Smith led the Stanford University team that built a home-assistance robot. “If humans can feel an emotional tie with robots, some day they could be not just our assistants, but also our companions,” he said.
To test whether residents responded better to Sparky, a trained dog, or the Sony-made robotic dog, researchers divided 38 nursing home residents into three groups at three long-term care centers in St. Louis.
One group had weekly 30-minute one-on-one visits with Sparky; another group had similar visits with AIBO; a control group had no contact with either dog. The groups’ respective levels of loneliness were tested by having them answer a number of questions at the beginning and near the end of the visits.
After two months, both groups that had contact with the dogs were less lonely and more attached. Most of the elderly regarded Sparky, a 9-year-old dog, as an audience for their life stories, said investigator Marian Banks.
“He listened attentively, wagged his tail, and allowed them to pet him,” said Banks, who adopted and trained Sparky after finding him in a street behind her home seven years ago.
Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature. Over time, however, they grew comfortable with him, and petted and talked to him. He would respond by wagging his tail, vocalizing, and blinking his lights..
“AIBO is charming once you start to interact with him,” said the study’s author, Dr. William Banks, “He’s an attractive sort of guy. He gives a feeling of being personal, not just a robot.”
【小題1】Before the new study, it was known that ____.

A．robots were effective at reducing people’s loneliness
B．robots could build close connection with humans
C．dogs could help get rid of old people’s loneliness
D．dogs and robots were equally effective at reducing loneliness
【小題2】Those who had contact with the robotic dog found that ___.
A．they didn’t feel comfortable with it
B．it was hard for them to interact with it
C．they weren’t comfortable with it at first
D．the robot’s vocalizing and blinking confused them
【小題3】The findings of the researchers tell us that___.
A．robots are better at caring for old people than nurses
B．robots can to some degree replace dogs as companions for old people
C．it’s easy for people to become close with robots
D．every home will have a robot assistant one day
【小題4】What would be the best title for the passage?
A．Robots Serve People Better Than Thought
B．No More Lonely Old Age with Emotional Robots
C．Advanced Technology Used to cheer up the Elderly
D．Robots and Dogs Can Equally Cheer up the Elderly


【小題1】C
【小題2】C
【小題3】B
【小題4】D

解析試題分析： 本文主要講解了研究人員對(duì)機(jī)器狗和真實(shí)的狗是否一樣能夠排遣孤獨(dú)進(jìn)行了實(shí)驗(yàn)，表明機(jī)器狗和真實(shí)的狗都能夠給老人帶來(lái)歡樂(lè)，排遣孤獨(dú)感。
【小題1】細(xì)節(jié)題。從文章The study confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents.可知先前的報(bào)道發(fā)現(xiàn)狗對(duì)于療養(yǎng)院里的人排遣孤獨(dú)有益處，故選C
【小題2】細(xì)節(jié)題。從Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature.可知他們要花費(fèi)更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間來(lái)和這些機(jī)器狗進(jìn)行溝通，產(chǎn)生共鳴，故選C
【小題3】推斷題。從A study by St.. Louis University has found that a lovable dog named Sparky and a robotic dog, AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents.及He’s an attractive sort of guy. He gives a feeling of being personal, not just a robot.可知機(jī)器狗在某種程度上可以取代狗而成為老人的伴侶，故選B
【小題4】主旨題。從文章第一段及最后一段可知，機(jī)器狗和真實(shí)的狗都能夠給老人帶來(lái)歡樂(lè)，排遣孤獨(dú)感，故選D
考點(diǎn)：日常生活類說(shuō)明文
點(diǎn)評(píng)：日常生活類說(shuō)明文比較好理解，本文的文脈清晰，結(jié)構(gòu)也很好把握。對(duì)于本文把握好作者所敘述的有關(guān)機(jī)器狗和真實(shí)的狗一樣對(duì)老人有幫助，同時(shí)，此類文章推斷題居多，在對(duì)文章看懂了的基礎(chǔ)上深刻理解作者的寫作目的和情感是做好本文的關(guān)鍵。

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