阅读下面的短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

　　The Cave Crawler mining robot

　　Why do human beings still risk their lives under ground and doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world? It’ s an increasingly urgent question, given the recent high－profile(引人注目的)mining accidents in Sago, W．Va．, and Huntington, Utah．A small group of engineers and robotics experts envision(展望)a day in the not－too－distant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work．

　　One of the first mining robots was developed five years ago at Carnegie－Mellon University's Robotics Institute．It was called Groundhog and it looked like a golf cart．It used lasers to “see” in dark tunnels and map abandoned mines－some of the most dangerous work in the business．

　　The latest prototype is called Cave Crawler．It's a bit smaller than Groundhog, and even more advanced．It can take photos and video and has sensors mounted that can detect the presence of dangerous gases．Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic．If it comes across an obstacle it gets momentarily confused, it has to think through the process and where to go next, and sometimes it throws a fit just like a real person．

　　The biggest obstacle, though, is cost．The original research project was federally funded, but that money has dried up, and it's not clear where future funding will come from．Partly for that reason, and partly because of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past．Since 1990, fatalities have declined by 67 percent, and injuries by 51 percent, according to the National Mining Association．

　　Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry．The robots do the most repetitive and dangerous jobs, but don't eliminate the need for human workers．

完形填空

　　Who won the first gold medal in the 2009 National Games?What happened in the American election?How did the critics like the new play?　　1　　 an event takes place, newspapers are on the streets 　　2　　 the details．Wherever anything happens in the world, reporters are on the spot to 　　3　　 the news．

　　Newspapers have one basic 　　4　　, to get the news as quickly as possible from its source, from those who make it to those who want to 　　5　　 it．Radio, telegraph, television, and 　　6　　 inventions brought competition for newspapers．So did the development of magazines and other means of communication．　　7　　, this competition merely spurred(刺激)the newspapers on．They quickly made use of the newer and faster means of communication to improve the 　　8　　 and thus the efficiency of their own operations．Today more newspapers are 　　9　　 and read than ever before．Competition also led newspapers to branch out to many other fields．Besides keeping readers 　　10　　 the latest news, today's newspapers 　　11　　 and influence readers about politics and other important and serious matters．Newspapers influence readers' economic choices 　　12　　 advertising．Most newspapers depend on advertising for their very 　　13　　．Newspapers are sold at a price that 　　14　　 to cover even a small fraction(一小部分)of the cost of production．The main 　　15　　 of income for most newspapers is commercial advertising．The 　　16　　 in selling advertising depends on a newspaper's value to advertisers．This 　　17　　 in terms of circulation(发行量)．How many people read the newspaper?Circulation depends 　　18　　 on the work of the circulation department and on the services or entertainment 　　19　　 in a newspaper's pages．But for the most part, circulation depends on a newspaper's value to readers as a source of information about the community, city, country, state, nation, and world and even 　　20　　．

阅读理解

　　The huge thirst for jobs in the civil service has made the national civil servant(公务员)exam one of China's most competitive tests．The first exam was held in 1995, and since then more and more people have signed up for it, with applications reaching a peak over the last two years．

　　The latest online survey, carried out by China Youth Daily and www．qq．com, found that more than 73 percent of young people want to work as civil servants．Of the 17,330 respondents, about 83 percent said they were attracted by the job's stability, guaranteed health care and pension(退休金)．Meanwhile, 55 percent said it could bring "practical profits"．Nearly 1 million people applied to take the exam last year, yet only just over 10,000 were finally employed．

　　This year the competition continued．The exact number of applicants is not known, with the final day for applications today．But the flood of applicants has already broken the exam's website once．China Youth Daily reported that the site was forced to close for maintenance due to unusually high traffic on the night of October 16, which has never happened in the past．

　　In a typical year several hundred applicants will apply for many of the jobs listed．For example, the five job vacancies provided by the secretariat(秘书处)of the Central Committee of the CPC have attracted more than 3,880 applicants this year．Positions as civil servants are attractive, not only because of the stable income and good health care, but also because of the low risks compared with the power and resources the positions enjoy．Among the total 6 million public servants, around 20,000 were dismissed between 1996 and 2007．