Working outside the International Space Station （ISS）, an astronaut is suddenly hit by a piece of space debris（碎片）that damages his spacesuit．Alarmed, he realizes he’s just seconds from disaster．Moving fast, his prepared robot partner slaps（拍打）an auto-patch over the tear in his spacesuit．Huge sighs of relief fill the ISS．Inside, the astronaut responsible for saving the spacewalker’s life controls everything the robot avatar has done — including rescuing its human partner — while it works outside the space station．

R2:The Real Deal

A robot companion can come in handy to space travelers, whether they’re as far away as Mars or as close as a space station or moon base．Space-travelling avatars, controlled remotely by humans are still a concept．But earlier in the year 2011, NASA sent a humanoid robot into space for the first time．It’s called R2, short for Robonaut 2．The robot was delivered by the space shuttle Discovery and will remain on the ISS to be tested．

NASA expects robots like R2 to be a huge help to astronauts．“Our goal is for robots to work side by side with humans,” says NASA’s Matt Ondler．R2 is controlled by humans using laptops． It’s programmed to perform a number of small tasks, such as “find an object．” In most situations, humans are still far better with their hands than robots．But that’s not necessarily true in space, where astronauts must wear bulky spacesuits and heavy gloves．And since they don’t need to eat, breathe, or go to the bathroom, robonauts have the advantage for lengthy jobs．

R2 isn’t ready for spacewalks yet, but NASA hopes that future improvements will make this possible．“Robonauts will help our astronauts with the three D’s: jobs that are dirty, dull, and dangerous,” says Ondler．

To The Moon

Someday the space agency hopes to send R2 to the moon．Sending a robot to the moon will befar less expensive than sending a human．A robot is stronger, can survive in tighter spaces, and doesn’t need air．Even better, robots don’t care how long it takes for NASA to return them to Earth．

Once on the moon, the robonaut could perform experiments, send live video back to Earth, talk to classrooms full of kids, and explore the lunar surface．R2 will be able to move using legs, or by attaching its torso（躯干）to a four-wheeled rover（探测器） and becoming part of vehicle．And when R2’s battery is low, it can plug into a solar-powered recharging station and get some much-needed juice．All in all, a pretty sweet life for a humble robot!

The future R2 would be designed to operate by itself．But for difficult tasks, a human operator would control it like an avatar in a video game．NASA will need people skilled at operating robonauts to ensure the success of future missions．So the next time your mom complains that you’re spending too much time on video games, just tell her you’re training for a job with NASA．

51．In paragraph1, the writer gives a detailed description of a space accident to           ．

       A．stress the danger of an astronaut’s walk in space

       B．tell readers the unforgettable experience of an astronaut

       C．show his concern for the present situation of space walk

       D．introduce what robots are likely to do for astronauts

52．Why does the writer say Robonaut 2 is “The Real Deal”?

       A．It may have the advantage for complex and small tasks at low costs．

       B．It has been programmed to help astronauts with three D’s．

       C．It is flexible and can be easily controlled by humans beings．

       D．It proves to be a good companion for space travelers．

53．By saying“All in all, a pretty sweet life for a humble robot!”, the writer means that           ．

       A．an ordinary robot will be able to move freely in comfortable surroundings

       B．an ordinary robot will enjoy a comfortable life in space like humans on Earth

       C．a future robot will explore the moon easily by using a four-wheeled rover

       D．a future robot is stronger and will handle any difficulty in space easily

54．It can be learned from the passage that            ．

       A．the future R2 will perform experiments without human control

       B．humans are much smarter with their hands than robots in space

       C．someday humans might control an avatar on the moon

       D．sending a human to the moon will cost far less than sending a robot