A
They're robots and they're capable of sailing the high seas without human intervention.
On Tuesday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched a pair of Saildrones (海洋无人机) in Pacific Northwest waters for the first time. Their long summer sailing journey will stretch from Vancouver Island to California. The Saildrone operators will collect data to help set future fishing seasons. The government wants to see whether seagoing robots can extend fishery surveys now performed by expensive manned ships.
Nora Cohen from NOAA said, “The 23foot long seagoing robots can follow a remotely programmed course for up to a year at a time. And they don't require any fuel. We use wind and solar power to drive the sensors.” He added, “It means that they're able to go to places where we don't really want to send people, go into weather that we really don't want anyone ever to be in, and send back measurements.”
The primary mission is to investigate the species and number of fish in existence and the places where they are. Larry Hufnagle, scientist of NOAA Fisheries in Seattle, said a traditional big NOAA shipbased survey costs around D|S25,000 per day. By comparison, one Saildrone runs D|S2,500 per day.
“It could be a significant saving，” Hufnagle said. “But like anything else, there is a tradeoff between what you get and what you don't get. On the manned ship, we have limited time. It takes a lot of people. We spend a fair amount of money. But there is one thing the Saildrone can't do but humans can: cast a net to catch and positively identify the fish detected below. The Saildrones are going to give us additional data, not replacement data.”
Nora Cohen said Sail Drone, a venture capitalbacked company based in Alameda, California, expects to launch a total of 11 of its seagoing robots to survey different water bodies for NOAA this year. The Bering and Arctic seas, coastal California and Gulf of Mexico will be the locations of additional missions.
语篇解读：海洋无人机能够在没有人干预的情况下在公海航行，它们的投入使用将给人类带来好处，但也有一定的局限性。
1．What is the purpose of collecting fish data?
A．To explore the ocean.
B．To assist fishing industry.
C．To learn the habits of fish.
D．To improve fishing skills.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第二段第三句“The Saildrone operators will collect data to help set future fishing seasons.”可知，无人机操作员将收集数据，帮助设定未来的捕鱼季节，由此推知，收集数据是为了帮助捕鱼业。
2．What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 3?
A．The Saildrone's advantages.
B．The Saildrone's appearance.
C．The Saildrone's power system.
D．The Saildrone's primary mission.
解析：选A 段落大意题。第三段提到海洋无人机长23英尺，可以进行远程程序控制，每次航行长达一年，不需要任何燃料，用风能和太阳能驱动传感器等，由此可知，第三段主要讲述的是海洋无人机的优势。
3．What does the underlined word “tradeoff” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?
A．Debate. B．Reason.
C．Reality. D．Balance.
解析：选D 词义猜测题。由第五段第一句可知，使用海洋无人机能节省很多钱。再由第五段倒数第二句可知，有一件事情海洋无人机做不到，但人类可以。对比理解，即可推断出人类从海洋无人机处能得到的和不能得到的之间是一种平衡。据此可以得出“tradeoff”意思与D项接近，表示“权衡，协调”。
4．What can be inferred from the text?
A．The Saildrone has a promising future.
B．Hufnagle thinks nothing of the Saildrone.
C．Manned ships will be completely replaced.
D．Production of seagoing robots is restricted.
解析：选A 推理判断题。根据最后一段内容可知，预计今年Sail Drone公司将使11个远洋航行机器人下水，为NOAA勘测不同的水域。据此可以得出，海洋无人机的前景光明。A项符合题意。
