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A tablewaiting robot cat built by a Chinese technology firm can carry plates of food, navigate a restaurant, miaow (喵喵叫) at diners — and even react to having its ears stroked.
Making its debut at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the socalled BellaBot was built for Chinese restaurants lacking enough waiters.It is the brainchild (智慧結(jié)晶) of the Chinese robotics and artificial intelligence firm PuduTech.
It features four shelves in the center of its towerlike body to carry plates.Having been loaded up with meals by its human colleagues, the catthemed robotic waiter miaows when it delivers food to diners to encourage them to take their plates.If customers thank BellaBot by stroking its ears, it will initially respond with a look of pleasure on its onboard screen, which displays animations of a cat's face.“The owner's hand is so warm，” BellaBot has been programmed to respond.
However — much like a real cat — the robot's reaction soon changes if it is petted for too long.“It gets mad to remind you not to interrupt its job，” the designers introduced.
The BellaBot waiter robot is a more personalityrich update to PuduTech's previous model, which featured a more utilitarian (實(shí)用主義的) design and user interface.Both BellaBot and its predecessor were designed with a particular mind to Chinese restaurateurs which are often short of waiting staff.
In a realworld foodservice setting, however, BellaBot may find it difficult to operate at peak times.Nevertheless, restaurants are expected to increase their trust on automation — whether in the form of robotic waiting staff or otherwise.
Furthermore, the technology improvements of robotic waiters designs will be grown steadily, especially better at communicating with humans and tackling new activities.
語篇解讀：本文是一篇說明文。文章介紹了深圳科技公司推出的擁有貓咪外形的餐飲機(jī)器人。
1．Why did the technology firm create the BellaBot?
A．The restaurant can react to it.
B．It is the brainchild of the Chinese robotics and AI firm.
C．The Chinese scientists want to show their talent to the world.
D．It is can be used when Chinese restaurants are short of enough waiters.
解析：選D 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段第一句和第五段第二句可知，創(chuàng)造出BellaBot是為了彌補(bǔ)飯店服務(wù)員的短缺。
2．When do the robotic waiters deliver the food to diners?
A．The customers touch the robotic waiters' ears.
B．The customers are encouraged to take their plates.
C．The human colleagues have loaded up the meals on robotic waiters.
D．The robotic waiters display animations of a cat's face on their onboard screen.
解析：選C 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段第二句可知，人類同事把飯菜放在機(jī)器人服務(wù)員的架子上后，它會(huì)把食物送到顧客那里。
3．What can we infer from the robot's reaction changes?
A．It wants to remind you to get mad.
B．It wants to remind you to pet it again.
C．It wants to remind you not to help its work.
D．It wants to remind you not to stop its work.
解析：選D 推理判斷題。根據(jù)第四段“It gets mad to remind you not to interrupt its job”可知，機(jī)器人的反應(yīng)變化是想提醒人們不要阻斷它的工作。
4．What is the author's attitude to the robotic waiters?
A．Doubtful. B．Positive.
C．Negative. D．Ambiguous.
解析：選B 觀點(diǎn)態(tài)度題。根據(jù)最后一段可知，機(jī)器人服務(wù)員的技術(shù)改進(jìn)會(huì)穩(wěn)步提高，尤其在跟人類交流和開展新活動(dòng)方面會(huì)更好。由此推斷出作者對(duì)機(jī)器人服務(wù)員持積極態(tài)度。
