Recent discoveries of water and Earth-like soil on Mars have set imaginations running wild that human beings may one day control and send people to live on the Red Planet. However, the first to live there might not be human, but rather groups of tiny robots.

“Small robots that are able to work together could explore the planet. We now know there is water and dust so all they would need is some sort of glue to start building structures, such as homes for human scientists,” says Marc Szymanski, a robotics researcher at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany.

Szymanski is part of a team of European researchers developing tiny autonomous (自主的) robots that can co-operate to perform different tasks, much like ants or bees search for food together, build nests and work together for the greater good of the planet.

“A group of robots is particularly useful when one robot is damaged. It does not cause the task to fail because another robot simply steps in to fill its place,” Szymanski explains.

Several of the researchers have since gone on to work on creating groups of robots that are able to reassemble (重新装配) themselves autonomously into larger robots in order to perform different tasks.

Planet exploration and colonization (殖民) are just some of a seemingly endless range of potential applications for robots that can work together, adjusting their duties depending on the barriers they face, changes in their environment and the group’s needs. That is not only useful in space or in deep-water environments, but also while carrying out repairs inside machinery, cleaning up pollution or even applying treatments inside the human body.

66. What would be the main task of the groups of tiny robots on Mars?

A. To look for water and Earth-like soil.            B. To remove barriers for human arrival.

C. To colonise the Red Planet.                   D. To build home-like structures.

67. Why are groups of tiny robots sent to Mars?

A. Because they work very fast in space.

B. Because they can work together to perform different tasks.

C. Because they can find all the building materials.

D. Because they are easy to control.

68. The tiny robots would NOT be used        .

A. to work under the sea                            B. to repair machines

C. to protect the environment                             D. to try out new medicines

69. The last paragraph mainly tells us about        .

A. potential applications for robots                      B. different kinds of robots

C. the barriers the robots face                     D. planet exploration and colonization

70. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The tiny robots can work together with ants or bees.

B. There’s enough water on Mars for human existence.

C. The basic substances for human existence have been found on Mars.

D. The tiny robots can change to any size at any time.