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  3. The idea of humanoid robots is not new, of course. They have been part of the imaginative landscape ever since Karl Capek, a Cze

The idea of humanoid robots is not new, of course. They have been part of the imaginative landscape ever since Karl Capek, a Cze

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问题 The idea of humanoid robots is not new, of course. They have been part of the imaginative landscape ever since Karl Capek, a Czech writer, first dreamed them up for his 1921 play "Rossum’s Universal Robots". (The word "robot" comes from the Czech word for drudgery, robota. )Since then, Hollywood has produced countless variations on the theme, from the sultry False Maria in Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece "Metropolis" to the wittering C-3PO in "Star Wars" and the ruthless assassin of "Terminator". Humanoid robots have walked into our collective subconscious, colouring our views of the future.
   But now Japan’s industrial giants are spending billions of yen to make such robots a reality. Their new humanoids represent impressive feats of engineering: when Honda introduced Asimo, a four-foot robot that had been in development for some 15 years, it walked so fluidly that its white, articulated exterior seemed to conceal a human.  Honda continues to make the machine faster, friendlier and more agile. Last October, when Asimo was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh, it walked on to the stage and accepted its own plaque. At two and a half feet tall, Sony’s QRIO is smaller and more toy-like than Asimo. It walks, understands a small number of voice commands, and can navigate on its own. If it falls over, it gets up and resumes where it left off. It can even connect wirelessly to the internet and broadcast what its camera eyes can see. In 2003, Sony demonstrated an upgraded QRIO that could run. Honda responded last December with a version of Asimo that runs at twice the speed.
   In 2004, Toyota joined the fray with its own family of robots, called Partner, one of which is a four-foot humanoid that plays the trumpet. Its fingers work the instrument’s valves, and it has mechanical lungs and artificial lips. Toyota hopes to offer a commercial version of the robot by 2010. This month, 50 Partner robots will act as guides at Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan.
   Despite their sudden proliferation, however, humanoids are still a mechanical minority. Most of the world’s robots are faceless, footless and mute. They are bolted to the floors of factories, stamping out car parts or welding pieces of metal, machines making more machines.  According to the United Nations, business orders for industrial robots jumped 18% in the first half of 2004. They may soon be outnumbered by domestic robots, such as self-navigating vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers and window washers, which are selling fast. But neither industrial nor domestic robots are humanoid.
Judging from the context, this passage is probably written ______.
选项 A、in 2004
B、in 2005
C、between 2003～2004
D、between 200442005
答案B
解析 本题为推论题。根据文章第4段、第5段中两次出现的2004，可断定此文的写作时间为不会早于2004年。再结合文章第4段最后一句关于2005年爱知县世博会的情况：This month, 50 Partner robots will act as guides at Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan.便不难得知这篇文章的写作时间为2005年。尤其是根据This month(本月)二字，就完全可以将答案锁定为B。
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