The scientists from the Lockheed Space Company (公司) work in Felton, California, with the help of a computer. But the computer is placed in Sunnyside, about 80 kilometers away. What the scientists input is sent by telephone lines to the computer, and after a time, copies of the designs are needed back in Felton as possible. Lockheed people have tried several ways of sending the prints (印刷品), but the most effective seems to be by pigeon (鸽子). Are pigeons really used to carry messages in these days? They are, and they send the prints faster and cheaper than any other way.
Human (人类的) messengers (persons carrying messages) are much more expensive and slower than the pigeons. The road to Felton goes through the mountains, and the driving is not easy. An electronic printout system(电子印刷系统) could do the work in Felton, but at a cost of 10 dollars a print. Pigeons carry the designs for about 1 dollar each.
Now Lockheed people have ten pigeon messengers. The pigeons do the work, and they have made Lockheed more famous. You can often read the news about the pigeons in the newspapers around the world.
小题1:The story is mainly about .
| A．Felton, California | B．the scientists |
| C．how to work with computers | D．sending prints by pigeon |
小题2:This story is unusual because pigeons .
| A．don’t like carrying things |
| B．are often cheap to keep |
| C．seem out of place in the space age |
| D．aren’t friendly to the scientists |
小题3:Something that’s effective（有效的） .
| A．usually costs more |
| B．is something that works |
| C．is often unhappy |
| D．is often don by animals |
小题4:Which happened first?
| A．Pigeons were used as messengers. |
| B．Human messengers were used. |
| C．What the scientists input was sent to the computer. |
| D．Scientists got their designs. |
小题5:Lockheed likes the pigeons because they .
| A．do the work at low cost |
| B．get their pictures on television |
| C．understand the computer |
| D．make the scientists pleased |
