On the morning of November 2, a strange group of travellers gathered at the gate of Mount Taishan in Shandong Province. Some walked on four legs and some on two. They were robots, come for the first World Robot Mount Taishan Climbing Competition. Their road was the old path, from the Red Gate to the Middle Heaven Gate. It is 3.9 kilometres long and rises 600 metres, with over 3,100 steps.
For a healthy person, this climb takes nearly an hour. For a machine it is a serious test. The steps are not equal: some are high, some are low, some are wide and some so narrow that a small foot can hardly stand on them. There are also stretches of round stones and steep slopes. A robot built in a laboratory can walk on a smooth floor all day. Only a real mountain reveals how little it knows.
The teams solved the problem in different ways. Most began by mapping the path: a laser builds a picture of the stones and trees. A four-legged robot is stable and can run once it knows the road. A two-legged robot is taller and easier to push over, so several teams moved its camera from the head to the chest, where it sees the step before the toes. One team trained its robot to climb blind, feeling the ground by the force in its joints.
The competition had a practical side too. One event asked robots to carry loads, copying the porters who once brought food up the mountain on their backs. Another tested exoskeletons, frames that make climbing easier. These are not games. China has a large ageing population, and mountain villages and heavy lifting are real problems. A robot that climbs 3,000 uneven steps proves what a smooth floor cannot.
It is easy to smile at a robot sweating up a mountain. Yet the picture carries a point. The path was built by human hands, and walking it was once a test of a person. Now it tests our machines, and what they learn may one day help us climb.
Words to know:
- gather (聚集；集合)
- slope (斜坡；坡度)
- reveal (显露；揭示)
- stable (稳固的)
- joint (关节)
- practical (实际的；实用的)
- uneven (不平整的)
- sweat (出汗；流汗)
长难句拆解 · 冒号后的并列省略与 so…that 结构
主干：The steps are not equal，主系表结构；冒号后面整段是对 not equal 的具体说明。 冒号后并列四个分句，均由 some 作主语，后三个分句省略了重复的 are 或 are so，这是英语并列结构中常见的省略。 最后一部分含 so … that … 结果状语从句：so narrow that a small foot can hardly stand on them，意为「窄到一只小脚几乎站不住」。 语法点：hardly 本身是否定词，意为「几乎不」，不能与 not 连用；句末 them 指前面的 steps。 直译：这些台阶并不一样：有的高，有的低，有的宽，有的窄到一只小脚几乎站不住。
长难句拆解 · 现在分词短语作方式状语
主干：One team trained its robot to climb，train sb to do sth 意为「训练某人做某事」，to climb 作宾语补足语。 climb blind 中 blind 是形容词作补语，说明攀爬状态，相当于 climb without sight；类似结构还有 go blind、walk blind。 feeling … 是现在分词短语作方式状语，其逻辑主语与主句主语 One team 一致，相当于 and it feels the ground by …。 语法点：现在分词短语作状语时与主句共用同一个主语，因此不能改成被动形式 felt；这种结构用来补充「怎么做」，比 and 连接的并列句更紧凑。 直译：有一支队伍把机器人训练成盲爬，靠关节的受力去感受地面。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
雅思阅读最爱把原文换个说法再出题，下面每组左边是原文表达，右边是常见替换，先遮住右边自测。
- The steps are not equal → The steps vary in size / No two steps are the same height（台阶不一致）
- this climb takes nearly an hour → the ascent lasts close to sixty minutes / an hour of hard walking（时长表达）
- Only a real mountain reveals how little it knows → A real mountain is the only place that shows where the machine still fails / The mountain quickly exposes the limits of the machine（比喻句的同义转换）
- several teams moved its camera from the head to the chest → a number of teams relocated the camera from the head to the chest / some teams placed the camera lower, on the chest（位置调整）
- These are not games → This is more than entertainment / The events are far from being a show（强调实用价值）
- It is easy to smile at a robot sweating up a mountain → A robot struggling uphill is an amusing sight / you cannot help laughing at a machine puffing up the steps（让步句的同义改写）
- what they learn may one day help us climb → the lessons learned on the path could later serve the rest of us / the knowledge may one day return to the climbers（结尾观点句）
阅读自测 · 3 题
- 第一段：首届世界机器人登泰山大赛的赛道是从山脚步行到山顶。（判断 T / F / NG）
- 文章说，两足机器人为什么要把摄像头从头部移到胸前？（简答）
- 根据第四段，负重赛模仿的是哪一种人的工作？A. 挑山工 B. 修路工人 C. 滑雪教练 D. 快递员
参考答案与解析
- F。第一段明确写赛道是从山脚的 Red Gate 到 Middle Heaven Gate，即半山的中天门，并非山顶。这是把「赛段终点」偷换成「山顶」的典型干扰：原文从未说走到山顶。
- 因为头部看得远，脚前却容易有盲区；移到胸前，摄像头离台阶更近，能看到脚尖前的台阶，不再有视野死角。
- A。第四段写 copying the porters who once brought food up the mountain on their backs，正是指泰山挑山工。B、C、D 均为文中未出现的身份，属于无中生有型干扰项。
中文译文
11 月 2 日早上，一群奇怪的旅人聚集在山东省泰山脚下的大门前。有的用四条腿走路，有的用两条腿。它们是机器人，来参加首届世界机器人登泰山大赛。它们要走的，是那条从红门到中天门的古老石阶路。整条路 3.9 公里长，落差 600 米，共有 3100 多级台阶。
对一个身体健康的普通人来说，这段路要走将近一个小时。对一台机器来说，这是一场严峻的考验。台阶并不整齐：有的高，有的低，有的宽，有的窄到一只小脚几乎站不住。路上还有成片的圆石和陡坡。在实验室里造出来的机器人，可以在平整地面上走一整天。只有一座真正的老山，才能暴露它还有多少东西不懂。
各个队伍用不同办法解决了这个问题。多数队伍都先给山路建图：激光发射出去，接收反射回来的光，把石头和树木绘成一幅图像。四条腿的机器人稳当又灵活，认清路线后撒开腿就能往上跑。两条腿的机器人更高，也更容易被推倒，所以有几支队伍把摄像头从头部往下移到了胸前，这样它看到的是脚尖前的台阶。还有一支队伍把机器人练成了盲爬，只靠一只脚落地时关节的受力来判断地面。
比赛也有很实际的一面。其中一个项目要求机器人运货，模仿当年背着食物上山的挑山工。另一个项目测试外骨骼——一种穿在人身上、让爬山更省力的支架。这些都不是游戏。我国老年人口规模庞大，山村、没有电梯的楼梯、长时间的负重搬运，都是真实的难题。一台能爬上 3000 级高低不平台阶的机器，已经证明了平整地面无法证明的东西。
想到机器人吭哧吭哧爬山的样子，人很容易笑起来。但这幅画面里藏着一个安静的道理。那条石头铺的路是人的双手一级一级垒起来的，走过它曾经是对一个人的考验。现在它成了对我们这些机器的考验，而它们在山上学到的东西，或许有一天会帮助那些仍然必须自己爬上去的人。