When you think of robots，you might think of something to perform boring tasks. But engineers today are making robots that can do much. more interesting jobs.

Howie Choset at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is a roboticist，a person who designs，builds or programs robots. When Choset was a kid，he was interested in anything that ____________-cars，trains，animals. Later，in high school，he built mobile robots similar to small cars. Hoping to continue ____________ robots，he studied computer science in college. Some robots can move only forward，backward，left and right，3 snakes can twist（扭转）in many directions. “Snakes are far more interesting than the cars，”Choset said.

After he started working at Carnegie Mellon，Choset and his colleagues there began developing ___4____ own snake robots. A typical snake robot is made up of a lot of metal containers（箱）linked together，each with a motor and electronic parts ____________. Choset's team programed robots to perform the same movements as feal snakes. The robots also moved in ways that snakes ____________ don't，such as rolling. Choset's snake robots could crawl ____________. the grass，swim in a pond and even climb a flagpole.

“Snakes go ____________ we can't，”says Choset. Snake robots could one day search for victims after an earthquake. But Choset's snakes might be ____________for heart surgeries（外科手术）as well. Choset is thinking of sending robots into Egyptian archaeological（考古学的）sites that are too small or _____________for people to enter. A robot with a'camera could show scientists what is inside.

Even after 15 years of working with his team，"I still don't get bored of watching the motion of my robots，”Choset said.