Question 19 is based on the recording you have just heard.

Recording Two

听力原文

       (19) [With the use of driverless vehicles seemingly inevitable, mining companies in the vast Australian desert state of Western Australia are definitely taking the lead. Iron ore is a key ingredient in steelmaking. The mining companies here produce almost 300 million tons of iron ore a year. The 240 giant autonomous trucks in use in the Western Australian mines can weigh 400 tons, fully loaded, and travel at speeds of up to sixty kilometers per hour.] They are a technological leap, transporting iron ore along routes which run for hundreds of kilometers from mines to their destinations. Here when the truck arrives at its destination, staff in the operation center direct it precisely where to unload. Vast quantities of iron ore are then transported by autonomous trains to ocean ports. Advocates argue these automated vehicles will change mining forever. It may only be five years before the use of automation technology leads to a fully robotic mine. 

       (19) [A range of factors has pushed Western Australia’s desert region to the lead of this automation revolution.] These include the huge size of the mines, the scale of equipment and the repetitive nature of some of the work. Then there’s the area’s remoteness, at 502,000 square kilometers. It can sometimes make recruiting staff a challenge. Another consideration is the risks when humans interact with large machinery. There are also the financial imperatives. The ongoing push by the mining corporations to be more productive and more efficient is another powerful driver in embracing automation technology.

        The concept of a fully autonomous mine is a bit of a misleading term, however. This is because the more technology is put into the field, the more people are needed to deploy, maintain and improve it. (20) [The automation and digitization of the industry is creating a need for different jobs.] These include data scientists and engineers in automation and artificial intelligence. The mining companies claim automation and robotics present opportunities to make mining more sustainable and safer. Employees will be offered a career that is even more fulfilling and more rewarding.

        (21) [Workers’ unions have accepted the inevitability of the introduction of new technology. But they still have reservations about the rise of automation technology.] Their main concern is the potential impact on remote communities. As automation spreads further, the question is how these remote communities will survive when the old jobs are eliminated. And this may well prove to be the most significant impact of robotic technology in many places around the world.

19. What does the passage say about the mining industry in Western Australia?（关于西澳大利亚的采矿业，这篇文章说了什么？）

解析：A。录音开始提到，无人驾驶似乎是必然趋势，西澳大利亚州的矿业公司走在了前面（taking the lead），随后举出了一些有关自动化的具体例子，后面又明确提到，一系列因素将西澳大利亚沙漠地区推向了自动化革命（automation revolution）的前沿，A项与此相符，因此选A。

错项排除：录音中虽然提到了巨大的铁矿规模（huge size of the mines）以及资金问题（financial imperatives），但并没有明确说明采矿业为该地区带来了繁荣（prosperity）或利润（profit），故B、C两项排除。录音主要是围绕西澳大利亚采矿业的自动化展开的，虽然提到了自动化崛起的种种具体体现，但并没有提到西澳大利亚采矿业正在加速扩张，故D项排除。