[解析]
(1)A.主旨大意题。文章主要介绍了 robot﹣readers 这一项发明,包括它的起源、应用和功能等,所以A项正确。其他三项均非文章主要内容,故选A。
(2)D.细节理解题。由第三段第一句Automated essay grading was first proposed in the 1960s,but computers back then were not up to the task.In the late 1990s,as technology improved,several textbooks and testing companies jumped into the field(自动论文评分在20世纪60年代首次提出,但当时的计算机还不能胜任这项任务。20世纪90年代末,随着技术的进步,几家教科书和测试公司开始涉足这一领域。)可知,automated essay grading 在二十世纪六十年代就被提出了,但是那时的电脑还不能胜任这项工作。故选D。
(3)B.段落大意题。根据第四段首句The Hewlett contest aims to show that computers can grade as well as English teachers—only much more quickly and without all that depressing red ink. (Hewlett竞赛旨在表明,和英语老师打分一样好,比英语老师快很多并且没有那些令人沮丧的红色笔迹。)由此可知本段主要讲 automated essay scoring 的优点,故选B。
(4)C.细节理解题。由文章最后一句it can understand the meaning of text much the same as a human reader(它可以像人类读者一样理解文本的含义。)可知,the Intelligent Essay Assessor 可以和人类一样读懂文章意思,故选C。