2016年职称英语电子版教材

2016年职称英语等级考试用书（理工类）阅读理解、完形填空

Microchip Research Center Created

A research center has been set up in this Far Eastern country to develop advanced microchip production technology. The center, which will start out with about US $14 million, will help the country develop its chip industry without always depending on imported technology.

The center will make use of its research skills and facilities to develop new technology for domestic chip plants. The advent of the center will possibly free the country from the situation that it is always buying almost-outdated technologies from other countries, said the country’s flagship chipmaker.1 Currently, chip plants in this country are in a passive situation because many foreign governments don’t allow them to import the most advanced technologies, fearing they will be used for military purposes. Moreover, the high licensing fees they have to pay to technology providers are also an important reason for their decision of self-reliance2.

As mainstream chip production technology shifts from one generation to the next every three to five years3, plants with new technology can make more powerful chips at lower costs, while4 plants with outdated equipment, which often cost billions of dollars to build, will be marginalized by the maker.

More than 10 chip plants are being built, each costing millions of US dollars.5 The majority of that money goes to overseas equipment vendors and technology owners — mainly from Japan and Singapore.

Should the new center play a major role in improving the situation in the industry,6 the country admits the US $14 million investment is still rather small. This country is developing comprehensive technologies. Most of the investment will be spent on setting alliances with technology and intellectual property7 owners. 词汇: microchip / 5maIkrEJtFIp / n.微芯片marginalize /`mB:dVInLlaIz/ v.忽视，边缘化flagship /5flA^FIp/ n. (用作定语 )首位，最好 vendor /5vendC:/ n.卖主mainstream /5meInstri:m/ n.主流注释:

微芯片研究中心成立

为了开发先进的微芯片生产技术，这个远东国家建立了一个研究中心，该中心启动资金为一千四

百万美元，可以帮助该国开发自己的芯片工业，

不必总是依赖于进口技术。

该中心将会应用自己的研究技术和设施，为本国

芯片厂家开发新技术。这个国家名列首位的芯片

制造公司说，芯片中心的成立可能使这个国家摆

脱从他国购买即将淘汰的技术的困境。由于许多

外国政府担心先进技术会被用于军事目的，不允

许这个国家的芯片生产厂家进口前沿技术，所以

这些生产厂家处于一种被动局面。另外，由于这

些芯片生产厂家必须向技术提供者支付高额的许

可费，这也构成了他们决定要自力更生的一个重

要原因。

由于主流芯片生产技术每隔 3～5年就要进行更

新换代，所以掌握了新技术的厂家就可以以较低

的成本制造出较好的芯片，而那些耗费数十亿美

元建立起的厂家，如果设备落后，也将会被生产

商所淘汰。

几个芯片厂正在建立之中，每个厂的造价都在几

百万美元，其中大部分资金都流向了海外设备商

和技术所有者——主要是日本和新加坡。

如果新建的芯片中心能在改变该国芯片行业的被

动形势中起到重要作用，该国承认，一千四百万

美元的投资仍是微不足道的。该国正在开发综合

技术，大部分投资将用于与技术和知识产权所有

者建立联盟。

第七篇Moderate Earthquake Strikes England

A moderate earthquake struck parts of southeast England on 28 April 2007, toppling chimneys from houses and rousing residents from their beds. Several thousand people were left without power1 in Kent County2. One woman suffered minor head and neck injuries. “It felt as if the whole house was being slid across like a fun-fair ride,3”said the woman.

The British Geological Survey said the 4.3-magnitude quake4 struck at 8:19 a. m. and was centered under the English Channel5, about 8.5 miles south of Dover6 and near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel7. Witnesses said cracks appeared in walls and chimneys collapsed across the county. Residents said the tremor had lasted for about 10 to 15 seconds.

“I was lying in bed and it felt as if someone had just got up from bed next to me,” said Hendrick van Eck, 27, of Canterbury8 about 60 miles southeast of London. “I then heard the sound of cracking, and it was getting heavier and heavier9. It felt as if someone was at the end of my bed hopping up and down.”

There are thousands of moderate quakes on this scale around the world each year, but

they are rare in Britain. The April 28 quake was the strongest in Britain since 2002 when a 4.8-magnitude quake struck the central England city of Birmingham10.

The country’s strongest earthquake took place in the North Sea in 1931, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale11. British Geological Survey scientist Roger Musson said the quake took place on 28 April in an area that had seen several of the biggest earthquakes ever to strike Britain, including one in 1580 that caused damage in London and was felt in France.12 Musson predicted that it was only a matter of time13 before another earthquake struck this part of England. However, people should not be scared too much by this prediction. Musson said, as the modern earthquake warning system of Britain should be able to detect a forthcoming quake and announce it several hours before it takes place. This would allow time for people to evacuate and reduce damage to the minimum.词汇：moderate /5mCdErit/ adj.中等的magnitude /5mA^nitju:d/ n. 值，强度量 topple /5tCpl/ v.倾倒，震倒 rouse /rauz/ v. 唤醒tremor /5tremE/ n.震动 hop /hRp/ v. 齐足跳起 fun-fair n.公共露天游乐场 scale /skeil/ n. 震级 forthcoming /fC:W5kQmiN/ adj.即将来临的evacuate /i5vAkjueit/ v. 疏散geological /dViE5lCdVikEl/ adj.地质的

注释:

第七篇中度地震袭击英国

2007年 4月 28日英格兰东南部地区发生中度地震，一些房屋烟囱倒塌，许多居民半夜从睡梦中惊醒。肯特郡几千人遭遇断电，一名女子头部和颈部受了轻伤。

“我感觉整个房子就像游乐场的滑行机一样在滑动。”该女子说。

英国地质调查局说，本次里氏 4.3级的地震发生于上午 8点 19分，震中在英吉利海峡底部，位于多佛尔以前约 8.5英里处的海峡隧道入口附近。一些目击者看到郡中墙壁现裂缝，并有烟囱倒塌。当地居民说震动大约持续了 10～15秒。

“我当时躺在床上，觉得好像旁边有人从床上站起来。”住在伦敦东南部 60英里处的 27岁的Hendrick van Eck说，“然后我听到有东西裂开的声音，而且越来越响。就好像有人在我床尾不停地并着脚跳。”

这种规模的中度地震世界上每年都会发生几千次，但在英国仍非常少见。 4月 28日的地震是英国自 2002 年中部城市伯明翰里氏 4.8级地震以来昀强的一次。

英国的地震昀高曾达到里氏 6.1级，1931年发生在北海。英国地质勘测所的科学家罗杰·马森说，4月 28日发生地震的地区曾经遭受过几起英国昀大的地震，其中的一次发生在 1580年，那次地震蹂躏了伦敦，并波及法国。马森预言了英格兰的这个地区早晚还会发生地震，但他说人们不必对此产生太大恐惧，因为英国的现代地震预警系统应该能够侦测即将发生的地震，并在震前数小时内通知大家。这将使人们有时间撤离震区，并把损失降到昀低。

第八篇What Is a Dream?

For centuries, people have wondered about the strange things that they dream about. Some psychologists say that this nighttime activity of the mind has no special meaning. Others，however， think that dreams are an important part of our lives. In fact, many experts believe that dreams can tell us about a person’s mind and emotions.

Before modern times, many people thought that dreams contained messages from God. It was only in the twentieth century that people started to study dreams in a scientific way. The Austrian psychologist, Sigmund Freud1，was probably the first person to study dreams scientifically. In his famous book, The interpretation of Dreams (1900), Freud wrote that dreams are an expression of a person’s wishes. He believed that dreams allow people to express the feelings, thoughts, and fears that they are afraid to express in real life.

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung2 was once a student of Freud’s. Jung，however，had a different idea about dreams. Jung believed that the purpose of a dream was to communicate a message to the dreamer. He thought people could learn more about themselves by thinking about their dreams. For example, people who dream about falling may learn that they have too high an opinion of themselves. On the other hand, people who dream about being heroes may learn that they think too little of themselves.

Modern-day psychologists continue to develop theories about dreams. For example, psychologist William Domhoff from the University of California, Santa Cruz，believes that dreams are tightly linked to a person’s daily life, thoughts, and behavior.

A criminal, for example, might dream about crime.

Domhoff believes that there is a connection between dreams and age. His research shows that children do not dream as much as adults. According to Domhoff, dreaming is a mental skill that needs time to develop.

He has also found a link between dreams and gender. His studies show that the dreams of men and women are different. For example, the people in men’s dreams are often other men, and the dreams often involve fighting. This is not true of women’s dreams.3 Domhoff found this gender difference in the dreams of people from 11 cultures around the world, including both modern and traditional ones. Can dreams help us understand ourselves? Psychologists continue to try to answer this question in different ways. However, one thing they agree on this: If you dream that something terrible is going to occur, you shouldn’t panic. The dream may have meaning, but it does not mean that some terrible event will actually take place. It’s important to remember that the world of dreams is not the real world.

词汇：

psychologist / sa??k?l?d??st / n．心理学家psychiatrist /sai' kai?tr?st/ n．精神病学家(医生)

Austrian / ??str??n / adj．奥地利的

gender / ?d?end? / n．性别

第八篇容易的学习

学生们应该感到嫉妒。婴儿们不仅整天睡觉，而且他们还能在睡眠中掌握学习的艺术。

当婴儿一周岁时他们可以识别出很多声音，甚至简单的单词。芬兰 Turku大学的 Marie Cheour怀疑他们进步这么快的原因可能是他们不仅在醒省时而且在睡觉时也在学语言。

为了检验这个理论 Cheour和她的同事们在 45个新生儿生命昀初的几天里对他们进行了研究。他们让所有的婴儿听一个小时的芬兰元音——其中一个类似“ oo”，另一个类似“ ee”，还有一个芬兰语和类似语言特有的边界音，听起来像两者之间的声音。在此之前和之后的婴儿大脑的脑电图记录显示新生儿不能辨别这几个声音。

然后，其中 15个婴儿随他们的母亲回去了，而另外的婴儿被分成两个睡觉——学习小组。一个组的婴儿夜间睡觉的时候还放着同样三个元音的录音，而其他的婴儿只听其他的较容易区分的元音。在早晚各进行了测试之后，那些整晚都在听难识别的边界音的婴儿显示出的脑波活动说明他们现在能够识别这个新声音了。甚至当这个音的音调变化时他们仍能够识别出来，而其他的婴儿没有一个能识别这个边界音。

Cheour不知道婴儿是如何完成这个夜间学习的，但是她怀疑这种特殊能力说明，跟大人不一样，婴儿睡觉时没有把大脑皮层“关掉”。她接着说，这种技能可能在生命的昀初过程中渐渐消失，因此应忘掉这样一个想法，即：你作为一个成年人只需要把一盘语音录音带塞在枕头下面就可以学

会法语中一些麻烦的音。但是，虽然这并不能帮

助成年人， Cheour希望这些睡眠时间可用来帮助那此从基因上来说会发生语言障碍的婴儿。

第九篇Dangers Await Babies with Altitude Women who live in the world’s highest communities tend to give birth to underweight babies, a new study suggests. These babies may grow into adults with a high risk of heart disease and strokes.1

Research has hinted that newborns in mountain communities are lighter than average. But it wasn’t clear whether this is due to reduced oxygen levels at high altitudes or because their mothers are under-nourished — many people who live at high altitudes are relatively poor compared with those living lower down.

To find out more, Dino Giussani and his team at Cambridge University studied the records of 400 births in Bolivia during 1997 and 1998. The babies were born in both rich and poor areas of two cities: La Paz and Santa Cruz. La Paz is the highest city in the world, at 3.65 kilometers above sea level, while Santa Cruz is much lower, at 0.44 kilometers. Sure enough, Giussani found that the average birthweight of babies in La Paz was significantly lower than in Santa Cruz. This was true in both high and low-income families. Even babies born to poor families in Santa Cruz were heavier on average than babies born to wealthy families in lofty La Paz. “We were very surprised by this result,”says Giussani.

The results suggest that babies born at high altitudes are deprived of2 oxygen before birth. “This may trigger the release or suppression of hormones that regulate growth of the unborn child,3” says Giussani.

His team also found that high-altitude babies tended to have relatively larger heads compared with their bodies4. This is probably because a fetus starved of oxygen will send oxygenated blood to the brain in preference to the rest of the body.5

Giussani wants to find out if such babies have a higher risk of disease in later life. People born in La Paz might be prone to heart trouble in adulthood, for example. Low birth weight is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. And newborns with a high ratio of head size to body weight are often predisposed to high blood pressure and strokes in later life.

第九篇高海拔地区的婴儿有危险

一个新的研究表明，住在世界高海拔地区的女人通常生下体重不足的婴儿。这些婴儿在长大成人后得心脏病和中风的风险很大。

研究暗示在山区出生的新生儿低于平均体重。但是还不清楚这是由于在高海拔的地方氧气不足，还是由于他们的母亲没有获得足够的营养——许多住在高海拔地方的人相对都比住在低处的人穷。

为了了解更多的情况，剑侨大学的迪诺·古萨尼和他的团队研究了 1997年到 1998年玻利维亚的400个新生儿的记录。这些婴儿出生于两个城市的富有和贫困地区：拉巴斯和圣克鲁斯。拉巴斯是世界上昀高的城市，海拔 3.65千米，而圣克鲁斯低很多，海拔 0.44千米。

当然，吉萨尼发现拉巴斯的新生儿的平均出生体重明显低于圣克鲁斯的新生儿。无论高收入家庭还是低收入家庭都是如此。甚至圣克鲁斯的贫穷家庭的婴儿比拉巴斯的富有家庭的婴儿平均体重还要重。古萨尼说：“我们对这个结果感到吃惊。”这个结果表明在高海拔出生的婴儿出生前就缺氧了。吉萨尼说：“这可能会触发调节未出生儿成长的荷尔蒙的释放或抑制。”

他的团队还发现高海拔的婴儿通常有相对身体来说较大的头部。这可能是因为一个缺氧的胚胎会首先把充氧的血液输送到脑部，然后才送到身体的其他部位。

古萨尼想要查出这样的婴儿在今后的生活中是不是更容易得病。例如在拉巴斯出生的人在成年之后更可能得心脏病。出生体重低是得冠心病的一个危险因素，头部相对身体较大的新生儿在今后的生活中通常容易得高血压和中风。

*第十篇The Biology of Music

Humans use music as a powerful way to communicate. It may also play an important role in love. But what is music, and how does it work its magic? Science does not yet have all the answers.

What are two things that make humans different from animals? One is language, and the other is music. It is true that some animals can sing (and many birds sing better than a lot of people). However, the songs of animals, such as birds and whales, are very limited. It is also true that humans, not animals, have developed musical instruments. 1

Music is strange stuff. It is clearly different from language. However, people can use music to communicate things —especially their emotions. When music is combined with speech in a song, it is a very powerful form of communication. But, biologically speaking, what is music? If music is truly different from speech, then we should process music and language in different parts of the brain. The scientific evidence suggests that this is true. Sometimes people who suffer brain damage lose their ability to process language. However, they don’t automatically lose their musical abilities. For example, Vissarion Shebalin, a Russian composer，had a stroke in 1953. It injured the left side of his brain. He could no longer speak or understand speech. He could, however, still compose music until his death ten years later. On the other hand，sometimes strokes cause people to lose their musical ability, but they can still speak and understand speech. This shows that the brain processes music and language separately. By studying the physical effects of music on the body，scientists have also learned a lot about how music influences the emotions. But why does music have such a strong effect on us? That is a harder question to answer. Geoffrey Miller, a researcher at University College, London, thinks that music and love have a strong connection. Music requires special talent, practice, and physical ability. That’s why it may be a way of showing your fitness to be someone’s mate. For example, singing in tune or playing a musical instrument requires fine muscular control. You also need a good memory to remember the notes. And playing or singing those notes correctly suggests that your hearing is in excellent condition. Finally, when a man sings to the woman he loves (or vice versa)，it may be a way of showing off.

However, Miller’s theory still doesn’t explain why certain combinations of sounds influence our emotions so deeply. For scientists，this is clearly an area that needs further research.

第十篇爱尔兰海豚可能有独特语言

爱尔兰科学家们通过监测爱尔兰西南部河口一带海豚的生活，认为这些海豚可能使用了一种独特的语言互相沟通。

香农海豚与野生动物基金会一直在研究香农河内的一组多达 120只的瓶鼻海豚。该组织在香农河边的一个牛棚里用计算机收集海豚的声音。

作为一个研究项目的一部分，一名叫罗曼·希克基的学生通过电脑对 1882只爱尔兰海豚和威尔

士海豚的鸣叫进行了数字化分析，然后将鸣叫划分为 6大类 32种。他发现大部分鸣叫是两种海豚共同发出的，但有 8种叫声只有爱尔兰海豚能够发出。

“我们正在为海豚不同类型的鸣叫建立一个目

录，并尝试把叫声和它们的行为联系起来，比如觅食、休息、社交及集体与犊牛进行的交流。”项目负责人西蒙·拜朗说，“实际上我们正在为它们的词汇和声音编一本字典。”

拜朗是一名海洋生物学家，他说海豚发出的咔嗒声是用来探路和寻找猎物的，那些叫声是它们的交流方式。“它们发出一整套的声音，有的像狗叫，有的像叹息，有的像枪响，”他说，“枪响是一种尖锐的脉搏声。抹香鲸用它来击昏他们的猎物。”

“当我第一次听到这种声音的时候感到很惊讶，因为我一在以为抹香鲸是唯一一种会发出这种声音的动物。我们可以推测海豚发出这种声音的原因和抹香鲸是一样的。”拜朗说。

当地的传说表明，海豚在香农河口已经繁衍了好几代，而且甚至可能早在 6世纪就已经居住在此地。

香农渡轮定期运载游客来看这些海豚，每年约有2.5万游客为了观看海豚乘当地渔船到这里进行

特别的观光游览。

第三部分、概括大意与完成句子 How We Form First Impression

1 We all have first impression of someone we just met. But why? Why do we form an opinion about someone without really knowing anything about him or her — aside perhaps from a few remarks or readily observable traits.

2 The answer is related to how your brain allows you to be aware of the world. Your brain is so sensitive in picking up facial traits, even very minor difference in how a person’s eyes, ears, nose, or mouth are placed in relation to each other makes you see him or her as different1. In fact, your brain continuously processes incoming sensory information — the sights and sounds of your world. These incoming “signals”are compared against2 a host of “memories”stored in the brain areas called the cortex system to determine what these new signals “mean.”

3 If you see someone you know and like at school3, your brain says “familiar and safe.” If you see someone new, it says, “new —potentially threatening.”Then your brain starts to match features of this stranger with other “known” memories. The height, weight, dress, ethnicity, gestures, and tone of voice are all matched up. The more unfamiliar the characteristics, the more your brain may say. “This is new. I don’t like this person.” Or else, “I’m intrigued.”Or your brain may perceive a new face but familiar clothes, ethnicity, gestures —like your other friends; so your brain says: “I like this person.” But these preliminary “impressions” can be dead wrong4.

4 When we stereotype people, we use a less mature form of thinking (not unlike the immature thinking of a very young child) that makes simplistic and categorical impressions of others. Rather than learn about the depth and breadth of people —their history, interest, values, strengths, and true character — we categorize them as jocks , geeks , or freaks.

5 However, if we resist initial stereotypical impressions, we have a chance to be aware of what a person is truly like. If we spend time with a person, hear about his or her life, hopes, dreams, and become aware of the person’s character, we use a different, more mature style of thinking —and the most complex areas of our cortex, which allow us to be humane.

对别人的第一印象是怎样形成的

对刚刚遇到的人我们都会留下第一印象，为什么？为什么我们会对一无所知的人形成自己的印象——除去一些描述或显而易见的特征？

这与你的大脑如何感知世界是息息相关的。大脑对面部特征十分敏感，即使是每个人在眼睛、耳朵或嘴部的细小差异也会使大脑察觉到其不同之处。实际上，大脑一直在不断地对接收到的感官信息进行处理——包括影像和声音。大脑将这些“信号”与储存在脑皮层系统的大量“记忆”相比较以便确定这些新收到的信号的“意思”。

如果你在学校看到某个你认识而且喜欢的人，你的大脑会做出“熟悉安全”的判断；如果你看见了一个陌生的人，你的大脑会告诉你“陌生，有潜在的威胁”，紧接着你的大脑会开始将这个陌生人的特征与“已知”的记忆进行比较，包指身高、体重、穿着、种族、手势以及音调等等。特征越不相符，大脑越会告诫你，“这是陌生人，我不喜欢这个人”，或“我很好奇”。大脑也可能观察到一张新面孔，但却有着熟悉的穿着、种族特征和手势——像你的朋友，这时大脑会告诉你“我喜欢这个人”。但这些第一印象却可能是完全错误的。

当区分人时，我们使用一种欠成熟的思维方式（与小孩子不成熟的想法一样）去对别人做出简单并且范畴化的判断。（这佯的后果是）我们将人区分为骗子、反常的人或怪人，而不是对人的深度和广度，即历史、兴趣、价值、力量或真正的性格有所了解。

但是，如果对模式化的第一印象加以抑制，我们就会有机会对一个人有真正的了解。如果我们花一些时间与一个人在一起，倾听他或她的生活、希望和梦想，了解了这个人的性格，我们才会用一种不同的、更成熟的方式去思考——即用脑皮层中昀复杂的区域进行思考，而这会使我们更富有人情味。

第七篇 Screen Test

1 Every year millions of women are screened with X-rays to pick up signs of breast cancer. If this happens early eough, the disease can often be treated successfully. According to a survey published last year, 21 countries have screening programmes. Nine of them, including Australia, Canada, the US and Spain, screen women under 50.

2 But the medical benefit of screening these younger women are controversial, partly because the radiation brings a small risk of inducing cancer. Also, younger women must be given higher doses of X-rays because their breast tissue is denser.

3 Researchers at the Polytechnic University1 of Valencia analysed the effect of screening more than 160,000 women at 11 local clinics. After estimating the women’s cumulative dose of radiation, they used two models to calculate the number of extra cancers this would cause.

4 The mathematical model recommended by Britain’s National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) predicted that the screening programme would cause 36 cancers per 100,000 women, 18 of them fatal. The model preferred by the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation led, to a lower figure of 20 cancers.

5 The researchers argue that the level of radiation-induced cancers is “not very significant”compared to the far larger number of cancers that are discovered and treated. The Valencia programme, they say, detects between 300 and 450 cases of breast cancer in every 100,000 women screened.

6 But they point out that the risk of women contracting cancer from radiation could be reduced by between 40 and 80 percent if screening began at 50 instead of 45, because they would be exposed to less radiation. The results of their study, they suggest, could help “optimise the technique” for breast cancer screening.

7 “There is a trade-off between the diagnostic benefits of breast screening and its risks.” admits Michael Clark of the NRPB. But he warns that the study should be interpreted with caution. “On the basis of the current data, for every 10 cancers successfully detected and prevented there is a risk of causing one later in life. That’s why radiation exposure should be minimised in any screening programme.”词汇：polytechnic /7pCli5teknik/adj.多工艺的contract /5kCntrAkt/v.感染cumulative /5kju:mjulEtiv/adj.递增的optimise /5Cptimaiz/v.昀大程度地完善radiological /9reIdIEJ`lCdVIkEl/adj.放射性的 trade-off n.平衡注释：

1. Polytechnic University:理工大学

第七篇透视检查

每年上百万的女人都做 X射线透视，检查是否有乳腺癌迹象。如果检查得足够早，疾病就可以被成功地治疗。根据去年公布的一项调查， 21个国家有透视计划。其中 9个国家，包括澳大利亚、加拿大、美国和西班牙为 50岁以下女性进行透视 .

但是用 X射线检查年轻女人，就医学上的好处而论，是有争议的，部分原因是辐射有诱发癌症的小小的危险。另外，年轻女人乳房组织紧密，给予的 X射线的剂量要多一些。

Valencia理工大学的研究人员分析了 11个社区诊所用 X射线检查 16万以上女人的结果。估测了女性的辐射累积剂量之后，他们用两种模型计算这可能导致的额外的癌症数量。

英国国家辐射保护委员会推荐的数学模型预言 X 射线计划会导致每 10万个女人中的 36个患上癌症， 18人致死。联合国原子辐射影响科学委员会首选的模型得出了一个较低的数字—— 20人患癌症。

研究人员争辩说，与发现后接受治疗的癌症数字相比，由辐射诱发癌症的数字是很小的。他们说，Valencia项目在每 10万位接受远视的妇女中发现 300～150个乳腺癌病例。

但是他们指出如果 X射线检查在 50岁耐不是 45岁时开始，会使妇女由于辐射而患癌症的危险减少 40%～ 80%，因为她们可以接受更少的辐射。他们暗示说他们研究的结果有助于使乳腺癌透视的技术更加乐观。

英国国家辐射保护委员会的 Michael Clark承认，“在胸透的诊断益处和危险之间有一个平衡”。但是他警告说，应该谨慎地解释此项研究。“基于目前的数据，每成功地发现 10例癌症就有可能导致今后出现一例癌症。这就是在所有的透视计划中，接受辐射应该减少到昀小的原因。”

第八篇 The Mir Space Station

1 The Russian Mir Space Station, which came

down in 2001 at last after 15 years of pioneering the concept of long-term human space flight, is remembered for its accomplishments in the human space flight history. It can be credited with many firsts in space.

2 During Mir’s lifetime, Russia spent about US $4.2 billion to build and maintain the station.

3 The Soviet Union launched Mir, which was designed to last from three to five years, on February 20, 1986, and housed 10

4 astronauts over 12 years and seven months, most of whom were not Russian. In fact, it became the first international space station by playing host to1 62 people from 11 countries. From 199

5 through 1998, seven astronauts from the United States took turns living on Mir for up to six months each2. They were among the 37 Americans who visited the station during nine stopovers by space shuttles.

4 The more than 400 million the United States provided Russian for the visits not only kept Mir operating, but also gave the Americans and their partners in the international station project valuable experience in long-term flight and multinational operations.

5 A debate continues over Mir’s contributions to science. During its existence, Mir was the laboratory for 23,000 experiments and earned scientific equipment, estimated to be worth $80 million, from many nations.3 Experiments on Mir arc credited with a range of findings, from the first solid measurement of the ration of heavy helium atoms in space to how to grow wheat in space. But for those favouring human space exploration, Mir showed that people could live and work in space long enough for a trip to Mars. The longest single stay in space is the 437.7 days that Russian astronaut Valery Polyakov spent on Mir from 1994 to 1995. And Sergie Avdeyev accumulated

747.6 days in space in three trips to the space station. The longest American stay was that of Shannon Lucid4, who spent 188 days aboard Mir in 1996.

6 Despite the many firsts Mir accomplished, 199

7 was a bad year out of 15 for Mir, In 1997, an oxygen generator caught fire. Later, the main computer system broke down, causing the station to drift several times and there were power failures.

7 Most of these problems were repaired, with American help and suppliers, but Mir’s reputation as a space station was ruined.

8 Mir’s setbacks arc nothing, though5, when we compare them with its accomplishments. Mir was a tremendous success, which will be remembered as a milestone in space exploration and the space station that showed long-term human habitation in space was possible. But it’s time to move on to the next generation. The International Space Station being built will be better, but it owes a great debt to Mir.词汇: pioneer /7paiE5niE/n.开拓 helium /5hi:ljEm/n.氦 accomplishment /E5kCmpliFmEnt/n.成就 aboard /E5bC:d/prep.在(船、飞机、车 )上 credit /5kredit/v.归功于 setback /5setbAk/n. 挫折 host /hEust/n.主人milestone /5mailstEun/n.里程碑stopover /5stRpEJvE(r) /n.中途短暂停留habitation /7hAbi5teiFEn/n.居住multinational /mQltI5nAFEn(E)l/adj.多国的debt /det/n.债ration /5rAFEn/n.含量

14

第八篇和平号空间站

在人类长期空间飞行方面领先了 15年的俄国和平号空间站在 2001年回归。它因其在人类空间飞行史上的成就而被人们记住。它在太空领域占有很多第一次。

在和平号使用期间俄国花了大约 42亿美元建造和维护空间站。

1986年 2月 20日苏联发射了被设计能使用 3～5年的和平号。它在 12年零 7个月里负载了 104位宇航员，他们大部分都不是俄国人。事实上，它作为来自 11个国家 62个宇航员的东道主成为第一个国际空间站。从 1995年到 1998年，来自美国的 7位宇航员轮流在和平号上各住了 6个月之久。他们是在宇宙飞船中途停留时来参观过的 37位美国人中的几个。

美国为参观而支付的 4亿多美元不仅使和平号继续工作而且给在国际空间站项目中的美国人和他们的搭档们提供了宝贵的长期飞行和多国合作方面的经验。

关于和平号空间站对科学的贡献方面的争论不断。在和平号存在的时间里，它是 23000个实验的实验室，并且携带了许多国家提供的价值约八千万美元的科学仪器。一系列的发现要归功于和平号上的实验，从第一次在太空有效地测量重氦原子的量到怎样在太空种小麦。对那些对人类的太空探索有兴趣的人来说，和平号告诉人们人可以在太空工作和生活的时间足够到达火星。在太空中一次停留昀长的时间是俄国宇航员瓦雷利·波里亚科夫从 1994年到 1995年在和平号上停留的 437. 7天。吉·阿维德耶夫三次到太空站共计停留了 747.6天。美国人在空间站停留昀长的一次是珊农·露西的那一次，她 1996年在和平号上停留了 188天。

尽管和平号完成了很多第一次，但 1997年是它15年中的一个坏年头。 1997年一个氧气发生器着火了。

后来主计算机崩溃导致太空始几次失控。除此之外还有一些动力失败事故。这些问题中的大部分都在美国的帮助和支持下被解决了，但是和平号作为太空站名声扫地。但是，和它的成就相比和平号这些挫折算不了什么。和平号是一个巨大的成功，它将作为太空探索中的里

程碑和显示人类有可能在太空长期生活的太空站而被记住。但是到了开始下一代的时候了。正在建造的太空站将更好，但这要归功于和平号。第九篇需要进行更多的农业研究

如果世界人民想比现在吃得更好，农业研究资金的投入至关重要。农业科学家托尼·费舍说过需求每年增长 2.5% ，但由于有了现代技术和新技术的开发，世界应该能够不断前进。他说：“要想在减少营养不良和贫困方面取得巨大的进步，就必须扭转全球对国际农业研究投入下滑的趋势。”

解决粮食生产、土地贫瘠化和环境污染问题，必须进行研究。稳定的当地粮食供应可以促进经济地长，放慢人口地长速度。费舍博士描绘说，世界有能力在人口由 58亿增加到 80亿的头 25年

实现粮食供应充足。情况很可能保持现状或有所改善，但仍会有大批人口处于饥饿当中。 2020年贫穷和饥饿人口昀大集中地为撒哈拉以南的非洲部分和南亚，这与目前情况类似。如果有什么变化的话，也只是在南亚有稍微的改善，而不是在撒哈拉以南的非洲。主要改善地区将是东亚、南美和东南亚。

发展中国家每年将农业国内生产总值的大约

0.5%（80亿美元）用于研究，发达国家则用 2.5%的国内生产总值进行研究。费舍博士说所有国家都需要更多的资金。他说粮食研究会开发出新技术，这些新技术又会传播到许多国家，例如小麦生产研究的成果已经在墨西哥、

中国或印度得到应用。他说：“技术仍需因地制宜进行改进，但许多战略性研究可以在全球应用，所以可以非常有效地利用财力。”在过去 30年中，大米、小麦和玉米的产能大幅度地增长，尤其是在发展中国家，例如， 1950年到 1995 年，玉米产量由每公顷 2吨均加到每公顷 8吨。但是，推动高产的技术，比如高产新品种、化肥以及灌溉，正在消耗殆尽。费舍博士说：“如果你想腾出土地做非农业用途，保护森林和野生动物，就必须提高单位面积产量。”

第九篇 More Rural Research Is Needed

1 Agricultural research funding is vital if the world is to feed itself better than it does now. Dr. Tony Fischer, crop scientist, said demand was growing at 2.5% per year, but with modern technologies and the development of new ones, the world should be able to stay ahead1.

2 “The global decline in investment in international agricultural research must be reversed if significant progress is to be made towards reducing malnutrition and poverty,” he said.

3 Research is needed to solve food production, land degradation2 and environmental problems. Secure local food supplies3 led to economic growth which, in turn, slowed population growth. Dr. Fischer painted a picture of the world’s ability to feed itself in the first 25 years, when the world’s population is expected to rise from 5.8 to 8 billion people. He said that things will probably hold or improve

4 but there’ll still be a lot of hungry people. The biggest concentration of poor and hungry people would be in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia in 2020, similar to the current pattern. If there is any change, a slight improvement will be seen in southern Asia, but not in sub-Saharan Africa. The major improvement will be in east Asia, South America and South-East Asia.

4 The developing world was investing about 0.5%, or $8 billion a year, of its agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) on

5 research, and the developed world was spending 2.5% of its GDP. Dr. Fischer said more was needed from all countries.

5 He said crop research could produce technologies that spread across many countries, such as wheat production research having spin-offs for Mexico, China or India6.

6 “Technologies still need to be refined for the local conditions but a lot of the strategic research can have global application, so that money can be used very efficiently,” Dr. Fischer said.

7 Yields of rice, wheat and maize have grown impressively in the past 30 years, especially in developing countries. For example, maize production rose from 2-8 tonnes per hectare between 1950 and 1995. But technologies driving this growth, such as high-yield varieties, fertilizers, and irrigation, were becoming exhausted. “If you want to save the land for non-agricultural activities, for forests and wildlife, you’re going to have to increase yield,” Dr. Fischer said.

差翻译

第十篇Washoe Learned American Sign Language

1 An animal that influenced scientific thought has died. A chimpanzee named Washoe and born in Africa died

of natural causes late last month at the age of 42 at a research center in the American state of Washington. Washoe had become known in the scientific community１ and around the world for her ability to use American Sign Language2. She was said to be the first non-human to learn a human language. Her skills also led to debate3 about primates and their ability to understand language.

2 Research scientists Allen and Beatrix Gardner began teaching Washoe sign language in 1966. In 1969, the Gardners7 described Washoe’s progress in a scientific report. The people who experimented with Washoe said she grew to understand4 about 250 words. For example, Washoe made signs to communicate when it was time to eat. She could request foods like apples and bananas. She also asked questions like, “Who is coming to play?”Once5 the news about Washoe spread, many language scientists began studies of their own6 into this new and exciting area of research. The whole direction of primate research changed.

3 However, critics argued Washoe only learned to repeat sign language movements from watching her teachers. They said she had never developed true language skills. Even now, there are some researchers who suggest that primates learn sign language only by memory, and perform the signs only for prizes. Yet Washoe’s keepers disagree. Roger Fouts is a former student of the Gardners7. He took Washoe to a research center in Ellensburg, Washington. There, Washoe taught sign language to three younger chimpanzees, which are still alive.

4 Scientists like private researcher Jane Goodall believes Washoe provided new information about the mental workings of chimpanzees8. Today, there are not as many scientists studying language skills with chimps. Part of the reason is that this kind of research takes a very long time.

5 Debate continues about chimps’understanding of human communication. Yet, one thing is sure — Washoe

changed popular ideas about the possibilities of animal intelligence.

词汇：

chimpanzee /5tFimpEn5zi:/ n．黑猩猩 workings /5wE:kiN/ n．活动，运行critic /5kritik/ n．评论家，批评家 primate /5praimit/ n．灵长类动物

community /kE5mju:niti/ n．社区，圈子 chimp n．= chimpanzee

第十篇 Washoe学会了美国手语

一个影响科学思维的动物已经死亡了。一个出生在非洲名为 Washoe的黑猩猩上个月底在美国华盛顿州的一个研究中心，自然死亡， 42岁的高龄。Washoe在科学界和世界各地众所周知，她能够使用美国手语。她是第一个了解人类语言的非人类。她的技能也导致有关灵长类动物和他们所能理解的语言的争议。

科学家 Allen和 Beatrix Gardner于 1966年开始教 Washoe手语。1969年，Gardner在科学的报告中描述了 Washoe的进步。对 Washoe做实验的人说 Washoe逐渐掌握了约 250个单词。例如，Washoe能用手语表达“该吃饭了!”。她能要苹果和香蕉这样的食品。她也问诸如“谁要来玩 ?”之类的问题。 Washoe能用手语的消息一散开，许多语言学家开始在他们自己这一令人振奋的新研究领域展开研究。灵长类动物的整个研究方向改变了。

然而，批评者认为 Washoe只学会了看她的教师的手语重复动作。他们说 Washoe从来没有发展真正的语言技能。即使是现在，也有一些研究表明灵长类学习手语只是机械重复、死记硬背、物质刺激的结果。可是 Washoe的饲养员不同意这种说法。 Roger Fouts以前是 Gardner夫妇的学生。Roger Fouts把 Washoe带到了华盛顿埃伦斯堡的一个研究中心。在这里， Washoe教三个年轻的黑猩猩手语，这三个黑猩猩依然活着。

像 Jane Goodall这样的独立的科学家认为Washoe为黑猩猩心理活动的研究提供了新信息。今天，没有那么多科学家研究黑猩猩的语言技能。部分原因在于这类研究需要花费很长的时间。对黑猩猩懂得人类交流方式与否的辩论仍在继续。然而，有一件事却是肯定的—— Washoe改变了有关动

物智能可能性的普遍观点。

第四部分、阅读理解

第十七篇 A Sunshade for the Planet

Even with the best will

1

in the world, reducing our carbon emissions is not going prevent global warming. It has become clear that even if we take the most strong measures to control emissions, the uncertainties in our climate models still leave open the possibility of extreme warming and rises in sea level. At the same time, resistance by governments and special interest groups makes it quite possible that the actions suggested by

climate scientists might not be implemented soon enough.

Fortunately, if the worst comes to the worse 2 ,

scientists still have a few tricks up their

sleeves 3

. For the most part they have strongly

resisted discussing these options for fear of inviting a sense of complacency that might thwart efforts to tackle the root of the problem. Until now, that is. A growing number of researchers are taking a fresh look at large-scale “geoengineering” projects that might be used to counteract global warming.

“I use the analogy of methadone 4

,” says

Stephen Schneider, a climate researcher at Stanford University in California who was among the first to draw attention to global warming. “If you have a heroin addict, the correct treatment is hospitalization, and a long rehab. But if they absolutely refuse, methadone is better than heroin.

Basically the idea is to apply “sunscreen”to the whole planet. One astronomer has come up with a radical plan to cool Earth: launch trillions of feather-light discs into space, where they would form a vast cloud that would block the sun’s rays. It’s controversial, but recent studies suggest there are ways to deflect just enough of the sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface to counteract the warming produced by the greenhouse effect. Global climate models show that blocking just 1. 8 per cent of the incident energy in the sun’s rays would cancel out the warming effects produced by a doubling of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That could be crucial, because even the most severe

emissions-control measures being proposed would leave us with a doubling of carbon dioxide by the end of this century, and that would last for at least a century more.

词汇: emission /i5miFEn/v.发射，发射物heroin / 5herEuin /n.海洛因complacency /kEm5pleIsEnsI/n.满足hospitalization/7hCspitElai5zeiFEn /n.住院治疗thwart /WwC:t/v.反对，阻绕rehab /`ri:hAb /n.接受康复治病geoengineering /7endVi5niEriN/n.地质工程astronomer / E5strRnEmE/n.天文学家 trillion /5triljEn/n. (英、德)百万兆(1018); (美、法)万亿，counteract / 7kauntE5rAkt/v.抵消；抵制兆( 1012 ) analogy / E5nAlEdVi/n.类似；模拟controversial /7kCntrE5vE:FEl /adj.有争议的methadone /meWB:daun/n.美沙酮，美散痛deflect /deflect /v. (使)偏转注释: 第十七篇地球防晒霜

就算怀着昀美好的愿望，仅仅减少二氧化碳的排放量还是不能制止全球变暖。很明显，即便采取昀强硬的措施来控制排放，气候的变化无常仍能导致极速变暖和海平面上升。另一方面，受到政府和特殊利益群体的阻挠，气候学家往往不能将措施很快实施彻底。

幸好，如果被逼上绝路，科学家们还有昀后几招。在大多数情况下，他们拒绝讨论这些措施，害怕人们会因此沾沾自喜而使这个问题不能被彻底解决。至少目前是这样。越来越多的研究者相信一项大型的地质工程建设可用来抵御全球变暖。斯坦福大学的一位气象学家 Stephen Schneider是很早提出气候变暖这项议题的学者之一。他说，“我把它比作美沙酮。如果你那里有一个海洛因上瘾者，那么正确的治疗方法就是住院，接受长时间的康复治疗。拒绝正常住院治疗，那服用美沙酮是一种缓解海洛因毒瘾的有效方法。”

总体思路是给地球也涂上防晒箱。一个天文学家

突发奇想，想借此冷却地球：发射亿万轻如羽毛

的碟片进入太空形成巨大“云层”以阻碍太阳光。这个想法备受争议，但昀近的研究表明，有一些

方法可以控制到这地球表面的阳光以抵消温室效

应产生的气候变暖。全球气候模型表明，阻断百

分之一点八的太阳能刚好可以抵消大气中双倍的

温室气体所引起的气候变暖现象。这个想法影响

深远，因为即使采取昀严格的控制气体排放措施，到本世纪末，二氧化碳量仍会翻倍。并且，这种

情况将再持续至少一个世纪。

第十八篇 Thirst for Oil

Worldwide every day, we devour the energy equivalent of about 200 million barrels of oil. Most of the energy on Earth comes from the Sun. In fact enough energy from the Sun hits the planet’s surface each minute to cover our needs for an entire year, we just need to find an efficient way to use it. So far the energy in oil has been cheaper and easier to get at. But as supplies dwindle, this will change, and we will need to cure our addiction to oil.

Burning wood satisfied most energy needs until the steam-driven industrial revolution, when energy-dense coal became the fuel of choice. Coal is still used, mostly in power stations, to cover one quarter of our energy needs, but its use has been declining since we started pumping up oil. Coal is the least efficient, unhealthiest and most environmentally damaging fossil fuel, but could make a comeback, as supplies are still plentiful: its reserves are five times larger than oil’s.

Today petroleum, a mineral oil obtained from below the surface of the Earth and used to produce petrol, diesel oil and various other chemical substances, provides around 40% of the world’s energy needs, mostly fuelling automobiles. The US consumes n quarter of all oil, and generates a similar proportion of greenhouse gas emissions.

The majority of oil comes from the Middle East, which has half of known reserves. But other significant sources include Russia, North America, Norway, Venezuela and the North Sea.

Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

1 could be a major new US source, to reduce reliance on foreign imports.

Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years, though opinions and estimates vary. We could fast reach an energy crisis in the next few decades, when demand exceeds supply. As conventional reserves become more difficult to access, others such as oil shales and tar sands may be used instead. Petrol could also be obtained from coal.

Since we started using fossil fuels, we have

released 400 billion tonnes 2

of carbon, and

burning the entire reserves could eventually raise world temperatures by 130 C. Among other horrors, this would result in the destruction of all rainforests and the melting of all Arctic ice. 词汇: devour /di5vauE/v.吞没，耗尽accessible /Ek5sesEbl/adj.可使用的，可得到的dense /dens/adj.密集的rainforest /5rein5fCrist/n. (热带)雨林 pump /pQmp/v.用泵抽吸 reliance /ri5laiEns/n.依赖，依靠petroleum /pi5trEuliEm/n.石油，原油oil shale油页岩dwindle /5dwindl/v.减少 tar sand沥青砂diesel oil柴油destruction /dis5trQkFEn/n.破坏.毁灭注释:

第十八篇石油匮乏

全世界每天都要消耗相当于 2亿桶石油的能源。地球上的大部分能源来自于太阳。事实上，每分钟到达地球表层的来自于太阳的能源就足已满足我们一整年的需求，我们只是需要有效地加以利用而已。到目前为止，石油一直是一种较便宜、易获得的能源。但当供应缩减时，情况就会改变，我们就不能像现在这样不加节制地消耗石油了。在蒸汽工业革命时代，高能煤成为首选燃料之前，燃木能满足大部分能源需求。现在，煤仍然大量地运用于发电站，满足我们四分之一的能源需求。但自从我们开始大量开采石油后，煤的使用就已经在逐渐衰退。煤是使用效率昀低、昀不健康、昀不环保的化石燃料，但因其供应充足—煤的储量是石油的 6倍，煤的使用昀又有所回升。

今天，石油作为一种从地表层挖掘出，用于生产汽油、柴油和其他各种化学物质的矿物油，供应着大约 40%的世界能源需求，其中大部分用于供给机动车辆。叛国消耗着世界四分之一的石油，同时排放出大约全球 1/4的温室气体。

大部分的石油来自中东，中东拥有 50%的世界已勘探石油储存量。其他的石油产地包括俄罗斯、北美、挪威、委内瑞拉和北海。阿拉斯加北极国家野生动物保护区昀新成为美国能源的又一主要供应地，减少了美国对国外进口石油的依赖。

尽管意见和评价各有不同，但大多数专家预测人类将在 50年之内轻而易举地耗尽现有的所有储

备石油。未来的几十年，当供不应求时我们会很快陷入能源危机。当常规能源不容易获得时，代之使用的可能是诸如油页岩和沥青砂等能源。石油也可从煤中提炼获得。

自从我们开始使用化石燃料，我们已经释放出 4000亿吨碳。当化石燃料全部用完时，世界温度将上升 13摄氏度。更恐怖的是，这将会导致所有热带雨林的破坏和北极冰的溶解。

第十九篇 Musical Robot Companion Enhances Listener Experience

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. The smartphone-enabled,

one-foot-tall robot is billed as an interactive “musical

friend”.

“Shimi is designed to change the way that people enjoy and think about their music，”said

Professor Gil Weinberg, the robot’s creator. He will unveil the robot at the June 27th Google I/O conference in San Francisco. A band of three Shimi robots will perform for guests, dancing in sync with music created in the lab and composed according to its movements.

Shimi is essentially a docking station with a “brain” powered by an Android phone. Once docked, the robot gains the sensing and musical generation capabilities of the user’s mobile

device. In other words, if there’s an “app”for that, Shimi is ready. For instance, by using

the phone’s camera and face-detecting software，Shimi can follow a listener around the

room and position its “ears”，or speakers, for optimal sound. Another recognition feature is

based on rhythm and tempo. If the user taps a beat, Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone’

s

musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestion. Once the

music starts，Shimi dances to the rhythm. “Many people think that robots are limited by their programming instructions, said Music

Technology Ph. D. candidate Mason Bretan. “Shimi shows us that robots can be creative and interactive. ’’Future apps in the works will allow the user to shake their head in disagreement or wave a hand in the air to alert Shimi to skip to the next song or increase/decrease the volume. The robot will also have the capability to recommend new music based on the user’s song choices and provide feedback on the music play list. Weinberg hopes other developers will be inspired to create more apps to expand Shimi’s

creative and interactive capabilities. “I believe that our center is ahead of a revolution that

will see more robots in homes.” Weinberg said.

Weinberg is in the process of commercializing Shimi through an exclusive licensing agreement with Georgia Tech. Weinberg hopes to make the robot available to consumers by the 2013 holiday season. “If robots are going to arrive in homes, we think that they will be

this kind of machines 一 small, entertaining and fun，，， Weinberg said. “They will enhance your life and pave the way for more intelligent service robots in our lives.”

第十九篇音乐机器人伴侣提升音乐欣赏体验Shimi 是由佐治亚理工大学音乐技术中心研发的一款音乐伴侣。它可以根据听者的反

馈推荐合乎节拍的歌曲、舞蹈；并且不断播放音乐。这款髙 1 英尺的机器人是由智能

手机系统支持的，因此被标榜为“一个可以互动的音乐朋友”。

Gil Weinberg 教授是该机器人的发明者，他解释说：“Shimi 设计的宗旨是改变人们欣

赏音乐、认识音乐的方式。”他将在今年 6 月 27 日在旧金山的谷歌 I/O 大会上展示这

款机器人。一个由三个机器人组成的乐队将为来宾演奏，并伴随音乐起舞。而音乐是

根据不同的运动形式编制的。

Shimi 实际上是一个扩充基座，它的“大脑”由安卓手机控制。一旦连接上，机器人便

从用户的移动装置获得传感和音乐生成能力。换言之，只要有应用程序，机器人便能

使用。例如，通过手机的照相机和辨认脸型的软件，Shimi 就能在房间周围跟踪到听

众，然后安置好它的“耳朵”或扬声器，以确保输送最佳声音。另外一种识别特征是基

于节奏和速度。如果用户打出某个（音乐）拍子，Shimi 会对此进行分析，然后浏览

手机的音乐库，并立即演奏最符合要求的音乐。一旦音乐响起来，Shimi 就随韵律起

舞。

“许多人认为机器人受到程序指令的限制，而Shiini 给我们展示了机器人可以具有创

造力和与人交互的能力。”音乐技术博士研究生Mason Bretan 如是说。正在研发中的

程序将使用户能沟通过摇头或摆手表示不同意，来提醒 Shimi 跳到下一首歌或增减音

量。机器人还可根据用户对歌曲的选择推荐新音乐，并对音乐播放列表提供反馈。

Weinberg 希望其他研发者会因此获得灵感，开发更多的应用程序，来扩展 Shimi 的创

新和交互功能。他说：“我认为我们中心正在引领这场将更多机器人应用到家庭中去

的变革。”

Weinberg 正在通过获得佐治亚理工学院的独家

授权来对 Shimi 进行商业推广。

Weinberg 希望到 2013 年的节日季消费者可购

买到 Shimi。Weinberg 说：“如果机器人

进入家庭，我们认为就应该是这种类型的机器人：小巧、令人愉快和有趣，它们能提

高我们的生活质量，为更多智能服务型机器人进人我们的生活做好准备。

第二十篇 Explorer of the Extreme Deep

Oceans cover more than two-thirds of our planet. Yet, just a small fraction of the underwater world has been explored. Now,

Scientists at the Woods Hole

1

Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts are building an underwater vehicle that will carry explorers as deep as 6,500 meters (21,320 feet). The new machine, known as a manned submersible or human-operated vehicle (HOV), will replace another one named Alvin

2

, which has an amazing record of discovery, playing a key role in various important and famous undersea expeditions. Alvin has been operating for 40 years but can go down only 4,500 meters (14,784 feet). It’s about time for an upgrade, WHOI researchers say. Alvin was launched in 1964. Since then, Alvin has worked between 200 and 250 days a year, says Daniel Fornari, a marine geologist and director of the Deep Ocean Exploration

Institute at WHOI. During its lifetime, Alvin has carried some 12,000 people on a total of more than 3,000 dives. A newer, better versions of Alvin is bound to reveal even more surprises about a world that is still full of mysteries, Fornari says. It might also make the job of exploration a little easier. “We take so much for granted on land,” Fornari says. “We can walk around and see with our eyes how big things are. We can see colors, special arrangements.”

Size-wise, the new HOV will be similar to Alvin. It’ll be about 37 feet long. The setting area inside will be a small sphere, about 8 feet wide, like Alvin, it’ll carry a pilot and two passengers. It will be just as maneuverable. In most other ways, it will give passengers more opportunities to enjoy the view, for one thing. Alvi has only three windows, the new vehicle will have five, with more overlap so that the passengers and the pilot can see the same thing.

Alvin can go up and down at a rate of 30 meters every second, and its maximum speed is 2 knots (about 2.3 miles per hour), while the new vehicle will be able to ascend and descend at 44 meters per second. It’ll reach speeds of 3 knots, or 3.5 miles per hour.

第二十篇深海探索器

海洋覆盖了我们地球三分之二的面积，但被开发的地下水却只有很小一部分。目前，马萨诸塞木洞海洋研究所的科学家们正在开发一种能载探索家们深入水下 6500米（21320英尺）的水下交通工具，作为一种载人潜艇或人工操作工具，这种新的机器将替代世界上第一个深海潜水器

Alvin。Alvin潜水器已经保持了惊人的纪录，在各种重要的深海考察中发挥着重要作用。Alvin 潜水器已经运行了 40年，但它只能深入水下4500米（14784英尺）。木洞海洋协会的研究家们说，潜水工具该升级了。

Alvin潜水器下水始于 1964年。海洋地质学家兼木洞海洋学研究所深海探索协会主任 Daniel Fornari说，自 1964年后，Alvin潜水器每年运行 200～250天。在整个航程中，它载 12000人进行过 3000多次潜水。

Fornari说，新式的Alvin潜水器必将揭示这个依旧充满神秘的水下世界的许多奇妙之处。它也可能会使水下探索更容易些。 Fornari说：“我们在陆上把许多东西想当然，我们会四处行走，用我们的双眼看周围的东西的大小。我们会看到各种颜色，各种特殊的排列。”

这种新的人工操作机器与Alvin潜水器很相似，大小适中。长约 37英尺，里面环境将是个小球体，约 8英尺宽。和Alvin一样，它将载一名宇航员和两名乘客，可调动。其他方面，它将使乘客有更多机会欣赏风景，因为旧式Alvin潜水器只有

三个窗户，新式的将有五个窗户，其中有很多折叠，乘客和宇航员可以看见相同的事物。

旧式Alvin潜水器可以每秒上下 30米，昀快时速是 2节(约 2.3英里/小时)；而新式潜水器将能每秒上下 44米，它昀快时速将达到 3节（3.5英里/小时）。

第二十一篇 Plant Gas

Scientists have been studying natural sources of methane for decades hut hadn’t regarded plants as a producer, notes Frank Keppler, a geochemist at the Max Planck Institute for

Nuclear Physics in Heldelberg, Germany

1

. Now Keppler and his colleagues find that plants, from grasses to trees, may also be sources of the greenhouse gas. This is really surprising, because most scientists assumed that methane production requires an oxygen-free environment.

Previously, researchers had thought that it was impossible for plants to make significant amounts of the gas. They had assumed that microbes

2

need to be in environments without oxygen to produce methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas, like carbon dioxide. Gases such as methane and carbon dioxide trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to global warming.

In its experiments, Keppler’s team used sealed chambers that contained the same concentration of oxygen that Earth’s atmosphere has. They measured the amounts of methane that were released by both living plants and dried plant material, such as fallen leaves.

With the dried plants, the researchers took measurement at temperatures ranging from 30 degrees Celsius to 70 degrees C. At 30 degrees C, they found, a gram of dried plant material released up to 3 nanograms of methane per hour. (One nanogram is a billionth of a gram.) With every 10-degree rise in temperature, the amount of methane released each hour roughly doubled.

Living plants growing at their normal temperatures released as much as 370 nanograms of methane per gram of plant tissue per hour. Methane emissions tripled when living and dead plant was exposed to sunlight. Because there was plenty of oxygen available, it’s unlikely that the types of bacteria that normally make methane were involved.

Experiments on plants that were grown in water rather than soil also resulted in methane emissions. That ’s another strong sign that the gas came from the plants and not soil microbes.

The new finding is an “interesting observation,” says Jennifer Y. King, a biogeochemist at the University of Minnesota

in St. Paul 3

. Because some types of soil microbes consume methane, they may prevent plant-produced methane from reaching the atmosphere. Field tests will be needed to assess the plant ’s influence, she notes. 第二十一篇植物，沼气的又一来源

德国马克思·将朗克核物理研究所地球化学家 Frank Kppler 提到，科学家已经研究沼气几十年，但一直没认为植物能产生沼气。现在 Keppler 和同事们发现从草到树的植物也可能是温室气体的来源。这的确是令人惊讶的，因为大多数科学家认为沼气是在缺氧环境中产生的。

以前，研究人员认为植物不可能产出大量的气体。他们认为微生物需要在无氧环境下生产沼气，沼气和二氧化碳一样，都是温室气体，它们在地球大气中吸收热量导致全球变暖。

在实验中， Keppler 一组使用内含与地球大气中同等密度氧的密闭室来测量从活植物和干植物如落叶中释放的沼气量。

研究人员测量干植物时温度在 30摄氏度到 70摄氏度。 30摄氏度时，他们发现一克干植物每小时释放 3微克沼气（ 1微克是 l 克的十亿分之一）。温度每上升 10度，每小时释放的沼气量约会增加一倍。

对于正常温度下生长的活植物，每一克植物组织每小时释放出 370微克的沼气，当活的或者死的植物暴露在阳光下时，沼气释放量会增加两倍。 由于有大量的氧气，正常生产沼气的细菌不可能加入。在对生长在水中而不是土壤中的植物进行实验时也发现有沼气释放。这也表明气体产生于植物而不是土壤微生物。

圣保罗明尼苏达州大学生物地球化学家

Jennifer Y. King 说，这些新发现是一项“有趣的观察记录”。因为一些土壤微生物消耗沼气，它们会阻止植物产生的沼气到达大气中。

Jennifer Y. King 指出，需要对土地进行测试以判定植物的影响。

第二十二篇 Snowflakes

You ’ve probably heard that no two snowflakes are alike. Of course, nobody has ever confirmed that statement by examining every one of the estimated one septillion snowflakes that drift to Earth each year. Still, Kenneth Libbrecht, a professor at the

California Institute of Technology, is confident that the statement is true.

Snowflakes aren ’t flaky, says Libbrecht. At their basic level, they ’re crystalline. The lattice of every snowflake is six-sided in shape. The simplest snow crystals are six-sided flat plates and six-sided columns. Such crystals are common in places where the air is extremely cold and dry. Snow crystals acquire their special beauty when their simple six-sided symmetry blossoms. Under the right conditions, each of the six corners of

a crystal sprouts 1

what is called an arm. In

a matter of 2

minutes, the arms can become highly ornate and give the crystal a star like appearance. Several factors in the environment affect the shape and growth rate of a snow crystal. One factor is humidity. Crystals grow faster and in more intricate shape as humidity increases. A second factor is air temperature. A snowflake is born when several molecules of water vapor in a cloud land on a speck of dust and freeze to form a simple crystal. As the

young crystal bops 3

around in the cloud, it passes through air pockets of varying temperatures. If the crystal passes through a pocket of air that is, say, -15 degrees Celsius, it will grow quickly and sprout six arms says Libbrecht. If the crystal is then

tossed into a warmer pocket, one about -100

C, the arms tips will stop growing quickly and form six-sided plates. If the crystal then

drifts into an even warmer pocket of about -50

C, its top and bottom will grow more quickly than its sides and become more column like in shape.

In the course of 4

its life span, a snow-crystal might flutter through many warmer and colder pockets, acquiring a complicated and unique growth history. Such a history will give rise

to 5

a snowflake that is unlike any other. Each arm on the snowflake will look exactly like every other one, but the crystal itself will be one of a kind.

Using his cooling tanks, Libbrecht has learned how to create snow crystals of different shapes - plates, columns, needles, etc. Libbrecht has even refined his techniques so that he can make crystals that look highly similar to one another. Still, he lacks the control to manufacture identical

twin snowflakes. A slight difference in humidity and temperature can upset the growth

profile 6

of a crystal.

第二十二篇雪花

你可能听说过没有两片雪花是完全相同的。当然，没有人曾经检查过每年飘落到地球上的数以万亿计的雪花来证实这一说法。然而，加州理工大学的 Kenneth Libbrecht教授仍相信这一说法的真实性。

Libbrecht说，雪花并不是片状的。它们在基础阶段是结晶状的。每一片雪花的晶格部是六边形的。昀简单的雪晶体是六边的扁平碟状和六边的柱状。这种晶体在极寒极干的地方十分普遍。当这种简单的六边对称形状发生变化时，雪晶体就拥有了它们独特的美丽之处。在适当的条件下，结晶体的每个角都向外伸长，形成臂状物。在大约几分钟的时间内，这些臂状物变得非常华美，结晶体也变得像星星般闪闪发亮。

环境中的几个因素影响了雪晶体的形状及形成速度，其中之一是湿度。当湿度增加时，晶体变化得更快并且形成更为复杂的形状。另一个因素是气温。云里的水蒸气分子集结在尘埃上，冷凝形成简单的晶体，此时，雪花就诞生了。初形成的晶体在云里四处碰撞，穿过不同温度的空气团。Libbrecht说，当这些晶体遇到大约 -15℃的空气团时，它们就会快速变化，长出六个臂状物。这时，如果晶体遇到一个温度更高的空气团（比如-10℃），这些臂状物的尖端就会很快停止伸长，形成碟状的六边形。这时，如果遇到温度更高的空气团（比如 -5℃），它的顶部和底部会比两边更快地停止伸长，从而在形状上更像一个柱形。在雪花的一生中，雪晶体可能遇到许多温度更高或更低的空气团，形成独特而又复杂的生长史，这使得雪花不尽相同。雪花的每一个臂状物行起来那十分相像。但晶体本身却是一片一种样子。利用冷却槽 Libbrecht发现了如何制造各种形状的雪晶体，如碟状的、柱状的、针状的等。Libbrecht还改进了他的技术，使得晶体之间更加相像。然而，他仍然无法制造两片完全相同的雪花。湿度与温度的细微差别就会改变晶体的形成过程。

第二十三篇 Powering a City? It’s a Breeze.

1

The graceful wooden windmills that have broken up the flat Dutch landscape for centuries — a national symbol like wooden shoes and tulips — yielded long ago to

ungainly metal-pole turbines.2

Now, windmills

are breaking into a new frontier. Though still in its teething stages, the “urban turbine”is a high-tech windmill designed to generate energy from the rooftops of busy cities. Lighter, quieter, and often more efficient than rural counterparts

3

, they take advantage of the extreme turbulence

4

and rapid shifts in direction that characterize urban wind patterns. Prototypes have been successfully tested in several Dutch cities, and the city government in the Hague

5

has recently agreed to begin a large-scale deployment in 2003. Current models cost US$ 8,000 to US$12,000 and can generate between 3,000 and 7,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. A typical Dutch household uses 3,500 kilowatt hours per year, while in the United States, this figure jumps to around 10,000 kilowatt hours. But so far, they are being designed more for public or commercial buildings than for private homes. The smallest of the current models weigh roughly 200 kilograms and can be installed on a roof in a few hours without using a crane. Germany, Finland and Denmark have also been experimenting with the technology, but the ever-practical Dutch are natural pioneers in urban wind power mainly because of the lack of space. The Netherlands, with 16 million people crowded into a country twice the size of Slovenia

6

, is the most densely populated in Europe. Problems remain, however, for example, public safety concerns

7

, and so strict standards should be applied to any potential manufacturer. Vibrations are the main problem in skyscraper-high turbine. People don’t know what it would be like to work there, in an office next to one of the big turbines. It might be too hectic. Meanwhile, projects are under way

8

to use minimills

9

to generate power for lifeboats, streetlights, and portable generators. “I think the thing about wind power is that you can use it in a whole range of situations,” said Corin Millais, of the European Wind Energy Association. “It’s a very local technology, and you can use it right in your backyard, I don’t think anybody wants a nuclear power plant in their backyard.”

第二十三篇风力发电 ?轻而易举

与木鞋、郁金香一起被视为荷兰象征的风车，在

荷兰平原上优雅地矗立了几个世纪，可是，它的

作用早已为笨拙的金属涡轮所代替。

现在，风车已经进入了一个新的疆域。虽然还处

于萌芽阶段，城镇使用的涡轮机已经是一种高科

技的风车，它们从大城市的平顶房上产生能量。

它们利用了城市中的风所将有的乱流和快速转

向，比起乡村风车来，更轻，更安静，更有效率。

这神风车的样品已经成功地在荷兰的几个城市得到测试。海牙市政府昀近已经同意在 2003年开始大规模发展这种风车。目前的风车模型大约花费8000～12000美元，每年能够产生 3000～7000千瓦时的电，一个典型的荷兰家庭每年使用 3500千瓦时的电，而在美国，这个数字则要上升到大约10000千瓦时。

但是到目前为此，这些风车更多地不是为私宅而是为公共建筑或商业建筑而设汁。目前昀小的风车模型大约有 200千克重，而且不需要吊车就可以将它安装在屋顶上。

德国、芬兰和丹麦都已经开始这项技术的实施，但是，荷兰的空间狭小使得它在城市风力发电上始终是昀实际的先驱。荷兰有 1600万的人口，挤在斯洛文尼亚两倍那么大的土地上，是欧洲人口密度昀高的国家。

尽管如此，问题仍然存在。比如，公共安全问题，因此对潜在的制造商必须制定严格的标准。高耸入云的涡轮机昀主要的问题是振动。人们无法想象在一个巨大的涡轮机旁边的办公室里如何工作。那一定是闹哄哄的。

与此同时，使用小型风车为救生船、路灯和便携式发电机提供能量的计划也在进行之中。“我认为使用风力就是能让人在许多情况下都可以使用。”欧洲风能协会的 Corin Millais说，“这是一种因地制宜的技术，人们在自己家的后院就可使用。我想没有人希望自己家的后院里有一个核电站的。”

第二十四篇Underground Coal Fires — a Looming Catastrophe

1

Coal burning deep underground in China，India and Indonesia is threatening the environment and human life, scientists have

warned.2

These large-scale underground

blazes cause the ground temperature to heat up and kill surrounding vegetation, produce greenhouse gases and can even ignite forest

fires, a panel 3

of scientists told the annual

meeting of the American Association for the

Advancement of Science in Denver 4

. The

resulting release of poisonous elements like arsenic and mercury can also pollute local water sources and soils, they warned. “Coal fires are a global catastrophe,”said Associate Professor Glenn Stracher of East Georgia College in Swainsboro , USA. But surprisingly few people know about them. Coal

can heat up on its own 5

, and eventually catch

fire and burn, if there is a continuous oxygen supply. The heat produced is not caused to disappear and under the right combinations of sunlight and oxygen, can trigger spontaneous

6 catching fire and burning. This can occur underground, in coal stockpiles

7

, abandoned mines or even as coal is transported. Such fires in China consume

8

up to

9

200 million tones of coal per year, delegates were told. In comparison, the U. S. economy consumes about one billion tones of coal annually, said Stracher, whose analysis of the likely impact of coal fires has been accepted for publication in the International journal of Coal Ecology. Once underway,

10

coal fires can burn for decades, even centuries. In the process, they release large volumes of greenhouse gases, poisonous fumes and black particles into the atmosphere.

The members of the panel discussed the impact these fires may be having on global and regional climate change, and agreed that the underground nature of the fires makes them difficult to detect. One of the members of the panel, Assistant Professor Paul Van Dijk of the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in the Netherlands, has been working with the Chinese government to detect and monitor fires in the northern regions of the country.

Ultimately, the remote sensing and other techniques should allow scientists to estimate how much carbon dioxide these fires are emitting. One suggested method of containing

11

the fires was presented by Gary Colaizzi, of the engineering firm Goodson, which has developed a beat-resistant grout (a thin mortar

12

used to fill cracks and crevices) , which is designed to be pumped into the coal fire to cut off

13

the oxygen supply.

第二十四篇地下煤着火——即将来临的灾难

科学家们警告说，中国、印度和印度尼西亚的地下煤矿着火将严重威胁自然环境和人身安全。在丹佛举行的美国科学促进协会的会议上，一个专家小组的科学家们表示，大规模的地下大火将会提高地面温度，烧死周围的植物，由此产生的气体将会导致温室效应，甚至有可能引起森林大火。他们还警告说，大火释放出来的砷、汞等有毒物质还会污染当地的水源和土壤。

美国东佐治亚大学 Swainsboro分校的副教授Glenn Stracher说：“煤矿失火是一个全球性的灾难。”但令人惊奇的是，很少有人知道这一点。煤能够自己提高温度，存在充足的氧气时，它能

够自燃。它产生的热量并不会消失，在合适的阳

光和氧气条件下，就会自燃。这种情况可能发生

在地下煤矿的煤堆、废弃的煤矿，甚至在煤的运

输过程中。 Stracher教授告诉与会代表们，每年在中国，这种情况会消耗掉 12亿吨的煤。相比之下，美国每年的用煤量为 10亿吨。 Stracher教

授关于由煤引起的大火的影响的分析已经在《国

际煤生态学期刊》上发表。煤一旦燃烧越来，就

可能燃烧几十年，甚至几百年。在这个过程中，

会排出大量的温室气体、有毒气体和黑色的灰粒

到大气中。

专家们讨论了这些大火对全球和地区气候变化的

影响，一致认为火灾地点发生在地下，使得火灾

不容易被发现。小组的一个成员，来自荷兰国际

地质信息科学和地球观测研究院的 Paul Van

Dijk助理教授已经同中国政府合作探测和控制中

国北部地区的煤矿失火情况。

远程感应以及其他技术昀终将能够允许科学家们

估计出究竟这些大火释放出多少二氧化碳。Goodson工程公司的 Gary Colaizzi提出了一种控制火势的方法。他们公司已开发出一种隔热水泥

浆（一种稀灰浆用来填充裂缝），它可以被灌注

到失火的煤矿中以切断氧气供给。

第二十五篇 Eat to Live

A meager diet may give you health and long life, but it’s not much fun — and it might not even

be necessary. We may be able to hang on to 1 most

of that youthful vigor even if we don’t start to diet until old age.

Stephen Spindler and his colleagues from the University of California at Riverside have found that some of an elderly mouse’s liver genes can he made to behave as they did when the mouse was young simply by limiting its food for four weeks. The genetic rejuvenation won’t reverse other damage caused by time for the mouse, but could help its liver metabolize

drugs or get rid of toxins.

2

Spindlers team fed three mice a normal diet for their whole lives, and fed another three

on half-rations 3

. Three more mice were

switched from the normal diet to half-feed

3 for a month when they were 3

4 months old —equivalent to about 70 human years.

The researchers checked the activity of 11, 000 genes from the mouse livers, and found that 46 changed with age in the normally fed mice. The changes were associated with things like inflammation and free radical

production 4

— probably bad news for mouse

health. In the mice that had dieted nil their lives, 27 of those 46 genes continued to behave like young genes. But the most surprising finding was that the mice that only started dieting in old age also benefited from 70 per cent of these gene changes.

“This is the first indication that these effects kick in

5

pretty quickly.” say Huber Warner from the National Institute on Aging near Washington D. C.

No one yet knows if calorie restriction works in people as it does in mice, but Spindler is hopeful. “There’s attracting and tempting evidence out there that it will work,” he says.

If it does work in people, there might be good reasons for rejuvenating the liver. As we get older, our bodies are less efficient at metabolizing drugs, for example. A brief period of time of dieting, says Spindler, could be enough to make sure a drug is effective.

But Spindler isn’t sure the trade-off is worth it

6

. “The mice get less disease, they live longer, but they’re hungry,” he says, “Even seeing what a diet does , it’s still hard to go to a restaurant and say: ‘I can only cat half of that’.” Spindler hopes we soon won’t need to diet at all. His company, Lifespan Genetics in California, is looking for drugs that have the effects of caloric restriction. 第二十五篇为生存而食

粗茶淡饭或许能给你健康和长寿，但这并不有趣——很有可能也没必要。即便在年老以后才开始节食我们也能在很大程度上保持住青春活力。

加州大学 Riverside分校的斯蒂芬·斯潘德尔及其同事发现，只要连续四周限制一些衰老的老鼠进食，它们的肝脏基因就会变得和衰老前一样充满活力。虽然老鼠的肝部基因恢复活力不会逆转它们在其他方面的老化，但是却有助于这些老鼠的肝脏对药物的新陈代谢消除毒素。

斯潘德尔的队员们一直给其中的三只老鼠正常量的饲料，而给另三只老鼠正常量饲料的一半，给三只 34个月大的老鼠（相当于人类年龄的 70岁）喂了一个月的半量饲料，之前这三只老鼠的饲料量是正常的。

研究者们检查了这些老鼠肝脏的 11000种基因的活性，发现正常饲养的老鼠有 46种基因随年龄的改变而改变。这些改变都与有机体组织的无限激增有关——这对老鼠的健康来说不是什么好消息。而对于那些终身都在节食的老鼠来说，那 46种基因中的 27种仍然继续保持着青春活力。但是昀令人吃惊的发现却是那些只是在老年时期节食的老鼠们受益于 10%的基因变异。

“这只是第一个这些效果迅速起作用的暗示”，来自华盛顿特区周边的国家老年学学院的哈

勃·华纳说。

至今仍然没有人清楚卡路里的控制对人类来说是否如同对老鼠那样有效，但是斯潘德尔对此充满了希望：“有足以引人注意的证据表明这同样有效。”

如果这确实也对人类有效，我们有理由相信肝脏也可能恢复活力。举个例子，随着我们一天天衰老，我们的身体对药物的新陈代谢越来越没有效率。短时期内的节食，斯潘德尔说到，完全足以保证药效。

但是斯潘德尔并不确定这个方法值得尝试。“老鼠患病少了，寿命延长了，但是它们很饥饿， ”他说，“即使能清楚地认识到节食的功效，人们仍然很难在餐馆中说自己只能吃一半的食物。” 斯潘德尔希望我们根本就不用节食。他的公司，加利福尼亚州的寿命遗传学公司，正在寻找有限制卡路里效能的药物。

第二十六篇 Male and Female Pilots Cause Accidents Differently

Male pilots flying general aviation 1

(private) aircraft in the United States are more likely to crash due to inattention or flawed decision-making, while female pilots are more likely to crash from mishandling the aircraft. These are results of a study fly researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The study identifies difference between male and female pilot in terms of circumstances or the crash and the type or pilots error

involved 2

. “Crashes of general aviation aircraft account for 85 percent of all

aviation deaths 3

in the United States. The crash rate for male pilots, as for motor

vehicle drivers, exceeds that 4

of crashes of female pilots.” explains Susan P. Baker, MPH, professor of health policy and management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Because pilot youth and inexperience are

established 5

contributors to aviation

crashes 6

, we focused on only mature pilots, to determine the gender differences in the reasons for the crash.” The researchers extracted data for this study from a large research project on pilot aging and flight safety. The data were gathered from general aviation crashes of airplanes and helicopters between 1983 and 1997, involving 144 female pilots and 267 male pilots aged 40-63. Female pilots were matched with male pilots in a 1:2 ratio, by age, classes of

medical and pilot certificates, state or area of crash, and year of crash. Then the circumstances of the crashes and the pilot error involved were categorized and coded without knowledge of pilot gender.

The researchers found that loss of control on landing or takeoff was the most common circumstance for both sexes, leading to 59 percent of female pilots ’ crashes and 36 percent of males ’. Experiencing mechanical failure, running out of fuel, and landing the

plane with the landing gear up 7

were among the factors more likely with males, while stalling was more likely with females. The majority of the crashes — 95 percent for females and 88 percent for males — involved at least one type of pilot error. Mishandling aircraft kinetics was the most common error for both sexes, but was more common among females (accounting for 81 percent of the crashes) than males (accounting for 48 percent ). Males, however, appeared more

likely to be guilty of 8

poor decision-making, risk-taking, and inattentiveness, examples of which

include misjudging weather and visibility 9

or flying an aircraft with a known defect. Females, though more likely to mishandle or lose control of the aircraft, were generally

more careful than their male counterparts 10

. 第二十六篇男女飞行员引起飞行事故的差异 在美国，专用航空的男性飞行员更容易因为精神不集中或错误决定而坠机，而女性飞行员坠机的原因更多的是操作不当。这些是约翰·霍普金斯大学布鲁姆博格公共健康学院的研究人员所做的一项研究的结果。

这项研究根据坠毁情况和飞行员失误类型鉴别男女飞行员之间的差异。“在美国，专用航空飞行事故占所有坠机死亡人数的 85%。同机动车驾驶员情况相似，男性飞行员的坠毁率超过了女性飞行员。”布鲁姆博格公共健康学院的健康政策及管理教授 Susan P. Baker 解释说，“因为飞行员的年轻和缺乏经验是已经确定的造成飞行事故的原因，我们主要集中在成熟的飞行员身上，研究由于性别差异导致的坠机。”

研究人员从一项关于飞行员的年龄增长与飞行安全的研究中获取数据用于这个项目。这些数据收集于 1983年至 1997年间的飞机和直升机专用飞行的坠毁情况。其中包括了年龄在 40岁到 63岁之间的 144个女性飞行员和 267个男性飞行员。女飞行员和男飞行员根据年龄，医疗和飞行证书的等级，事故地点和事故年份按 1 : 2的比例分配。然后，不考虑飞行员的性别，对相关的事故

环境和飞行员失误进行分类和编码。

研究人员发现，不论男女，起飞和降落时的失控是昀常见的情况，在男女飞行员的事故比例中，分别占 36%和 59%。机械故障、燃油将尽和降落时不放下起落装置是男飞行员更常犯的错误，而飞机失速则更容易发生在女飞行员身上。

绝大部分的坠毁事故——女飞行员中的 95%，男飞行员中的 88%——都至少由飞行员的一项失误引起。降落时错误的动力学是所有飞行员中昀常见的错误，但是，在女飞行员中更为常见（占事故的 81%，男飞行员为 48%）。可是，男飞行员更容易作出错误或冒险的决定，注意力不集中，比如对天气和能见度判断失误或驾驶一架明知有故障的飞机。比起她们的男同行来说，虽然女飞行员有时更容易操作不当，但她们更加小心。第二十七篇 Driven to Distraction

Joe Coyne slides into the driver’s seat,

starts up the car and heads 1

to town. The empty

stretch of interstate gives way to urban

congestion 2

, and Coyne hits the brakes as a

pedestrian suddenly crosses the street in front of him.

But even if he hadn’t stopped in time, the woman would have been safe. She isn’t real. Neither is the town. And Coyne isn’t really driving. Coyne is demonstrating a computerized driving simulator that is helping researchers at Old Dominion

University 3

(ODU) examine how in-vehicle

guidance systems affect the person behind the wheel.

4

The researchers want to know if such systems, which give audible or written directions, are too distracting — or whether any

distractions are offset 5

by the benefits

drivers get from having help finding their way in unfamiliar locations.

6

“We are looking at the performance and mental workload of drivers,” said Caryl Baldwin, the assistant psychology professor lending the research, which involves measuring drivers reaction time and brain activity as they

respond to auditory and visual cues 7

.

The researchers just completed a study of the

mental workload 8

involved in driving through

different kinds of environments and heavy vs, light traffic. Preliminary results show that as people “get into more challenging driving situations, they don’t have any extra mental energy to respond to something else in the environment.” Baldwin said.

But the tradeoffs could be worth it, she said. The next step is to test different ways of giving drivers navigational information and how those methods change the drivers’ mental workload.

“Is it best if they see a picture … that shows their position, a map kind of display?

9

”Baldwin said. “Is it best if they hear it?”Navigational systems now on the market give point-by-point directions that follow a prescribed route. “They’re very unforgiving,” Baldwin said. “If you miss a turn, they can almost seem to get angry.”That style of directions also can be frustrating for people who prefer more general instructions. But such broad directions can confuse drivers who prefer route directions. Baldwin said.

Perhaps manufacturers should allow drivers to choose the style of directions they want, or modify systems to present some information in a way that makes sense

10

for people who prefer the survey style, she said.

Interestingly, other research has shown that about 60 percent of men prefer the survey style, while 60 percent women prefer the route style, Baldwin said. This explains the classic little thing of why men don’t like to stop and ask for directions and women do, Baldwin added.

第二十七篇分散注意力驾驶

Joe Coyne滑进驾驶座，发动汽车朝城里开去。空荡荡的那段州际公路结束了，进入到拥塞的城市。这时，一个行人突然从 Coyne的车前穿过，他急忙紧急刹车。

但是，就算 Coyne来不及刹车，那个妇女也不会有事儿。因为，她是一个假人。整座城市也是假的。 Coyne并不是真的在开车。他只是在演示一个计算机操控的驾驶模拟器，帮助 Old Dominion 大学的研究者们检测车内导向系统如何影响开车人。

研究人员希望了解这些能够提供语音或书面批示的系统是否干扰太大，或者这些干扰能否与这些系统给驾驶员在陌生环境里指路的益处相抵消。主持研究的心理学助理教授 Caryl Baldwin说：“我们一直关注着驾驶员的表现和精神负荷。”包括驾驶员在对听觉和视觉提示作出反应时的反应时间和大脑活动。

研究人员刚刚完成了一项关于在不同环境中，如交通畅通或交通拥挤时驾驶员精神负荷的调查。Baldwin说，初步的调查结果显示，人们“在更富挑战性的环境中驾驶时，并不会对周围相环境的变化作出更大的反应。”

她说，两种提示的交替使用还是有效的。下一步，他们将测试为驾驶员提供导向信息的不同方法以及这些方法如何改变驾驶员的精神负担。

Baldwin 说：“是给驾驶员看类似地图那样的显示图片好，还是让他们听到指示信息好呢？” 现在市场上的导向系统会按照预定的路线一个地点一个地点地给出指导。 Baldwin 说：“这些系统通常不会原谅人的错误。如果驾驶员错过了一个转弯，它们就会变得非常生气。”

这种指导信息的方式通常会使更喜欢笼统信息的驾驶员产生一种受挫惑。 Baldwin 说，笼统的信息却会使更喜欢线路指示的驾驶员感到困惑。 她说，也许，系统制造商们应该允许驾驶员能够选择自己喜欢的指示方式，或者改变系统以驾驶员喜欢的方式提供某些信息。

有意思的是，其他研究者表示 60%的男性更喜欢这种提供调查信息的导向系统，而 60%的女性则更喜欢线路指示系统。 Baldwin 说，这也就可以解释为什么女人喜欢下车问路，而男人却不的经典例子。

第二十八篇 Sleep Lets Brain File Memories

1

To sleep. Perchance to file?2

Findings published online

this week by the Proceedings 3

of the National Academy of Sciences further support the theory that the brain organizes and stows memories formed during the day while

the rest of the body is catching zzz ’s 4

.

Gyorgy Buzsaki of Rutgers University 5

and his colleagues analyzed the brain waves of sleeping rats and mice. Specifically, they examined the electrical activity emanating

from 6

the somatosensory neocortex 7

(an area that processes sensory information) and the

hippocampus 8

, which is a center for learning and memory. The scientists found that oscillations in brain waves from the two regions appear to be intertwined. So-called sleep spindles (bursts of activity from the neocortex) were followed tens of

milliseconds 9

later by beats in the hippocampus known as ripples. The team posits that this interplay between the two brain regions is a key step in memory consolidation. A second study, also published online this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, links age-associated

memory decline 10

to high glucose levels. Previous research had shown that individuals with diabetes suffer from increased memory problems. In the new work, Antonio Convit of New York University School of Medicine and his collaborators studied 30 people whose average

age was 69 to investigate whether sugar levels, which tend to increase with age, affect memory in healthy people as well. The scientists

administered 11

recall tests, brain scans and glucose tolerance tests, which measure how quickly sugar is absorbed from the blood by the body ’s tissues. Subjects with the poorest memory recollection, the team discovered, also displayed the poorest glucose tolerance. In addition, their brain scans showed more hippocampus shrinkage than those of subjects better able to absorb blood sugar.

“Our study suggests that this impairment 12

may contribute to the memory deficits 13

that occur as people age.” Convit says. “And it raises the intriguing possibility that improving glucose tolerance could reverse

some age-associated problems in cognition.14

” Exercise and weight control can help keep

glucose levels in check 15

, so there may be one

more reason to go to the gym. 第二十八篇睡眠促使记忆归档存储

睡觉。说不定就是在梳理归类记忆？刊登在本周网上出版的国家科学院文献汇编上的新发现进一步证明了这个理论：当人体的其他部分在鼾声中安眠时，人体大脑就在整理和储存着白天形成的记忆。

美国新泽西州立大学的 Gyorgy Buzsaki 和他的同事们分析了睡眠中的小鼠和大鼠的脑电波。他们特别研究了发源于学习记忆中心——大脑知觉新皮层（处理知觉信息的区域）和海马状的电流活动。科学家们发现，这两个区域的脑电波变化仿佛处于交织状态。而数十送秒后海马状突起物发出的波动将紧跟着所谓的睡眠纺锤体（新皮层上的活动激增）。这队科学家们假设这两个大脑区域的互动是理解增强记忆的关键。接下来的研究，同样也是刊登在这周网上出版的国家科学院文献汇编中，是关于与年龄相关的由于葡萄糖浓度过高引起的记忆衰退。

之前的一项研究表明，患糖尿病的人一直受到记忆衰退的困扰。纽约大学医学院的安东尼·康威特及其同事在一项新的工程中研究了 30个平均年龄 69岁的人，以调查是否随着年龄增长而增长的血糖浓度同样会影响健康人的记忆。科学家们实施了回忆测试、脑部扫描和血糖浓度容许量测试，以便测量出人体组织从血液中吸收糖分的速度。这组科学家发现，与昀次的记忆相对的，是昀低的血糖浓度容许量。此外，他们的脑部扫描也显示出海马状突起的缩小要比那些更容易从血液中吸收糖分的人明显。

“我们的研究表明，这种海马状突起的缩小对随着人类年龄增大而出现的记忆衰退有着不可忽视的影响。 ”康威特指出，“这一发现大大激增了