Fog often leads to serious, costly accidents---particularly around airports, docks and highways. Monitoring visibility conditions in real time could improve public safety and save tens of millions of dollars in the transportation area alone. But conventional fog -detection systems---including satellites, visibility sensors and human observations---can suffer from poor resolution (分辨率), high cost or low sensitivity near the ground ,where monitoring is quite critical.
Recently, engineers Noam David and H. Oliver Gao, both from Cornell University, developed a way to use signal data from cell-phone towers to detect atmospheric conditions that can easily develop fog. Wireless communications data are passed within networks of antenna towers (天线塔) as microwave radiation. And the change in weather conditions can affect the strength of signals received at the towers. Thus, communications data offer a low-cost, continuous means of fog monitoring.
David and Gao successfully employed this approach to predict fog around the land in Tel Aviv, Israel, for over an hour before it appeared. They identified patterns in how the strength of microwave signals is altered in response to different humidity (湿度) and temperature. Unlike satellites, the method distinguishes between ground-level fog and low-level clouds.
Communication networks are used effectively worldwide, which would make it easy to adopt this method in most regions. “In principle, we could use existing systems for day-to-day early detection of fog formation,” David says. “Because system data can be received in real time, we can imagine short-term early warning against fog." He advocates careful testing in diverse parts of the word to explore the method's limitations.
The new work shows it is possible to detect the conditions that happen before fog forms. Kelly Caylor, an environmental scientist, who was not involved in the work, says, “It's a significant step forward. There's something remarkable and quite satisfying about finding so many signals in what would otherwise be considered noise.”
1. What can we know about the conventional fog-detection systems?A.They do not work very well. |
B.They're only elective in some areas. |
C.They've been improved in transportation. |
D.They do not monitor the situation near the ground. |
A.Emphasized. . | B.Generated. | C.Detected. | D.Changed. |
A.Indifferent. | B.Favorable. | C.Critical. | D.Doubtful. |
A.Different opinions on a new way to detect fog. |
B.The wide availability of communication networks. |
C.The urgency of detecting fog to ensure public safety. |
D.The detection of fog through signals from cell-phone towers. |
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【推荐1】We set out to revolutionize fashion techwear —starting with the classic white dress shirt, made with heart and precision. Paying close attention to details, combined with high quality cotton fabric and latest hydrophobic nanotechnology (疏水纳米技术), results in nothing less than a masterpiece.
The nanotechnology works by modifying the fabric molecules (分子). The hydrophobic properties are locked into the weave of the fabric, which makes liquids bead-up and roll off the fabric surface. Our Fooxmet white shirt use 72% combed cotton and 28% Sorona fabric. Combed cotton is a kind of cotton that has been combed to make the thread stronger. Sorona is the fiber that defines softness, with a flexibility beyond limits.
Having a shirt made out of Fooxmet hydrophobic nanotech material means freedom in so many ways. Long gone will be the days when one had to be anxious about where they walked or what they drank. The material of Fooxmet white shirt will make it dirt resistant. The liquid that is resisted ca particles of dirt off with it, making it essentially self-cleaning. We use sustainable Sorona cotton fabric for perfect function and comfort balance. Although the material is liquid resistant, it is breathable. The wearer, therefore, wouldn’t have to worry about sweating when it is hot and focus on work, boosting productivity. Besides, whether you spin it, weave it or wear it, it doesn’t wrinkle. It doesn’t need to be ironed. Our white shirt returns to its original shape after being washed.
Simplicity and emptiness make the great universality, embracing the feelings and thoughts of all people. Our Japanese designers put precise attention to details with admirable d create the Fooxmet white shirt.
There are always risks to every kickstarter project, but we are confident to ensure our backers to receive Fooxmet on time. The material and technology itself have already been and tested. Currently we are done with modeling and mass production will start upon the success of We are confident to foresee and de-risk most of the difficulties faced in production.
1. What make(s) the Fooxmet white shirt soft?A.Nanotechnology. | B.Combed cotton. |
C.Sorona fabric. | D.The hydrophobic properties. |
A.It never wears out. | B.It has shape memory. |
C.It must be dry-cleaned. | D.It stops the wearer sweating. |
A.The project will kick off on time. |
B.The shirt is well received by customers. |
C.Preparations are being made for production. |
D.The producers have resolved the risks of failure |
A.An emerging dress enterprise. | B.The trend of fashion techwear. |
C.A new sustainable clothing material. | D.The first dirt proof and breathable shirt. |
【推荐2】With energy bills rocketing, and global temperatures teetering (岌岌可危), Deep Green, a small data centre startup, and Exmouth Leisure Centre have found a way to help each other.
Since the start of the pandemic, energy costs for a leisure swimming pool have reportedly tripled, leaving many centres with no choice but to close, according to Swim England. They claim that by March 2024, 40 percent of council areas could risk losing their swimming pools if nothing changes.
Similarly, data centres have had to raise their fees in order to cover the extra cost of cooling their equipment, making it impossible to offer a competitive rate.
While most normal data centres waste the heat that the computers generate, Deep Green has found a solution to benefit everybody. They have built a small data centre in Exmouth Leisure Centre, allowing the heat from the servers to heat the swimming pool.
This solution is free of charge, and Exmouth Leisure Centre is expecting to save around £20,000 a year. Because the data centres run 24 hours a day and are necessarily built with backup power systems, they make for excellent and consistent heat output.
“As the world moves, we need ten times the amount of computers and we cannot build ten times the amount of data centres,” said Bjornsgaard, manager of Deep Green. “So there is a need to decentralize (分散) them and take little bits of them to where the heat is required. Our ‘digital boilers’ put waste heat to good use, saving local businesses thousands of pounds on energy bills and reducing their carbon footprint.”
Deep Green isn’t the only company to come up with a neat solution to using waste-heat. In Paris, the Condorcet data centre is heating an onsite Climate Change Arboretum that studies which plants are most adaptable to global warming. Similarly, the Notre Dame Centre for Research Computing heats a local municipal greenhouse. So as Bjornsgaard says, this is just the start.
1. What troubles Exmouth Leisure Centre?A.The increasing energy bill. | B.The risk of losing its customers. |
C.Finding ways to cool its equipment. | D.Its decreasing swimming pools. |
A.Because they belong to the same company. |
B.Because their business modes are similar. |
C.Because they can benefit each other. |
D.Because they both want to protect the environment. |
A.The alarming speed of global warming. | B.The non-stop running pattern. |
C.The building of backup power systems. | D.The poor arrangement of devices. |
A.Modern but strange. | B.Complicated but amazing. |
C.Demanding and expensive. | D.Creative and environment-friendly. |
【推荐3】As a professor of architecture aiming at helping his students understand 3D geometry (几何), Ernő Rubik created a puzzle that would capture (激发) the imagination of generations to come — the Rubik’s cube. The Rubik’s cube, became one of the most popular toys in history, with more than 350 million sold to date.
In the first three years that the cube was licensed to an American company, it sold 100 million copies around the world. Rubik never imagined it would have that kind of appeal. “People tended not to buy difficult puzzles,” he explains.
But the Rubik’s cube, “made it really fashionable to have a puzzle”.
Today, Rubik continues to work as a professor and is a board member of the Rubik’s company. He is also a staunch (忠实的) advocate for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and arts education and encourages his own company and others to take the lead.
“I prefer to call it STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics)”, because I think art is an important part of education. The key is starting early, from elementary school, and continuing on and on,” he said. “This small blue planet and its entire interdependent population depends on future generations learning these subjects. I and my company have tried to help. We’ve introduced the ‘You CAN Do the Rubik’s Cube’ course to hundreds of schools across the United States and are expanding it elsewhere to help students to learn in an engaging, interactive, practical way.”
1. Why did Rubik invented the Rubik’s cube?A.To attract consumers. | B.To assist his teaching. |
C.To make a new puzzle. | D.To change views on puzzles. |
A.It is art education actually. | B.It is indeed an easy puzzle. |
C.It was the most popular toy. | D.It was a big hit to the world. |
A.An artist. | B.A puzzle player. | C.An educationist. | D.A company boss. |
A.Rubik popularized STEAM actively. | B.Rubik tried to sell more toy products. |
C.Rubik worked hard on arts education. | D.Rubik promoted Rubik’s cube course. |
【推荐1】The crisis(危机)at Japan's Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear(核)energy center caused by the terrible earthquake has raised questions about the future of the nuclear energy industry. Arjun Makhijani is president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in the United States. He says the disaster(灾难)in Japan is historic.
This week, the chairman of America's nuclear agency said there is little chance that harmful radiation(辐射)from Japan could reach the United States. Gregory also said America has a strong program in place to deal with earthquake threats. No new nuclear power centers have been built in the United States since 1979 That was when America's worst nuclear accident happened at the Three Mile Island center in percent of electricity in the United States comes from nuclear energy. At present, about twenty percent of electricity in the United States comes from nuclear energy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would close seven nuclear power centers while energy policy is reconsidered. The European Union is planning to test all centers in its twenty-seven member nations.
Developing nations are less willing to slow down the development of nuclear(nuclear expansion)China said it will continue with plans to build about twenty-five new nuclear reactors(反应堆). And India under a cooperation agreement with the United States, plans to spend billions on new centers in the coming years.
Nuclear reactors supply fourteen percent of global electricity. Nuclear energy is a clean resource, producing no carbon gases. But radioactive waste is a serious problem to be solved unresolved issue. So is the presence of nuclear power centers in earthquake areas like the one near Bushehr, Iran.
1. We can learn from the text that America________.A.experienced a terrible nuclear accident 42 years ago |
B.has a strong program to deal with radiation danger |
C.depends mainly on nuclear energy to produce electricity |
D.will check all the reactors before cooperating with India |
A.German. | B.Iran. | C.India | D.China. |
A.Various Opinions on Japan's Nuclear Disaster |
B.Japan's Disaster is Likely to Run out of Control |
C.America Feels Great Concern for Japan's Nuclear Crisis |
D.Japan's Disaster Throws Doubt on Nuclear Energy Industry |
【推荐2】Sky Drive Inc. conducted a successful test drive of its new flying car on August 25 at the Toyota Test Field, one of the largest in Japan and home to the car company’s development base. The car, named SD-03, manned with a pilot, took off and circled the field for about four minutes. It was the first public demonstration for a flying car in Japanese history.
“We are extremely excited to have achieved Japan’s first-ever manned flight of a flying car in the two years since we founded SkyDrive... with the goal of commercializing such aircraft,” CEO Tomohiro Fukuzawa said. “We want to realize a society where flying cars are an accessible and convenient means of transportation in the skies and people are able to experience a safe, secure, and comfortable new way of life.”
The SD-03 is the world’s smallest electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle and takes up the space of about two parked cars, according to the company. It has eight motors to ensure “safety in emergency situations”. “In designing an unexplored, new type of transportation known as the flying car, we chose the keyword ‘progressive’ for inspiration,” Design Director Takumi Yamamot said. “We wanted this vehicle to be futuristic, charismatic and desirable for all future customers, while fully including the high technology of SkyDrive.”
The company hopes to make the flying car part of normal life and not just a product. More test flights will occur in the future under different conditions to make sure the safety and technology of the vehicle meet industry standards.
The success of this flight means that it is likely that the car will be tested outside of the Toyota Test field by the end of the year. The company will continue to develop technologies to safely and securely launch the flying car in 2023. However, no price has been announced so far.
1. What’s the feature of SD-03?A.Green and energy-saving. | B.Secure and multi-function. |
C.High-tech and user-friendly. | D.Expensive and unmanned. |
A.They are the pioneer of flying cars. |
B.Flying cars will soon be commercialized. |
C.Flying cars will set a new trend in society. |
D.They target flying cars on high-end consumers. |
A.Flying cars fail to reach industry standards. |
B.Flying cars will be sold at affordable prices. |
C.The safety of flying cars needs strengthening. |
D.Tests are now limited to the Toyota Test Field. |
A.Flying cars will be on the market by 2023. |
B.Flying cars are no longer just a flight of fancy. |
C.SkyDrive’s SD-03 is the flying car of tomorrow. |
D.SkyDrive demonstrates its first piloted flying car. |
【推荐3】Gong Linna, a famous Chinese musician and founder of Chinese New Art Music, put her music teaching methods into practice for the first time at the Tracing Roots(寻根)practice concert of the Affiliated High School of Peking University on May 23.
The first song of the concert, Search High and Low, refers to the classical poem Li Sao, “The road ahead will be long. I shall search high and low.” “It’s arranged to be sung in the beginning by all performers, showing that we should all search high and low for our roots,” Gong Linna says.
To explore the education and popularization of Chinese music, in 2017, Gong Linna established a research and development team, which includes musicologist(音乐学家), Du Yaxiong, and music historian, Zhao Zhongming, to discuss her music teaching methods and summarize the vocal skills of Chinese music.
Gong Linna believed that popularization of Chinese music should depend on primary and secondary schools rather than music schools. The children’s strong love for music and their outstanding performance amazed Gong Linna, “When singing, they are completely concentrated on the music. Music brings light and richness to one’s spiritual world. So, learning to sing is never about passing examinations, but about enjoying the music.”
Lu Yueming, a teacher of the school’s art center, said, “The children worked really hard and kept in mind Gong Linna’s instructions(讲授).Seeing their performance, I know that they truly fell in love with traditional Chinese music. I hope more Chinese students can benefit from the teaching practice in the near future.”
“Seeing the children perform my pieces, I realized I should write more songs for them,” Lao Luo, Gong Linna’s husband said proudly. “It’s a great encouragement for me to see how much they like the songs,and they really need content related to Chinese culture.” Speaking about her future plans, Gong Linna told the reporter she would like to further popularize her teaching methods and Chinese music.
“Children should learn about the beauty of Chinese music. Only when you know about your own sounds, can you have cultural confidence,” she said at the end of the interview.
1. Why is the song Search High and Low arranged first at the concert?A.To stress the subject of the concert. |
B.To recommend the song to the public. |
C.To show Gong Linna’s teaching method is practical. |
D.To prove Gong Linna is the best performer of the song. |
A.Students of music schools. |
B.Officials of the government. |
C.Primary and secondary schools. |
D.Famous musicians across the country. |
A.It is refused by her husband. |
B.It is well received at college. |
C.It helps students love Chinese music. |
D.It gets support from local government. |
A.To write more songs for children. |
B.To perform concerts around the world. |
C.To establish more music training centers. |
D.To promote her teaching methods among children. |