The e-bike industry is exploding around the world as people adopt the idea of an environmentally-friendly alternative for the daily trips and a way to enjoy the outdoors. Creative minds are introducing e-bike innovations like creative new body styles. Evie Bee, a woodworker, model maker and university student, has combined her passions into a unique and beautiful wooden e-bike she calls Electraply.
The design was inspired by Bee’s love for the motorcycles of the past and the desire to honour and continue this design classic through a modern interpretation.
Electraply is composed primarily of materials of a sustainably sourced tree-poplar ply, which is the inspiration for the name. The use of wood threatened to make the bike too heavy, but Bee used poplar ply for the central frame (框架) so it was no heavier than an ordinary e-bike.
For the original bike, Bee collected the forks from an old jump bike. The decision resulted in the use of V-brakes (刹车) in the design. She says it’s not ideal but works for now, admitting, “The forks shall certainly be the first thing I upgrade once I have the money.” There are safety features to balance the system; the front brake is wired to the motor, causing it to turn off when the brakes are pressed.
Unlike most e-bikes, Bee didn’t try to hide the battery. In fact, she put it front and center. She explained, “The bike design was inspired by motorbikes, which have their gas tanks (油箱) visible. I wanted to carry this through into my own design, but change the gas tank for a battery!”
Bee is currently working on developing a Kickstarter campaign for Electraply with hopes of mass-producing and marketing it at some point. For those interested in working from the knowledge she’s developed in the process, she’s written two e-books she has posted on her website. One covers the design process for creating the bike, while the second details the construction process of turning the design into a real-life functioning e-bike.
1. What character of poplar ply is taken into consideration when used for the central frame?| A．Its security. | B．Its strength. |
| C．Its intensity. | D．Its weight. |
| A．Risky. | B．Delicate. |
| C．Unsatisfactory. | D．Useless. |
| A．Bee’s e-bike was environment friendly. |
| B．Bee’s e-bike had the battery put in easy view. |
| C．Bee’s e-bike owned more advanced safety features. |
| D．Bee’s e-bike was powered by both gas and solar electricity. |
| A．It’ll be made into production. |
| B．It’ll help raise money for charity. |
| C．It’ll enable her e-books to be bestsellers. |
| D．It’ll stimulate people’s curiosity about science. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Travel can be a lifesaver. The right vacation at the right time can give new life to your whole year, not to mention your body and mind. But in today's economy, with airlines adding new fees almost daily and ticket prices sharply on the rise, many have canceled travel as it is too expensive.
Early bird gets the deal. Travel experts say that there are certain times of day when more deals are available.
Avoid the crowds.
Right time, “wrong” place? By flying to popular destinations at unpopular times, you can secure the best prices from travel companies and airlines. Here's where flexibility in your planning can pay off. Going to the airline websites and planning your vacation around the best ticket prices offered can result in a fun, cost-effective vacation.
| A．Package Deals. |
| B．Save Money,and Save Time. |
| C．Fly to popular places at unpopular times. |
| D．These deals are especially good on last minute package. |
| E．Airfares can change three times a day as airlines adjust their prices to fill up flights. |
| F．And maybe it can widen your horizons to a place you might never have considered. |
| G．However,with a few tricks,there are still many great deals to be had on air tickets. |
【推荐2】Two car manufacturing companies in the US have been developing self-driving taxis, sometimes called “robotaxis”. Before August, their cars have had a human in the driver’s seat, ready to take over if there was a problem, and they could only drive in specific areas, at certain times. In early August, they weren’t required to have safety drivers in their cars. They are programmed to do everything on their own, including obeying the rules of the road, following speed limits, and avoiding people and other cars.
The move was a big step for self-driving cars, and many people were excited about the change. But almost immediately, there were problems coming along. A self-driving car crashed into a fire truck, causing a person seriously injured. Later, another one failed to work in the middle of a crossroad, causing a traffic jam. As a result, the two companies were told to take half of its robotaxis off the roads.
In one recent example, a self-driving car got stuck in wet concrete (混凝土) because it didn’t know that wet concrete was different from a road. In another case, a robotaxi killed a dog. The self-driving system knew the dog was there, but didn’t know how to avoid it. Most people believe that self-driving cars aren’t ready for the real world. Those who are upset about self-driving cars have found an unusual way to be against them: putting traffic cones (路锥) on the hoods (引擎盖) of robotaxis, which can confuse the cars’driving system and leave them unable to move.
In spite of the problems, both companies are planning to expand their self-driving car service to other cities. One of them says its driverless system will soon be able to work in any city, on any kind of vehicle. Though the quality of self-driving cars is improving, it’s likely to be a while before most people view them as safe.
1. What was the biggest change to the robotaxis recently?| A．They are limited in their speed. |
| B．They must obey the traffic rules. |
| C．They can work at certain times of a day. |
| D．They can drive without a human driver. |
| A．They killed a person in an accident. |
| B．They couldn’t avoid the traffic cones. |
| C．They sometimes broke down on the roads. |
| D．They often failed to recognize the directions. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Supportive. | C．Curious. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．Robotaxis struggled to survive, but failed finally |
| B．Robotaxis move forward, but far from satisfaction |
| C．Robotaxis driven by a perfect self-driving system |
| D．Robotaxis expanding to more cities in America |
【推荐3】The automobile (汽车) has many advantages. Above all, it offers people freedom to go where they want to go, when they want to go there. The basic purpose of a motor vehicle is to get from point A to point B as cheaply, quickly, and safely as possible.
In addition, much of the world’s economy is built on producing motor vehicles and supplying roads, services and repairs for those vehicles. Half of the world’s paychecks are auto related (相关的). In the United States, one of every six dollars spent and one of every six non-farm jobs are connected to the automobile or related industries, such as oil, steel, rubber, plastics, automobile services, and highway construction (建设).
Despite (尽管) their advantages, motor vehicles have many harmful effects on human lives and on air, water, land, and wild life resources. Since Karl Benz built the first automobile, almost 18 million people have been killed by motor vehicles. In addition to the tragic loss of life, these accidents cost American society about $60 billion annually in lost income and in insurance, administrative, and legal expenses.
Los Angeles is a global symbol of urban sprawl (城市扩张) built around a vast network of freeways. About one third of the city’s total metropolitan (大都市的) area and two thirds of its downtown area are devoted to roads, parking lots and other automobile related uses. Each day, its network of streets and freeways is crowded with more than five million vehicles, which are responsible for 85% of both the air pollution and the noise in this urban area.
If present trends continue, U.S. motorists will spend an average of two years of their lifetimes in traffic jams. Streets that used to be for people are now for cars. Pedestrians and people riding bicycles in the streets suffer from noise, pollution, stress, and danger.
1. What do we know about the automobile?| A．It develops slowly in style. | B．It brings us little convenience. |
| C．It causes no harm to wildlife. | D．It is a key part of the world’s economy. |
| A．Add some background information. | B．Summarize (概括) the previous paragraphs. |
| C．Provide some advice for the readers. | D．Introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| A．The automobile has many advantages. |
| B．The automobile has a tough time to survive. |
| C．The automobile brings influence in many ways. |
| D．The automobile is responsible for traffic accidents. |
【推荐1】Scientists say they have developed a system that uses machine learning to predict when and where lightning will strike. Researchers report the system is able to predict lightning strikes up to 30 minutes before they happen within a 30-kilometer area.
Lightning is a strong burst of electricity in the atmosphere. Since it carries an extremely powerful electrical charge, it can be destructive and deadly. European researchers have estimated that between 6,000 and 24,000 people are killed by lightning worldwide each year. For this reason, climate scientists have long sought to develop methods to predict lightning.
The system tested in the experiments uses a combination of data from weather stations and machine learning methods. The researchers developed a prediction model that was trained to recognize weather conditions that were likely to cause lightning.
The model was created with data collected over a 12-year period from 12 Swiss weather stations in cities and mountain areas. The data was placed into a unique machine learning algorithm（算法）,which compared it to records of lightning strikes. Researchers say the algorithm was then able to learn the conditions under which lightning happens.
The researchers test-ran the system several times. They found that the system made predictions that proved correct almost 80 percent of the time. "It can now be used anywhere," the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said in a statement.
The researchers plan to keep developing the technology with a European effort that aims to create a lightning protection program. The effort is called the European Laser Lightning Rod project. Scientists working on the project are experimenting with a laser technology that could someday control lightning activity, transferring lightning charges from clouds to the ground. They hope that such technology can one day be used as protection against lightning strikes.
1. Why was the system developed?| A．To show the power of lightning. | B．To protect people from lightning. |
| C．To keep track of lightning deaths. | D．To meet kids’ curiosity about lightning. |
| A．It required low cost of predicting lightning. |
| B．It used an effective method of collecting data. |
| C．It was based on a number of samples worldwide. |
| D．It adopted a different machine learning algorithm. |
| A．Generate electricity with lightning. | B．Monitor lightning activity. |
| C．Direct energy from lightning. | D．Prevent the happening of lightning. |
| A．A Theory of Employing Lightning | B．A Method of Forecasting Lightning |
| C．A System of Controlling Lightning | D．A Model of Creating Lightning |
【推荐2】Recently, Venetia Berry, an artist in London, counted up the free cotton tote bags that she had accumulated in her closet. There were at least 25. “You get them without choosing,” Ms. Berry said. Cotton bags have become a means for retailers, brands and supermarkets to telegraph a planet-friendly value - or, at least, to show that the companies are aware of the overuse of plastic in packaging.
So far, so earth-friendly? Not exactly. It turns out the wholehearted embrace of cotton totes may actually have created a new problem.
An organic cotton tote needs to be used 20,000 times to offset its overall impacts or production, according to a 2018 study by the Ministry of Environment and Food Denmark. That is equivalent to daily use for 54 years --- or just one bag. According to that, it all 25 of her tote hags were organic, Ms. Berry would have to live for more than a thousand years.
“Cotton uses pesticides (if it’s not organically grown) and it is so water intensive,” said Maxine Bédar, a director at the New Standard Institute, a nonprofit focused on fashion and sustainability And she has “yet to find a municipal compost( 城市堆肥) that accepts textiles like cotton - something that’s much easier said than done”. Even when a tote does make it to a treatment plant, most dyes (染料) used to print logos onto totes are PVC-based and thus not recyclable: they “have to be cut out of the cloth”, said Christopher Stanev; the co-founder of Evrnu, a seattle- based textile recycling firm. Then there is the issue of turning old cloth into new, which is almost as energy intensive as making it in the first place.
“The cotton tote dilemma”, said Laura Balmond, the manager for the Make Fashion Circular campaign, “is a really good example of unintended consequences of people trying to make positive choices, and not understanding the full landscape”.
1. Why did companies introduce cotton bags?| A．To lower packaging costs. |
| B．To cater to people’s fashion sense. |
| C．To shape an eco-friendly brand image. |
| D．To consume fewer natural resources. |
| A．Evaluate. |
| B．Achieve. |
| C．Enhance. |
| D．Balance. |
| A．Low profitability. |
| B．Waste management. |
| C．Water pollution. |
| D．Lack of recyclability. |
| A．It is a successful story. |
| B．It fails to win people’s support. |
| C．It benefits fashion brands. |
| D．It is a short-sighted decision. |
【推荐3】A robot with a sense of touch may one day feel “pain”, both its own physical pain and sympathy for the pain of its human companions. Such touchy-feely robots are still far off, but advances in robotic touch-sensing are bringing that possibility closer to reality.
Sensors set in soft, artificial skin that can detect both a gentle touch and a painful strike have been hooked up to a robot that can then signal emotions, Asada reported February 15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This artificial “pain nervous system”, as Asada calls it, may be a small building block for a machine that could ultimately experience pain.
Asada, an engineer at Osaka University, and his colleagues have designed touch sensors that reliably pick up a range of touches. In a robot system named Affetto, a realistic-looking child’s head, these touch and pain signals can be converted to emotional facial expressions.
A touch-sensitive, soft material, as opposed to a rigid metal surface, allows richer interactions between a machine and the world, says neuroscientist Kingson Man of the University of Southern California. Artificial skin “allows the possibility of engagement in truly intelligent ways”.
Such a system, Asada says, might ultimately lead to robots that can recognize the pain of others, a valuable skill for robots designed to help care for people in need, the elderly, for instance.
But there is an important distinction between a robot that responds in a predictable way to a painful strike and a robot that’s able to compute an internal feeling accurately, says Damasio, a neuroscientist also at the University of Southern California. A robot with sensors that can detect touch and pain is “like having a robot, for example, that smiles when you talk to it,” Damasio says. “It’s a device for communication of the machine to a human.” While that’s an interesting development, “it’s not the same thing as a robot designed to compute some sort of internal experience,” he says.
1. What do we know about the “pain nervous system”?| A．It is named Affetto by scientists. |
| B．It is a set of complicated sensors. |
| C．It combines sensors and artificial skin. |
| D．It is able to signal different emotions. |
| A．Delivered. | B．Translated. |
| C．Attached. | D．Adapted. |
| A．Robots can put up with pain. |
| B．Robots can talk to human beings. |
| C．Robots can compute internal feelings |
| D．Robots can detect pains and respond accordingly. |
| A．Robots Inch to Feeling Pain |
| B．Machines Become Emotional |
| C．Human Feelings Can Be Copied |
| D．Artificial Skins Gain Intelligence |
【推荐1】We smile because we are happy, and we frown because we are sad. Recent studies suggest that our emotions are driven by their related facial expressions.
This February psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is lessened by botox injections (肉毒杆菌注射) are happier, on average, than people who can frown. The researchers administered an anxiety and depression questionnaire to 25 females, half of whom had received botox injections to stop frowning. The botox injected people reported feeling happier and less anxious in general.
In a related study from March, scientists at the Technical University of Munich found that the botox subjects had much lower activity in the brain circuits (回路) involved in emotional processing and responses — in the amygdala, hypothalamus and other parts of the brain — as compared with controls who had not received treatment.
The concept works the opposite way, too. People who frown during an unpleasant procedure report feeling more pain than those who do not, according to a study published in May 2008 in the Journal of Pain. Researchers applied heat to the forearms of 29 participants, who were asked to either make unhappy, neutral or relaxed faces during the procedure. Those who exhibited negative expressions reported being in more pain than the other two groups.
No one yet knows why our facial expressions influence our emotions as they seem to. The associations in our mind between how we feel and how we react may be so strong that our expressions simply end up strengthen our emotions — there may be no evolutionary reason for the connection.
1. What can we know about the result of the study from Paragraph 2?| A．The ability to frown should be stopped by injection. |
| B．Less frowns make people happier. |
| C．Women love to frown and feel sad. |
| D．Half women have no ability to feel happy. |
| A．They asked the participants to frown or smile. |
| B．They copied the expressions of the participants. |
| C．They asked the participants to stay negative. |
| D．They exposed the participants to heat. |
| A．Humorous. | B．Ambitious. | C．Caring. | D．Calm. |
| A．Facial expressions influence our emotions. |
| B．Facial expressions are driven by emotions. |
| C．Why people feel happy and frown. |
| D．Botox injection is useful and meaningful. |
Why do they use pig and pork, cow and beef, and sheep and mutton?
To find out, we have to go back to 1066, when the Norman French invaded England and put a French king on the English throne (王位), which not only changed the government but also changed the language. French became the language of the upper classes of society. And it remained that way for 300 years. Only these high society people could afford to eat meat. As a result, French words like porc（pork）and beouf （beef） came into the English language. However, poor English farmers raised the animals. So the English language retained the words pig and cow from the Native Anglo-Saxon．
The Norman French added about 10,000 French words to the English language. Seventy-five percent of them are still in use today.
According to language experts, English speakers who have never studied French may already know 15,000 French words! Between one-third and two-thirds of all English words have French origins. Some words such as “possible” and “avenue” are the same in French and English; only the pronunciations change. Other words such as “ballet” keep their French pronunciations in both languages.
In French grammar, nouns have either a male or female gender (性别), so adjectives take different forms for each. English has only one adjective that does this, and it came from French. The word “blond” describes someone with light-colored hair. “Blond” is used for men, and “blonde” describes women. And they are also nouns.
Some French words that entered the English language have completely different meanings. The French phrase “a la mode” means “in style”. In English, the phrase means “with the ice cream”. Someone must have decided something eaten with ice cream was in style!
Now, as you learn English, you’re on your way to learning French!
1. French was once popular among the upper classes of the UK because __________.
| A．too many French moved to Britain |
| B．French brought animals with them |
| C．the king and his officials spoke French |
| D．the king allowed French to be spoken |
| A．Because English and French share similar pronunciations． |
| B．Because English grammar and French grammar are similar． |
| C．Because a large number of English words have French origins． |
| D．Because English has great influences on the French language． |
| A．Language is closely related to history and culture. |
| B．French and English words have little in common. |
| C．Language is controlled by the upper classes of society. |
| D．French combines English and the Native Anglo-Saxon. |
【推荐3】The deep, dark sea is a surprising area. Down there, it’s normal to happen on unheard-of never-seen-before animals and their interesting behavior. Sometimes, sources for precious new medicines are collected—and many more are almost certainly waiting to be discovered.
What marine scientists didn't expect to find, however, was a three-foot-long tusk (长牙) from an extinct mammoth (猛犸象) about 10, 000 feet beneath the ocean. Researchers collected the sample off the California coast in July 2021. “You start to expect the unexpected when exploring the deep sea, but I’m still stunned that we came on the ancient tusk of a mammoth,” Steven Haddock, a marine scientist at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, said in a statement.
Columbian mammoths, giant ice age mammals that stood some 14 feet tall, marched around what is now California as recently as some 11, 000 years ago. Paleontologists (古生物学者) are still pulling their well-preserved bones out of tar in Los Angeles. How did a tusk find its way to the deep sea? It’s unknown, and likely will remain unknown. But land-dwelling creatures are sometimes washed out into deeper ocean regions, perhaps during great floods.
The intense cold and pressure in the deep sea excellently preserved the tusk. The research team plans to examine the fossil carefully and even determine the long-dead creature’s age. They suspect it’s over 100,000 years old.
“This deep-sea environment is different from those we have seen elsewhere,” mammoth paleontologist Daniel Fisher said in a statement, noting that most mammoth finds in the ocean are in much shallower waters.
“We know so little about the deep ocean that pretty much anyone can find something new if they were doing something unique down there,” Alan Leonardi, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, told Mashable last year.
1. What made scientists feel unexpected about the deep sea?| A．The sources for valuable medicines. |
| B．The finding of an ivory from a mammoth. |
| C．There are many never-seen-before animals. |
| D．There used to be a mammoth in the deep ocean. |
| A．Shocked. | B．Interested. |
| C．Devoted. | D．Curious. |
| A．Because there was no creatures’ disturbance. |
| B．Because of the effort made by the research team. |
| C．Because of the extreme environment in the deep sea. |
| D．Because the tusk had stayed under sea for a short time. |
| A．The research of the deep sea |
| B．The importance of exploring the deep sea was interesting |
| C．Scientists found a mammoth tusk in the deep sea |
| D．The meaning of finding a mammoth tusk in the deep sea |
