It’s raining microchips. One day, they could float gently through the air while gathering environmental data, land on the ground and then disappear when their work is done. That’s the future a team of engineers see for what they’re calling “microflier”, a tiny winged microchip with designs inspired by nature.
The accomplishment belongs to a team of scientists at the Northwestern University in Illinois, who developed the microflier, a flying microchip that spins like a helicopter. It is the size of a grain of sand but with small wings and an aerodynamic design that allows it to fall in a controlled manner thanks to its barely visible propellers. The engineers used nature’s “manual” to get their inspiration for the microflier, analyzing the behavior of various types of wind-spread seeds.
How does that work? Instead of using a motor or engine, the tiny flying microchip uses the power of the wind to catch a flight, spinning through the ground at low speed. It is a stable flight, and the microflier can stay in the air for a long time, which is why it could prove to be useful for a variety of applications.
While nature has designed seeds with very sophisticated aerodynamics, the Northwestern team claims its microflier is better, as it is even smaller and its structure allows it to fall with more stable paths and at slower speeds than equivalent seeds from plants or trees.
The engineers built the flying structure to be used for purposes such as population monitoring, pollution monitoring, disease tracking and so on. And while this might look like a simple, limited device right now, researchers see its potential for becoming a highly functional electronic device. The microflier can be equipped with really sophisticated technology, such as tiny sensors, antennas for wireless communication, or embedded memory for data storage.
1. What gave scientists the inspiration for the microflier?| A．Helicopters. | B．Flying birds. | C．Falling seeds. | D．Raindrops. |
| A．By using electricity. | B．By using wind power. |
| C．By using an engine. | D．By using solar energy. |
| A．It produces less noise. | B．It carries more weight. |
| C．It can fly in any direction. | D．It can stay longer in the air. |
| A．Microflier’s working principle. | B．Microflier’s development process. |
| C．Microflier’s potential applications. | D．Microflier’s accomplished tasks. |
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【推荐1】Compost (堆肥) is one of the most wonderful things in the world. You take organic matter that would otherwise end up in landfills and create a nutrient-rich material that will help make gardens grow, flowers bloom and make it easier to feed the world. Thanks to Tipa, an Israeli start-up, you will soon be able to add plastics to your compost mix.
Plastic is one of the most challenging problems on the planet. As No Camels reports, it often takes 500 years for plastic to break down, and even then, microplastics remain in water or on land. Furthermore, according to Inc. Com, even though plastic can theoretically be recycled, less than 5 percent of flexible plastic packaging that is put into recycling by consumers is actually recycled.
But that doesn’t need to be the case anymore.
Now, Tipa and other companies have begun to create plastics that are able to biodegrade like any organic matter does. When asked how she got the idea of creating compostable flexible plastics, Dafna Nissenbaum, the CEO and co-founder of Tipa, said, “Nature also packs its products, like bananas, apples and oranges, but with a compostable material. Our plastics will break down exactly like any other organic material and turn into solid fertilizer (肥料).”
Unlike other compostable plastics on the market, Tipa’s plastics can be fully composted in home composts. This means that the average person with a garden compost could use their packaging and just throw it in the compost instead of the recycling bin when they are done with it.
Another thing that Tipa has been doing is to create partnerships with existing producers instead of creating their own factories. The company’s materials are purposefully designed to be compatible (兼容的) with machinery that already exists and produces non-compostable plastics. Tipa says that fits in with its goal of creating a sustainable future.
Tipa has partnered with some high-end designers. Both Stella McCartney and Mara Hoffman use Tipa’s products to package their products. Many brands are now aware that using sustainable packaging will endear them to customers, and Tipa helps them do that.
1. What does paragraph 2 focus on?| A．The difficulty of dealing with plastic. | B．The harm caused by water pollution. |
| C．The problem of the packaging industry. | D．The barrier to recycling plastic products. |
| A．Her confidence in the fertilizer market. | B．Her strong desire to get close to nature. |
| C．Her inspiration for Tipa’s new plastics. | D．Her high praise for the beauty of nature. |
| A．It cooperates with existing producers. |
| B．It designs materials to fit new machinery. |
| C．It stops partnering with high-end designers. |
| D．It creates its own plastic factories worldwide. |
| A．The Packaging Industry Is Growing Faster |
| B．New Plastics Make Packaging Compostable |
| C．Compost Is the Real Source of Sustainability |
| D．Solutions to Plastic Waste Have Been Found |
【推荐2】As we face climate (气候) change, a new digital tool helps develop carbon-free energy without damaging the wildlife habitats. In Maine, the Renewable Energy Siting Tool is a new map that allows the clean energy developers to identify the sites for solar and wind projects while avoiding those with sensitive wildlife habitats. Sarah Haggerty, the lead developer, notes that the tool came into being thanks to the data provided by Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection, state biologists, clean energy developers, as well as economic support from the bank.
Based on data on land-use, habitats, energy resources (资源), etc., the tool uses a traffic light model to identify sites suitable for development and sites to avoid. Fields like landfills are shown in green, wetland areas or endangered species habitats are shown in red, while yellow-shown areas indicate that closer examination of project impacts is necessary.
The tool was developed after Maine passed a law requiring that 80% of Maine’s electricity come from renewable resources by 2030. Haggerty says, “We are in urgent need of this tool to help us fight climate change in a way that reduces impact on our valuable natural resources.”Maine is the most forested state in the nation, and agriculture, natural resources, and nature tourism play important roles in its economy. Yet the state is among the top five in losing its farmland to development. It makes little sense to develop clean energy projects at the cost of farmland.
When developers announce a clean energy project, they often face disagreement from community members who are concerned about the loss of valuable farmland or the impact on wildlife. This can discourage investors (投资者) and slow the change to renewable energy. Luckily, this tool can help developers speed up the development of clean energy by quickly identifying suitable land. Clean energy development needn’t come at the cost of wildlife.
1. What is the function of the new tool?| A．To protect Maine’s renewable resources. | B．To apply clean energy to wildlife habitats. |
| C．To improve the effective use of clean energy. | D．To balance clean energy and wildlife habitats. |
| A．How the new tool is inspired. | B．How the new tool works. |
| C．How the new tool is developed. | D．How the new tool collects data. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Neutral. | C．Positive. | D．critical. |
| A．Renewable energy is in great need. |
| B．To protect wildlife is to protect ourselves. |
| C．Traffic lights is of great use to wildlife protection. |
| D．A tool helps develop renewable energy and protect wildlife. |
【推荐3】Do you find it difficult to put down your mobile phone? If yes, you are not alone. These days, many people can’t live without their phones. They reach for them as soon as they wake up in the morning. They keep checking their apps, such as QQ and Wechat, to get the latest news.
It may be difficult for these people to give up the bad habit, so Google developed an app called Dashboard to help them. This app helps users manage (管理) the time they spend on their phones.
First, Dashboard allows the users to look at their phone habits. For example, users can see how many times they have unlocked their phones, how many times they have checked their apps, and how much time they spend on each app each day. Once the users see this information, they will be able to make some changes. They can set a time limit (限制) for how long they can use each app every day. After they’ve hit the limit, they won’t be able to use the app until the next day. What’s more, Dashboard can help keep the phones silent when users put their phones down, so they will use the phones less. If you truly want to make full use of your free time instead of spending hours using your phone, this new app is just a good choice. After all, controlling yourself and having a strong will can help you most.
1. Dashboard may be helpful to people who ________.| A．can’t use apps like Wechat | B．know little about phones |
| C．want to use their phones less | D．would like to get the latest news |
| A．Dashboard will keep the phone silent. | B．They can’t use the app that same day. |
| C．Dashboard will set a new time limit. | D．Their phone will turn itself off at once. |
| A．达到 | B．放弃 | C．敲打 | D．增加 |
| A．An app to help you check your information |
| B．An app to help you give up all your bad habits |
| C．An app to help you make full use of your phone |
| D．An app to help you manage your time on your phone |
【推荐1】Parents are fighting for their child’s right to rest across the country. Twenty-three elementary schools in Orange County, Florida, have been cutting back on rest, and even canceling it to increase class time.
In a recent Orange County School Board meeting, parents demanded that rest time be carried out in all local schools for all students. Angela Browning, a parent in the area, said that schools’ rest is ranging from zero to 30 minutes per day. “Five-year-olds not getting rest means abuse,” said Browning, whose twins in the second grade benefit from taking a break and learn better.
“The main reason for reducing the rest time is Common Core exams including math, language arts and literacy, where the students’ performance often controls teachers’ pay and sometimes teachers may lose their jobs. Many teachers are using that extra 20 minutes that would have been spent on the schools’ scores, everybody is stressful,” said Diana Moore, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association.
The decision of whether reducing rest takes place, and for how long is up to each school’s rule. “Florida law requires that districts provide 900 teaching hours during the school year,” Florida’s Department of Education press secretary Cheryl Etters said in a statement. “Whether test is part of the school day is a decision made by the school board.”
Reducing test also can take away an opportunity for children to learn social skills, according to many experts. “In society, who cares if you have straight A’s and you get a scholarship to Harvard if you lack social skills?” said Mallet, a mother of two children.
1. What will Angela Browning agree with?| A．Kids of five years old had better get more break time. |
| B．Proper rest time improves children’s learning efficiency. |
| C．The more rest children have, the higher grades they will get. |
| D．Elementary schools should limit kids’ rest time to 30 minutes. |
| A．Parents’ demand. |
| B．Students’ lack of social skills. |
| C．Students’ bad behavior. |
| D．The link between their pay and school’s scores. |
| A．Social skills are more important than high scores. |
| B．Whether students get A’s in school is very important. |
| C．Graduates from Harvard can’t find good jobs. |
| D．Rest time has nothing to do with students’ social skills |
| A．The government is to order schools to increase rest time. |
| B．Students expect to get more time to play in school. |
| C．Parents struggle for the rest right for their kids in school. |
| D．Teachers’ pay is related to their performance in teaching. |
【推荐2】Sugar-free cookies, reduced-sugar cereal, sugar- free candy, diet soda...are these better for you? After sugar became a taboo(禁忌) in the nutrition and wellness world, sugar-free food items and beverages acted as substitutes for once beloved sweet drinks and snacks. Claiming to be ZERO sugar meant it was healthier, better for diabetics, and helped you slim down...Right?
Wrong. Sugar-free food isn’t better for you. In fact, it is worse.
Sugar-free means that artificial sweeteners (甜味剂) are used instead of real sugar. The problem: these sweeteners do not come from natural sources and they can cause you more harm than good.
Let’s get into what these artificial sweeteners actually are. Sugar-free sugar sounds wrong and that’s because there is no such thing as sugar-free sugar. Some of these sugar-free alternatives even contain sugar and the ones that don’t have chemicals your body often does not know how to process.
Most artificial sweeteners are a lot sweeter than sugar so only a tiny amount is needed. That’s why they can market sugar-free alternatives as “low-calorie” or “no-calorie”. It also means that you get no nutritional value from consuming them, which is why many sugar-free substitutes are classified as “non-nutritive”. These artificial sweeteners tend to hide under sneaky names. Actually, they are 200-600 times sweeter than sugar.
When you eat sweet stuff, your body continues to desire it and, even though your body cannot metabolize(新陈代谢) these sugar-free alternatives, your brain does not know the difference. In turn, sugar-free alternatives connect to weight gain and type 2 diabetes (糖尿病).
Artificial sweeteners also damage your gut’s ability to break down sugar which impacts everything you eat. In other words, your body doesn’t know how to handle artificial sweeteners because they have nothing real to process.
A good rule of thumb: stay away from artificial sweeteners and look for non-sugar, natural sweeteners like Stevia or date sugar. In the war against artificial sweeteners and real sugar, both lose. Satisfy your sweet tooth with natural sugars that come from fruits and stay away from products claiming to be sugar-free or diet!
1. What’s special about sugar-free products?| A．They don’t taste sweet. | B．They are more nutritious. |
| C．They contain artificial sweeteners. | D．They contain natural sweeteners. |
| A．They don’t produce any heat. |
| B．They contain no artificial sweetener. |
| C．Some real sugar is used. |
| D．A small amount of artificial sweetener is used. |
| A．They are as sweet as sugar. |
| B．They can be easily broken down. |
| C．They present a bigger health risk. |
| D．They improve our ability to metabolize. |
| A．Real sugar is a better choice. |
| B．Stay away from sugary products. |
| C．Sugar-free products are healthier. |
| D．Choose sugar from natural sources. |
【推荐3】Over the past decades, experts have done a considerable amount of research to explore different ways to encourage children’s learning. Especially, there has been a common focus on how physical activity, separated from the learning activities, can improve children’s learning. However, there has been less of a focus aimed the potential of integrating physical activity into the learning activities.
The main purpose of the Basket Mathematics study conducted at five Danish primary and elementary schools by researchers from the University of Copenhagen therefore was to develop a learning activity that integrates basketball and mathematics and examine how it might affect children’s motivation for mathematics.
756 children from 40 different classes at Copenhagen area schools participated in the project, where about half of them－once a week for six weeks－had Basketball Mathematics during gym class, while the other half played basketball without mathematics.
“During classes with Basketball Mathematics, the children had to collect numbers and perform calculations associated with various basketball exercises. An example could be counting how many times they could sink a basket from three meters away vs at a one-meter distance, and adding up the numbers. Both the math and basketball elements could be adjusted to suit the children’s levels, as well as being adjusted for whether it was addition, multiplication or some other operations that needed to be practiced,” explains Linn Damsgaard, a leading researcher.
The results showed that children’s motivation for math integrated with basketball was 16% higher compared to classroom math learning. Children also experienced a 14% increase in self-determination compared with classroom teaching. Meanwhile Basketball Mathematics improved their math confidence.
“We are planning to do research to examine whether the Basketball Mathematics model can strengthen performance in mathematics. Once we have the final results, we hope that they will inspire school teachers and principals to prioritize more physical activity and movement in such subjects. Eventually, we hope to succeed in putting these tools into school system and teacher education,” says Associate Professor Jacob Wienecke.
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To show the advantage of the study. | B．To explain the reason for the study. |
| C．To conduct a review of past research. | D．To introduce a way to raise math grades. |
| A．All kids didn’t play basketball. | B．Kids were divided into 40 groups. |
| C．It studied kids’math performance. | D．It tailored activities to different kids. |
| A．More motivation for exercise. | B．More confidence in basketball. |
| C．A gain in desire to learn math. | D．A rise in determination to learn. |
| A．Make math learning easier. | B．Inspire students’ math confidence. |
| C．Build physical activity into teaching. | D．Notice the benefits of physical exercise. |
