Cities are difficult to navigate (导航) at the best of times, but for people with disabilities they can be like courses with hurdles and bring inconvenience to disabled people.
A UK national travel survey found that adults with mobility difficulties took 39% fewer trips than those with no disability in 2017. Yet that could change as devices and cities grow smarter. Assistive tech is playing a big role in the transformation. The global value of the industry is expected to increase from $14 billion in 2015 to $30.8 billion in 2024, according to Zion Market Research.
One of the things that could transform lives is a smart walking stick designed by engineers from Young Guru Academy (YGA) in Turkey. The WeWalk stick has a sensor that detects hurdles above chest level and uses vibrations (振动) to warn the user. It can be paired with a smartphone to help navigation, and is connected with a voice assistant and Google Maps.
Ceylan, who has been blind since birth, says that connecting the stick to the Internet of Things and smart city solutions makes it user-friendly. “As a blind person, when I am at the Metro station I don’t know which is my exit ... I don’t know which bus is approaching ... which stores are around me. That kind of information can be provided with the WeWalk,” he says.
“The smart walking stick is really an exciting initiative that will make a huge difference to some people,” says Anna Lawson, the director of the Center for Disability Studies at Leeds University in the United Kingdom. “But they are very expensive ... they’re not going to be available to the vast majority of disabled people,” she added.
Bryan Matthews, a lecturer at the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, shares the concerns about cost. He says there should also be a focus on inclusive design, and anything that helps people navigate their environment is positive.
1. What does “that” in the second paragraph refer to?| A．The survey that compared adults’ mobility. |
| B．The smart industry that is booming. |
| C．The fact that the disabled traveled less. |
| D．The role that the assistive tech plays. |
| A．The working principles of the WeWalk stick. |
| B．The introduction of the WeWalk stick inventors. |
| C．The transformation caused by the WeWalk stick. |
| D．The benefits brought about by the WeWalk stick. |
| A．To show the value of smart tech. |
| B．To urge more attention to the blind. |
| C．To increase the potential market share. |
| D．To encourage tech research and development. |
| A．Confusing instructions. | B．Poor navigation. |
| C．Inclusive designs. | D．High prices. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】A study found wireless signals are able to pass through bags and suitcases to judge the sizes of dangerous metal objects and identify them. “These items could include weapons, chemicals, laptops and batteries for bombs,” the research team said on Tuesday.
Research suggested that Wi-Fi can now be used to estimate the volume of liquids such as water, acid, alcohol and other chemicals for explosive material. The study led by researchers at the Wireless Information Network Laboratory(WINLAB)in the School of Engineering showed a wireless device with two to three antennas(天线)that could be fitted in existing Wi-Fi networks.
The detection system analyzes what happens when wireless signals go through and bounce off objects or materials. The approach, which the paper states, works by separating the wireless interference(干扰)caused by two factors of objects - the material and shape. “Most dangerous objects such as weapons are usually metal or liquid, which have significant interference,” researchers said.
When it was tested on a backpack, the accuracy rate topped 95 percent. “But the accuracy dropped to about 90 percent when objects inside bags are wrapped. And the tech could save lives if used in museums, stadiums, theme parks or schools,” the team said, noting its design can inspect bags or luggage without being an exposure to privacy.
It uses channel state information(CS)that is readily available in low-cost Wi-Fi devices. “This could have a great impact on protecting the public from dangerous objects,” said Yingying Chen, a co-author of the study, “There’s a growing need for that now. In large public areas, it’s hard to set up expensive screening equipment like what’s in airports. Manpower is always needed to check bags and we want to develop a method to try to reduce manpower. “
The peer-reviewed study, which recently won a best paper award at the 2018 IEEE Conference on Communications and Network Security, is now published online. “Future work will continue to focus on ameliorating the accuracy of identifying objects and imaging shapes and volumes,” researchers said.
1. What does paragraph 3 talk about?| A．The function of the technique. |
| B．The way the device works. |
| C．The principle the study is based on. |
| D．The benefit of the study findings. |
| A．It saves people in danger of natural disasters. |
| B．It passes through bags without damaging them. |
| C．It uses antennas to pick up networks’ signals. |
| D．It protects personal information from being exposed. |
| A．To save money and labour. |
| B．To make full use of Wi-Fi. |
| C．To protect passengers’ privacy. |
| D．To research dangerous objects. |
| A．Confirming. | B．Improving. |
| C．Discovering. | D．Examining. |
【推荐2】Young children often “read” picture books. They’re attracted by the colorful scenery and the realistic characters that contribute to fascinating plots.
Unfortunately, some children can’t use these resources, even if they do know how to read. Take three-year-old Elodie Bateson for example. Elodie was born with under-developed eyes and has retinal detachments (视网膜脱落), making her visually impaired.
It is because of people like Elodie that Tom Yeh, head of the Tactile Picture Books Project, has started printing 3D books, so they can feel the illustrations in picture books.
The first book Tom Yeh printed was Goodnight Moon, a popular children’s book about a rabbit going to sleep and wishing good night to his surroundings. In the 3D version of this book, children can feel each thing that the rabbit says good night to, whether it is a cow jumping over the moon, a balloon, or a dollhouse.
Generally, when children grow older, they read by using Braille, a language that was invented by Louis Braille in 1824. It uses different patterns of raised dots representing different letters. Readers can then feel the dots and mentally translate the patterns they feel into words. The only problem is that many blind children do not start learning Braille until they are about six years old.
Another reason why 3D printed books are such a valuable resource is that children don’t have to know how to read to understand them. However, without these, visually impaired kids are losing six developmental years vital to their growth since they can’t take advantage of picture books.
When 3D picture books are printed, plastic is layered (分层放置) repeatedly over a single shape: the shape of the illustration. These raised pictures created through layered plastic serve as substitutes (替代品) for the Braille letters that little children have no knowledge of.
1. What does the underlined word “impaired” in paragraph 2 mean？| A．Damaged. | B．Disappeared. | C．Defeated. | D．Unmatched. |
| A．Most people can translate Braille into words. |
| B．The blind at any age can read by using Braille. |
| C．Blind kids begin learning Braille at six years old or so. |
| D．Braille uses similar patterns of raised dots to stand for different letters. |
| A．pictures | B．letters | C．dots | D．codes |
| A．To encourage kids to read books. | B．To teach the blind children Braille. |
| C．To cure visually impaired children. | D．To help the blind children read picture books. |
【推荐3】CLIP
If you’re looking for an e-bike experience without getting rid of your favorite two-wheeler, the CLIP is for you. It’s a friction-drive (摩擦驱动的) motor that easily attaches to the front wheel of your bike, its roller helping speed you around faster than you can pedal. It’s removable, so you can charge it under your desk or at your destination.
Yakima CBX Solar
Topped with Sunflare solar panels, Yakima’s new CBX Solar rooftop cargo (货物) box is equipped with two USB ports and can power your campsite on an overnight trip or keep your devices charged without having to use your car battery. Plus, the CBX Solar has more than enough room to hold your sports equipment.
Nuheara IQbuds2 MAX
Wireless earbuds (耳塞) are increasingly capable of blocking the noise of the outside world while you listen to tunes. But when you can’t hear the person right in front of you, it’d be nice if they offered a little help. The IQbuds2 MAX are on the case. They are the only wireless buds that feature both active noise cancellation and audio-processing technology capable of identifying human conversations, which tune out everything except the people or sounds you want to hear.
Guardhat HC1 Communicator
Besides head injuries, industrial workers also face other dangers at work sites. Guardhat’s new tech-enabled hard hat, the HC1 Communicator, can help keep those workers safe. The Communicator monitors the wearer’s location in real time; allows them to make hands-free video and audio calls; and detects their nearness to dangerous materials, temperatures and moving equipment.
1. Which of the following can power your Bluetooth speaker?| A．CLIP. | B．Yakima CBX Solar. |
| C．Nuheara IQbuds2 MAX. | D．Guardhat HCl Communicator. |
| A．blocking the noise | B．music playing |
| C．conversation capability | D．sorting out sounds |
| A．Introduction of new inventions. |
| B．Safety rules for workers. |
| C．Comments on high-tech devices. |
| D．Advice on vehicle choices. |
【推荐1】Taking a picture of your tongue with a mobile phone could soon tell you how healthy you are. Researchers believe the images can reveal important information about a patient’s health and even give them early warning of serious illness.
A team at the University of Missouri is developing a system that can analyze pictures using a 5,000-year-old Chinese principle, which is based on the flow and balance of positive and negative energies in the body, and uses the tongue as a key to learning about a person’s physical health, or “zheng” according to Chinese medicine.
“Within a year, our goal is to create an application for smart phones that will allow anyone to take a photo of their tongue and learn the state of their zheng,” said Dong Xu, chair of MU’s Computer Science Department in the College of Engineering and the co-author of the latest study.
The software analyzes images based on the tongue’s color and coating to distinguish between tongues showing signs of “hot” or “cold” zheng. Shades of red and yellow are connected with hot zheng, while a white coating on the tongue is a sign of cold zheng.
“Hot and cold zheng doesn’t refer directly to body temperature,” said Xu, “Rather, it refers to a series of symptoms connected with the state of the body as a whole.”
For the study, 263 gastritis patients and 48 healthy volunteers had their tongues analyzed. The gastritis patients were classified by whether they showed infection by a certain bacteria as well as the intensity of their gastritis symptoms. In addition, most of the gastritis patients had been previously classified with either hot or cold zheng. This allowed the researchers to test the accuracy of the software’s analysis.
“Our software is able to classify people based on their zheng state. And as we continue to work on the software, we hope to improve its ability,” said another co-author Ye Duan, “Eventually everyone will be able to use this tool at home using smart phone applications, which will allow them to monitor their zheng and get an early warning about possible ailments.”
1. The software mentioned in the passage is based on ________.| A．the latest development of smart phones | B．a traditional Chinese medical principle |
| C．the changes in one’s flow and energy | D．symptoms connected with the state of the body |
| A．one’s body temperature | B．the physical health of a person |
| C．the possible disease of a person | D．the color and coating of one’s tongue |
| A．analysis | B．effects | C．illnesses | D．applications |
| A．the software still needs improvement | B．the subjects in the study are all gastritis |
| C．the software has been in market for a year | D．the subjects in the study are classified by age |
【推荐2】It is a cold November evening and I am sitting at the top of a tall stepladder in a village hall. On the floor. 16 dogs stare up at me curiously. They are arranged in a square, four by four. I watch through the viewfinder of my x video camera. This. I think to myself, could make me famous.
I hadn’t thought up the idea myself—it all came about at the request of my editor. “We want you to write about viral video”, he had told me a couple of weeks earlier, “Go and find out why some videos go viral. What makes people share them?” It sounded straightforward enough. He sent me a link to Chcirlie Bit My Finger, a video of a baby biting his little brother. It is currently YouTube’s most watched video of all that time. “I want you to make your own viral and become internet famous.” he said. “If this can get 135 million hits, you can do it too.”
To better understand what makes people share videos. I turned to Judith Donath of MIT, who studies online social networks. She argues that the factors driving people to share stuff over the web are not that different from the reasons apes pick bugs out of each other’s fur: it’s a way of establishing social bonds. Other researchers have argued that in human societies, language—especially gossip—has taken on the social function of such grooming. Sharing videos through email or within social networks is just the next step, Donath argues. “Sharing online is equivalent to small talk,“‘ she says. ”It’s a little gift of information. It shows I’m thinking of you.’’
Video sharing is also a way of making a statement. “In addition, people use videos as a way of showing their position in the ‘information-technology ecology’,” Donath says. “A video reflects on the person who sends it.” In other words, people will pass on a video if they think it’s cool—because it makes them look cool too. I have friends and colleagues who are cool, so I quizzed them for inspiration. Eventually, we hit upon a winning idea. I called it Pets Teach Science. The aim is to demonstrate tricky concepts ranging from quantum physics to chemical structure with the help of man’s best friend and other furry companions.
1. The writer is on a ladder at the beginning of the passage because________.| A．some dogs are watching him from below | B．he is being filmed with some animals |
| C．he is trying to make a special type of video | D．he is observing people making a film |
| A．To make them both famous. |
| B．To get a film of some rare dogs. |
| C．To investigate the success of video-sharing websites. |
| D．To discover the reasons for some videos’ popularity. |
| A．using small talk |
| B．sharing stuff on the web |
| C．looking after each other like animals do |
| D．establishing social networks through gossiping |
| A．To entertain their friends. | B．To give them a good image. |
| C．To use videos as a statement. | D．To practice their technical skills. |
【推荐3】We’ve been celebrating moms for thousands of years. Yet, the origin (起源)of day that belongs to mom actually comes hundreds of years later.
Philadephia,1876, Social activist Ann Jarvis was wishing for someone to honor moms during a Sunday school lesson. Her daughter, Anna Mane, took note.
On May 8 1907, Ann passed away. Anna was sad, but determined to make her mother’s dream come true.
Anna organized the first official celebration of Mother’s Mother Day on May 10 1908. Hundreds attended, but Anna didn’t. Instead, she sent 500 white carnation (康乃馨)flowers to all guests, as well as a letter describing how important the day was. Six years passed and Anna continued her fight for a national holiday.
In 1914, the U. S. President signed a law officially recognizing Mother’s Day as a national holiday. The first national Mother’s Day was held on May 10, 1914. And with that Anna realized her mother’s wishes. Mother's Day soon spread around the world.
But Big business saw the holiday as a chance for big returns. Anna intended for the day to be celebrated with mothers and families, while wearing white carnations. Soon, however, Mother's Day became combined with flowers, candy, cards and other gifts.
Anna spent her later years feeling angry at the corporate machine that had made money by taking advantage of her mother’s dream. She even tried to get the government to drop the holiday completely.
And by 1948, she was completely against Mother’s Day. She died later that year, aged 84. Anna never married, nor did she have any children. All she had was a dream and a wish from her mom.
That dream lives on, though she originally intended, and is still celebrated each year around the world. Commercialization(商业化) ruined the dream for Anna ,but we suppose the feeling behind Mother's Day lives on.
1. When did Mother’s Day become a national holiday?| A．In 1907 | B．In 1908 |
| C．In 1914. | D．In 1948 |
| A．Give flowers to moms. | B．Buy presents for moms. |
| C．Make wishes for moms. | D．Wear white carnations. |
| A．It’s worth celebrating | B．It’s already out of date |
| C．It keeps its original meaning. | D．Its celebration should be stopped |
| A．By the order of place | B．By the order of time |
| C．By giving examples | D．By raising questions |
