A device floating in the water off the coast of southern Chile aims to collect data on nearty whales to protect them from passing ships
The first electronic buoy(浮标) was recently placed in the sea in the Gulf of Corcovado. The device is designed to listen to the sounds whales make when they communicate with each other. The animals use sounds to map their movements and to hunt. The sounds are processed by artificial intelligence (AI )-powered computer systems in an effort to identify where the animals are. This information is then sent to shipping operators to help them avoid crashing in to whales
A non-profit organization put the buoy in place. The group seeks to develop technology tools to provide a warning system for shipping companies. In addition to helping protect whales the "smart" buoy also collects data on the health of the ocean and the effects of climate change. The Gulf of Corcovado is rich in sea life, including a large number of blue whales, as well as Southern right whales, which are endangered now. The population of the area's whales is the largest during the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere
"This is the beginning of a longer road," said Sonia Espanol, director of organization. She noted that her team planned to cover the gulf with at least six buoys. The buoy works by using software called Listening to the Deep Ocean Environment. The device continuously monitors ocean sounds. It uses AI to identify the kind of whales and where they are in real time. It then sends messages to nearby ships, so they can alleviate noise levels and try to avoid crashes.
The buoys also contain sensors to measure water temperatures, oxygen levels and more to predict ocean health and the effects of climate change. That information is expected to be used to help guide public environmental policies
1. What does paragraph 2 intend to tell us?| A．The necessity of protecting whales |
| B．The important role of whales' sounds |
| C．The unique ways of whales' communication |
| D．The working process of the electronic buoy |
| A．The health of whales | B．The change of sea life |
| C．The condition of the ocean | D．The cause of climate change |
| A．Rid | B．Collect | C．Reduce | D．Recognize |
| A．To guide public environmental policies |
| B．To improve the ocean's oxygen levels |
| C．To solve the problem of climate change |
| D．To instruct passing ships to go smoothly |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Folk tales have saddled the moon with major responsibilities: moods, increases in crime and even mental disorders are blamed on the Earth's only constant natural satellite. But could the "lunar effect" disturb sleep?
Scientists have long understood that human activity is facilitated by light, be it sunlight, moonlight or artificial light. But a recent study suggests our ability to sleep is distinctly affected by the lunar cycle, even when taking into account artificial sources of light.
Using wrist monitors, researchers tracked sleep patterns in 98 individuals living in three local communities in Argentina over the course of one to two months. One rural community had no electricity access, a second rural community had limited access to electricity, while a third community was located in an urban setting and had full access to electricity.
Participants in all three communities showed the same pattern of sleep oscillations as the moon progressed through its 29.5-day cycle, with sleep duration changing by between 20 and more than 90 minutes, and bedtimes varying by 30 to 80 minutes.
In each community, the peak of participants sleeping less and staying up later occurred in the three-to-five-day period prior to full moon nights, and the opposite occurred on the nights before the new moon, the authors found.
Unsurprisingly, data showed the "lunar phase effect" on sleep appeared to be stronger the more limited access to electricity was.
“The result strongly suggests that human sleep is synchronized with lunar phases regardless of ethnic and socio-cultural background and of the level of urbanisation," the researchers wrote in the journal Science Advances.
De la Iglesia added: “We humans tend to believe that we managed to somehow control nature, and the use of artificial light is a great example of that. But it turns out that there are some forces of nature that we cannot get away from.”
Derk-Jan Dijk, a professor of sleep and physiology and the director of a sleep research centre at the University of Surrey, described the study as exciting but noted that the researchers had not addressed internal influences such as body clocks that could affect sleep patterns.
1. What is the recent study mainly about?| A．The harm of lunar effect. | B．The reliability of folk tales. |
| C．The function of artificial light. | D．The effect of the lunar cycle on sleep. |
| A．On the full moon night. | B．On the new moon night. |
| C．On the night after the new moon. | D．On the night before the full moon. |
| A．Controlling nature. | B．The level of urbanisation. |
| C．The escape from forces of nature. | D．Synchronizing with lunar phases. |
| A．Groundless. | B．Persuasive. | C．Incomplete. | D．Impressive. |
【推荐2】The sixth mass extinction of life on the Earth is unfolding more quickly than feared, scientists have warned. More than 30 percent of animals with a backbone — fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals — are declining in both range and population, according to the first comprehensive analysis of these trends.
Around a decade ago, experts feared that a new range wipeout of species was appearing. Today, most agree that it is underway — but the new study suggests that the die-out is already growing fast.
The loss of biodiversity has recently accelerated. Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered, including cheetahs, lions and giraffes, the study showed.
There is no mystery as to why: our own ever-expanding species — which has more than doubled in number since 1960 to 7.4 billion — is eating, crowding and polluting its planetary cohabitants out of existence. By comparison, there are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 7,000 cheetahs, 500 to 1,000 giant pandas.
The main drivers of wildlife decline are habitat loss, over-consumption, pollution, other species, disease, as well as hunting in the case of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other large animals prized for their body parts.
Climate change is thought to become a major threat in the coming decades, with some animals — most famously polar bears — already in decline due to rising temperatures and changing weather patterns.
1. What does the underlined word “underway” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Doing. | B．On-going. |
| C．Increasing. | D．Keeping. |
| A．The extinction reasons of the wild animals. |
| B．The disappearance of the wild animals is approaching. |
| C．The extinction of the wild animals is becoming faster. |
| D．The rising temperatures lead to the extinction of the wild animals. |
| A．Protected. | B．Endangered. |
| C．Comfortable. | D．Wonderful. |
| A．Climate change. | B．Humans’ hunting. |
| C．Loss of living areas. | D．Various illnesses. |
【推荐3】When Ariel Cordova-Rojas rode her bike to Jamaicia Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, New York, last November, she planned to go hiking and bird-watching. Bingo!
A mile into her walk, she spotted a beautiful female mute swan (疣鼻天鹅) near the water’s edge. Cordova-Rojas, 30, who had worked at the Wild Bird Fund recovery center in Manhattan, knew that mute swans can be battle some. But as she approached this one, it didn’t move. She was certain that the bird needed medical attention. Cordova-Rojas placed her jacket over the bird’s head to keep it calm, carefully picked it up, and held it in her arms. And then a thought struck her: What do I do now?
Her best bet was the recovery center, but that was across the East River and clear on the other side of town. How was she going to transport a 17-pound swan on her bike all that way? Luckily, some strangers driving by offered her, her bike, and the swan a lift to a nearby subway station. She worried others might be disturbed. However, on the subway, no one seemed particularly fazed by the feathered passenger. One guy, says Cordova-Rojas, was “sitting right in front of me on his phone. I don’t know if he noticed there was a swan in front of him”.
Cordova-Rojas called the recovery center, and Tristan Higgin-botham, an animal-care manager, picked her up at the subway station and drove bird, bike, and the rescuer to the facility. There, staff members determined that the swan might have lead poisoning.
The staff got the swan back up on her feet. She even made a boyfriend at the center — another injured swan. Sadly, even with all that tender loving care, the swan fell ill with a bacterial infection. Two months after Cordova-Roias came to her rescue, she passed away.
It’s a disappointing ending, but the real story is just how far some people are willing to go to save a swan in the big city-literally. In all, Cordova-Rojas traveled two hours by foot, car, and subway (with her bike). “That’s the perfect summary of who she is,” says Higginbotham.
1. How did Cordova-Rojas know the swan was in trouble?| A．She noticed a scar on the swan. |
| B．She found the swan trapped in water. |
| C．The swan was behaving in an abnormal way. |
| D．The swan attacked her when she came near it. |
| A．On top of the world. | B．In the wrong. |
| C．On the rocks. | D．At a loss. |
| A．The swan suffered a lot of pain there. |
| B．The swan enjoyed its staying there. |
| C．The swan’s life there was totally disappointing. |
| D．Many people came to visit the swan, |
| A．Curious and generous. | B．Caring and thoughtful. |
| C．Energetic and independent. | D．Sensible and straight-forward. |
【推荐1】Living robots can reproduce on their own in a dish. The study was published in the National Academy of Sciences.
Xenobots, a type of tiny robot were first created in 2020, using cells taken from the embryo(胚胎) of an African droy species. Under the right lab conditions, the cells formed small structures that could fit together automatically, move in groups and react to their environment. Now, the researchers have found that xenobots can also self-copy.
Are they living organisms or robots? They are organisms because they are made of stem cells and can reproduce. But they are also robots because they can move on their own and perform physical labor, co-author Sam Kriegman told The Washington Post.
“People have thought for quite a long time that we’ve worked out all the ways that life can reproduce. But this is something that’s never been observed before,” co-author Douglas Blackiston told Science Daily website.
The ability to copy adds a new layer of potential quality to the robots. Kriegman told The Washington Post that while xenobots are not yet commercially useful, they have the potential to provide a number of services, from cleaning up microplastics in the ocean to safely delivering drugs to a specific spot in a person’s body.
However, the creation of xenobots comes with concerns. Something more advanced future xenobots could out-compete other species, according to. The Conversation Researchers think these risks are manageable. “The amount of sodium in the water too high or too low, they’ll die,” Kriegman said. “A piece of copper in the dish, they’ll all die. It’s an extremely controllable and stoppable and safe system.”
1. What do we know about xenobots?| A．They are able to self-copy under natural conditions. |
| B．They are quickly formed from the stem cells of a sheep. |
| C．They are much more like robots than any other organism. |
| D．they can move independently and perform physical labor |
| A．Reducing and recycling the waste |
| B．Delivering some food to the patients |
| C．Carrying medicine inside human bodies. |
| D．Getting rid of the viruses in human bodies. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Optimistic. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．Are Xenobots Alive? | B．Achievements in Robots. |
| C．Developments in Robots | D．Xenobots, Advanced or not? |
【推荐2】Surgical students are less capable than their forebears because they spend too much time with screens and not enough with physical materials. These claims from Roger Kneebone, professor of surgical education at Imperial College London, were widely reported last week.
According to Kneebone, today’s students lack the dexterity that is important for sewing, cutting, and stitching. He argues that this is because, instead of taking part in creative subjects that involve manual work during their school education, “a lot of things are reduced to swiping on a two-dimensional flat screen”.
There hasn’t been much research into the effects of smartphones on hand skills. However, one 2012 study found no statistically significant change in digital dexterity among frequent smartphone users, and it did find a significant improvement in reaction time.
If anything, says Pete Etchells, a psychologist at Bath Spa University, UK, the use of digital technology—rather than smartphones specifically—seems to be linked with a higher level of surgical skill. One 2007 study, for example, found that young surgeons who played a lot of video games made fewer errors in surgery and worked faster than those who didn’t. A randomized, controlled trial in 2012 found that surgery simulators were less effective at training surgeons than just letting them play on games consoles. These were small studies that only found modest effects, warns Etchells, but they don’t paint a picture of digital technology damaging the core skills of surgery.
More broadly, says Andrew Przybylski of the Oxford Internet Institute, UK, Kneebone’s concerns, and the resulting coverage are part of a wider reaction to the role of technology in our lives. Around a decade ago, we hoped that digital experiences could lead to improvements in various kinds of real-world competence, such as brain-training games enhancing cognitive performance or video games boosting surgical dexterity. “As those hopes haven’t materialized, we, rightly, feel disillusioned,” says Przybylski.
There is also a society-wide fear about new technologies, which is often unfounded. Przybylski’s own work has found that, contrary to widespread concern around technology and young people, screen time seems to have a small, positive effect on teenagers in all but the most extreme of cases. “Collective anxiety about the role of smartphones, and social media companies, feed into this sort of technophobia,” he says.
Ultimately, Kneebone may turn out to be right that the decline in crafts and handiwork at school is reducing the quality of the surgical student intake. But there seems little evidence of it yet. In fact, it is probably a positive thing that our youngest surgeons are digitally literate. In the very near future, a surgeon’s ability to interact with technology—be that surgical robots or augmented reality—will become increasingly important.
1. What does the underlined word “dexterity” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Skills related to hand work. | B．Experience of performing surgery. |
| C．Ability of concentration. | D．Capacity to use knowledge. |
| A．worried | B．supportive | C．surprised | D．uncertain |
| A．Surgeons will be less skillful when exposed much to digital screens. |
| B．People are confident that video games will boost cognitive performance. |
| C．Young surgeons can communicate with surgical robots in the near future. |
| D．Many people usually fail to see the positive effects of digital technology. |
Face up to Reality
Calls to stop the use of face recognition technology are growing louder, but it is already too late. Given its widespread use by tech companies and the police, a permanent roll back is impossible.
The European Commission is considering temporarily banning the use of the technology in public spaces, giving politicians in Europe time to develop measures to reduce the potential risks of face recognition systems. Some US cities, such as San Francisco, have already implemented bans.
Most of us now associate face recognition with CCTV cameras（闭路电视摄像机）.
Other concerns relate to the fact that the technology is imperfect. An independent analysis of a face recognition trial by London’s Metropolitan Police found that 81 per cent of matches the system flagged to a watch list of suspects were incorrect.
So what is the possible solution? When we consider both the rate at which the technology is developing and its widespread use nowadays, it is crystal-clear that a ban on its use in public spaces would be too little, too late.
| A．This applies to face recognition, as is often the case. |
| B．As a matter of fact, it is advancing in the online field, too. |
| C．What face recognition needs is strict and urgent regulation. |
| D．But the prohibitions are so limited that they are hardly bans at all. |
| E．And it’s even less accurate for some minorities, which risks worsening racial issues. |
| F．Companies cannot let market make a final decision on the future of new technology. |
【推荐1】For those of us who attempt to keep up with the fashion world to ensure our cupboard stays fresh, the real skeletons in our cupboards are those pieces we bought and only wore once or twice - mostly from following each season’s new trends.
With “fast fashion” brands like Forever 21, H&M and Zara’ constant output of new trendy clothing at low prices, it’s easy to fall into the trap of buying clothes regardless of whether you really need them. But unnecessary purchasing, and the mass production of clothing, isn’t just hard on our wallets - it’s hard on the environment.
One of the first steps in getting unwanted clothes out of your cupboard is to sell or consign (寄售) them. But because popular resale shops like Buffalo Exchange and Crossroads don’t accept fast fashion brands because they don’t profit enough from them, people often turn to throwing their old clothing in the dustbins.
Many consumers don’t realize that clothing and textiles (织物) are recyclable or how to recycle them. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States generated 16.22 million tons of waste textiles in 2017 and recycled only 2. 62 million tons. Ten and a half million tons of textiles were finally buried under the ground that year.
Vetements, a Parisian fashion brand worn by celebrities like Kanye West and Rihanna aimed to bring awareness to the problem of fast fashion brands and clothing waste with a recent Window display Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. The window contained a giant pile of clothes. The pile, which grew daily, was made up of old clothes donated by Saks employees and out-of-season items from the store.
On Aug.10, the clothing from the display was donated to RewearABLE, a Long Island recycling program that collects old clothes and textiles, and prepares them for resale or repurposes the textiles.
1. What keeps customers coming back to fast fashion chains like Forever 21, H&M and Zara?| A．Good shopping environment. |
| B．Discounts and promotional activities. |
| C．Warm and thoughtful service of the salesmen. |
| D．Low prices and a continuous supply of new looks. |
| A．In Paragraph 2. | B．In Paragraph 3. |
| C．In Paragraph 4. | D．In paragraph 5. |
| A．It can help the environment. | B．It does good to people’s health. |
| C．It can help change people’s lives. | D．It will take the lead in the latest fashion. |
| A．How to Stop Buying Unnecessary Clothes |
| B．Fast Fashion Brands Spread Around the World |
| C．The Advantages and Disadvantages of Fast Fashion |
| D．Fast Fashion Can Kill Your Wallet and the Environment |
【推荐2】As Americans live longer and the job market stays competitive, fast-food chains are increasingly hiring from senior centers, churches and aging advocacy groups like AARP, Bloomberg reports. And it's not just death rates and economic trends driving the change. Seniors have more polished social skills, but teens are stopped from growing up online with fewer real-world connections.
“I spend a lot of time with young kids. They can he very disrespectful,” 63-year-old Church's Chicken manager Stevenson Williams tells Bloomberg of his teen coworkers. “You have to coach them and tell them this is your job, not the street,” Williams says. Having “soft skills” such as politeness often comes more easily to the seniors, who have had a lifetime of experience in the workforce to learn how to treat customers compared with young people.
Employers thus get a more mature worker at no additional cost but the reasons for seniors outpacing teen hires are many. The US Census Bureau reported this year that, by 2035, there will be more Americans over age 65 than there are children under age 18. Plus, fewer people in their prime (盛年)are working—thanks to the unaffordable childcare that forces many parents to stay at home, according to a study by Princeton University.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts the number of American workers aged between 65 and 74 will swell 4.5 percent by 2024, while the 16-to-24s will shrink 1.4 percent. By 2024, the BLS projects the labor force will grow to about 164 million people. That number includes about 41 million people aged 55 and older about 13 million of whom are expected to be aged 65 and up.
So don’t be surprised to see even more service with a smile and silver hair in that drive-through lane.
1. What does the underlined part “the change” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．The job market gets competitive. |
| B．Americans live longer. |
| C．Senior centers are becoming more popular. |
| D．Fast-food chains hire more senior people. |
| A．They demand less pay. |
| B．Teens are easy to quit. |
| C．Teens are hard to control and manage. |
| D．They are good at socializing. |
| A．Knowing customers’ needs. |
| B．Having high education. |
| C．Having lots of connections with the real world. |
| D．Being skillful at computer. |
| A．They prefer to look after children. |
| B．They find it hard to find a job. |
| C．They find it hard to pay for childcare. |
| D．They are unwilling to work with senior citizens. |
【推荐3】Travelers across China are showing a growing preference for camping and self-driving tours because of the increasing popularity of short-distance trips, many of which made over the just-concluded National Day holiday, according to the latest industry figures.
About 65 percent of Trip.com users traveled to places near their work areas and homes during the seven-day holiday—from Oct 1 to Friday—with costs on related tours rising by 30 percent from the same period last year, according to figures from the online travel group.
Camping remained popular among travelers during the holiday, with orders for camping-related tour packages on its website growing ten times year-on-year. Nearly 80 percent of the camping tour destinations were near users’ workplaces or homes, while about 15 percent involved travel to neighboring cities or suburban areas and, the group said, average expenditure on camping was about 650 yuan, up 30 percent from spending during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in September.
Travelers aged 30 to 39 favored camping tours, especially families with children. About 83 percent of these travelers stayed overnight at campsites and enjoyed leisure activities such as fruit picking offered by local farms.
Chen Yi, 31, spent two days and one night at a farm in suburban Beijing with her family this National Day holiday. She said it was a relaxing trip. “We were concerned about COVID- 19 (新冠肺炎) control measures that may cause some uncertainty in work-related matters after the holiday, so we decided to spend the break in Beijing rather than visit other places,” she said. “It was my husband’s idea to go camping. He is a fan of such activities.” Chen chose a farmland about two hours’ drive from downtown. “The air is quite fresh there and the owner of the farmland is also friendly and generous. We made quite good memories there.”
A number of destinations not far from the city became top attractions during the recent national holiday, such as Nan’ao Island in Shantou, Guangdong province and Meizhou Island in Putian, Fujian province, catching travelers with breathtaking coastal views, figures from travel agencies showed.
Prices of hotel accommodation also rose quickly over the recent vacation period, with expenses on hotels for short-distance tours increasing 10 percent over the break, according to Trip.com figures.
Wu Ruoshan, a visiting researcher at the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that travelers are changing their travel choices and consumption preferences, focusing more on safety in epidemic(流行病) prevention and control. “In addition to their tourism service, it is necessary for travel agencies and companies to be aware of travelers’ safety.” he said.
1. We can learn from the passage that ______.| A．The number of travelers increased by 30% from the same time last year |
| B．Orders for camping-related tour package went down year after year |
| C．Most of the camping destination were not far from travelers’ workplaces or homes |
| D．About 83% of the travelers stayed up and enjoyed themselves |
| A．What she and her family worried about |
| B．Why she and her family chose to camp |
| C．Where she and her family chose to camp |
| D．How she and her family spent their holiday |
| A．favorable | B．unreasonable | C．uninterested | D．worried |
| A．Camping, popular on holidays |
| B．Trip.com, a professional travel website |
| C．National Day holiday, go and relax yourselves |
| D．Short trips, ride holiday high |
