Working in a factory can mean doing the same task over and over, and that repetition can lead to injuries. Now, a battery-powered glove could help people by taking some of the force. The Ironhand glove strengthens the wearer’s grip (紧握), meaning it can increase the wearer’s hand strength by 20%. The Swedish company Bioservo Technologies describes the system as a “soft exoskeleton”, which supports and protects the body.
The system includes a backpack, which houses the power pack, and artificial tendons (肌腱) that connect to the glove. There are sensors (传感器) on each fingertip that turn on the motor when a user holds onto an object. A mobile control app can be used to change the strength of the grip. The device also collects data that allows the company to find out the wearer’s risk of developing strain injuries.
According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, work-related neck and upper limb disorders are pretty common in Europe. Mikael Wester, Bioservo’s marketing director, says applications include work on the production line in factories, and the use for lifting heavy objects in warehouses. The device is all in order to reduce tiredness and prevent injuries in the long run.
The glove was originally intended for people in a very different setting. NASA developed an early version of the technology, called“Robo-Glove”, to help astronauts hold objects and carry out work in space. Bioservo licensed the design in 2016 and then partnered with General Motors (GM) to develop the glove for its workers.
GM has helped Bioservo to test and improve the Ironhand by using it in a variety of jobs at its factories. Some workers have found it easy to use but add that it’s not suitable for all situations. And according to market research firm ABI Research, the exoskeleton market will grow from $392 million in 2020 to $6.8 billion in2030. It is an exciting technology.
1. Who may find the Ironhand glove most useful?| A．A painter. | B．A doctor. | C．A skater. | D．A deliveryman. |
| A．They start a motor to add grip strength. |
| B．They operate based on users’ body weight. |
| C．They rely on artificial tendons to control an app. |
| D．They adapt to the working environment quickly. |
| A．It helps them save time. | B．It benefits their health. |
| C．It requires few operators. | D．It develops their balance skills. |
| A．To add some background information. |
| B．To summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| C．To introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| D．To point out the limitations of the Ironhand. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】A pill has been used to electrically stimulate stomach cells in pigs in order to increase levels of ghrelin (胃饥饿素), a hormone which regulates hunger and eases nausea (恶心) . If the technology translates to humans, it could treat nausea and lack of appetite in people with eating disorders, or those receiving treatments for cancer.
Current interventions, which use electrical stimulation to ease symptoms (症状) of nausea, require invasive (侵入的) surgeries. So, Giovanni Traverso at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues designed a non-invasive capsule.
Inside the capsule, a battery generates electrical currents that travel along a gold wire wound around the outside. The gaps carved onto the surface of the capsule absorb fluid so that the wire can electrically stimulate stomach tissue that sets off the release of ghrelin. The device is coated in a thin covering that breaks down once it reaches the stomach.
Traverso and his team tested the capsule in 13 pigs. Eleven of the animals received 20 minutes of stimulation while the other two received no stimulation. The researchers measured blood levels of ghrelin before and 10 minutes after stimulation. They found that, on average, ghrelin increased by about 40 per cent in pigs that underwent stimulation.
“The levels we see are comparable to levels that we would expect to cause hunger or prevent nausea, but we didn’t evaluate those symptoms in animals,” says Traverso. “Part of the next steps involves doing this in humans to understand whether nausea, for example, can be treated using this system.”
“To my knowledge, this is the first absorbable device that can deliver electrical stimulation to the human body,” says Stavros Zanos at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York. “The technology could be adjusted to deliver electrical stimulation to other organ tissues,” he added.
1. Why did Traverso and his team design a new capsule?| A．To avoid invasive surgeries. | B．To ease symptoms of nausea. |
| C．To increase levels of ghrelin. | D．To test the efficiency of the capsule. |
| A．A battery inside the capsule. | B．The gaps carved onto the surface. |
| C．A thin covering outside the capsule. | D．Electrical currents conducted by the wire. |
| A．Causing hunger. | B．Preventing nausea. |
| C．Evaluating symptoms. | D．Comparing levels of ghrelin. |
| A．Promising. | B．Unrealistic. | C．Perfect. | D．Impractical. |
【推荐2】There is nothing more nutritious than mother’s milk, which is packed with vitamins, nutrients, antibodies and other bioactive proteins (蛋白质) designed to help newborn babies grow.
Now, Maolac, a start-up based in Northern Israel, has successfully recreated the healthful characteristics of human breast milk by using the highly nutritious milk of cows that have just given birth. Maolac’s founder Maya Otmazgin said the inspiration for their product came to her while she was nursing her first child. “Mother’s milk can provide different nutrition for a small human being and I realized we could create something new inspired by it,” she said.
Otmazgin and her team began by mapping the composition of breast milk, figuring out which proteins do what. They discovered that there are more than 1,500 bioactive proteins in human breast milk. The next step of the process was to find a natural material made up of proteins that matched the make-up of human breast milk. For that, the team used a special algorithm (计算程序) to match the proteins in breast milk to the ones in the bovine colostrum (牛初乳) and found a 95 percent similarity between the two materials.
The final product is a protein powder that can be added to food for people of all ages. The company plans to initially market their product to athletes to help them improve their recovery ability, and then to the elderly to foster improved mobility and a more active lifestyle. The product could also eventually be used to help people who suffer from diseases.
Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd, one of Maolac’s funders, said that the use of bovine colostrum is “the perfect example of the circular economy in practice”. Every year billions of liters of bovine colostrum are thrown away by the dairy industry. This means that using bovine colostrum is not only far more economical for Maolac than using other natural materials, but most importantly, their product is also sustainable and environmentally friendly.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To provide background information. |
| C．To attract readers’ attention. | D．To show the importance of mother’s milk. |
| A．Her study of breast milk. | B．Her experience of breast-feeding. |
| C．Her knowledge about cows. | D．Her enthusiasm for innovation. |
| A．Athletes. | B．Babies. | C．Patients. | D．The elderly. |
| A．A star-up in Israel. | B．The founder of Maolac. |
| C．A new product inspired by mother’s milk. | D．Bovine colostrum. |
Shenzhou 7, China's next manned space mission, was originally advertised for 2007. This fit into the pattern of staging a two-year gap between crewed Shenzhou missions, which have previously launched in 2003 and 2005. But Chinese media statements have recentlyamendedthis to 2008. Chinese media have reported that while the overall program is going well, more time is needed to work on the spacesuit that will be used on this flight to stage China's first spacewalk. It's possible that Chinese engineers want to make best preparations for this complex mission.
China could intend to carry out the mission of Shenzhou 7 just as media attention is focused on the lead-up to the Olympics. The crew of the flight, and possibly China's other flown astronauts, could then take part in the opening ceremony. China has previously feted her space travellers in great celebrations, such as the Hong Kong event that saw Yang Liwei singing with actor Jacky Chan.
China has also suggested that the activity will be carried out by a single astronaut, and has indicated that half an hour is a rough estimate of the planned time for the spacewalk. China is apparently following suit, probably for the same reasons of conservative mission planning and safety.
1. From the first paragraph we can infer that ___________.
| A．China hasn’t made its plan for the Beijing Olympics |
| B．the new Shenzhou program are known to all the reporters |
| C．China has planned to send up Shenzhou 7 in 2008 |
| D．Beijing Olympics will be held during the flight of Shenzhou 7 |
| A．make the Beijing Olympics more interesting. |
| B．show its great achievements to the world. |
| C．prove that China is a developed country. |
| D．introduce its science and technology to the world. |
| A．China sent its first manned spacecraft in October of 2003. |
| B．Chinese engineers want to make more preparations for Shenzhou 7. |
| C．The spacesuit for the flight of Shenzhou 7 hasn’t been prepared well. |
| D．Two Chinese astronauts walked in space in 2003. |
| A．improve | B．change | C．expect | D．decide |
| A．The Beijing Olympics. |
| B．The Shenzhou Olympics. |
| C．China’s Shenzhou Program. |
| D．Spacewalk in 2008. |
【推荐1】Big messaging apps abroad
While WeChat is China's biggest mobile messaging app,there are many equivalent apps in other countries that offer similar features.
WhatsApp (US)
Users: more than 300 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry
Features: Text chat,push-to-talk,file sharing,location sharing
With more than 300 million active users,WhatsApp is one of WeChat's biggest competitors.Developed by two ex-Yahoo employees in 2009,WhatsApp originally focused on text chat,but on Aug.6 it also started push-to-talk service.It's noted for its accessibility,ease of use and the absence of adverts.The service is free for the first year,after which $0.99 (6.06 yuan) is charged for a one-year subscription.
Kakao Talk (South Korea)
Users: more than 100 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry and Bada (an operating system developed by Samsung)
Features: Text chat,group chat,push-to-talk,group calls,file sharing
With more than 100 million users in more than 230 countries,Kakao Talk is a multi-platform texting applicbtion that allows users to send and receive messages for free.With Kakao Talk,users can message each other one-on-one or in group chats with unlimited numbers of friends.You can also choose from more than 250 animated emoticons and share them with friends.
Line (Japan)
Users: more than 200 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry and PC
Features: Text chat,group chat,push-to-talk,file sharing,location sharing,gaming,stickers
Line tops the list of the most downloaded free apps in 52 countries.Apart from text and voice messaging,Line provides its users with more than 250 original stickers and emoticons to buy from its own shop.In the first quarter of 2013 alone,it made $17 million just from stickers.The popular app also allows friends to battle each other in the LINE Game.
1. Compared with the other two apps,which of the following features makes Line stand out?| A．Group mobile games. | B．Free emoticons. |
| C．Free download of the app. | D．Text and group chat. |
| A．Users can always send and receive messages for free with WhatsApp. |
| B．Users can share files with any of the three apps. |
| C．Kakao Talk frees users from unwanted advertisjments. |
| D．Line ranks first in the list of the most downloaded apps in 52 countries. |
| A．Advertisement. | B．Economy and Finance. |
| C．Entertainment. | D．Science and Technology. |
【推荐2】Your brain isn’t necessarily the same age as the rest of you. Now, it may be possible to predict how quickly a person’s brain will age throughout life based on tests taken when they are 3 years old. A person’s biological age may be a better indicator of their health than their chronological age (实际年龄). Brain age can be measured using brain scans and machine learning to determine if a person’s brain looks older or younger than the average healthy brain for people of the same age.
To find out if brain age might reveal anything about a person’s health in midlife. Maxwell Elliott at Duke University in North Carolina and his colleagues assessed the brains of 869 adults in New Zealand who have undergone regular medical and cognitive testing since they were 3 years old. When the volunteers, all aged between 43 and 46, underwent MRI brain scans, the team found that their brain ages ranged from 23 to 71. Those with older brain ages performed worse on tests of cognition. memory and IQ. The researchers also measured things like cholesterol and blood sugar levels to estimate the biological age of the volunteers'bodies.
James Cole at King’s College London cautions that it will be difficult to make predictions based on a 3-year-old’s test results. “Acceleration or delay could be positive or negative.” says Cole. “If a 60-year-old has a brain that looks 70, that’s bad, but if a 3-year-old has a brain that looks 5, that might be a good thing.” The team also asked other researchers to guess how old the volunteers were based on photos of their faces. Again, the responses varied hugely with estimates coming in 20 years above and below their actual age. Those who looked older also had older brain ages. “It suggests that the outward signs of ageing are reflected by the internal signs of ageing,” says Cole.
“That doesn’t mean that all older-looking individuals will be on their way to dementia (痴呆).” says Elliott. We don’t yet have a way to treat brain ageing, but given the known benefits to the brain of healthy eating and exercise, these aren’t a bad place to start.
1. Why did Max Elliott conduct the experiment?| A．To test whether brain age might indicate a person’s health in midlife. |
| B．To find out if chronological age shows a person’s health in midlife. |
| C．To test whether a person’s brain age is younger than his chronological age. |
| D．To find out whether a person’s chronological age influences his brain age. |
| A．The 869 volunteers, all aged between 43 and 46. are all from North Carolina. |
| B．The volunteers have never experienced any regular medical or cognitive testing. |
| C．Those with older brain ages performed worse than those with younger ones. |
| D．The volunteer’s brain ages ranged from 43 and 46 by MRI scans. |
| A．It has been possible to make precise predictions based on 3-year-old’s test results. |
| B．People’s acceleration or delay of brain ageing must be one hundred percent negative. |
| C．The internal signs of ageing can reflect the outward signs of ageing. |
| D．It is not a good thing for a 3-year-old with a brain that looks 5. |
| A．It makes no sense to worry about such prediction too much. |
| B．It is urgent to treat brain ageing at once for it is a fatal disease. |
| C．Researchers are at a loss what to do with brain ageing. |
| D．Researchers have found an effective way to treat brain ageing. |
【推荐3】To save endangered arctic wolves, the Beijing-based Sinogene Biotechnology Company cooperated with Harbin Polarland on cloning the arctic wolf. As a result, after two years of thorough efforts, the arctic wolf was cloned successfully. It is the first case of its kind in the world.
Born on June 10, 2022, the wolf, named Maya, is energetic and in very good health. Her donor cell came from the skin sample of a wild female arctic wolf, who had been introduced from Canada. However, her oocyte (卵母细胞) was from a female dog, and her surrogate mother (代孕母体) was a beagle. The selection of a dog as Maya’s surrogate was made because dogs share a genetic ancestor with ancient wolves, and it’s more likely to succeed through cloning technology.
“This is our new attempt and breakthrough in protecting and breeding (繁育) wild and endangered animals. The birth of the world’s first cloned arctic wolf is a milestone for the application of cloning technology and is of great significance to biodiversity, the protection of wildlife, and the restoration of endangered species in the world,” Mi Jidong, the company’s general manager, said.
Cloning technology is a breeding method different from natural reproduction. Some raised controversy relating to the cloned arctic wolf. Sun Quanhui, a scientist from the World Animal Protection organization, said that cloning technology is still in the exploratory stage of research, and there are many technical and ethical issues that need to be addressed and treated with caution. Sun believed cloning should be considered only for endangered wild animals whose species are extinct, or whose captive populations are very limited.
The cloned wolf now lives with her surrogate beagle in a lab, and later she will be delivered to the Harbin Polarland and displayed to the public. The cloned wolf would live by herself in the park in the initial stage because she may not be able to adapt to original arctic wolf groups. However, it is reported that the technology of cloning arctic wolves has gained strong value in its application, and another male cloned arctic wolf will come into this world in the near future.
1. What do we know about Maya?| A．She is in good condition. |
| B．She was born in Canada. |
| C．She is the first cloned animal in China. |
| D．She shares similar living habits with dogs. |
| A．The development of cloning technology. |
| B．The difficulties of maintaining biodiversity. |
| C．Scientists’ efforts to protect endangered animals. |
| D．The importance of the birth of the cloned arctic wolf. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Confident. |
| C．Unclear. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．Maya was trained to live with wolf groups in the lab. |
| B．Another male arctic wolf is expected to be born soon. |
| C．Maya is favored by many visitors to the Harbin Polarland. |
| D．Cloning technology will be applied to more endangered species. |
【推荐1】There are five exchange students in Zhao Hua’s class. Here is some information about them.
Name | Nationality | Date of birth | Hobby | Dream |
Maria | Canada | Sep. 2nd | Piano Basketball | Teacher |
Tim | France | Nov. 3rd | Tennis Drawing | Pilot |
Katie | America | Oct. 10th | Reading Swimming | Engineer |
Paul | Germany | Dec. 25th | Dancing Soccer | Scientist |
James | Australia | Sep. 17th | Drawing Volleyball | Doctor |
1. When can Zhao Hua have a birthday party for Maria and James?
| A．In November. | B．In September. |
| C．In December. | D．In October. |
| A．Australia. | B．France. |
| C．Canada. | D．Germany. |
| A．Tim. | B．Maria. |
| C．James. | D．Katie. |
| A．A teacher. | B．A pilot. |
| C．An engineer. | D．A doctor. |
【推荐2】Most people nowadays own a device that features artificial intelligence, with the links of Siri always there to greet us with a friendly voice. But the Microsoft's XiaoIce is different. Launched in 2014 for the Chinese market, “she” has a creative edge over her competitors.
While most AI assistants simply read out information they get online, such as movie listings or weather forecasts, XiaoIce has realness that the others lack. Indeed, if you asked nicely, she could read you a poem from her new weekly column in West China City Daily. The newspaper has been printing XiaoIce 's self-penned poetry each week since Aug 19, taken from her own book of poems. The Sunlight that Lost the Class Window.
To turn XiaoIce into a master of poetry, Microsoft scientists “fed” her the works of over 500 influential modern poets, including those of Hu Shi, Lin Huiyin, Xu Zhimo, and Wen Yiduo, reported China Daily. This led to her figuring out a writing style of her own and creating over 70,000 original poems, with 137 used to produce the book.
Most of the poems are indistinguishable from those written by humans, and XiaoIce's book even got good feedback from experts. “XiaoIce's work carries a strange taste. The more you chew on it, the more interesting it becomes, Zhang Zonggang, a literature professor at the Nanjing University of Science and Technology, told the South China Morning Post. But it seems not everyone is a fan.
“The poems disgusted me with their slippery and rhythm. The sentences were aimless and superficial, lacking the inner logic for emotional expression,” Yuan-based poet Yu Jian told China Youth Daily.
This isn’t the first AI is to attempt poetry. Last year, Google’s Parsey McParseface made some poems of its own, although they were branded “miserable” and “mournful” by reviewers.
While it seems like AI is becoming more“intelligent” and less “artificial” all the time, when it comes to creativity, perhaps this is one job that software should leave to us humans.
1. What has made the Microsoft's XinoIce different from most AI assistants?| A．Artificial intelligence | B．Emotional expression. |
| C．Tone and thythm | D．Creativity and realness |
| A．XinoIce imitates modern poets to write poems. |
| B．All her poems are exactly like those written by humans. |
| C．Everyone does not enjoy XiaoIce's works. |
| D．XiaoIce is the first AI to write poems. |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Doubtful |
| C．Concerned. | D．Ambiguous |
【推荐3】Compared to saving the rainforests, or helping pandas to produce young, linguistic ecology (语言生态) might not seem very exciting. One language is becoming extinct every fortnight — so what？“Why should we care？”is a common reaction. Here are a few reasons why you should.
Identity: Many speakers of minority languages are fiercely proud of their language. Language forms an important part of anyone's identity. Nerys Jenkins in Belfast says, “Telling me not to speak Welsh would be like telling me not to breathe: I just couldn't do it.” To let someone's language die out is to let part of their identity die too.
Culture: Language is connected with culture — if a nation loses a language, it may also lose its links with a tradition of jokes, music and literature. Elizabeth MacDonald from Arisaig says Scottish Gaelic is “... our language, the most important part of an ancient culture which has somehow survived despite many persecutions (迫害) over the centuries. It is a culture rich in story, song and poetry, beloved of those familiar with it.”
Knowledge: Languages harbor all kinds of human knowledge — including useful biological or medical information that we might not find out about otherwise. In the Micmac language, for example, trees are named after the sound they make in the wind. The names change as the sounds change, so, if an elderly Micmac speaker remembers that a certain kind of tree used to have one name, but is now called something else, this can show the effects of acid rain on that species. Lose Micmac and you will lose that understanding.
Of the 6,000 or so languages in the world, more than half are expected to die within the next century, and many more are disappearing. It's estimated (估计) that two languages die out every month. It's easy to think of dying and extinct languages as just facts and figures, but behind every one, there are real people. The online Ethnologue database, for example, says of one Syrian language：“The last speaker died in 1998. His daughter knows Mlahsö well, but is nearly deaf and has no one to speak it to.”
1. What do Nerys Jenkins's words suggest?| A．He takes pride in his language. |
| B．He doesn't know other languages. |
| C．He can't find his identity in Wales. |
| D．He'll die if not allowed to speak Welsh. |
| A．It builds a nation's spirit. |
| B．It forms a nation's tradition. |
| C．It keeps people in touch with the classics. |
| D．It connects people from different nations. |
| A．Languages develop very fast. |
| B．The air pollution is getting worse. |
| C．The number of Micmac speakers is dropping. |
| D．People of different ages speak different languages. |
| A．Mlahsö is no longer in existence. |
| B．The extinction of languages matters little. |
| C．Languages die with the disappearance of facts. |
| D．Languages are disappearing at a surprising speed. |
