生活中的科技

生活中的科技越簡單，生活越舒適。

Tires Change Shape

The shape of these new tires（輪胎）can change. It happens really fast！ The car does not have to stop or even slow down. A person in the car pushes a button， and tires change from a round shape to triangular tracks（三角形的履帶）in just two seconds. Engineers made the tires to help people drive in different conditions.

Round tires are best for hard， flat roads. Tires shaped like triangles touch more of the ground than round tires do. They are best for soft or bumpy ground. These new tires make it easy to drive off-road（越野的）. People in the army can use the tires. Then they can get where they need to go.

生詞好句

triangle /tra？？？gl/ n. 三角（形）；三角形之物

I like my triangle ruler. 我喜歡我的三角尺。

bumpy /b？mpi/ adj. 顛簸的；崎嶇不平的

It is going to be a bumpy ride. 這將是一段顛簸的旅程。

考點詳解

make it +adj./n. +to do sth.

These new tires make it easy to drive off-road. 這些新輪胎使越野駕駛變得很容易。

在“make + it + adj. / n. + to do”結構中，it為形式賓語，不定式to do為真正意義上的賓語，而adj. / n. 為賓語補足語。如：

1）The Internet makes it easy to communicate with each other.互聯(lián)網(wǎng)使得彼此間交流很容易。

2） He makes it a rule never to borrow money. 他立志決不向別人借錢。

變形輪胎

這款最新輪胎擁有快速變形的設計。車輛無需減速或停止，只需按下按鈕，便可在2秒內(nèi)從圓形車輪變?yōu)槿切温膸?。工程師們研發(fā)的這項新技術，讓輪胎能夠適應各種路面。

傳統(tǒng)的圓形輪胎適合堅硬、平坦的道路，而三角形的輪胎與地面接觸面積更大，面對坑洼、泥濘的路段，有較好的表現(xiàn)。如此一來，車輛能夠全地形行駛，滿足軍方的行軍需求。

我來挑戰(zhàn)

"Watch" TV With Your Fingers

聾啞人可以“看”電視啦

Some people are deaf. They cannot hear. Some people are blind. They cannot see. Other people are both deaf and blind. They cannot hear or see. They use the sense of touch instead. They read using touch. Now they can use touch to find out what is on TV！

People who are both deaf and blind use a kind of writing called Braille（盲文）. People feel bumps with their fingers to read. They can use a special machine to read in Braille. The machine has pins that go up and down， making bumps that spell out different words.

Now， a computer program from Spain helps turn TV into Braille. Computers can send the words from a TV show to a smart phone. The phone sends the words to the machine. People can use their fingers to read what is happening on TV.

有些人耳聾，他們聽不見。有些人是盲人，他們看不見。還有些人既聾又盲，有視聽障礙。他們只能利用觸覺閱讀。如今，他們通過觸摸，也能及時享受電視節(jié)目了！

盲人使用的文字叫做“點字”或“凸字”。通過盲文機的針孔運行在紙張上制作不同組合的凸點，代表不同的字母組合，繼而可以用手指觸摸進行閱讀。

如今，西班牙開發(fā)了一款軟件，能夠將電視節(jié)目轉換為盲文。軟件編譯字幕后，將其轉發(fā)到智能手機上，然后通過程序發(fā)送至盲文機，完成手指閱讀與電視節(jié)目的完美同步。

Take A Bite Out Of Plastic Trash

吃掉包裝

A lot of food comes wrapped in plastic（塑料）. Plastic keeps food fresh and clean. But all those wrappers end up in the trash or as litter. Plastic can stay on the ground for a very long time. It can also harm animals that try to eat it.

But what if there was a different kind of wrapper that was safe to eat？ Wrappers that people eat would not end up in the trash， and even if they did， they would fall apart fast.

Scientists are trying to make food wraps from fruits and vegetables. These wraps are like thin fruit strip（條狀的）snacks. They taste good and help protect food from germs. But so far， they do not stay strong in water. Also， they do not stretch as much as plastic wrap does. So the scientists are working to improve them.

Scientists in Oregon（俄勒岡州）made a different kind of food wrap. They combined material that comes from wood with something from the shells of crabs（蟹）and shrimps（蝦）. The wrap they made stays strong in water. Just like plastic wrap， it protects food and keeps it fresh. But you cant eat plastic. This new wrap is good to eat.

These new food wraps are not on the market yet. But soon you may be able to eat your food—and its wrapper， too！

大多數(shù)食品是用塑料包裝包裹的。塑料雖能保持食物的清潔與新鮮，但也造成了大量難以降解的廢棄物，還會傷害誤食的動物。

若是某天，食物包裝可以吃了呢？不僅垃圾量減少，難降解的問題也解決了。

科學家們正在研制用蔬菜和水果制作包裝材料。這種包裝材料看起來就像薄薄的零食水果條，除了可以阻隔細菌，味道還很不錯。不過，目前它在水中的溶解速度過快，彈性也較差。研究人員正在嘗試改進。

美國俄勒岡州的專家們則研制成功另一類新型包裝材料。他們將蟹殼與蝦殼中的成分與木頭提取物混合起來，制造出更加抗?jié)竦目墒秤冒b紙，氣密性也同樣出色。

以上這些包裝材料都在不斷改良中，預計很快便會出現(xiàn)在貨架上！

No Teacher In The Classroom

師生實現(xiàn)“隔空互動”

Soon， some university students may have virtual teachers who are not in their classroom. The teacher can be anywhere， even in another country. A special system makes a 3D video of the teacher and sends it to the classroom.

One camera records the teacher， while at the same time， a video plays in the classroom. A computer program makes it looks as if the teacher is in the room！ Another camera records all the students in the class. The teacher sees the video and can point to the students to call on them. Would you like to have a teacher who was not in your classroom？

一些大學課堂即將出現(xiàn)“全息投影”的講師。分隔再遠，師生也能進行互動。這項技術主要通過錄制教師的三維影像與聲音，然后投影到教室。

教師的錄制與教室的投放同時進行，然后利用軟件實現(xiàn)三維效果的顯示，仿佛真人出現(xiàn)一般。教師可以實時看到學生并進行交流，實現(xiàn)隔空互動。你是否也想要一位不在教室的“全息”老師呢？

New Plant Cleans Air In Houses

轉基因綠蘿凈化空氣

Sometimes harmful gases get into the air we breathe. A new plant may be able to clean up these gases inside our homes. The new type of ivy（綠蘿）is a genetically modified organism （GMO）（轉基因生物）. Engineers took a small part called a gene（基因）from an animals liver（肝臟）cells. They added it to the cells（細胞）of the ivy.

The liver is an organ. It takes harmful things called toxins（毒素）out of an animals body. But it cannot take toxins out of the air. Plants take in air through their leaves. They use carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）from the air to make food and give off oxygen（氧氣）. The engineers made the plant that takes in two toxic gases from the air and turns them into something safe.

The ivy is now for sale in Canada， but stores in some other countries cannot sell GMOs. People want to wait and see if the plant is safe for the environment.

研究人員對一種常見的家庭植物——綠蘿進行了基因改造，以去除室內(nèi)空氣中的有害物質。他們在動物肝臟中提取了一小部分基因加入綠蘿，來減輕室內(nèi)空氣污染。

肝臟能夠幫助我們?nèi)コw內(nèi)毒素，但無法吸收空氣中的污染物。而植物的綠葉在光合作用下能夠吸收二氧化碳，產(chǎn)生有機物，并釋放氧氣。于是研究人員將兩者合二為一。改良后的綠蘿能夠有效吸收并降解空氣中的有毒氣體，起到凈化空氣的作用。

目前加拿大已經(jīng)批準了這一新型植物的銷售。但許多國家對于轉基因生物較為警惕。它們是否會對自然環(huán)境造成威脅，還需要進一步測試。