《理工英语4 》教材文章（中英文对照）
Unit 1 Fashionable Multimedia
Reading 1
Time on Its Side: Apple Watch Said to Be Raising Bar
苹果手表：时间为之倾倒
Apple Inc’s “next big thing” is coming — finally.
苹果公司的下一个大事件，终于，到来了！
Apple Watch, a wearable device, is set to challenge the players in the Chinese market, much like what iPhone has done in the smartphone market.
正如苹果手机在智能手机市场上的表现一样，苹果手表这种可穿戴设备也旨在挑战中国市场上的竞争者。
Though local companies move earlier in the wearable devices market, the U.S. tech giant’s watch is set to dominate the market after its launch next year, analysts said. “There will be a great change in the coming months,” said Daniel Matte, an analyst. “Smart wearable bands should not imitate but instead insist on their own unique design.”
分析师指出，尽管本地企业在可穿戴设备领域行动更早，但是，这个美国技术巨头的手表旨在明年推出并占领市场。”下个月将会有巨大变化发生，” 分析师丹尼尔·梅特指出，“智能手环不应模仿，而应坚持自己独特的设计。”
Chinese companies have released a number of wearable devices over the past few months. A week before the Apple Watch launch, Bai du Inc, the biggest online search provider in China, announced its first wearable device — Baidu Eye smart glasses. Lenovo Group Ltd, the world’s largest personal computer maker, also launched its own smart glasses that can take photos. Xiaomi Corp, a Beijing-based smartphone brand, also introduced a 79 yuan ($13) bracelet which can track basic movements.
在过去的几个月里，中国企业推出了不少可穿戴设备。就在苹果手表发布前一周，百度公司，中国最大的网络搜索供应商，发布了其第一个可穿戴设备——百度智能眼镜。联想集团，全球最大的个人电脑制造商，也发布了可以拍照的智能眼镜。小米公司，一个北京的智能手机品牌的生产商，也推出了一款79元（13美元）的可追踪基本运动轨迹的手环。
With a sale price of about $350, the Apple Watch is expected to hit the market in early 2015 with more than a dozen accessory designs. After the smart watch release, Apple will dominate the wearable gadget market in 2015, threatening other players’ positions, according to a report published by Forrester Research Inc.
将在2015年年初面世的苹果手表有一系列附件的设计，预计售价约350美元。弗雷斯特研究公司发布的一份报告称，苹果智能手表面世后，将占领可穿戴产品市场并给其他竞争者带来威胁。
Reading 2
Google Glass? Baidu Eye!
谷歌眼镜？百度眼！
Baidu, China’s leading search engine company, has unveiled its own eyewear called Baidu Eye. It is said to be a different product from Google Glass in terms of functionality.
百度，中国搜索引擎的领导者，发布了自己的头部穿戴设备——“百度眼”。据说，从功能上来讲，这是一款不同于谷歌眼镜的产品。
The company demonstrated a working prototype on September 3 at its annual Technology Innovation Conference in Beijing. It bears a similarity to Google Glass, but it has no screen. Instead, the device uses a camera to scan objects, and focuses on analyzing information around its user and beaming that to a smartphone.
9月3日，百度在北京举行了公司年度技术创新大会，并在会上演示了一种工作模型。这款产品与谷歌眼镜相似，但没有屏幕，而是用摄像头来扫描物体，专注于分析使用者周围的信息，并将信息传输到手机上。
Baidu says the device is designed to support image search. The company’s CEO Robin Li believes in five years’ time, people will get used to searching by image and audio rather than text. Li has given an example of how one can take advantage of Baidu Eye, “If you are in a shopping mall and come across a woman whose skirt looks really attractive, you take a photo of her skirt using Baidu Eye, and you’ll get to know where to buy one for yourself.”
百度表示，这款产品被设计来支持图片搜索。公司总裁李彦宏认为，五年后，人们将习惯于用图片和音频而不是文字来进行搜索。李彦宏还举例说明人们可以怎样使用“百度眼”：“如果你在购物中心偶遇一位女士穿着一件漂亮的裙子，你可以用“百度眼”拍下照片，然后就可以知道在哪儿为自己买一件了。”
According to Kaiser Kuo, Baidu’s director of international communications, Baidu Eye can also recognize voice and gesture, “You can use voice commands, or gesture commands — like expanding to zoom, or circling an object in your field of view with your finger.”
据百度国际媒体公关总监郭怡广说，“百度眼”还可以识别声音和手势，“你可以发出语音或手势指令，就像在视线范围内用手指放大或圈住物体”。
Baidu is yet to announce a release date or marketing plans for Baidu Eye.
百度还没有发布“百度眼”的上市时间或营销计划。
Unit 2 Making a Future with Robots
Reading 1
Trust Me, I’m a Robot
我是机器人，值得你信任
Surgery in the future will look very different. Where now there may be up to a dozen medical professionals present in the operating theater, soon there may be only two or three, with robots having taken over many of the jobs done by nurses and support staff. Even the surgeon may be elsewhere.
未来的外科手术将会和现在有很大的不同。现在的手术室里面也许会有十多个医护人员，而将来或许就只有两三个了。护士和支持人员现在所做的大量工作将由机器人接管。医生甚至都会不在手术室里。
Telerobotics enables a doctor to do surgery at a distance. “It’s easy to imagine a future where, if I need a medical specialist from afar, a robot could remotely become his or her eyes, hands, and ears,” says Joanne Pransky, an expert on robot psychiatry.
医生能够使用遥控机器人进行远程手术。机器人精神病学专家乔安妮·普兰斯基说：“不难想象，在未来，如果我需要一位身处远方的医学专家，机器人可以远程成为这位专家的眼睛、双手和耳朵。”
The first medical robots are already being used in hospitals now — the da Vinci Surgical System was approved for use by the U.S. government in 2000, and more will follow.
第一个医疗机器人已经在医院投入使用——达·芬奇外科手术系统已在2000年由美国政府批准使用，后期将会有更多的机器人投入使用。
“These robots work on the ‘master slave’ concept, with the surgeon as the master,” says Dr. Ara Darzi. “The da Vinci system has three arms, and you can add a fourth, with 3D stereo imagery available during surgery. It also has a motion scaling concept, which can be scaled down to five- to-one, so you can be much more precise than a human hand could. The surgeon feels very similar sensations if he or she was working with their hands.”
“这些机器人在‘主从’概念下进行工作，外科医生就是主人，”阿拉·达兹医生说，“达·芬奇系统有三只手臂，你可以再增加第四只。手术中有三维立体图像。该系统还有动作尺度概念，可以从五级到一级，这样就比人手操作更加精确。医生操作起来会和他们用双手进行手术的感觉相似。”
The robots act as an extension of a practitioner’s skills, which allows them to perform better by helping improve control and precision. Already robots are being used to position endoscopes, and even perform gallbladder surgery. The hope is that soon they will be able to perform major operations such as heart surgery, perhaps using nanotech tools — microscopic robots — that would make the need to crack open a patient’s chest a thing of the past.
作为医师技能的延伸，机器人可以通过提高控制力和精确度让手术实施得更好。机器人已经被用于放置内窥镜，甚至进行胆囊手术。在不久的将来，机器人将有望能够实施心脏手术这样的大手术，或许能够通过纳米技术工具——显微机器人，让打开病人胸腔的需要成为历史。
Robots will also help surgeons cope with the exhaustion of long procedures, and the da Vinci system’s mechanics have been programmed to compensate for the hand tremors tired surgeons sometimes suffer from.
机器人还可以帮助外科医生应对长时间进行手术产生的疲乏。科学家对达·芬奇系统进行了设计，以弥补外科医生在疲惫时出现的手颤问题。
Reading 2
Robot Revolution? Scientists Teach Robots to Learn
机器人革命？科学家教机器人学习
Would a robot serving you coffee in bed make waking up easier on weekday mornings? Could a household robot help an elderly relative who is living alone? How would you like to climb into a robotic car and eat breakfast with the kids while you’re all driven to school and work?
如果在清晨有一个机器人将咖啡送到你床边，起床上班是不是要容易一点？家用机器人是否能照顾独居老人？钻进一辆机器人轿车，和孩子们一起边享用早餐边开车去上学和上班，你感觉如何？
These scenarios may sound like science fiction, but experts say they’re a lot closer to becoming reality than you probably think.
这些场景听起来像是科幻小说。不过，据专家们说，这些会比你想象的更快成为现实。
Brown University roboticist Chad Jenkins expects a near-term robot revolution that will echo the computing revolution of recent decades. And he says it will be driven by enabling robots to learn more like humans do — by watching others demonstrate behaviors and by asking questions.
布朗大学的机器人学家查德·詹金斯预计，随着近几十年电脑革命的发生，一场机器人革命即将到来。这场革命的驱动理念将是让机器人能够通过观察其他人的示范行为和提问，像人类一样学习。
“The robots you’re seeing now mostly are analogous to the mainframe computers of the 1970s.”Jenkins said. “But you’re starting to see things develop. The vacuum cleaners, the drones, those are the initial steps.” he said, referring to iRobot’s Roomba vacuum cleaner, which has autonomously cleaned millions of homes since its 2002 debut.
“现在我们所看到的机器人大部分还类似于20世纪70年代的大型主机”，詹金斯说道，“但是，你会发现，改变正在发生。扫地机器人、无人机，这些都是变革的初步尝试。”他指出，iRobot公司生产的扫地机器人自2002年首次推出后，已经清洁了上百万的住家。
“And these platforms are going to get cheaper while becoming more capable and more compact.” he added.
“而且，在未来这些平台会更加便宜，同时这些平台还会有更强大的功能以及更紧凑的设计。”他补充说。
And entrepreneurs like Dmitry Grishin, founder of a major Russian investment firm dedicated to personal robotics, have taken notice. He says the industry could be worth $18 billion by 2015.
德米特里·格里申是俄罗斯的一家致力于个人机器人技术的大型投资公司的创始人，像他这样的企业家已经注意到这点。他认为这个产业到2015年的时候将会价值180亿美元。
But to really transform, roboticists say, robots will have to evolve from machines that can perform only the tasks they’re programmed to do into automatons that can truly learn. That’s because it’s impossible to pre-program a robot for everything it will encounter in the ever-changing real world.
但是，机器人学家认为，要做到真正的改变，机器人必须要从只能完成预设任务的机器转变成为能够真正学习的自动机器。因为我们不可能对机器人在这不断变化的真实世界里会遇到的所有事情都预先进行编程。
“If you look at where robots are successful right now, it’s primarily in applications where the environment is very controlled, like an assembly line where everything is the same, or in the hands of experts with PhDs, where we see them on Mars.” said Chernova.
“如果你留意一下那些成功使用了机器人的地方，就会发现，它们主要都是在环境完全受控的情况下的应用，例如，在所有东西都一样的设备流水线上，或者在我们看到的火星上的博士专家们的手里。”切洛娃说。
“To really get them to handle the complexities of our real world,” she said, “they are going to have to be customized onsite. It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but it’s very close.”
她说：“要想让机器人能真正应对我们这个复杂的真实世界，它们就得就地定制。这当然不是明天就能做到的事情，但是我们也非常接近了。”
Such a leap could help bring robots into the mainstream.
而这一飞跃将会使机器人成为主流。
Unit 3 Biomedicine in Real Life
Reading 1
The Real-Life Barbie Doll
现实中的芭比娃娃
With a teeny waist, exaggerated breasts, icy-blue eyes, 21-year-old Valeria says she is the real natural deal. A real-life Barbie, that is.
腰部纤细，胸部夸张，眼睛冰蓝，21岁的维拉利亚说，她是真实自然的芭比。也就是说，她是生活中真实的芭比娃娃。
That’s what she claims anyway, but many people doubt her claims. Whether she underwent plastic surgery or uses Photoshop remains unclear. On her blog, the model notes that she is the most famous woman on the Russian Internet because of her doll-like appeal. Hundreds of photos on her Facebook page show a wide-eyed, nearly fake-looking Valeria posing in a variety of outfits.
不管怎样，那是她自己的说法，很多人对此说法表示怀疑。她是做了整形手术还是使用了PS软件，我们不得而知。在她的博客上，这位模特说，因为她具有芭比娃娃一样的魅力，所以她是俄罗斯互联网上最出名的人物。在维拉利亚的脸谱网网页上有上千幅图片，图片上的她眼睛大大的，脸像假的一样，展示着各种服装。
The model did not return requests for comment. If Photoshop is not a factor in getting Valeria’s look, she likely underwent a barrage of plastic surgery. The president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons（ASPS）said, plastic surgery should never be used to transform oneself into a favorite celebrity or, in this case, a play toy. He also warns patients to keep in mind that plastic surgery is real surgery with real risks, just as with any operation, so the decision should not be taken lightly.
这位模特没有对评论做出回应。如果不是PS软件帮助她获得现在的容貌的话，那她可能做了一系列的整形手术。美国整形医师协会主席说，整形手术绝不应该用于把一个人整成自己喜欢的名人的样子，或者像这个案例，整成玩具的样子。他还告诫人们要牢记，整形手术也是手术，也有着实实在在的风险，因此做决定时要慎重。
Whether Valeria is real or fake, photoshopped or a product of plastic surgery, the mystery of her existence is not the issue. The problem is that her unnatural image exemplifies the issue of objectification of women in today’s society.
不管维拉利亚的芭比形象是真是假，是软件处理的还是整形手术的产物，她是否存在已经不是争议的重点。重点是她那不自然的形象是当今社会把女性物化的例证。
Barbie has always been controversial and really changed the discussion on how girls play. When Barbie came into existence, play suddenly became about dressing up and looking right and it eventually played a role in how women wanted to look in real life.
芭比娃娃形象本身一直存有争议，它也确实改变了女孩们的妆扮方式。当芭比形象渐入人心时，化妆突然等同于妆扮得体和赏心悦目，这对女性在现实生活中的妆扮产生了很大的影响。
Valeria is an extreme example of societal expectations of perfect beauty. If society expects women to look like that, it is harder for almost any woman to totally resist it.
维拉利亚是社会对极致美丽期望的终极代表。如果社会期望女人们那样妆扮，那么任何一个女人都很难坚持不去那样妆扮。
Reading 2
Angelina Jolie: My Medical Choice
安吉利娜·朱莉：我的医疗选择
My mother fought breast cancer for almost a decade and died at 56 . My children never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was. We often speak of “ Mommy’s mommy ”, and they asked if the same could happen to me. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a “faulty ”gene, BRCA 1 , which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
我母亲和乳腺癌战斗了近10年，56岁时去世。我的孩子们从未有机会感受她的慈爱和优雅。我们通常称她为“妈咪的妈咪”。孩子们经常问我，我是否会经历同样的事情，我总是告诉他们不用担心。但事实是，我携带了“有问题”的基因——BRCA1。它极大地增加了我患乳腺癌和卵巢癌的风险。
My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer. Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as I could.
医生估计我有87%的概率患乳腺癌，50%的概率患卵巢癌。一得知这是我要面对的现实，我便立刻决定主动出击，以最大限度地降低患癌的风险。
My own process began on Feb. 2 with a procedure known as a “ nipple delay ”, which rules out disease in the breast ducts behind the nipple and draws extra blood flow to the area. This causes some pain and a lot of bruises, but it increases the chance of saving the nipple.
第一步是2月2日的“乳头保留”手术，这个手术切除了乳头后方乳腺导管中的病变，并将更多的血液导入这个部位。这会导致疼痛和大量瘀伤，不过能增加留住乳头的概率。
Two weeks later I had the major surgery, where the breast tissue is removed and temporary fillers are put in place. The operation took eight hours.
2周后，我接受了主要的手术，切除了乳腺组织并填充了一些临时填充物。这个手术用了8个小时。
Nine weeks later, the final surgery is completed with the reconstruction of the breasts with an implant. On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved.
9周后，我接受了最后一次手术，用植入物重塑了乳房。4月27日，我结束了针对乳腺切除手术的三个月疗程。
I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made. My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.
我记录下这些，是想告诉其他女性，下决心做乳房切除手术很难。不过，我非常高兴我做了这样一个决定。我患上乳腺癌的概率从87%下降到5%以下。我可以告诉我的孩子，他们不必害怕乳腺癌会带走我了。
The cost of testing for BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, at more than $ 3 , 000 in the United States, remains an obstacle for many women. Life comes with many challenges. The ones that should not scare us are the ones we can take on and take control of.
在美国，检测BRCA1和BRCA2的费用要3 000多美元，这成为很多女性的障碍。虽然生活中充满挑战，但有些挑战吓不倒我们，因为我们能应对和掌握这些挑战。
Unit 4 Chic 3D
Reading 1
3D Print Canal House
3D打印的“运河之家”
If you think 3D printing is only good for making flimsy paperweights, then you’re pretty much right. However, a group of audacious Dutch architects have already begun 3D printing an entire canal house in Amsterdam. Is the first 3D printed house a gimmick? Definitely! Is it an experiment that pushes the possibilities for 3D printing technology and architecture? Maybe!
如果你认为3D打印只擅长打印轻薄的镇纸，那你是非常正确的。但是，一群大胆的荷兰建筑师已经在阿姆斯特丹开始打印一座完整的“运河之家”了。这第一座3D打印的小屋有趣吗？肯定的！这是一项推进3D技术和建筑学发展的实验吗？或许吧！
3D Print Canal House is the brainchild of DUS Architects. “KamerMaker”, Dutch for “room maker”, is their giant printer built inside a shipping container. Just a few weeks ago, KamerMaker began printing plastic furniture and walls at an empty canal-side lot in northern Amsterdam. Smaller versions of the unusual honeycomb walls have been tested on normal desktop printers, and everyone just needed to scale it up. Well, if only it were that easy.
用3D技术打印“运河之家”是DUS Architects工作室的构想。KamerMaker在荷兰语中表示“房屋建造者”的意思，是他们建造在集装箱中的巨大打印机的名字。就在几周前，KamerMaker在阿姆斯特丹北部的运河边的空地上开始打印塑料家具和墙壁。这种不同寻常的蜂窝墙的缩小版已经在普通台式打印机上被测试打印过，大家要做的是把它放大。哦，要是那么简单多好！
“The printer did not always manage to spread the plastic evenly, making some of the ribs of the honeycomb structure of the block uneven,” reported ARN (Australian Radio Network), to the surprise of no one who has used a 3D printer. But the architects remain optimistic. The first few printed blocks are meant to be test pieces as they improve the process.
澳大利亚广播网报道：“这台打印机不能一直均匀地喷出塑料，这使得蜂窝结构的某些骨架不那么平滑。”对于使用过3D打印机的人而言，这没有什么值得大惊小怪的。但是，建筑师们一直很乐观。在他们改进的过程中，首先被打印出的一些块状物只是测试品。
It takes about a week to print a 3-meter high block right now. The project’s leader hopes to eventually get that down to two hours and finish the first of 12 rooms in a year, and the entire house in less than 3 years.
目前，打印一个3米高的块状物大概需要一周。该项目负责人希望最终把时间减少到2小时，1年内完成12个房间中第1个房间的建造，整个房子的建造时间不超过3年。
Ultimately, 3D Print Canal House is an architectural research project, one that is very much being conducted in the public eye: you can actually buy tickets to visit the construction site for 2.50 Euros.
总的来说，3D打印的“运河之家”是一项建筑研究项目，它基本上是在人们的视野中公开进行的——你可以花2.5欧元买票参观。
The top floors will become more ornate, for example, as newer techniques are incorporated. They’ll explore the possibilities of 3D printing, like the honeycomb walls or an entire room recycled, redesigned, and built anew. Nobody’s going to move into a 3D printed house soon, but, if anyone ever does, something might be learned from this experiment by the canal.
随着新技术的不断引入，上面几层会变得相对更华丽。他们将探索3D打印的各种可能性，比如蜂窝墙或者整个房屋的回收利用、重新设计和重新建造。没有人会在短期内搬入这个3D打印的房屋居住，但是，如果有人这样做的话，我们可以从这个运河旁的实验项目中学到一些东西。
Reading 2
A 3D, Talking Map for the Blind (and Everyone Else)
一幅给盲人（和所有人）的会说话的3D地图
These maps are made for talking and touching. And they’re beautiful, too. Touch-responsive maps bring interactive way-finding to a new level, providing independence to the visually impaired.
这种地图可以说话和触摸，它们也很漂亮。触摸响应式地图把互动问路方式提升到一个新的层次，增强了盲人的独立性。
Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center) tested a new kind of interactive way-finder: 3D maps that vocalize building information and directions when touched.
包容性设计和环境无障碍中心（IDEA中心）测试了一种新的互动式寻路器：3D地图。触摸时，这种地图可以说出建筑物的信息和方位。
The technology is designed with an important mission in mind: to help visually impaired visitors navigate public spaces like museums and college campuses.
这个技术产品的设计开发肩负着一项重要的使命：为视力受损的人在诸如博物馆、大学校园之类的公共场所行走提供帮助。
It’s really about giving this audience, this population, a way to understand their environment. We’re providing a level of information that allows them to navigate their environment easily, without help, which gives them a sense of independence.
这种地图确实能给用户提供一种理解周围环境的方式。我们为他们提供的信息，足以让他们在毫无帮助的情况下自由探索周遭环境，给他们一种独立自主的感觉。
As guests explore the model with their hands, the map announces building names and directions for getting to destinations. A menu controlled by just three buttons lets users browse a verbal index of all points of interest.
当用户用双手探索使用样品的时候，地图会播报建筑物的名称和去往目的地的方向。仅由三个按钮控制的菜单就能让使用者通过有声索引浏览他们感兴趣的地方。
Sound effects embedded in the landscape serve as auditory landmarks for people who are visually impaired: a fountain gurgles when tapped, and a bell tower chimes.
音响效果嵌入地貌之中，给视力受损的人充当听觉路标。敲击地图时，喷泉汩汩作响，钟楼也会打钟报时。
The touch-responsive models solve the “last mile problem” for blind pedestrians, who can often navigate to a building or campus address using GPS, but then need help to get to the classroom building or doctor’s office where they need to be.
这款触摸响应式寻路器会为有视觉障碍的行人解决“最后一英里”问题。他们经常使用GPS走到建筑物或者校园的某个地方，但要到达教室或者医生办公室这种具体的地方却需要帮助。
Though the technology has been designed for people with visual impairments, the multisensory models make way for a better experience for everyone.
虽然这项技术是为有视觉障碍的人士设计的，但多感官操作的3D寻路器可以为每个人带来更好的寻路体验。
Unit 5 Science Nearby
Reading 1
Turning Cigarette Butts into Batteries
将烟头变成电池
If you see a person carelessly throwing a cigarette to the ground, what are you likely to think? That depends. If you hate people throwing things on the ground, you might think, “That person should not litter. ” If you are a smoker, you might think, “ I would sure like a cigarette right now. ” Most likely, though, you are not thinking, “ You know, that unused cigarette butt could be used to make something, something amazing! ”
如果你看到一个人不经意地扔了一个烟头，你会怎么想呢？那可真是仁者见仁，智者见智。如果你讨厌随地乱扔东西，你可能会想：那个人不应该乱丢垃圾。但如果你是烟民，你可能会想：我现在真想来一根。不过，大多数情况下，你可能不会想：你要知道，这没用的烟头很有可能被用来制成某种非常神奇的东西。
That is, unless you are a creative scientist. If you are, you may see a possibility where others simply see trash. That is just what has happened in South Korea. The spirit of invention can hit at the strangest times and in the most unusual places. In South Korea, it happened near a trash can.
事实是这样的，除非你是一个有创造力的科学家。如果你是，你就可能从别人眼里的垃圾中看出可能性。这正是在韩国发生的情况。发明创造的灵光常常出现在最奇异的时刻以及最不寻常的地方。在韩国，它就出现在垃圾桶旁边。
Kim Gil-Pyo is with Seoul National University. Mr. Kim says he saw people throwing away cigarette butts. And that got him thinking. He began wondering if something useful could be made from them. The result? Mr. Kim and other researchers found a way to turn cigarette butts into the materials required for high-performance batteries. We often say, “ One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. ” And in this example, this is unquestionably true.
金吉彪就职于首尔国立大学。金先生表示，他看到人们扔烟头，这给了他灵感。他开始设想，如果一些有用的东西可以从烟头里获得的话，会是什么样的结果呢？金先生和其他研究人员发现了一种能将烟头转化成高性能电池所需材料的方法。我们常说：“一个人的垃圾是另一个人的财富。”在这个例子中，这无疑是正确的。
Kim Gil-Pyo says he and his fellow researchers looked closely at used cigarette filters. The filter is the part of the cigarette that smokers put into their mouths. Mr. Kim explains that the filters can be made into another material: carbon. He says the filters are changed through a one-step burning process. After this, he says, they are turned into an energy storage material.
据金吉彪说，他和研究团队的成员们仔细观察了已抽过的香烟过滤嘴。过滤嘴是吸烟者放进嘴里的部分。金先生解释说，过滤嘴可变成另一种材料：碳。他说，过滤嘴只需通过燃烧这一个步骤就可发生改变，并被转换为储能材料。
Carbon has many qualities that seem to make it the perfect material. Carbon can easily carry an electrical current. It also stays stable, unlikely to change, for a long time. And carbon does not cost a lot. All these qualities make it the most popular material for making super-capacitors.
碳的许多优点似乎能使其成为最完美的材料。碳可以轻松地传导电流，同时也很稳定，在很长的一段时间内不会发生改变，而且成本极低。所有的这些优点使碳成为制造超级电容器最常用的材料。
Super-capacitors are good at storing energy. They have high-powered mass. They require only a short time for re-charging. And they have a long lifecycle. Super-capacitors are used in products such as laptop computers and cell phones. They are also used in industrial energy converters, like wind turbine machines. Combining carbon and super-capacitors seems like a perfect marriage.
超级电容器能极好地储存能量。它们有很高的功率密度，仅需极短的时间充电，有很长的使用寿命。超级电容器可用在笔记本电脑和手机这样的产品中，还可用在风力发电机这样的工业能源转换器中。碳和超级电容器的结合似乎非常完美。
Mr. Kim says that cigarette butts could affect the economy in a huge way. They could prove to be a low-cost source of carbon material. They are so cheap that smokers throw them on the ground, and you don’t get much cheaper than that.
金先生表示，烟头可能会对经济产生极大的影响。它们有可能被证明是一种低成本的碳源物质。它们如此便宜，以至于被吸烟者扔到地上，而你再也找不到比这更便宜的东西了。
Reading 2
Growing Vegetables in Sea Water
海水种菜
Climate change has caused a rise in sea levels. This has increased the amount of salt in fresh water used on coastal farms. As a result, farmers are increasingly unable to use fields close to the sea.
气候变化会导致海平面上升，这就导致沿海农场使用的淡水的含盐量增加，结果农户们越发难以利用沿海农田。
Scientists call this process “ salinization ” which means the mixing of salt and water. Salinization is reducing the world’s irrigated lands by 1 to 2 percent every year.
科学家称这一过程为“盐碱化”，也就是盐和水的混合。盐碱化使得全世界可灌溉土地每年减少1%~2%。
But a farmer in the Netherlands is now using a mixture of sea and fresh water to grow healthy and tasty vegetables. Marc Van started with an experiment.
但荷兰的一个农民现在使用海水和淡水的混合物来种植健康美味的蔬菜。马克·范开始了这个试验。
“We put in a lot of plants in the fields and then we put them in fresh water and in sea water and all the varieties between them, and then we see which variety is surviving and which variety is dying. ”
“我们把很多作物种在田里，然后把它们分别放到海水、淡水以及各种比例的淡水和海水的混合物当中，看哪种能存活下来，哪种会死掉。”
Mr. Van worked on the project with scientists from the Free University of Amsterdam. He divided a farm into eight areas. Separate pipes pumped fresh and sea water, and a computer program created water with eight levels of salinity.
范先生和阿姆斯特丹自由大学的几位科学家一起进行这个项目的研究，他把农场分为 8个区域，用不同的管道来输送淡水和海水，并用电脑程序生成8 种不同浓度的盐水。
Computerized measuring devices called “ sensors ” controlled the water levels and the levels of salinity. Mr. Van says he was able to harvest vegetables from most of the eight test areas. He says the vegetables were smaller than those grown in fresh water. But he says they also have more sugar and salt, so they taste better.
名为“传感器”的电脑测量装置控制水位和盐度。范先生表示，8个实验区域大都能收获蔬菜，这样种植出的蔬菜比在淡水中种植出的蔬菜个头要小些。不过，他也说，因为这种蔬菜含有更多的糖分和盐分，所以口感更好。
The farmer grew carrots, cabbage and onions. But he found that potatoes grew better than the other vegetables in the combination of sea and fresh water. Mr. Van says four kinds of these potatoes were recently sent to Pakistan, where thousands of hectares of land have been damaged by salinization. Farmers in Pakistan will test these potatoes to see if they can be grown in those fields.
这位农民种植胡萝卜、大白菜、洋葱。不过，他发现，在海水和淡水的混合物中，土豆比其他蔬菜长得更好。范先生说，其中的4种土豆最近被送到巴基斯坦，那里有数千公顷土地被盐碱化，巴基斯坦的农民将用这些土豆来做实验，看它们是否能在本国土地上生长。
Unit 6 Cool Innovations
Reading 1
Young Technology Expert Works to Stop Car Thefts
年轻的技术专家致力于阻止汽车失窃
Cars were stolen in the capital.
Kenya has east Africa’s largest economy. Its capital city is growing quickly, but so is the city’s crime rate. Thieves in the capital steal an average of 10 cars each day.
肯尼亚是东非最大的经济体，首都内罗毕发展很快，但是城市犯罪率增长得也快。平均每天有十辆汽车在首都失窃。
A young inventor.
Kelvin Macharia has invented a tracking device that uses computers and wireless technology to help owners know where their cars are, and find them if they are stolen. Mr. Macharia is just 24 years old. He is the CEO of Sunrise Tracking.
凯文·玛卡里亚发明的汽车追踪设备能通过电脑和无线技术帮助车主定位他们的车辆，并在车辆被盗后将车辆找回。年仅 24 岁的玛卡里亚已是朝阳追踪公司（Sunrise Tracking）的总裁了。
The smart anti-theft system.
He began working on his invention in 2012 . Using $ 300 from his savings, he improved a system that was already being used to find stolen cars. His smart anti-theft system uses a computer or a mobile phone to tell owners where their cars are. Mr. Macharia says if a car is stolen, the owner can find it using his tracking device. The owner is able to send a command signal to the vehicle through a text message. It immediately stops the car from moving. Experts say this shows the power of security solutions that involve mobile technology.
2012 年他便开始致力于这项发明。他从积蓄中拿出300美元，用以改进一套用于追踪失窃车辆的系统。他的智能防盗系统使用电脑和手机告诉车主其车辆的位置。玛卡里亚说，如果汽车被盗，失主使用他的追踪设备就能找到车辆。车主可以通过短信向汽车发送命令，然后汽车就会立即熄火停车。专家说，这显示了移动技术在安全方案中所起的强大作用。
The new product helps its client.
Mr. Macharia used material available in Kenya to make his first tracker device. When he was satisfied with the design, he outsourced the making of the device to a factory in China. He says his company is now worth more than $ 100,000 and has more than 100 companies as clients. Tony Wanga is one of those clients. He owns three minibus taxis. Car thieves in the capital have targeted these vehicles. Mr. Wanga bought trackers for each of his vehicles. The trackers cost $ 250 each. He says the trackers tell him where his vehicles are. He says when the tracker is placed in one of his vehicles, he can follow its travels as he sits in his office.
玛卡里亚使用现有的材料在肯尼亚制造出他的第一台追踪设备。他对自己的设计满意之后，就把这种设备的制造外包给一家中国工厂。他表示，现在其公司的市值已超过 100 万美元，同时拥有超过 100 家的公司客户。托尼·王就是其中的一位客户，他拥有三辆小型巴士出租车。在内罗毕，偷车贼常以这些机动车为目标，因此，王先生为每辆车都买了追踪设备，每个跟踪设备花费 250 美元。他说，追踪设备能显示汽车的位置。而且，在安装了追踪设备以后，他坐在办公室里便可掌握汽车的运行路线。
Other security products.
Mr. Macharia continues to develop other security products. His other security products include car alarms and a camera hidden inside a pen. And he says he is building a wireless security camera that will be able to store video information for long periods of time. Mr. Macharia hopes his technological innovations give his clients the security and safety they want and need.
玛卡里亚还在继续研发其他的安保产品，包括汽车警报器以及隐藏在钢笔里的摄像头。他介绍说，他正在开发一款能够长时间地储存影像信息的无线安保摄像头。玛卡里亚希望他的技术创新能够为客户带去他们想要的保障和安全。
Reading 2
Talking Cars: The Vehicle of the Future
“会说话”的汽车：未来的交通工具
Something else could be coming soon to a vehicle near you: more technology, the kind that could help your car talk to others around it. Unlike some proposed cars of the future, it would not actually do the driving for you. But it could warn you about what other drivers are doing. The U.S. government may require this feature in the future, but it would add to the cost of the car.
很快，在你的周围，会有其他类型的车辆出现。会有更多的科技应用到汽车领域，让你的汽车能与周围的车说话。不同于某些未来概念车型，它不会实际为你驾驶汽车，而是会告诉你周围其他驾驶者在干什么。美国政府可能在不久的将来会要求汽车具备这个特征，但这会增加汽车的成本。
Vehicles of the future could be cars that talk to the driver and each other. The U.S. government wants them on the road soon, pushing for technology that would warn drivers of danger coming from any direction.
未来的新型汽车可以和驾驶员以及其他人交流。美国政府想让这种车尽快投入生产，用先进科技提醒驾驶员来自各个方向的危险。
It’s called vehicle-to-vehicle technology. Cars would send wireless messages to each other within about 300 yards, communicating information like speed, direction and GPS position ten times per second. When cars share this information, they can account for all the vehicles around them, which means they are able to identify possible crashes.
这是被称为“车车交互”的科技，即在 300 码的范围内，汽车之间可以互相发送无线信息，诸如速度、方向、GPS 定位等信息会每秒交互 10 次。当车辆间分享这些信息时，它们就会照顾到周围车辆，也就意味着，它们可以警觉到可能发生的事故。
The technology sees around corners, over hills and through other vehicles. For example, my car will tell me that there are five cars just ahead of me, and I can slow down beforehand while the vehicle ahead sends my car a message giving me enough time to react.
这种科技可以知晓被角落、丘陵以及其他车辆阻挡的车辆的运行状态。例如，我的车前有 5 辆车，前面的车辆会给我的车发来信息，使我获得足够的反应时间，我就能够提前减速。
33 , 000 Americans are killed and 2.3 million injured in car crashes every year. The Department of Transportation (DoT) predicts, talking cars could prevent up to 80 percent of crashes involving sober drivers.
每年有 33 000 美国人死于车祸，230 万美国人在车祸中受伤。据交通部预测，这种“会说话”的汽车可以预防高达 80%的不涉酒驾的汽车交通事故。
Five major car companies have been working with DoT on developing and testing the technology. 3,000 cars are already using it as part of a government pilot test. Sometime after 2016, the U.S. government hopes your car will be able to communicate with you.
交通部与五大汽车生产商一直在对该项技术进行研发和测试。目前，作为政府试点的一部分，已有 3 000 辆汽车投入使用。到 2016 年之后的某个时候，美国政府希望你的车将能与你进行交互。
While DoT hopes to make this technology the rule by 2016 , it will still need the public to weigh in before anything is finalized. Now, as for privacy, the government says that data sent between cars doesn’t record personal information, so your privacy should not be compromised.
交通部希望，到 2016 年，这个技术能够成为普遍规则，但规则出台前需要公众广泛参与讨论。至于隐私的问题，目前，政府部门表示，车辆之间所传输的数据并不会记录个人信息，因此你的个人信息不会被泄露出去。
Unit 7 A Bite of Technology
Reading 1
The Company Leading the Future of Farming
畜牧不再靠农场
Here’s a crazy idea: Combine bioprinting and tissue engineering to “print” animal products and tackle some of the planet’s biggest problems. Animal farming, after all, accounts for about half of all human-caused greenhouse gases, taking place on one-third of the available, non-frozen land on Earth, all to feed people’s appetites for 300 million tons of meat a year.
有这样一个疯狂的想法：将生物打印技术和组织工程结合在一起，来“打印”畜产品，解决这个星球上最大的问题。毕竟，畜牧业只发生在地球上 1/3 的可用非冰冻土地上，而它释放的温室气体占人类活动产生的温室气体总量的一半。这些都是为了满足人类每年消耗 3亿吨肉制品的需求。
Modern Meadow is a Missouri-based startup that engineers tissues to create lab-grown edible meat, in a process that eliminates many of the negative environmental effects associated with traditional livestock practices.
Modern Meadow 是美国密苏里州的一个新兴公司，他们通过改变组织结构，生产实验室培育的可食用肉。这种肉类生产过程能够消除传统畜牧业对环境产生的许多负面影响。
The company claims that by carefully layering mixtures of cells of different types in a specific structure, in vitro meat production becomes feasible. It’s set a short-term goal of printing a sliver of meat around two centimeters by one centimeter, and less than half a millimeter thick, which is edible.
该公司声称，通过在某一特殊结构中将不同类型细胞的混合体按片层状整合到一起，体外肉类培植有望实现。它定下短期目标：通过实验室打印出长 2 厘米、宽 1 厘米的可食用肉片，厚度不超过 0.5 毫米。
The company explains in a submission to the United States Department of Agriculture: “The technology has several advantages in comparison to earlier attempts to engineer meat in vitro. The bio-ink particles can be reproducibly prepared with mixtures of cells of different types. Printing ensures consistent shape, while post-printing structure formation and maturation in the bioreactor facilitates conditioning.”
该公司在呈交给美国农业部的一份报告中解释：“与早期体外培植肉类的尝试相比，此技术有一些优势。不同类型细胞的混合体确保生物墨水颗粒能够源源不断地被生产出来。打印可以保证肉类形状一致，打印好后，在生物反应器中进行的结构成型和成熟能够促进肉类的形成。”
However, it admits that the road ahead is strewn with difficulties. “The consumer acceptance of such products may not be without challenges. We expect it will first appeal to culinary early-adopter consumers and the segment of the vegetarian community that rejects meat for ethical reasons. With reduction in price, it can reach the masses with religious restrictions on meat consumption (people restricted to Hindu, Kosher, Halal diets) and finally populations with limited access to safe meat production.”
然而，该公司也承认，前路困难重重。“该类产品的市场接受度可能是个挑战。我们期待它能够吸引一批喜好烹饪的早期消费者和那些出于伦理道德原因拒绝肉食的素食主义者。随着价格的降低，在肉类消费上有宗教禁忌的大众（如食用印度、犹太、清真食物的人们）将接受该产品，较难吃到放心肉产品的群体最终也将接纳它。”
Whatever the final outcome, lab-grown edible meat is no longer in the realm of science fiction. It is coming.
无论最终结果如何，实验室培育的可食用肉不再只存在于科幻小说中。它的时代即将来临。
Reading 2
Can GM Food Help Combat World Hunger?
转基因食品能否对抗世界饥饿？
By 2050, the world’s population is projected to rise to 9 billion from just over 7 billion currently. Proponents of genetically modified foods say they are safe and can boost harvests even in bad conditions by protecting against pests, weeds and drought. This, they argue, will be essential to meeting the needs of a booming population in decades to come and avoiding starvation.
到 2050 年，预计世界人口数量将由现在的 70 多亿增至 90 亿。转基因食品的拥护者声称，转基因食品非常安全，且抗虫、抗杂草、抗旱，即使在恶劣的条件下仍能提高产量。他们辨称，转基因食品至关重要，能够满足未来几十年迅猛增长的人口需求，避免饥荒。
However, Doug Gu rian-Sherman, senior scientist for the food and environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group, said genetic engineering for insect resistance has provided only a modest increase in yields since the 1990s and drought-resistant strains have only modestly reduced losses from drought.
然而，美国忧思科学家联盟（一个支持转基因食品的团体）食品与环境项目的资深科学家 Doug Gurian-Sherman 先生说，自从 20 世纪 90 年代以来，旨在抵御病虫灾害的基因工程只是少量提高了农作物产量，旨在抵御干旱的植物品系仅仅稍微降低了干旱损失。
Moreover, he said conventional crossbreeding or cross-pollinating of different varieties for desirable traits, along with improved farming, is getting better results, boosting yields at a lower cost. In fact, much of the food Americans eat has been genetically modified by those conventional methods over thousands of years, before genetic engineering came into practice.
他还说道，（为了获得某种特性而进行的不同种类间的）传统的杂交和交叉授粉，加上先进的耕种方式，正以较低的成本获得较好的收成。事实上，在基因工程进入实践之前，美国人吃的大部分食物已经在数千年的传统种植中发生了基因变化。
“Overall, genetic engineering does not get nearly the bang for the buck as conventional breeding and improve agricultural practices,” Gu rian-Sherman said. His organization advises caution on GM foods and favors labeling, though it acknowledges the risks of genetic engineering have sometimes been exaggerated.
Doug Gurian-Sherman 先生说：“总体上，相对传统育种，基因工程并不划算，在提高农产品产量上，也并不突出。”他所在的组织建议对转基因食物保持警惕，并赞成标记此类食物，尽管它也承认，转基因食物的威胁有时候被夸大了。
Andrea Roberto Sonnino, chief of research at the U.N. food agency, said total food production at present is enough to feed the entire global population. The problem is uneven distribution, leaving870 million suffering from hunger. He said world food production will need to increase by 60 percent to meet the demands of 9 billion by 2050. This must be achieved by increasing yields, he added, because there is little room to expand cultivated land used for agriculture.
联合国粮农组织研究员 Andrea Roberto Sonnino 说，目前粮食产量足够养活全球人类。问题是分布不均，导致 8.7 亿人遭受饥饿。粮食产量需要提高 60%，以满足 2050 年时 9 亿人口的需要。他继续补充道，这一目标只有通过增加产量才能达到，因为农业耕地扩充的空间非常小。
Genetically modified foods, in some instances, can help if the individual product has been assessed as safe, he said. “It’s an opportunity that we cannot just miss.”
如果单个食品能被评估为安全的，那么，在某些情况下，转基因食品是可行的。AndreaRoberto Sonnino 说道，“我们不能错失这样的机会。”
Unit 8 Aerospace
Reading 1
Diary of a Space Zucchini
太空西葫芦的日记
June 17
6月17日
Excitement is in the air. Gardener said we will soon be returning to Earth. Our part of the mission is nearly complete and the new crew will take over for us. I am a bit worried about Broccoli, Sunflower, and me. If Gardener leaves, who will take care of us? And what about little Zuc? He is now a big sprout and ready to branch out on his own. Gardener talked about pressing us. I am not sure what that means; this does not sound good.
空气中弥漫着激动人心的气息。园丁说我们马上就要返回地球了。本段任务已接近尾声，新的宇航员将会接管过去。我有点担心西兰花、太阳花，还有我自己。如果园丁离开了，谁将照顾我们呢？小西葫芦怎么办？他已经发芽了，快要长出枝叶了。园丁说要压一压我们。我不知道那是什么意思，但听起来感觉不太好。
June 21
6月21日
Gardener and crew wore their spacesuits today. This is something Broccoli, Sunflower, little Zuc and I do not have. They spent time in the part of the spaceship that breaks off and falls back to Earth. It is very cramped inside. It must be their version of a seed pod.
园丁和宇航员们今天穿上了太空服。这是西兰花、太阳花、小西葫芦还有我所没有的。宇航员们待在分离后返回地球的飞船里。里面空间非常狭小，那一定是他们的种荚。
June 24
6月24日
Sunflower is going to seed! His blossom is wilted-brown and has a few lopsided packed seeds.This is not quite normal, but then, we are living on the frontier and things are different here. They are not ready now; I wonder if they will be by the time Gardener is with his seed pod.
太阳花已经开始结籽了。它的花因枯萎而呈现褐色，并挂着些许分布不均的荚果。这并不太正常，但我们正生活在宇宙的边界，这里一切都不一样。他们现在还没准备好，我在想，不知他们在园丁进入种子荚的时候是否能准备好。
June 26
6月26日
Gardener has this big book. He called it an atlas, a map of Earth. It is normally kept by the big window but now it is stuck to the wall right next to Broccoli, Sunflower, little Zuc, and me. He also transplanted us into new bags. This time the bags are very small, just enough to contain our root ball and a splash of water. He told us that he will soon be leaving and that we will return later in the belly of a Dragon.
园丁有一本大书，他叫它地图集，是地球的图册。通常它被放在大窗户旁边，但现在它挨着西兰花、向日葵、小西葫芦和我，贴墙放着。他还把我们移植到新的培育袋中。这次的袋子非常小，刚好能容纳根茎和一点水。他告诉我们，他很快就要离开，我们很快也将回到宇宙飞船Dragon的舱内。
July 1
7月1日
Today Gardener and his crew will depart in their seed pod; the replacement crew is ready to carry on in their place. He is wearing his spacesuit undergarments. Not too stylish but functional. He gave all of us an extra long smell. His nose twitched with the slightest tickle from the leaf hairs on little Zuc. He said that what will be is for the best. It has been a wonderful journey; one chapter is closing, another is opening. He had tears in his eyes, not just a small drop at the corners but a pool that was making him blink. He reached up and turned out the light. In the frontier you should not be afraid of the dark.
今天园丁和宇航员们将乘他们的种荚离开了，替代他们的船员也准备就位了。园丁贴身穿着太空服，虽不时髦但却实用。他意味深长地嗅了嗅我们，用鼻子轻挠着小西葫芦叶子上的茸毛。他说，即将到来的，就是最好的。这是一段精彩的旅程，旧的篇章结束，新的篇章开启。园丁的眼里含着泪，不是眼角的泪滴，而是像一汪水，让他不由自主地眨眼。他伸手去关灯。在宇宙的边界，你不应该害怕黑暗。
Reading 2
Space Elevator: Expert Q&A
太空电梯：专家问答
Why build a space elevator?
为什么要建造太空电梯？
The space elevator will reduce the cost of getting from Earth to space. It will also allow us to take very large payloads into space very easily, very safely. Because of that, we can build cities on the moon. We can build space stations. We can build large solar arrays in space to collect energy from the sun and beam it down to Earth.
太空电梯将降低从地球到太空的费用。太空电梯能够让我们运送巨大载荷进入太空，既轻松又安全。这样，我们就可以在月球上建城市，可以建空间站，可以在太空修建大型太阳能帆板来收集太阳能量，然后将它发射回地球。
Why not just use rockets instead?
为什么不使用火箭？
Rockets are very expensive. The shuttle costs $10,000 a pound to put a payload into low-Earth orbit, and if you want to go to the moon or Mars, it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars per pound or more. Rockets are also very limited in the amount of payload they can carry, and they’re risky. With a space elevator, the cost is a fraction of that — it may go down to 100th or 1,000th of current costs — and there are no rocket engines that might explode.
火箭费用太昂贵了。将载荷送往低地球轨道，每磅得花1万美元；若要运往月球或火星，每磅的花费更高。在运送数量上，火箭也受到限制，且充满风险。但太空电梯就不一样了，费用仅为火箭运输的一小部分，只有其百分之一或千分之一，且不会像火箭引擎那样面临爆炸的风险。
What would it be like to ride the elevator?
登上太空电梯是什么感觉？
You’d go to an ocean platform, you’d climb into a module, and you’d feel it start moving. You’d see the Earth fall away. In just a half hour or so, you’d pass up through the clouds, and you’d start to see the curve of the horizon. Another half an hour to an hour later, you’d basically be in space. You’d see stars, even in the middle of the day. Eventually you’d be weightless. It’d be a very smooth ride; there wouldn’t be any shaking.
你得登上海洋发射台，爬进舱体，你会感觉它开始移动。你可以看到，地球离你越来越远。大约半小时之后，你会穿越云层，渐渐能够看到地平线了。再过半小时或一小时，你基本就进入太空了。你会看到星星，即使是在大白天。最终你会处于失重的状态。那将是一次非常平稳的旅行，感觉不到任何摇晃。
Are there potential drawbacks to opening space this way?
通过太空电梯开发太空有什么潜在弊端吗？
Everything we do has the potential for creating some bad. If we mine an asteroid, the asteroid’s going to look ugly, just like a mine here. But I think the benefits of opening up space far outweigh the damage that we can see — benefits in terms of gaining energy from space to replace oil, additional capabilities in telecommunications, manufacturing in space, additional real estate and exploration.
我们做的任何事情都可能产生潜在的负面影响。若我们开采小行星，它可能会变得破败不堪，就像地球上的矿井一样。但我认为，开发太空的益处远远大于我们能预见的弊端，这些益处可能涉及：从太空获取替代石油的能源，在电信、太空制造、额外地产以及探索方面的附加能力。
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