2009年理工新书(蓝色标题为09年新增文章)

1、2009年理工新书（蓝色标题为 09年新增文章 ）第六部分 完形填空第一篇：Capta in Cook Arrow Lege nd （C 级）It was a great legend while it lasted, but DNA testing has finally ended a two-century-old story of the Hawiian arrow 箭头 carved from the bone of British explorer Captain James Cookwho died in the Sandwich Islands1 in 1779.“Therei

2、s no Cook2 in the Australian Museum,” museum collection manager Jude Philip said not long ago in announcing the DNA evidence that the arrow was not made of Cook 's bone. But that will not stop the museum fromonctinuing to display the arrow in its exhibition, “Uncovered:Treasures of the Australia

3、n Museum3, ” which doesinclude a feather cape presented to Cook by Hawaiian King Kalani in 1778.Cook was one of Britain 's great explorers and is creditediswcitohveringthe“ GreaSouth Land, ”now Australia, in 1770. He was clubbed 棍打 to death in the Sandwich Islands, now Hawaii. 夏威夷, 夏威夷岛The legen

4、d of Cook 's arrow began in w18h2e4n Hawaiian King Kamehameha on his deathbed 临死所卧之床,临终之时 gave the arrow to William Adams, a London surgeon and relative of Cook's wife, saying it was made of Cookthe fatal fight with islanders.In the 1890s the arrow was given to the Australian Museum and the

5、legend continued until it came face-to-face with science.DNA testing by laboratories in Australia and New Zealand revealed the arrowwas not made of Cook 's bone but walsikmeloyremade of animal bone, said Philp.However, Cook 's farnesfuseto give up hope that one Cook legend will prove true an

6、d that part of his remains will still be uncovered, as they say there is evidence not all of Cook 's bodbyuwraiesd at sea in 1779.“On this occasion technology haswon,4”said Cliff Thornton, president of the Captain Cook Society, in a statement from Britai n.“ ButSurna that one of these days one o

7、f the Cook lege nds willprove to be true and it will happen one day.”縞一笛.第二篇：Avala nche and Its Safety（C 级）An avalanche is a sudden and rapid flow of snow, often mixed with air and water, down a mountainside. Avalanches areamongthe biggest dangers in the mountains for both life and property.All aval

8、anches are caused by an over-burden of material, typically snowpack, that is too massive and unstable for the slopethat supports it. Determining the critical load, the amount of over-burden which is likely to cause an avalanche, is a complex task involving the evaluation of a number of factors.Terra

9、in slopes flatter than 25 degrees or steeper than 60 degrees typically have a low risk of avalanche. Snow does notgather significantly on steep slopes; also, snow does not flow easily on flat slopes. Human-triggered avalanches have the greatest incidence when the snow's angle of rest is between

10、35 and 45 degrees; the critical angle, the angle at which the human incidence of avalanches is greatest, is 38 degree. The rule of thumb is : A slope that is flat enough to hold snow but steep enough to ski has the potential to generate an avalanche, regardless of the angle. Additionally, avalanche

11、risk increases withuse ; that is, the more a slope is disturbed by skiers, the more likely it is that an avalanche will occur.Due to the complexity of the subject, winter traveling in the backcountry is never 100% safe. Good avalanche safety is a continuousprocess, including route selection and exam

12、ination of the snowpack, weather conditions, and human factors. Several well-known good habits can also reduce the risk. If local authorities issue avalanche risk reports, they should be considered and all warnings should be paid attention to. Never follow in the tracks of others without your own ev

13、aluations; snow conditions are almost certain to have changed since they were made. Observe the terrain and note obvious avalanche paths where plants aremissingor damaged. Avoid traveling below others who might trigger an avalanche.第三篇：One Good Reason to Let Smallpox Live（ C 级）卫生第三篇It ' s now af

14、fair bet that we will never see the total extinction of the smallpox virus. The idea was to cap the glorious achievement of 1980, when smallpox was eradicated in the wild, by destroying the killer virus in the last two labs the are supposed to have it one in the US and one in Russia. If smallpox had

15、 truly gone from the planet, what point was there in keeping these reserves?In reality, of course, it was nav?e to imagine that everyone would letgo of such a1potent potential weapon. Undoubtedly several nations still have a few vials. And the last “ official ” stocks of live virus bred mistrust of

16、the US an2dfRorusnsoiao,bvious gain.Now American researchers have found an animal model of the human disease, opening the way for tests on new treatments and vaccines. So once again there ' s a good reason tokeep the virusjust in casethe disease puts in a reappearance.How do we deal with the mis

17、trust of the US and Russia?Simple. Keep the virus under international auspices in a well- guarded UN laboratory that 'ospen to all countries. The US will object, of course, just at it rejects a multilateral approach to just about everything. But it doesn mean the'idtea is wrong. If the virus

18、 is useful, then let 's make it the servant of all humanoityt just a part of it. 第四篇：Animal ' s “Sixth Sen$C级）A tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean in December, 2004. It killed tens of thousands of people in Asia and East Africa. Wild animals, however , seem to have es

19、caped that terrible tsunami. This phenomenon adds weight to notions that I they possess a“sdixisthasetenrsse, exp”ertfsosr aid.Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island' smcoisaset dcwleialdrlybeasts, with no deadanimals

20、found.“No elephants are dead, neovt en a dead rabbit. I think animals cansensedisaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things ar e happening. ” H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department, said about one month after thetsunami attack. The waveswa s h ed floodwater

21、s up to 2 miles inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lanka' bsiggest wildlife reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards.“Therehas been a lot of apparent evidence about dogs barking or birds migrating before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. But it

22、 has not been proven, Matthew van Lierop an animal behaviorspecialist at Johannesburg Zoo.“There have been nospecificstudies because you can't really test it in a lab orfield setting2, ” he told Reuters. Other authorities concurred with thaissessmen.t“ Wildlife seem to be able to pick up certain

23、 phenomenon especially birds there are many reports of birds detecting impending disasters, sa”id Clive Walker, who has written several books on African wildlife.Animals certainly rely on the known senses such as smell or hearing to avoid danger such as predators.The notion of an animal “sixthsense-

24、”or someother mythical power-is an enduring one3 which the evidence on Sri Lanka's ravaged coast is likely to add to.The Romans saw owls as omens of impending disaster and many ancient cultures viewed elephants as sacred animals endowed with special powers or attributes.第五篇：Singing Alarms Could

25、Save the Blind （C 级）1If you cannot see, you may not be able to find your way out of a burning2 buildingand that could be fatal. A company in Leeds could change all that with directional sound alarms capable of guiding you to the exit.Sound Alert, a company run by the University of Leeds, is installi

26、ng the alarms in a residential home for blind people in Sommerset and a resource center for the blind in Cumbria. The alarms produce a wide range of frequencies that enable the brain to determine where thesoundis coming from.Deborah Withington of Sound Alert says that the alarms use most of the freq

27、uencies that can beheard by humans.“ It is a burst of white noise噪音：音响或电力嗓音 that people say sounds like stati（静电噪声 on the radio, ” she says. “Its life-saving potential is great.”She conducted an experiment in which people were filmed by thermal-imaging cameras trying to find their way out of3 a larg

28、e smoke-filled room. It took them nearly four minutes to find the door without a sound alarm, but only 15 seconds with one.Withington studies how the brain processessounds at the university. She says that thesourceof a wide band 波段 of frequencies can be pinpointed 极微小的 more easily than the source of

29、 a narrow band. Alarms based on the same concept have already been installed on emergency vehicles.The alarms will also include rising or falling frequencies to indicate whether people should go up or down stairs. They were developed with the aid of a large grant from British Nuclear Fuels.第六篇：Car T

30、hieves Could Be Stopped Remotely遥远地（C 级）Speeding off 超速行驶 in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch But he is in a nasty3 surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer, and a radio signal from a control center miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine of

31、f , he will not be able to start it again.For now, such devices are only available for fleets of trucks4 and specialist vehicles used on construction sites. But remote immobilization technology could soon start to trickle 慢慢地移动 down to ordinary cars,5 and should be available to ordinary cars in the

32、UK in two months.The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car incorporates 6 a miniature cellphone, a microprocessor and memory, and a GP7Ssatellite positioning receiver. If the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the unit to block the vehicle 's engine management syste

33、m and prevent the enginbeeing restarted.There are even plans for immobilizers that shut down vehicles on the move8, though there are fears over the safety implications of such a system.In the UK, an array of9 technical fixes10 is already making life harder for car thieves. “Thepattern of vehicles cr

34、ime has changed, ”says Martyn Randall of Thatcham, a security research organization based in Berkshir1e1 that is funded in part by the motor insurance industry.He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a novice 新手, 初学者 how to steal a car using a bare minimum of tools12. But only if the c

35、ar is more than 10 years old.Moder n cars are a far tougher 艰苦的 propositi on 任务：13, as their engine managementcomputer will not allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out14 by the ignition key. In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31 per cent drop in vehic

36、le-related crim1e5 since 1997.But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars. Often by getting hold of the owner'kseys in a burglary. In 2000, 12 per cent of vehicles stolen in the UK were taken using the owner 'kseys double the previous year ' s figure.Remo

37、te-controlled immobilization system would put 打断 a major new obstacle in the criminal' s way by making such thefts pointless. A group that inclucdheasmT,hatthe police, insurance companies and security technology firms have developed standards for a system that could go on the market sooner than

38、thceustomerexpects. 第七篇An Intelligent Car（C 级）Driving needs sharp eyes, keen ears, quick brain, and coordination between hands and the brain. Many human drivers have altlheseand can control a fast-moving car. But how does an intelligent car control itself?There is a virtual drive1 in the smart car.

39、This virtual driver1 has “eyes,”“brains,” “hands”and “feet,”too. The minicameras on each side of the car are his “eyes,” which observe the road conditions ahead of it. They watch thetraffic to the car's left and right. There is also a highly automatic driving system in the car. It is the built-i

40、n computer, which is the virtual driver 's “brain.”His “brain”calculates the speedsof other moving cars near it and analyzes their positions. Basing on this information2, it chooses the right path for the intelligent car, and gives instructionsto the “hands” and “feet”to act accordingly. In this

41、 way, the virtual driver controls his car.What is the virtual driver 's best advantag3e? He reactsquickly. The minicameras are sendingimages continuously to the “brain.”It completesthe processing of the images within 100 milliseconds. However, the world 's best driver at least needs one seco

42、nd to react.Besides, when he takes action, he needs one more second.The virtual driver is really wonderful. He can reduce the accident rate considerably on expressways. In this case, can we let him have the whe4elat any time and in any place? Experts warn what we cannot do that5 just yet6. His abili

43、ty to recognize things is still limited . He can now only drive an intelligent car on expressways. 第八篇：A Biological Clock （ C 级）Every living thing has what scientists call a biological clock that controls behavior. The biological clock tells plants when to form flowers and when the flowers should op

44、en1. It tells insectswhen to leave the protective cocoon 茧 and fly away, and it tells animals and human beings when to eat, sleep and wake.Events outside the plant and animal affect 影响 the actions of some biological clocks. Scientists recently found, for example, that a tiny animal changes the color

45、 of its fur because ofthe number of hours of daylight. In the short days of winter, its fur becomes white. The fur becomes gray brown in color in the longer hours of daylight summer.Inner signals control other biological clocks. German scientists found that some kind of internal clock seems to order

46、 birds to begin their long migration flight twice each year. Birdsprevented from 阻止 , 妨碍 flying become restless when it is time for the trip, but they become calm again when the time of the flight has ended.Scientists say they are beginning to learn which parts of the brain contain biological clocks

47、. An American researcher, Martin Moorhead, said a small group of cells near the front of the brain seemsto control the timing of some of our actions. These cells tell a person when to awaken , when to sleep and when to seek food. Scientists say there probably are other biological clock cells that co

48、ntrol other body activities.Dr. Moorhead is studying how our biological clocks affect the way we do our2 work . For example, most of us have great difficulty if we must often change to3 different work hours. It can take many days for a human body to accept the major change in work hours. Dr. Moorhea

49、d said industrial officials should have a better understanding of biological clocks and how they affect workers. He said such understanding could cut sickness and accidents at work and would help increase a factory ' s production.第九篇：Wonder Webs（ C 级）Spider webs are more than homes, and they are

50、 ingenious traps. And the world best web spinner may be the Goldern Orb Weaver spider. The female Orb Weaver spins a web of fibers thin eno ugh to be inv isible to in sect pr t, yet tough enough to snare a flying bird without breaking.The secret of the web 's strength? A type o-fressuipliernt si

51、lk called dragline. When the female spider is ready to weave th e web 's spokes and frame, she uses her legs to draw the airy thread out through a hollow nozzle in her belly. Dragline is not sticky, so the spider can race back and forth along it to spin the web'strademark spiral.Unlike some

52、spiders that weave a new web every day, a Golden Orb Weaver re uses h e r handiwork until it falls apart, sometimes not for two years1. The silky thread is five times stronger than steel by weight and absorbs the force of an impact three times better than Kevlar, a high-strength human-made material

53、used in bullet-proof vests. And thanks to its high tensile strength, or the ability to resist breaking under the pulling force called tension, a single strand can stretch up to 40 percent longer than its original length and snap back as well as new. No human-made fiber even comesclose.It is no wonde

54、r manufacturers are clamoring for spider silk. In the consumer pipeline: high-performance fabrics for athletes and stockings that never run2. Think parachute cords and suspension bridge cables. A steadysupply of spider silk would be worth billions of dollars but how to produce it? Harvesting silk on

55、 spider farms does not work becausethe territorial arthropods have a tendency to devour their neighbors.Now, scientists at the biotechnology company Nexia are spinning artificial silk modeled after Goldern Orb dragline. The first step: extract silk-making genes from the spiders. Next, implant the ge

56、nes into goat egg cells. The nanny goats that grow from the eggs secrete dragline silk proteins in their milk . “The young goats pass on the silk-making gene without any help from us, ” says Nexia president Jeffrey Turner. Nexia is still perfecting the spinning process, but they hope artificial spid

57、er silk will soon be snagging customersas fast asthe real thing snags bugs.第十篇：Less Is More(C 级)It sounds all wrong drilling holes in a piece of wood to make it more resistant to knocks. But it works because the energy from the blow gets distributed throughout the wood rather than focusing on one we

58、ak spot. The discovery should lead to more effective and ligher packaging materials.Carpenters have known for centuries that some woods are tougher than others. Hickory, for example, was turned into axe handles and cartwheel spokes because it can absorb shocks without breaking. White oak, for exampl

59、e, is much more easily1 damaged,although it is almost as dense. Julian Vincent at Bathe University and his team were convinced the wood' s internal structure could explain the differences.Many trees have tubular vessels that run up the trunk and carry water to the leaves. In oak they are large, and arranged in narrow bands, but in hickory they are smaller, and more evenly distributed. The researchersthought this layout might distribute a blow's energy othurtotuhgehwood, soaking up a bigger hit. To test theidea, t