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Unit1Our livingplanet Theocean de叩海洋深处We lookupwards andwonder what lies beyondour planet.We sendprobes into the vastnessof spaceto explorethe unknown.We buildspace stationsto advanceour understanding of theuniverse.Our curiosityabout outerspace hasremained unshakeable.Meanwhile,it isestimated thatmore than eighty per cent of the worldsoceans areunexplored.So,if wewant to find excitingnew life forms as well asundiscovered andunusual geological formations,the oceanis wherewe shouldalso belooking-Then whydont wedive to the bottomof a really deep ocean andtake a long,close lookbeneath thewaves我们仰望天空,好奇在我们的星球之外有什么我们向浩瀚的太空发射空间探测器以探索未知世界我们建造空间站以增进对宇宙的了解我们对太空的好奇心一直以来从未动摇同时,据估算,世界上超过80%的海洋还未被探索因此,如果我们想找到令人激动的新生物以及未被发现的、不同寻常的地质构造,海洋也是我们应该去寻找的地方那么,我们为什么不潜到很深的海底,长时间地、仔细地观察海底呢?The first200metres of our divetakes usthrough whatcan becalled theopen ocean,where mostvisible lightexists.Here livesmuch of the marinelife weknow about,such asdolphins,corals andseaweeds.Sinking below200mertes,we enterthe twilight zone,where thereis littlesunlight andthus almostno plantlife.Most of the fishliving hereare smallfilter feederswhich swimup atnight tofeed in the nutrient-rich waters above.Also living in thetwilightzoneare hunterswith telescopic,upward-pointing eyesthat caneasily spota mealin thewatersabove.Consequently,the fishmost likely to beeaten have evolved tohave thinbodies sothat theyarc lesseasily to be seenfrom below.However,once theyare captured,the hunters9backward-carving teethprevent themfrom gettingaway.Evolution,it seems,helps boththe hunterand thehunted inequal measure.我们下潜的头200米带我们穿过所谓的透光区,这里有大部分可见光我们所知的许多海洋生物,如海豚、珊瑚和海藻,生活在这一层下潜到200米以下,我们进入暮光区,这里没有阳光,因此几乎没有植物生活在此的大多数鱼类都是小型滤食性动物,它们在夜间向上游,到上面营养丰富的水域进食同样生活在暮光区的还有双眼凸起向上的猎食者,它们能轻易地发现上层水域中的食物结果,最有可能被吃掉的鱼已经进化成细长的身体,所以从下面不太容易看见它们然而,一旦它们被捕获,猎食者向后弯曲的牙齿让它们无法逃脱进化似乎在同等程度上帮助了猎人和猎物!Once past1,000metres,we have reached thedeep ocean,where thereis nolight andtemperatures dropjust abovefreezing.The pressuresare hugeand can be more than100times thepressure of the Earthsatmosphere.It is then surprising that manycreatures canlive inthis extremeenvironment.They cannotrely solelyon theireyesight to survive and haveevolvedfascinating characteristics.Indeed,many organismsin thedeep oceanare blind.In orderto obtainfood andavoid beingcaught,they haveto dependon othersenses such as smelland theirability todetect slightchanges inwater pressure.Also,some fishhave bothmale andfemale organsto increasethe chances of reproduction,as fishare soscarce at these depthsthat it can bedifficult for them tofind amate.The fishin thedeepoceanare amongthe strangest械操纵装置,让汽车按照行动计划行驶This maysound perfectin theory,but in reality technologicalbarriers in AV developmentexist.The self-driving car*s perception system presentsone.Road trafficin thereal worldis socomplicated thatunfamiliar orunexpected conditionsmay occurat anytime.Since it is unreasonablefor the database toinclude everypossible objectin everypossible conditionahead oftime,the systemmight notrecognize everythingon the road.In onetragic real-life case,a self-driving carsperceptionsystemfailed toidentify a white truckagainst thebright,sunlit sky.It assumedthat there was noobstacle inits pathand didnot activatethe brakes,causing thedeath of the driverin theself-driving car.Accidents likethis posethe questionof howself-driving carscan betterlearn andimprove theirbehaviours on the roadto ensuresafe journeys.这理论上听起来很完美,但实际上,自动驾驶汽车的开发还存在技术障碍其感知系统就是一个例子真实世界中的道路交通如此复杂,以至于不熟悉或意外的情况时有发生既然数据库将每种可能发生的情况下的每个可能存在的物体都预先包含是不合理的,系统就无法识别路上所有东西在一个悲惨的真实案例中,一辆自动驾驶汽车的感知系统未能从明亮晴空的背景下识别一辆白色卡车它只当行进路线上没有障碍物,没刹车,导致自动驾驶汽车的司机死亡此类事故提出了这样一个问题,即自动驾驶汽车怎样才能更好地学习,改进行驶中的行为以确保安全出行Another aspectthat needscareful considerationis theethical responsesself-driving carswould makein specificcircumstances.The TrolleyProblem isoften usedto discussdifficult ethicalchoices theymay face.For example,should thosein theself-driving caralways beprotected firsteven ifit meansendangering thelives of pedestrians Shoulda self-driving carhit a single pedestrianto avoidcrashing into a groupofpedestriansAnd wouldit makea differentdecision if the pedestrianwere achild ora seniorcitizen Themoral dilemmathat comeswith how to ethicallyprogram self-driving carshas yet to beresolved.另一个需要仔细斟酌的方面是自动驾驶汽车在特定情况下的伦理反应人们经常援弓1电车难题”来讨论自动驾驶汽车可能面临的棘手的伦理抉择例如,自动驾驶汽车内的人是否应该始终受到优先保护,即使这意味着危及行人的生命为避免撞到一群行人,自动驾驶汽车是否应该去撞一个行人?这个行人如果是一个小孩或老人,自动驾驶汽车会作出不同的决定吗如何编写程序让自动驾驶汽车合乎伦理,这个问题带来的伦理困境尚待解决Besides suchethical concerns,the legalsituations theAV industryis likelyto beconfronted withhave fuelledheated debates.In thisemerging industry,manufacturing andprogramming standardsare notyet uniform.Moreover,the qualityand safetyof AVtechnology isstill beingchallenged.This couldlead toextraordinary caseslike whoshould beheld responsiblewhen self-driving carsare involved in accidents-should itbe thedriver,the softwareprogrammer orthe manufacturerManufacturing andprogramming standardsfirst haveto beagreed uponto makeit possible for lawcourts to decide whois atfault whenthings gowrong.As advancesinAV design and technology arein progress,the finalagreement onlaws andregulations inthis industryremains to be seen.除了这些道德方面的担忧,自动驾驶汽车行业可能面临的法律处境已经引发了激烈争论在这个方兴未艾的行业里,制造和编程标准尚未统一此外,自动驾驶汽车技术的可靠性和安全性依然受到质疑这会导致一些意想不到的情况,例如,当自动驾驶汽车发生事故时,责任该由哪一方承担一是自动驾驶汽车的司机,软件程序员,还是生产商首先要有统一的制造和编程标准,法庭才能在出现问题时裁定谁有过错自动驾驶汽车的设计和技术正在不断进步,而管理该行业的法律法规的最终-致尚待确定There can be littledoubt that,despite allthe challenges,self-driving carswill formpart of our future.The questionis,what isnext Someargue thatself-driving carsshould beallowed tooperate withouthuman control,while othersare morecautious andbelieve thathuman operation,even iflimited,is necessaryin successfulAVdesign.Only timewill revealits truepath.While the journey aheadis notwithout obstacles,the eventualdestination isbound to be anothermilestone forhumankinds amazingvision and inventiveness.毫无疑问,尽管困难重重,但自动驾驶汽车将成为我们未来重要的一部分问题是接下来会怎样有些人主张应该让自动驾驶汽车在无人控制的情况下运行,而另一些人则更谨慎些,认为人工操控,即使是有限的,仍然是有必要的只有时间才能揭示出正确的道路虽然前方绝非坦途,但最终目的地必将成为人类惊人远见和创造力的又一座里程碑Extended readingRacing towardsthe future:a lookat Chinas high speed rail network奔向未来:中国高速铁路网一瞥In thedistance,awhitebullet-nosed trainis thunderingdown thetrack.It growslarger by the seconduntil iteventually slows and glidespast thelines ofwaiting passengers.As iteases to a stop,its doorsopen with a hissand the passengers boardwith eageranticipation.Then thedoors closeand thetrain departsexactly ontime,its progressbarely noticedas itquickly andsilently gathersspeed.Seated comfortablyin thewell-equipped,spacious carriages,thepassengersknow that their journeyahead will be botheffortless andrelaxing.远处,一列白色子弹头火车正沿轨道呼啸而来每一瞬间车身都变得更大,直到最终减速级行,滑过一排排候车的旅客火车慢地停下来,车门发出嘶嘶声、打开了,旅客们满怀期待地上了车然后,车门关闭,火车准点发车,它的行进几乎察觉不到,因为它悄无声息地飞快提速舒适地坐在设备齐全、空间宽敞的车厢里,旅客们知道他们前方的旅程将会是轻松自如的Such scenesof contentedpassengers beingswiftly transportedto theirdestinations arerepeated many times aday allover China,as faras the high-speed railHSR network extends.Since2008,the HSRnetwork hastransported over10billion passengers,setting a world record.There are now morethan3,000high-speed trainsrunning daily,some reachingspeeds ofup to350kilometres perhour,the fastestin the world oftrain transport.Already covering92per centof citieswith populationsthat exceedhalfa millionas of2020,the HSRnetwork reachesevery cornerof thecountry.With anoverall lengthof around40,000kilometres inoperation,it not only greatlyenhances the national railroadsefficiency,but alsoserves as the enginethat keepsthe countryseconomic lifebloodflowing.旅客们心满意足地被飞快送到目的地,这种场景每天都在中国各地无数次重演,远至高速铁路网延伸的地方自2008年起,高速铁路网已运载100多亿旅客,创造了世界纪录现在每天有超过7000多列高铁在疾驰,有些时速可达350公里,是世界火车运行速度之最高速铁路网有总长约4万公里的高铁运营里程,覆盖中国大陆所有省区市它不仅大大提高国家铁路的运行效率,而且成为国家经济命脉流动的引擎However,Chinashigh-speedrailnetwork wasnot builtovernight.The HSRproject beganin the1990sandit hasgrown enormouslysince then.A keymilestone was the releaseof theHSRnetworkblueprint in2004,when theplan forn fourvertical andfour horizontalcorridors wasput forward.Twelve yearslater,it wasupgraded toneightvertical andeight horizontalcorridors.Today,China boaststhe worldslongest and most extensivelyused HSRnetwork,and isrightly consideredthe worldleader in HSR construction.然而,中国的高速铁路网并非一蹴而就高铁计划开始于20世纪90年代,自此进展非常迅速一个重要里程碑是2004年高速铁路网蓝图的发布,当时“四纵四横”通道计划诞生十二年后,该计划升级为“八纵八横”通道今天,中国拥有世界上里程最长、使用最广的高速铁路网,成为当之无愧的高铁建设世界领跑者This enormoussuccess isinseparable from the visionaryleadership of the CommunistParty of China as well asthe greatwisdom of the Chinese people.With innovationand perseverance,they haveclimbed overhurdles andpassed onemilestone afteranother.The Beijing-Shanghai line,the worldslongest linebuilt inone stage,has thefastest high-speed trains,reducing thetravel timebetween Beijingand Shanghaifrom14hours toless than5hours.The Harbin-Dalian line,the firsthigh-cold high-speed railwayin the world,can operateat350kilometres perhour intemperatures aslow as-40℃.The Beijing-Zhangjiakou line,the worldsfirst smarthigh-speed railway,has setthe standardfor HSRautomatic driving.The FuxingElectric MultipleUnit EMU,which madeits debutin2017,is anotherremarkable accomplishmentthat demonstratestechnical skillinHSRdesign andconstruction.Developed andmanufactured totallyby China,the EMUtrain boastsmodernized features,elegant designsand advancedtechnologies thatare superiorto thoseof previousmodels.It isbuilt with a longerlifespan andan energy-saving designto reduceair resistance.All theseachievements showcasethe wholehearteddevotion ofengineers,the tirelesseffort ofrailroad workers,and thestrong supportof allthe Chinesepeople.这个巨大的成功离不开中国共产党高瞻远瞩的领导和中国人民的伟大智慧他们勇于创新,矢志不移,爬坡过坎,跨过一个又一个里程碑京沪高铁线路是世界上一次建成最长、速度最快的高铁线路,将两地之间的通行时间从14小时缩短至不到5小时工哈大高铁线路是世界首条高寒高铁线路,可在低至40℃的温度下以350公里的时速运行京张高铁线路是世界上第一条智能高铁线路,为高铁自动驾驶树立了标杆2017年首次亮相的“复兴号”电力动车组EMU是彰显高铁设计和建设专门]技术的又一项卓越成就“复兴号”完全由中国研发和制造,功能现代化,设计优雅,技术先进,优于以往车型它使用寿命更长,并配有降低风阻的节能设计所有这些成就展示了工程师的全身心投入、铁路工人的不懈努力以及全体中国人民的大力支持It is no surprisethen thatChinas HSRnetwork hasgrabbed theattention of the wholeworld.In thespirit ofinternational cooperation,China hasgenerously exportedits technologyand skillsto manycountries,and helpedthem constructhigh-speed railwaylines.This isin line with theBelt andRoad Initiative,which aimsto revivethe ancientSilk Roadand connectthe countriesalong theroute.The WorldBank haspraised Chinas HSR successand itspositive impactswhich gowell beyondthe railwaysector toinclude urbandevelopment,regional economicgrowth andreductions ingreenhouse gasemissions.The HSRnetwork has become a new symbolofChina,and ChinaStandard Hhasbecomethe WorldStandard n.毫不意外,中国的高铁网吸引了全世界的目光秉承国际合作精神,中国向许多国家慷慨输出了技术和技能,帮助他们建设高铁线路这符合“一带一路”倡议,旨在复兴古代丝绸之路,连通沿线各国世界银行称赞了中国高铁的成功及其积极影响,其影响远远不只是铁路领域,还涉及城市发展、区域经济增长和温室气体减排等方面高铁网成为新的中国符号,“中国标准’成为世界标准,In thepast/Looking back,the HSRspath wasfilled withobstacles andachievements.Racing towardsthe future,ChinasHSRnetwork willcontinue togrow,improving thelives ofits peopleand strengtheningunity amongthem.Now,it isshining abright lighton thetrack aheadto evengreater success.So,sit backand enjoythe ride!过去,高铁之路充满坎坷与成就奔向未来,中国高铁网将继续发展壮大,改善人民生活,增进民族团结如今,它照亮了通往前方更大成功的轨道让我们坐下来,享受这段旅程吧!Unit4Fun withscience ReadingThe humanmicrobiome:an invisiblemicrouniverse人类微生物群系:一个看不见的微宇宙What organismslive withus,make up about twopercentof anadults bodymass,yet areinvisible to the nakedeye Theyare theestimated39trillion microorganismslivingin and on our body,like bacteriaand viruses,which composethe humanmicrobiome!什么生物和我们共生,约占成年人体重的2%,而肉眼却看不见它们是生活在我们体内和体表的约39万亿个微生物,比如细菌和病毒,它们构成了人类微生物群系!不过没必要恐慌,因为它们大多数都是对健康有益的尽管极其微小,这些微生物会以巨大的意想不到的方式影响我们的身心But thereisnoneed topanic,for mostof themare thereto keep us healthy.Even thoughincredibly small,these microorganisms influence our body andmind inbig unexpectedways.So,where dothese microorganismscome fromWell,they havealways beena part of us.Our veryfirst birthdaygift-three quartersof theessential microorganismswe need tosurviveand grow-is fromour motherwhen weare bom.By thetime wereach twoyears old,we haveour veryown personalcollection of microorganisms thatreflects thevarious circumstancesof our lives.Going throughlife,we furtherexpose ourselvesto foreignmicroorganisms,which cause a part ofourmicrobiome tochange everyday.However,our coreset of microorganisms,approximately twothirds,stays fairlyconstant throughoutour lives.那么,这些微生物是从哪里来的呢其实,他们一直是我们的一部分我们的第一份生日礼物------我们]生存和成长所需的基本微生物的四分之三——在出生时从母亲那里获得到两岁时,我们就有了个人的微生物群,它们反映着我们生活的各种环境生活中,我们进一步接触外来微生物,导致我们的微生物群系每天都在发生局部变化但是,占比约三分之二的核心微生物群,在我们一生中是相当稳定的The make-up andstate ofour specialblend of microorganisms affectsus physically,including ourimmune system,weight andsleep patterns.Every day,the residentmicroorganismsinour bodiescompete with the invadingones,preventing themfrom gettinga foothold,thus helpingform astrong immune system andkeepushealthy.Similarly,the compositionofour gut microbiomeplays avital rolein regulatingourbodyweight.Besides helpingdigest food,evidence indicatesthat gut microorganisms affectthe waywe storefat andrespond tochemicals thatmake usfeel hungryor full.As aresult,without theproper mixofmicroorganismsin thegut,we mightsuffer fromhealth problemslike obesity.Added tothis,microorganisms caninfluence certain aspects ofour sleeppatterns.If westay upall nightor travelrapidly throughmanytimezones,we mayinterrupt the microorganisms1biological schedules,which islikelytocauseadisturbance inour normalsleep routine.我们特有的微生物混合体的构成与状态影响着我们的身体健康,包括我们的免疫系统、体重和睡眠模式每天,我们体内的常驻微生物与入侵微生物竞争,阻止它们立足,从而有助于形成强大的免疫系统,让我们保持健康同样,我们肠道微生物群系的构成在调节体重方面至关重要除了能帮助消化食物,有证据显示,肠道微生物还会影响我们储存脂肪的方式,以及让我们产生饥饿感和饱腹感的相关化学品的应答方式因此,如果肠道微生物组合出差错,就会引发肥胖等健康问题此外,微生物还会影响我们睡眠模式的某些方面如果熬夜或快速跨越多个时区,体内微生物的生物钟会被打乱,进而有可能干扰我们正常的睡眠习惯The influenceofmicroorganismsreaches beyondphysical healthto ourcognitive andpsychological well-being.Believe itor not,gut microorganismsaffect howwell the brain functions.While scientists are stillat theearly stagesof uncoveringexactly howgut microorganismscommunicate with the brain,they doknow that the brainand thegut talkto eachother.For example,when thebody isstressed,ill orold,some gutmicroorganisms respondnegatively,releasing harmful substances which may enterthe brainthrough thebloodstream.When theimmune systemattacks thesesubstances,it oftenkills healthybrain nervecells.Furthermore,gutmicroorganismshelp regulatebrain chemistrywith certainchemicals theyproduce,so animbalance ofbeneficial andharmful microorganismsin thegut cannegatively affectbrain chemistry.These gut-brain interactionssometimes resultin suchproblems asmemory lossand depression.It istherefore importantthat wetake goodcare ofourgutmicroorganisms soas toimprove ourcognitive capabilitiesand enhanceour psychologicalhealth.微生物的影响不仅限于身体健康,还涉及我们的认知和心理健康不管你信不信,肠道微生物会影响大脑功能虽然科学家还处于探究肠道微生物与大脑交流方式的初级阶段,但他们的确知道大脑和肠道能相互“交谈”例如,当身体压力大、生病或衰老时,一些肠道微生物会作出消极反应,释放一些有害物质,这些物质可能随血液进人大脑免疫系统在攻击这些物质时,经常杀死健康的脑神经细胞此外,肠道微生物用它们产生的某些化学品来帮助调节大脑化学结构,因此肠道中有益和有害微生物的失衡会对大脑化学结构产生负面影响这种肠脑交互作用有时会导致诸如记忆力减退和抑郁等问题因此,照顾好我们的肠道微生物,这很重要,可以提高我们的认知能力和改善我们的心理健康Given theirimportance,scientists areworking hardtofind out howwe cantake advantageofmicroorganismswithin thefield ofhuman health.Successful projectshave foundways toimprove theimmunesystemthrough microbiometransplants-using goodmicroorganisms toreplace badones.Furthermore,the findingsof how the microbiomeaffects psychologicalhealth havegiven rise to awhole newclass ofmedicines that could be used fortreating seriousmental illnesses,as well as relievingdaily stressand anxiety.In the future,we mighteven becapable ofdeveloping nmicrobiome vaccinationsthatcouldget ridof currenthealth issueslike obesityor malnutrition.鉴于它们的重要性,科学家正在努力探究在人类健康领域利用微生物的方法有些项目已经成功地找到了通过微生物群系移植来改善免疫系统的方法,即用“好”微生物取代“坏”微生物而且,关于微生物群系如何影响心理健康的研究成果催生了一类全新药物,可用于治疗严重心理疾病,以及缓解日常压力和焦虑未来,我们甚至可能研发出“微生物群系疫苗”,从而攻克肥胖、营养不良等现有的健康问题Microorganisms,those tinycreatures wecarry aroundall ourlives,have surprisedus with their seeminglylimitless potential.They willcertainly revealmore secretsas researcherscontinue toexplore theirworld.The invisiblemicrouniverse isfilled withendless possibilitieswaiting to be explored,just likethe greatuniverse outthere.微生物,那些伴随我们一生的小东西,它们似乎无穷无尽的潜力让我们震惊随着研究者对微生物世界的持续探究,肯定会有更多奥秘被揭开看不见的微宇宙就像那大宇宙一样,蕴含着无限可能,只等我们去发掘Bionics:where nature and technologyintersect仿生学咱然与技术的交汇点Humans arecurious bynature,and aboutnature.Perfected overbillions ofyears,natures formsand functionshave inspiredus to imitate it and developmaterials andtechnologies thatimprove ourlives.Consequently,a scienceknown asbionics”was born.Although theterm bionicsofficially datesback to1958,the practiceis centuriesold.It couldbe saidthat asfar backas2,500years ago,Lu Ban,a carpenterin ancientChina,was engagedin bionicswhen heproduced asaw bycopying theshape of a leafssharp teeth.Currently,bionics hasscientists eagerlycombing thenatural worldfor originalideas tostimulate theircreativity.人类天生充满好奇心,对大自然(更是)充满好奇心经过几十亿年的日臻完善,大自然的形态和功能激励我们去模仿它,开发出改善我们]生活的材料和技术因此,一门称之为“仿生学”的科学诞生了虽然“仿生学”一词正式追溯到1958年,但这种实践已有几个世纪的历史据说早在2500年前,古代中国的木匠鲁班就开始从事仿生学,当时他通过模仿树叶锋利的齿状制造了一把锯子目前,仿生学促使科学家热切地在自然界中寻找有创意的想法,激发他们的创造力The ideaof takinginspiration fromnature maysound simple;however,scientists oftenneedtogo togreat lengthsto effectivelycombine natureand innovation.Firstly,they mustobserve aliving organismwiththepotential foroffering solutions toaparticular humanproblem.Secondly,during observationand dataanalysis,scientists shouldtry toidentify naturesown solutions,whichmaybeusedin designand engineering.Thirdly,further explorationis requiredto determinehowthenatural solutionwill fitin withhuman needs.Finally,they needtodecidewhether thesolution can be recreatedto developanewproduct orperhaps improvean existingone,and howthis can be achieved.This processmay haveto beperformed severaltimes andit maytake scientistsyears oftrial anderror toperfect theproduct.从大自然中汲取灵感的想法可能听起来很简单;然而,科学家经常需要不遗余力地将自然和创新有效地结合起来首先,他们必须观察有可能为某一特定人类问题提供解决方案的生物其次,在观察和数据分析过程中,科学家要努力发现自然自身的解决方案,这些方案可能被应用到设计和工程中第三,科学家需要进一步探索,确定自然的解决方案如何与人类需求相适应最后,他们需要决定是否可以再现该解决方案,以开发新产品或有可能改进现有产品,以及如何实现这一点这一过程可能不得不操作好几次,科学家可能需要多年的反复试验才能完善产品Once scientistsbridge thegap betweennatureand innovation,a pathopens up to manynovel ideas.One ideagrew fromobserving the sunflowers spiralseed pattern,which is not justeye-catching,but alsointelligent.The seedsgrow at thengolden angleof
137.5,ensuring all of themreceive sunlight.To capturemaximum sunlight,the sunflowersface alsofollows the suns path.As capturingsunlight isthe purposeof solarpower plants,it isnot surprisingwhen engineershave decidedtoimitatethesunflowersnatural solutions.Solar mirrorsare arrangedto copythe spiralseed patternand positionedat thesame goldenangle.The mirrorsare alsoprogrammed tofollow thesun,hence thesolar plantfunctions exactlylike asunflower.The designis alsoeco-friendly,requiring lessland tobuild onand lessenergy tooperate.一旦科学家跨越了自然和创新之间的鸿沟,就打开了-一条通往许多新奇想法的道路一个想法源自观察向日葵螺旋形的种子图案,这种图案不仅好看,还很聪明种子都以
2.400metres Thedeepest undergroundlaboratory,at Jinping,,China,is passed.30,000metres We arenow attheboundary betweenthe Earthscrustandthe mantlebelow.Here thepressure islike131elephant forminga toweron our head!150,000metres We are atthe placewhere diamondswere formedbetween1and3billion years ago andthen sweptup tothesurface.750,000metres We have1achedthelower mantleand have3,2280elephants standingon ourhead!
2.9million metresWeareabout tohead intotheEarthscore.We nowhave about17,000elephants balancedonourhead!6million metresWehavereached ourobjective.Wearenowatthe centreoftheEarth withover
47.000elephants onourhead!But notto worry,its over6,000C hereand Sowe wereall cookedalongtime ago!4米这里再也没有蚯蚓了(什么没有虫子!我的午餐没了.…122米我们超过了已知的最深的南非野生无花果树的树根2400米(我们)经过了位于中国锦屏山的最深的地下实验室3万米我们现在处于地壳和下面的地幔的分界处在这里,压力就像有131头大象在我们的头上形成一座塔!(现在,我真的头疼了!)15万米我们正在10亿至30亿年前钻石形成并被带到地表的地方75万米我们已经到达下地幔,有3280头大象稳稳地站在我们的头上!290万米我们即将进人地核现在有大约
1.7万头大象站在我们的头上!600万米我们已经到达了我们的目标我们现在处于地球的中心,有超过
4.7万头大象在我们的头上!但不用担心,这里的温度超过6000C,所以我们早就被烤熟了!(被压扁了,被烤熟了!这到底是谁的主意呀)Unit2Working theland ReadingPrecision farminghits itstarget精准农业正中靶心When wethink offarming,the firstimage thatsprings tomind mightbe ofa farmerworking ina fieldunder thebaking sun.Face coveredin sweat,he mightbe walkingthrough thefield,carefully checkinghis cropsbefore decidingwhat needstobedone.In moderntimes,however,this deep-rooted imageofatraditional farmeris beingchanged.The collaborationbetween farmingandtechnologyhas givenrisetoprecision farming,an approachthat equipsfarmers withthe toolsand datathey needto makereliable decisionswith remarkableaccuracy.This evolutionis havinga positiveimpact onfarming,while alsoproviding bettersolutionstothe worldspressing foodproblems.当我们想到农业时,脑海中浮现的第一个画面可能就是烈日下一个农民在田地里干活他满脸大汗,可能正在田间走动,仔细检查他的作物,然后决定需要做什么然而,在现代,这种根深蒂固的传统农民形象正在被改变农业和科技之间的合作催生了精准农业,这种方法为农民提供所需的工具和数据,使他们能够非常准确地作出可靠的决定它旨在通过减少农场的投入和增加其产出,提升粮食生产,保护环境这种发展正在对农业产生积极影响,同时也为解决世界紧迫的粮食问题提供更好的方案It isthe adventof moderntechnology thathas turnedfarming into a highlyprecise industry.This latestwave ofinnovation offersfarmers informationthat ismore detailed,measurements thatare moreaccurate andsolutions thatare more effective.Therefore,precision farmingisadata-driven approachtotheimprovement of food productionwiththeprimary goalsof reducinga farmsinput,increasing itsoutput andbetter conservingthe environment.These goalscanbeachieved witha combinationof information-gathering toolslike sensors,satellites anddrones,and advancedtechnologies suchas artificial intelligenceAl.With massiveamounts of data onthe stateof theirfarmland gathered,analysed andprocessed inreal time,farmers are able togive the best possiblecare tothe crops that mostneed itatthe most appropriatetime andput theirresources tothebestuse.As anadded bonus,the declineintheamount ofunnecessary chemicalsminimizes potentialthreats tothe environment.现代技术的出现使农业变成了高度精准的行业这一最新的创新浪潮为农民提供更详细的信息、更精确的测量以及更有效的解决方案这些可以通过传感器、卫星和无人机等信息收集工具和人工智能AI等先进技术的结合来实现通过实时收集、处理和分析有关农田状况的海量数据,农民能在最适当的时间给最需要的作物尽可能最好的照顾,充分利用好他们的资源还有一个额外的好处,减少不必要的化学制品的用量使对环境的潜在威胁降到最低限度Precision farmingboasts adiverse rangeof applicationcapabilities atdifferent stagesoffoodproduction-monitoring,diagnosing,identifying andtargeting.Soil sampling,an exampleof precision farming inits mostfundamental form,provides anaccurate meansfor farmers to tendtheir crops.Field sensorscheck thesoiFs moisture,nutrient levelsand pHlevels,enabling farmersto monitortheir crops at anytime,from anywhere.As thedata librarybuilds up,a bigpicture0ofthe soil isrevealed sothat farmersareableto accuratelyassess thecondition ofthesoilinreal time,identify potentialproblems andwork outsolutions accordingly.For instance,ifthesoil isfound tobe poorin nutrients,notonlydo farmersknow thatfertilizer isneeded,they canalso calculatethe exact amount.Consequently,soil samplingmakes itpossibleforfarmerstocreate theideal conditionsfor theircrops togrow andmanage theirresources effectivelyatthesame time.精准农业在粮食生产的不同阶段有各种各样的应用能力-----监测、诊断、识别和定位土壤采样,精准农业最基本的形式之一,为农民提供照料作物的准确手段田间传感器检查土壤的湿度、养分水平和酸碱度,使农民能够随时随地监测农作物随着数据库不断扩充,土壤的全貌被显示出来,这样农民就能够准确地实时评估土壤条件,发现潜在的问题并相应地制订解决方案例如,如果发现土壤养分不足,农民不仅知道需要施肥,还可以计算出确切数量因此,土壤采样使农民可以为他们的作物生长创造最合适的条件,同时更有效地管理他们的资源While suchapplications areof enormousbenefit,precision farmingcan reacha muchhigher levelwiththeapplication ofartificialintelligence.When usedin farmingmachines,AI doescontribute toincreased cropyields aswellassimplified croptracking,harvesting andprocessing.Ai-controlled machinescan nowplant andharvest morecropsatfaster speedsthan humansever could,while computervision candistinguish weedsfrom crops.Moreover,algorithms basedon datagathered bysensors,drones andsatellites canwork outsite-specific managementofthecrops.With suchefficiency andaccuracy,this technologyis idealfor farmingcropsthatrequire delicatehandling.For example,cotton farmersuse droneswith AItechnology tocarry outspecialized tasks:they preciselyremove thecotton plantsleaves byspraying chemicalsonly onthe partsthat needthem.The dronesautonomously navigatethe fields,taking imagesofthecrops,which arethen analysedby software.Once theexactamountneeded isdetermined,the dronesspray thechemicals,while farmerscan followthe wholeprocess ona mobiledevice.这些用途有巨大的好处,随着人工智能的应用,精准农业可以达到一个更高的水平当人工智能应用于农业机器时,它的确有助于提高作物产量,并简化作物跟踪、收割和加工人工智能控制的机器现在能以更快的速度比人类种植和收割更多的作物,而计算机视觉可以区分杂草和作物此外,基于传感器、无人机和卫星收集的数据的算法可以解决特定地点的农作物管理问题这项技术非常高效和准确,适合需要精细处理的农作物例如,棉农使用配备人工智能技术的无人机执行专门的任务:它们只在需要的部位喷洒化学制品,精确地去除棉花植物的叶子无人机在田间自主导航,拍摄作物图像,然后由软件进行分析一旦确定所需的确切剂量,无人机就会喷洒化学制品,而农民可以在移动设备上跟踪整个过程Thanks toprecision farmingsclose relationshipwith technology,the farmingindustrys capabilitiescan developeven further.Through theintegration of5G technologyandtheInternet ofThingsloT,aswellas advancesin deep-learning technologies,notonlywill largeramounts ofdata beavailable,but theywillbeprocessed moreefficiently.Consequently,precision farmingwill becomemoreeffectiveandhavean evengreater impacton howwe growour food.Without doubt,the pushfor futuredevelopments inprecisionfarmingwill benefitallofus-it willcontribute toa greener,healthier andbetter-fed planet.由于精准农业与技术的密切联系,农业的能力将得到更进步的发展通过5G技术和物联网loT的结合以及深度学习技术的发展,不仅可以获取更海量的数据,而且可以更加高效地处理数据因此,精准农业将变得更有效,并对我们如何种植粮食产生更大的影响毫无疑问,推进精准农业的未来发展将使我们所有人受益------它将有助于建设一个更绿色、更健康、养活更多人的星球Extended readingTea:Chinas gifttotheworld茶:中国馈赠给世界的礼物Tea iscurrently theworld*s mostpopular drink,only afterwater.However,therewasa timewhen tea was knownonly tothe Chinese.So,how didtea originatein ChinaAnd howdid itget toconquer theworld tothe extentthat peopleoften describesomething theyreally like as theirH cupof tea茶是当今世界最受欢迎的饮料,仅次于水然而,曾经只有中国人知道茶那么茶是如何起源于中国的呢它又是如何征服世界,以至于人们经常把钟爱之物称为他们的“那杯茶”While weknow thattea drinkingstarted inChina,its trueorigin remainssomething ofa mystery.Legend hasit thatabout5,000yearsago,Shennong cameacross teawhen driedleaves blewintoapot ofboiling water.Following hisdiscovery,tea wasused asmedicine,included inmeals andlater offeredasarefreshing drinkto officialsand noblemen.Eventually,it becamea commondrink enjoyedand embracedby allChinesepeople.尽管我们知道饮茶始于中国,但其真正起源依然是个谜相传约5000年前,有干叶被吹入一锅沸水中,神农氏便发现了茶茶被发现后,用来入药,佐餐,后来又作为官员贵族的提神饮品最终,它成了所有中国人都喜爱和接纳的日常饮品Over theyears,as tea drinking becamean importantpartofChinas richculture,the loveof tea inspired manypeople towrite aboutit.The greatTang poetDu Fudescribed histea-drinking experiencein poeticlanguage,H On thehighplace thesetting sundoes shine.In thespring breeze,I sipmy tea,sweet andfine/Lu Yu,a teamaster,wrote TheClassic ofTea,which remainsthe earliestandmostfamous detailedstudy ontea intheworld,covering everythinganyone couldpossibly wantto knowabout Chinesetea.古往今来,随着饮茶成为灿烂中华文化的重要组成部分,对茶的热爱也启发了许多人以茶为题的写作唐代大诗人杜甫以诗意的语言描述其饮茶经历:“落日平台上,春风啜茗时”茶学大家陆羽所著《茶经》是世界上现存最早、最著名、最详尽的茶学专著,涵盖了任何人可能想知道的有关中国茶的各种信息It isthen notsurprisingthat the beautyof teawas eventuallyrevealed toa widerworld.When theTang andSong Dynastiesneeded strongTibetan horses,the TeaHorse Roadwas born.Porters carryingback-breaking loadsof teabricks madetheir waythrough dangeroussnow-covered mountainpasses inthe mostterrible weatherconditions,to tradeSichuan andYunnan teafor horses.Over time,the giftof teawas furtherdelivered toWestern Asiaand EasternAfrica.Meanwhile,different searoutes alsohelped spreadtea toother partsoftheworld.As earlyastheTang Dynasty,Japanese monkscame tostudy inChina andtook withthem teaseeds andtea-making customswhen returningto Japan.Around the1600s,teawasshipped toEurope fromChina byPortuguese andDutch seatraders.茶之美终将名扬四海,自然是不足为奇的唐宋两朝需要强壮的藏马,而茶深受西藏人民的欢迎,于是茶马古道应运而生背夫们背着沉重的茶砖,在最恶劣的天气条件下穿过大雪覆盖的险峻山道,用川滇两地的茶叶换回马匹渐渐地,茶的馈赠进一步传至西亚同时,诸多海路也有助于将茶传播到世界其他地方早在唐代,有日本僧人来中国求学,回国时就带回茶籽和制茶工艺大约在17世纪,茶叶又被葡萄牙和荷兰海商从中国运到了欧洲The well-known writerLin Yutangsummed upthe powerof teawhen hesaid,There issomething inthe natureof teathat leadsus intoaworldof quietcontemplation oflife/1Tea drinkingisnotjust aboutrefreshing themind andbody butalso aboutappreciating theharmony betweenman andnature.茶有何力量,著名作家林语堂一语道出:“茶之为物,其特性引领我们进入一个默想人生的世界”饮茶不仅关乎提神醒脑,而且关乎体悟人与自然的和谐From hillsideto teacup从山坡到茶杯Growing teaTea plantsgrow bestin warm,humid regionswith well-drained soil.Consequently,they growwell onsteep hillsideswhere heavyrain caneasily drainaway.China boastsmany tea-growing areas,which canbe dividedinto fourdistinct regions.Among themthe south-west tea-growing regionistheoldest whilethe regionsouth ofthe YangtzeRiver producesthemostteainChina.种茶茶店在温暖湿润、土壤排水好的地区长势最好因此,在陡峭山坡,大雨能顺利排走,很适合茶树生长中国茶叶种植区众多,可划分为四个不同区域其中西南茶区历史最悠久,而江南茶区中国产量最大[Subheading1]采茶Tea bushesare grownin rowsand cuttoaheightofabout onemetre,to allowtea pickersto easilyharvest tea leaves.It takesuptofive yearsfor atea bushto cometo maturity,at whichtime thebud andtop leavesare pickedevery fewdays.The tea-picking seasonmay startas earlyas Februaryand extenduntil lateNovember.茶树成排生长,修剪至一米左右的高度,以方便采茶者采摘茶叶棵茶树成熟最多要花五年的时间,届时每隔几天采一次芽和顶叶采茶季可早至2月份开始,一直持续到11月下旬[Subheading2]制」茶The processof turningtealeavesintothetea welove todrink isboth complicatedand highlytechnical.Therearecommonly betweentwo andseven proceduresinvolvedinthe processingofthefresh tealeaves.Any additionor exclusionof thesestages resultsinadifferent typeof tea:green,yellow,white,black andoolong tea.Actually,all thesedifferent typesof teacanbemade from asingletea plant.将茶叶变成我们喜欢喝的茶,其过程复杂,技艺高超新鲜茶叶的加工过程通常涉及二至七道工序这些工序的增减会导致不同种类的茶:绿茶、黄茶、白茶、红茶或乌龙茶实际上,所有这些不同种类的茶可以由一种茶树制成[Subheading3]饮茶Tea canbe enjoyedin manydifferent ways.For example,the Englishdrink theirtea withmilk,the Japaneseenjoy powderedgreen tea,andinMorocco,mint teais preferred.Tea drinkinghas alsobecome partof manycountries*culture.The Englishhave theirafternoon tea”,andinChina,rightfully regardedasthebirthplace”of tea,teadrinkingcanbeboth acommon dailypractice anda nearceremonial experience.饮茶的方式多种多样比如,英国人喝茶加牛奶,日本人喜欢粉状的绿茶,摩洛哥人偏爱薄荷茶饮茶也成了许多国家文化的一部分英国人喝“下午茶”;中国当之无愧地被视为茶的诞生地,在这里,饮茶既可以是一种普遍的日常习惯,也可以是一-种近乎仪式的体验Unit3Onthemove ReadingSelf-driving cars-destination known自动驾驶汽车…•目的地已知吗?Mr Zhangcasually glancesattheempty driversseat andsays,Destination GrandHotel.Family mode.Start/*The carresponds immediately,easing smoothlyintothebusy trafficand avoidingobstacles ontheroad.Inside the car,the familyhave chosentheir entertainmentfromapop-up displaypanel,ready forthejourneyahead.This imaginedscene providesa likelyfuture realityfor self-driving cars,also knownas autonomousvehiclesAVs.张先生漫不经心地看了-眼空荡荡的驾驶座,说道:“目的地格兰酒店家庭模式出发”汽车立即响应,平稳驶入繁忙的车流,避开路上的障碍车里面,一家人已经在弹出式显示面板上选好了娱乐项目,为前方的旅途作好准备这个想象中的场景展示了自动驾驶汽车,也叫自主汽车,一种可能的未来的现实However,before thisevolution intransport becomesa revolution,it mustbe fullyunderstood howself-driving carswork.Put simply,self-driving carsmust seeand behaveappropriately tobe safeontheroad.They dothis throughvarious hardwareand deep-learning ALCameras aswellassensors likeradar andlidar capturea varietyofdatafromtheexternal environment.Once thedata issent tothe AI system,thebrainofthecar,itisanalysed andput togetherlikeapuzzle sothattheself-driving carcan seeits surroundingsand determineits position.Meanwhile,the Alsystem identifiespatterns fromthedataand learnsfrom them.An actionplan isthen createdto instructthecarhowtobehave inrealtime:stay inthe lane,move intoanother one,speed upor slowdown.Next,the necessarymechanical controls,suchasthe acceleratorand brakes,are activatedbytheAIsystem,allowing thecar tomove inlinewiththe actionplan.然而,在这种交通方式的变革成为一场革命之前,必须充分了解自动驾驶汽车的工作原理简言之,要想在路上安全行驶,自动驾驶汽车必须恰当地“看”和“做:它们通过各种硬件和深度学习人工智能AI来实现摄像头以及雷达、激光雷达等传感器从外部环境中获取各种数据数据一日发送到人工智能系统,即自动驾驶汽车的“大脑立即被分析并像拼图一样被拼凑起来,于是汽车就能“看到周围的环境并确定自身方位同时,人工智能系统从数据中识别出模式,从中学习然后一份行动计划被创建出来,用以指导汽车如何实时“行动”:沿车道行进,变道,加速或减速接下来,人工智能系统激活油门、刹车等必要的机。