托福阅读之自然科学篇—无动力行走装置.pdf

托福阅读之自然科学篇—无动力行走装置 曾经人们认为想要造出帮助人行走的装置非常困难.现在美国科学家造出一种小的可带在普通 鞋子上的装置。这个新发明减轻肌肉的活动，使行走变得轻松。在研究和设计过程中，他们主要参 考了哪些研究结果，这种装置将会用在哪些方面呢?和托福小编一起浏览今天的托福阅读材料吧! 在进行托福阅读之前，一起学习一下文章中的疑难词： boost n. 推动vi. 宣扬vt. 促进 exoskeleton n.外骨骼 restorevt. 恢复；修复 spring n. 春天vt. 使跳起 clutch n. 离合器；控制vt. 抓住；紧握 stroke .中风；轻抚vt.轻抚；敲击 manufacturer n. 制造商 Motor-Free Device Reduces Stress from Walking 让行走更轻松的无动力装备 Devices that help people walk were once thought to be difficult, if not impossible, todesign.Untilrecently, suchadevicerequiredelectricityfromanexternalpower supply. Now, American scientists have built a small,wearable addition to normal shoes. Their new invention eases the load on muscles in the leg and makes walking easier. Steven Collins and Greg Sawicki are biomedical engineers. They both studiedhow human beingswalk.Theyfoundthatouranklesandcalvesperformmotions similartoaspringjoined toaclutch. Inanautomobile,aclutch isused toconnectanddisconnectadrivingordriven part of an engine or other piece of equipment. The researchers found that the human body parts are able to both store and release energy, just like a spring. Steven Collins works with Carnegie Mellon University inPennsylvania. Greg Sawicki is with North Carolina State University. Wefound inbasic scienceexperimentsthatthat system,yourcalfandAchilles tendon, works a lot like a catapult. So, the muscle holds on to the tendon and your body actually stretches your Achilles tendon quite a bit and then stores the energy in the tissue and then its given back to propel you forward in the world. Mr. Sawicki sayshe andMr. Collins designedamechanical devicethatperforms the same kind of energy ‘give-and-take outside the body. Their new ankle exoskeleton is made of carbon fiber and meta