高考英语外刊时文精读专题06蟑螂救援队.doc

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高考英语外刊时文精读精练(6)

Roachestotherescue

蟑螂救援队

主题语境：人与社会主题语境内容：科学与技术

【外刊原文】（斜体单词为超纲词汇,认识即可；下划线单词为课标词汇,需熟记。）

Whygotoallthetroubleof?designing?andbuildinga?drone（无人机）?ifnaturehasalreadydonemostofthejobforyou?Thatistheattitudetakenbythesmallbut?determined?bandofresearcherswhoaretryingtorobotise（机械化）?insects.Someareworkingonturning?insectslike?beetles（甲虫）?intosuchcyborgs（半人半机器的生物）—perhaps?forusein?military?inspection?or?spying.Otherspreferto?concentrate?onthe?fearfulsideof?entomology（昆虫学）,bytakingelectroniccontrolofcockroaches（蟑螂）.

Thefirstcyber-roach（赛博蟑螂）goesbackto?1997,whenShimoyamaIsaoofTokyoUniversitysentelectricalsignalstoa?cockroachs?antennae（触角）,causingittoturneitherleftorrightdependingonwhich?antenna?was?stimulated.Othershavebuiltonthisapproachbyrecruitingextrasenseorgans,suchasthe?rear-facing?cerci（后向尾须）.Theyhavealsobegunfittingthe?insects?with?instrument?packs?thatmightletthemdoausefuljob:searchingcollapsedbuildingsforsurvivors.

OnesuchisSatoHirotakaofNanyangTechnologicalUniversity,inSingapore.Hehasbeenworkingoncyber-insectsfor?15?years.Now,hehasaddedanother?twist?tocyber-roaches.Insteadofhavingtheir?movements?dictated?byremotecontrol,hisare?autonomous?agents.Theyarerunby?algorithms（算法）?thatresponddirectlyto?sensors?intheirbackpacks.

The?insects?thusfittedoutbyDrSatoareMadagascarhissing（发声）cockroaches,whichareabout?6cmlong.Thebackpackscontaina?communications?chip,acarbon-dioxidesensor,a?motion?sensor,an?infrared（红外线）?cameraandatiny?battery.

Released?intothe?rubble（碎石）,to?crawl?theirwaythroughwhilesearchingforsignsoflifesuchasmovement,bodyheatandhigher?CO2?levelsfrombreathing.The?artificial?intelligence?thatdecideswhetherasetofsignalsactually?indicate?the?presence?ofahumanbeingisprogrammeddirectlyintothecamera.Ifitthinksit