A group of small, wiggling (扭动) robots that communicate by flashing lights can make collective decisions. This is similar to the process bees use to reach a consensus on where to build their nest.
“We believe that in the near future there are going to be simple robots that will do jobs that we don’t want to do, and it will be very important that they make decisions in an autonomous manner,” says Carmen Miguel at the University of Barcelona in Spain. She and her team tested how imitating bees might help with that.
When bees go house-hunting, they communicate their preferred locations through a “wiggle dance”. The more a bee recommends one location, the longer and harder it wiggles. Eventually other bees join them, and they reach a consensus when a majority are wiggling together. Researchers previously translated this behavior into a mathematical model, and Miguel and her colleagues used it to program decision-making rules into small robots called kilobots.
Each kilobot with three thin legs had an infrared-light emitter (红外线发射器) and receiver, and a colored LED light. Within a group, kilobots could move around, turn clockwise or anticlockwise and use infrared signals to exchange information.
Ezequiel Ferrero at the University of Barcelona says that across all the experiments, kilobots reached a consensus within about half an hour, even when they didn’t have many immediate neighbors to communicate with. He says that getting the right combination of how long they spend transmitting their message and how much they walk around allowed them to make a collective decision in the end.
1．How do bees agree with each other about where to construct a new home?| A．By doing a group dance. | B．By imitating simple robots. |
| C．By giving out flashing lights. | D．By advising a favoured place. |
| A．They exposed kilobots to real bees. | B．They equipped kilobots with thin legs. |
| C．They put a programme into kilobots. | D．They built a special mathematical model. |
| A．Doing more practical experiments. | B．Having enough companions around. |
| C．Combining different figures accurately. | D．Sending brief messages automatically. |
| A．Bees are natural wiggle dancers. |
| B．Robots learn to dance by imitating bees. |
| C．Wiggle dances mean a lot in communication. |
| D．Robots reach a consensus by imitating bees wiggling. |
Glen Edwards became a hero when he rescued a construction worker trapped on top of a 160-meter-high building.
As a crane (吊车)
However, his attempt to
Eventually, Edwards watched the cage
A GoFundMe page has now been set up to raise money for him —— with organizers
| A．engineer | B．operator | C．cleaner | D．salesman |
| A．regularly | B．unfortunately | C．intentionally | D．unexpectedly |
| A．helped | B．spotted | C．realized | D．guided |
| A．escape | B．hide | C．walk | D．slide |
| A．clean | B．cover | C．position | D．open |
| A．Despite | B．Without | C．For | D．From |
| A．switch | B．maintain | C．lose | D．give |
| A．instructions | B．problems | C．explanations | D．courses |
| A．quickened | B．described | C．adjusted | D．repeated |
| A．door | B．garden | C．crane | D．roof |
| A．persuading | B．lifting | C．warning | D．dragging |
| A．went through | B．put on | C．asked for | D．broke into |
| A．displayed | B．admitted | C．exchanged | D．required |
| A．preference | B．response | C．emotion | D．determination |
| A．choosing | B．encouraging | C．ordering | D．teaching |
When English Meets The Arts
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I am not a gamer. I’ll be honest: video games and I don’t really see eye to eye, and I have no ambitions to become better. I never have the experience playing against my kids and winning. And that’s okay. Board games, on the other hand, are a different story. At least there, I stand a chance of victory.
One day, my 12-year-old son begged me to play a game with him. He held out a game controller and begged, “Just one game with me? You can use it to control the game through your movements.” His eyes were full of anticipation and I could see the excitement welling up within him. How could I possibly resist such a sincere and heartfelt request? “Just one game.” My son’s face lit up. In a matter of minutes, we were standing in our living room, virtually bowling away.
My son’s amusement at my lack of gaming skills was evident. I could see the struggle on his face as he fought to hold back his laughter. The game controller felt awkward and unfamiliar in my hand, but I did my best to copy my son’ movements and follow his lead. At one point, my son said, “No, Mom. You really have to put some force into it. Like this.” With that, he threw his arm back, stepped forward, and with plenty of force extended out his arm that was holding the controller. Instead of sending the virtual bowling ball flying, the controller went off his hand and broke the TV screen. The impact was immediate and destructive. The screen cracked, sending a crazy mosaic (马赛克) of colors dancing across its surface. It looked like something straight out of a dream.
The air stood still at that moment. The look on my son’s face was a funny mixture of horror, disbelief and guilt. He stayed absolutely frozen for a long moment. Then, slowly, he turned to me. “Mom...” with a weak smile, “Did I just... break the TV?”
注意：Surprisingly, I wasn’t angry at all.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________But my son insisted on keeping the broken TV.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Statistics show that there are more than 1.9 billion videos related to stove-boiled tea on social media platforms.
“Stove-boiled tea”, a
Stove-boiled tea acts as a social way of combining ancient
There are countless stories of man’s best friend stepping in to
Single mom Nicole Evans was out of town when a fire
The fire completely
Meanwhile, Nicole won’t face this
Our pets not only provide us with companionship and unconditional love, but can even act as our furry
| A．approach | B．rescue | C．inspire | D．reward |
| A．broke out | B．set off | C．gave away | D．checked in |
| A．confirmed | B．satisfied | C．aware | D．concerned |
| A．selfishly | B．strangely | C．badly | D．professionally |
| A．pretending | B．agreeing | C．refusing | D．determining |
| A．debate | B．mission | C．request | D．reaction |
| A．disappear | B．hide | C．escape | D．depart |
| A．destroyed | B．affected | C．removed | D．threatened |
| A．disaster | B．adventure | C．drought | D．contest |
| A．speech | B．idea | C．experience | D．journey |
| A．Instead | B．However | C．Gradually | D．Similarly |
| A．arranged | B．recognized | C．caught | D．survived |
| A．unique | B．valuable | C．replaceable | D．useful |
| A．challenge | B．opportunity | C．reason | D．relief |
| A．character | B．performance | C．talent | D．responsibility |
| A．specific | B．pleasant | C．boring | D．tough |
| A．pouring in | B．running out | C．showing up | D．taking off |
| A．suffer | B．benefit | C．struggle | D．recover |
| A．support | B．creation | C．advice | D．information |
| A．leaders | B．instructors | C．protectors | D．neighbors |
How to improve your memory?
It’s generally accepted that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but when it comes to the brain, scientists have discovered this old saying simply isn’t true.
Don’t skip the physical exercise. While mental exercise is important for brain health, that doesn’t mean you never need to break a sweat. Physical exercise helps your brain stay sharp.
Get enough sleep. There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get and the amount you need to function at your best. The truth is that over 95% of adults need 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep every night.
Make time for friends. When you think of ways to improve memory, do you think of “serious” activities such as mastering chess strategies, or is it more relaxing pastimes—hanging out with friends or enjoying a funny movie?
| A．Keep stress in check. |
| B．Give your brain a workout. |
| C．If you’re like most of us, it’s probably the former. |
| D．Even losing a few hours of sleep makes a difference! |
| E．In fact, interacting with others may provide the best kind of brain exercise. |
| F．The human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change, even into old age. |
| G．It increases oxygen to your brain and reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss. |
Scientists looking to uncover the mysteries of the underwater world have more valuable information thanks to an international team that has produced a list of species confirmed or expected to produce sound underwater.
Led by Audrey Looby from the University of Florida, the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds working group collaborated with the World Register of Marine Species to document 729 mammals (哺乳动物), fishes, and invertebrates (无脊椎动物) that produce active or passive sounds. In addition, the list includes another 21,911 species that are considered to likely produce sounds.
“With more than 70% of the Earth’s surface covered by water, most of the planet’s habitats are aquatic, and there is a misconception that most aquatic organisms are silent. The newly published comprehensive digital database on what animals are known to make sounds is the first of its kind and can revolutionize marine and aquatic science,” the researchers said.
“Listening to underwater sounds can reveal a lot of information about the species that produce them and is useful for a variety of applications, ranging from fisheries management, invasive species detection to assessing human environmental impacts,” said Looby, who also co-created FishSounds, which offers a collection of fish sound production research records.
The team’s research was published in Scientific Data and involved 19 authors from six countries. “Understanding how marine species interact with their environments is of global importance, and this data being freely available is a major step toward that goal,” said Kieran Cox, a member of the research team.
“Most people are familiar with whale or dolphin sounds but are often surprised to learn that many fishes and invertebrates use sounds to communicate, too,” Looby said. “Our database helps demonstrate how widespread underwater sound production really is across a variety of animals, but we still have a lot to learn.”
1．What does the underlined word “aquatic” in paragraph 3 probably mean?| A．Outdoor. | B．Over-crowded. |
| C．Well-protected. | D．Underwater. |
| A．Most fishes can’t make sounds. |
| B．Different species can communicate. |
| C．Mammals can live in water. |
| D．Ocean animals can’t get onto the land. |
| A．To document ocean animals’ sounds. |
| B．To set up a free database for scientists. |
| C．To learn how ocean animals communicate. |
| D．To publish the research in Scientific Data. |
| A．To call on people to protect ocean animals. |
| B．To introduce the finding of a research team. |
| C．To list the animals that can produce sounds. |
| D．To uncover the mysterious underwater world. |
Tokyo restaurant Sushiya no Nohachi reportedly serves great sushi, but it is most famous for its gimmick—making the world’s smallest sushi with a single grain of rice.
Located in Asakusa, a slightly quieter part of Tokyo, Sushiya no Nohachi is the place to go if you want to enjoy the tiniest, most adorable sushi in the world. Each piece is made with only a grain of rice and a tiny slice of topping wrapped in the thinnest piece of nori(海苔). Every served piece is actually perfect, which hints at the amount of work and patience that Bes into making them. They are the work of Hironori Ikeno, the chef of Sushiya no Nohachi, who came up with the idea in 2002 when a client asked him how small he could make his sushi. He answered, “as small as a grain of rice”, and proceeded to demonstrate that he wasn’t kidding. Over the years, the restaurant has become internationally famous for making the world’s smallest sushi.
Despite its size, miniature sushi actually takes a bit longer to make than regular-sized me, because of the precision and concentration required to put the tiny ingredients together. That is part of the reason why the restaurant only prepares tiny sushi for customers a few times a week and no more than five times a day, although they do sometimes make exceptions for foreign visitors who travel to the restaurant just to experience the world’s smallest sushi.
“I had a client from Sweden who came just to see my tiny sushi and the moment she saw it, she literally cried with joy.” Hironori Ikeno said.
Interestingly, one cannot simply order the tiny sushi at the restaurant. It is served for f re upon request with a regular-sized sushi course. Considering the sushi served at this place is reportedly delicious, you should probably be more excited about that. Plus, it also justifies the gimmick that the restaurant is so famous for.
1．What does the underlined word “gimmick” in paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．A class to teach cooking skills. |
| B．A trick to attract customers. |
| C．A plan to promote the sushi. |
| D．A dish to win over opponents. |
| A．His pursuit for perfection. |
| B．The curiosity of a customer. |
| C．The requirement from his boss. |
| D．A bet he made with others. |
| A．Take more time to make one |
| B．Unpopular among customers |
| C．costs more money to buy one |
| D．needs more expensive materials |
| A．Diversity of the customers. |
| B．His lack of experience. |
| C．Special treatment to foreigners. |
| D．His sense of achievement. |
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