英闻天下——370 'Locust Vision' Could Stop Car Crashes

 　　SHANGHAI DAILY

 

　　A call to relax adoption¹ criteria²

 

　　A Chinese lawmaker is calling for the government to make adoption easier amid the increasing number of families who want to adopt.

 

　　Jia Weiping, director of the Shanghai Diabetes³ Institute, says infertile⁴ couples and families who lost their only child have led to the increasing number of families who want to adopt children.

 

　　But strict legal criteria have dissuaded⁵ many of them.

 

　　The current law stipulates⁶ that adopters must have no children and be above 30-years-old. Each family can adopt only one child and the children also must be younger than 14-years-old.

 

　　Jia said the age of adopters should be younger so young couples who can't have children can adopt earlier, while the age limit on children should be raised.

 

　　He adds that lower standards on adoption allow more orphans⁷ to be adopted and protected from being abducted⁸ or forced to beg on streets.

 

　　Only a total of 31,000 families were registered to adopt children in 2011, while the estimated number of orphans in China was more than 700,000.

 

　　GLOBAL TIMES

 

　　The top schools in China are seeing a drop in world rankings

 

　　China's two flagship universities both slipped slightly in the recent world's top 100 university rankings.

 

　　According to the 2013 World Reputation Rankings published by the Times: Higher Education magazine, US's Harvard University is the world's top institution, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford⁹.

 

　　In total, the US claimed 43 spots in the top 100 list, followed by Britain with nine universities, Australia with six, and Japan, the Netherlands and Germany each with five.

 

　　East Asian institutions made strong progress in the global index of academic prestige.

 

　　But the Chinese universities, the Tsinghua University and the Peking University slipped from 30th and 38th to 35th and 45th respectively.

 

　　Phil Baty, editor of Times: Higher Education Rankings, suggested Chinese universities embrace internationalization with greater international research collaboration¹⁰, and a focus on recruitment of international faculty¹¹ and students.

 

　　The DAILY MAIL

 

　　'locust¹² vision' could stop car crashes

 

　　Scientists have created a revolutionary technology that could save countless¹³ lives by preventing car crashes, and it is inspired by locusts¹⁴.

 

　　The insects have an early warning system which helps them avoid colliding with each other when flying in swarms¹⁵ at high speed.

 

　　Professors from the University of Lincoln have adopted key features of the locusts' system to develop a warning system.

 

　　The system effectively detects approaching objects and avoids them.

 

　　It's not a conventional approach since it doesn't use a radar¹⁶ or infrared¹⁷ sensors¹⁸, which require very heavy-duty computer processing.

 

　　Instead, it is modeled after the locust's eyes as the basis of the collision avoidance system.

 

　　The technology is expected to make its way into vehicles, which will be a major challenge for the automotive industry.

 

　　CHANNEL-NEWS-ASIA

 

　　smartphone sales will top 900 million in 2013

 

　　A survey showed Smartphone sales are expected to continue growing in 2013 with over 900 million units worldwide, led by gains in big emerging markets from China, Brazil and India.

 

　　The research firm, IDC, said 2013 will be the first year smartphones will outsell the more basic feature phones in the mobile market, and will account for 50% of all mobile phones.

 

　　The research firm said that by the end of 2017, 1.5 billion smartphones will be shipped worldwide, over two-thirds of the total mobile phone market.

 

　　IDC said the growing middle classes in China, Brazil, and India are driving up smartphone sales.

 

　　China, which took over the United States last year as the global leader in smartphone shipments, is expected to see sales of 300 million this year, ahead of the US' 137 million.

 

　　India is expected to become the number three market for smartphones by 2017, and Brazil will be fourth, as those countries overtake mature markets like Japan and Britain.

1 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 infertile   

adj.不孕的；不肥沃的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• Plants can't grow well in the infertile land.在贫瘠的土地上庄稼长不好。
• Nobody is willing to till this infertile land.这块薄田没有人愿意耕种。

5 dissuaded   

劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was easily dissuaded from going. 他很容易就接受劝告不走了。
• Ulysses was not to be dissuaded from his attempt. 尤利西斯想前去解救的决心不为所动。

6 stipulates   

n.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的名词复数 )；规定，明确要求v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的第三人称单数 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• The trade contract stipulates for the settlement of balances in RMB. 贸易合同规定余额以人民币结算。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The contract stipulates for the use of seasoned timber. 合同上订明用干透的木料。 来自辞典例句

7 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

8 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

9 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

10 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

11 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

12 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

13 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

14 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

16 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

17 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

18 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句