英语听力精选进阶版 7120

Background: 近日一家金融服务公司说该国的互联网速度太慢远比不上信鸽的速度。这家公司举办了一个别开生面地比赛以证明其观点。

In this digital age the one thing that drives people crazy is the internet running slow.

After constant moans from their colleagues about the snail's pace of sending data between offices the IT experts at the South African financial services firm Unlimited¹ wondered if it would be quicker using a pigeon.

That's when they enlisted² the help of Winston, the racing³ pigeon.

They tied a computer memory card to Winston's leg and launched him on an 80-km journey between offices in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Unlimited's head of IT, Kevin Rolfe, says at the same time a button was pressed to send the same data online:

"When the chip was attached to Winton's leg and taken outside for release the entire office was standing⁴ there cheering and egging Winston and his colleagues on. The release of it was quite spectacular, you had these birds flying off and at the same time as that was happening the transfer was in hand and heading up the line via the traditional ADSL."

It usually takes Unlimited six hours to send four gigabytes of data online from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.

The racing pigeon did it in about an hour.

The company that operates South Africa's network of internet lines, Telkom, has told the BBC that the race was unfair because Unlimited was using standard broadband lines and not its high speed network.

Unlimited will continue to transfer data over the internet, but Winston and his flying colleagues are still likely to be used at least once a week.

GLOSSARY⁵ 词汇表

pythons 蟒蛇类动物 

giant armadillos 巨犰狳 

function well 正常运作 

conducted a study 展开了一项研究 

migrating birds 迁徙的鸟类 

evolved 演变 

conserve⁶ energy 保存能量 

needlessly 不需要地 

survive 生存 

vital functions 主要的功能 

limited resources 有限的资源 

accounts for 占… 的比例 

sitting around 闲坐着 

get injured 受伤 

detected 发现/发觉 

predators⁷ 捕食其他动物的动物

Questions and Answers

True or false? Human babies need twice as much sleep as adults. 

True. Human babies need around 16 hours while adults need around eight.

True or false? We are more likely to be discovered by predators when awake. 

False. Sleeping makes us less likely to be detected by predators.

Why does Professor Seigel think sleep evolved? 

He thinks it evolved to help animals conserve energy and make use of limited resources.

Do migrating birds need to sleep for long periods? 

No, migrating birds can survive for long periods without sleep.

1 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

2 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

6 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》