英语听力精选进阶版 8049

US scientists have unveiled a new breed of tiny robots, which were inspired by minute creaturesuch as termites¹. They've been put on display at the American Association for theAdvancement of Science meeting in Chicago. And researchers say robots of the future are likelyto resemble small animals rather than the humanoid butlers seen in science fiction. From theconference our science correspondent Pallab Ghosh reports.

美国科学家最近揭晓了一种微型机器人，灵感来源于微小生物，如白蚁等。在芝加哥举行的美国科学促进协会对这些微型机器人进行了会议展览。研究人员称，未来的机器人很可能趋向于模仿小动物，而不是科幻片里的机器人管家。我们的科学记者帕拉博·高希从会议现场发回了报道。

"In the 1970s, this is how we imagine robots to be in the future. 40 years on, and this is howthey've turned out, tiny robot ants, not dusting or making tea, but trying to find their wayhome. But why build robots based on ants? Their creator Professor Buffler Webb at theEdinburgh University explains. "

“在20世纪70年代，这是我们想象中的未来机器人。40年过去了，现在的情况是这样的，小型蚂蚁机器人不是在打扫卫生，也不是在为人类倒茶，而是在寻找自己回家的路。但为什么我们要以蚂蚁为原型发明机器人呢?它们的创造者，爱丁堡大学的比夫莱·韦伯教授为我们解答了这一问题”

"If you've ever tried to build a robot yourself, you cannot help but be amazed when you nowlook at an animal, even a very simple animal and how well it interacts with the world, how manycompetences it has, how compound it is."

“如果你发明过机器人，那么当你看到动物尤其是非常简单的小动物时，你会惊异于它的生存方式，它的各种能力以及它精巧的身体构造。”

"Professor Webb spent several weeks studying a type of ant in Spain. She was amazed that itcould process complex visual information in its tiny brain. And so back at the lab, shereproduced it in robot form."

“韦伯教授花了数周时间研究西班牙的一种蚂蚁。令她吃惊的是，这种蚂蚁可以在它小小的头脑中处理复杂的视觉信息。因此，回到实验室，她就以蚂蚁为原型发明了机器人。”

"Ants are fantastic navigators. They remember what they see in the way that we mightrecognize what we see when we learn our way around a new city. But they do all of it with abrain that's smaller that the head of a pin and with very poor vision. And so we really areinterested to try and understand and replicate² their capabilities³."

“蚂蚁是认路高手，和我们认路的方式几乎一致，但是它们的大脑只有针鼻大小，而且视力也不好。所以，我们对此很感兴趣，想试着理解和复制它们的能力。”

Meanwhile, in Chicago, Professor Malcom Makaiva became enamored with another little creature.

与此同时，在芝加哥，马尔科姆·马凯瓦教授对另一种小生物产生了兴趣。

"The inspiration is a group of fish that live in the rivers of the Amazon. And those rivers arevery very murky⁴. So as a result they've had to evolve a different way to sense what they doas they generate a weak electric field around their body and they are able to navigate⁵ andthey also communicate and hunt using that field."

“我的灵感来源于亚马逊的一种鱼群，它们生存的河水非常阴暗，为了适应环境，在身体周围产生微弱的电场，从而能够感应周围环境，认清方向，相互交流，以及进行觅食。”

"So he took some back to his lab at Northwestern University in Chicago and he showed me howtheir remarkable⁶ natural electric fields work. "

“因此，他把一些鱼带回他在芝加哥西北大学的实验室，并且向我展示了不同寻常的天然电场的工作原理。

"If we dip the wires from a speaker into the tank, that electric field gets translated into sound."

“如果我们把音箱中的电线沉入鱼缸，那么电场将被转化为声音。”

"The fish uses these fields rather like radar⁷ to sense their surroundings. Professor Macaiva hasmade some robot fish that mimic⁸ the real ones. "

“鱼儿就是用这些雷达一样的电场感应周围环境的。马凯瓦教授根据这个原理发明了一些机器鱼。”

1 termites   

n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Termites are principally tropical in distribution. 白蚁主要分布在热带地区。 来自辞典例句
• This spray will exterminate the termites. 这种喷剂能消灭白蚁。 来自辞典例句

2 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

3 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

5 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

6 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

7 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。

8 mimic   

v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人

参考例句：

• A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。