VOA慢速英语2015 无人机真的能拯救南非犀牛吗?

AS IT IS 2015-03-29 Could Drones Help Save Rhinos¹ in South Africa? 无人机真的能拯救南非犀牛吗? 

Since 2008, hunters have illegally killed more than 3,000 rhinos in South Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature warns that rhinos may disappear by 2026.

People who hunt and kill illegally are called poachers. The most effective way to watch for illegal hunting is from the air. But piloted flights are costly². Now, some Spanish college students have designed a drone that can look for poachers. And the drone can observe more places than a plane or helicopter.

Arnau Garcia is an aeronautical³ engineering student at the Polytechnic⁴ Institute of Catalonia, in Spain. He says observers from air have trouble finding poachers when they hide under the trees.

Mr. Garcia and other students have worked with the drone manufacturer HEMAV to help them find the hidden poachers. They do this by using thermal⁵ cameras, which are sensitive to body heat.

Mr. Garcia and his team members designed a drone made with styrofoam and an electric motor.  The drone can fly in winds up to 55 kilometers per hour. It has an autopilot system, so it memorizes the flight path. The drone also has microphones, cameras and a GPS system. This permits it to report exactly where a picture was taken.

After each flight, drones bring back information about where rhinos were found, the conditions of water and vegetation in the area, and the positions of suspected poachers.

Carlos Ferraz works at HEMAV. Mr. Ferraz says drones can fly 90 kilometers per hour and as far as 70 kilometers from their base. He says that means that they could quickly observe large areas for poachers. He says the same search operation would take days for human observer.

And, Mr. Ferraz notes cost effectiveness with drone use. He says South African national park officials could fill the air with drones for the same cost as renting one helicopter.

Words in This Story

poacher - n. someone who catches or hunts animals illegally

drone – n. a remote-controlled pilotless aircraft

styrofoam - n. a type of light and usually white plastic

GPS - n. a radio system that uses signals from satellites to tell you where you are and to give you directions to other places (short for Global Positioning System)

rent – v. to pay money in return for being able to use (something that belongs to someone else)

1 rhinos   

n.犀牛（rhino的复数形式）

参考例句：

• There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。 来自辞典例句
• The rhinos had fed during the night in the rice fields of these villagers. 犀牛夜里在这些村民的庄稼地里也已吃饱了。 来自辞典例句

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 aeronautical   

adj.航空（学）的

参考例句：

• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world. 这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。 来自辞典例句
• The advent of aircraft brought with it aeronautical engineering. 宇宙飞船的问世导致了航天工程的出现。 来自辞典例句

4 polytechnic   

adj.各种工艺的，综合技术的；n.工艺(专科)学校；理工(专科)学校

参考例句：

• She was trained as a teacher at Manchester Polytechnic.她在曼彻斯特工艺专科学校就读，准备毕业后做老师。
• When he was 17,Einstein entered the Polytechnic Zurich,Switzerland,where he studied mathematics and physics.17岁时，爱因斯坦进入了瑞士苏黎士的专科学院，学习数学和物理学。

5 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。