EDUCATION REPORT - Student Winners of the Intel Internationa

EDUCATION REPORT - Student Winners of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, May 20, 2004

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.

High school students from more than forty countries gathered last week in the American Northwest. They took part in the two-thousand-four Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. They competed for more than three-million dollars in awards and money for college.

We told you last week about five high school teachers honored for their excellence¹ in teaching mathematics and science. They won money and a trip to the science and engineering fair held last week in Portland, Oregon. Now, meet a few of the students honored for the projects they presented there.

The top winners are from the United States, Germany and China. They were named Intel Young Scientists. Each received a high performance computer and fifty-thousand dollars for college.

 
Uwe Treske, Sarah Rose Langberg and Zhu Yuanchen receiving their Intel awards
One of the winners is seventeen-year-old Sarah Rose Langberg of Fort Myers, Florida. She won a top prize for her project in Earth and space sciences. She investigated the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge² in the Pacific Ocean. This is one of the most active volcanic³ areas on Earth. She studied video images from the ocean floor and did other research in an effort to explain details of this area.

Eighteen-year-old Uwe Treske of Grafenhainichen Germany, won for his physics project. He used common materials to develop a low-cost version of a powerful device called a scanning tunneling microscope.

The third top winner is nineteen-year-old Zhu Yuanchen of Shanghai. His computer science project involved computer graphics⁵. He developed a way to produce high-quality images with clearer detail in less time.

 
Graphic⁴ Image
More than one-thousand-three-hundred students competed in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Intel calls it "the world's largest pre-college celebration of science." The computer technology company in the United States has held the fair since nineteen-ninety-seven. But a non-profit organization called Science Service has administered the event for the past fifty-five years.

You can learn more information about Science Service and the fair through the Internet. The Web site is sciserv.org. Again, the address is sciserv.org.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Steve Ember.

1 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

2 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

3 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• 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。

4 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

5 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。