2006年VOA标准英语-Inventive Science: More than Just Fun

By Paul Sisco
Washington, DC
30 August 2006
 
watch Touchable Science report

Glenn Mills is part teacher, part scientist, and part inventor.  We think you'll enjoy what he calls his "touchable science." 
 
 
Inventor Glenn Mills 
  
Meet Glenn Mills. For nearly 50 years he's been discovering, teaching and building what he calls "touchable science."  "I try to make mechanical things to represent real things rather than just words in a book.  You've got to see the real stuff, you need the book, but you need this with it."

On his farm in the Northwestern U.S. state of Oregon, he builds and invents simple exhibits that educate.  A mechanical snake's head...

 
This device replicates¹ the movement of a snake's head
  
"They can open their jaw² very wide, and at an angle so they can swallow something very big," he says.

…with its backbone³ made from a bike chain. "It can move this way, but it can't move up and down much."

And how does a bee sting?  "It keeps working into you for up to a half hour after the bee leaves."

Friend and colleague Pat Willis works at a nearby museum.

Pat Willis  
  
"Glenn has built almost every exhibit we've got," says Willis, the education director.

And he's still at it. "I've always liked Glenn because he is clever.  I'll have an idea or staff will and then he'll come up with something that is, 'Wow, Glenn, I didn't think of that!' "

The exhibits are meant to be handled and heard.  He loves sound. A grasshopper⁴ is typical.  "So when it moves its leg up and down on the body, which has bumps on it, it makes this kind of a noise," says Mills.

What touchable science will Glenn come up with next?  He says, "We want to spark an interest so that [people say]: 'Oh, that was neat, I wonder what else I can learn?' "

1 replicates   

复制( replicate的第三人称单数 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• The bluetongue virus replicates in the insect. 蓝舌病病毒在这种昆虫体内繁殖。
• The chameleon's skin replicates the pattern of its surroundings. 变色龙的皮肤可随环境的模式而改变颜色。

2 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

3 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

4 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。