VOA标准英语2009年-Finalists Compete in National Middle-Schoo

By Carolyn Weaver¹
New York
08 October 2009

 
Some of the semifinalists in the Young Scientists Competition
Middle-school students from around the United States visited New York City recently for the final competition in the 11th annual Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. The students, chosen from 50 state finalists, were vying² for the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” and $50,000 in U.S. savings³ bonds.

Children entered the competition by sending in their videotaped ideas, like one by 14-year-old Nico Seamons of New Mexico. He showed how an ordinary garden hose, punctured⁴ with tiny holes and arrayed along the edge of a roof, could use the principle of evaporation⁵ to keep adobe⁶ houses cool. Nico was one of 10 semifinalists ranging in age from eight to 14 flown to New York for the half-day final competition.

In the first event, the students presented their own inventions, made of ordinary household products. Nicholas LaJoie of Maine had created a “mosquito trapper.”

 
Nicholas LaJoie, with his "mosquito trapper"
“Heat rises, and the heat generated by this light bulb, rises inside the motel,” Nicholas explained, gesturing to a lamp with a sort of bonnet⁷ on top of it – the mosquito “motel.”

In the second round, finalists were asked to purify water, and to separate man-made diamonds from a solid mixture. Next, they were challenged to remove stains and graffiti from replicas⁸ of New York City buildings without harming the surfaces.

Nico Seamons, together with Nikita Gaurav, 14, and Marina Dimitrov, 13, were the three winners chosen to compete in the day’s fourth and final event. Each had 50 minutes to design and build a tall structure that could withstand earthquake-level tremors⁹ – while holding an egg intact. Adult scientists from the 3M Corporation acted as building assistants, but the students alone did the planning and design.

“So what I have here is a pyramid-shaped building, and it has a little pocket at the top, so I can place the egg in it,” Nikita said of her four-footed structure.

Marina also went with a pyramid because, as she explained, “Triangles are the strongest shape because unlike squares, rectangles, they don’t bend easily.” She enclosed her egg in a little sling¹⁰ just beneath the intersecting plastic pipes.

At the end of the 50 minutes, the three finalists’ structures were tested, one by one, on the earthquake simulator. None of the eggs survived, but each structure remained standing¹¹ -- thanks in large part to duct tape, the young scientists agreed.

“Duct tape is really awesome¹², duct tape fixes everything,” Marina commented later.

The judges said their final decision, based on all four of the day’s events, was a close call. Nico and Nikita tied for second place, while Marina Dimitrov won the top prize. She said she’ll save it for her college education, and hopes that other children will be inspired to study science, too.

 
Marina Dimitrov, winner of this year's Discovery Education 3M Young Scientists competition 
“I just think it’s really important to get kids excited about science at an early age,” Marina said, “because they might be the next Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton, or America’s top young scientist. I want to show that ordinary kids can do extraordinary things.”

All together, 500 students entered this year’s competition. Officials said they were judged as much on their communications skills as for the scientific talent they showed.

 

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

3 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

4 punctured   

v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气

参考例句：

• Some glass on the road punctured my new tyre. 路上的玻璃刺破了我的新轮胎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A nail on the road punctured the tyre. 路上的钉子把车胎戳穿了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

6 adobe   

n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司

参考例句：

• They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
• Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。

7 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

8 replicas   

n.复制品( replica的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His hobby is building replicas of cars. 他的爱好是制作汽车的复制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The replicas are made by using a thin film of fusible alloy on a stiffening platen. 复制是用附着在加强托板上的可熔合金薄膜实现的。 来自辞典例句

9 tremors   

震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动

参考例句：

• The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。
• The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。

10 sling   

vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓

参考例句：

• The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

11 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。

12 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.