VOA慢速英语--比赛让孩子觉得洗手也有趣

Contest Makes Handwashing Fun for Children

Parents around the world often urge children over and over – wash your hands!

This advice was already common before the coronavirus crisis¹. Now there is added pressure on children – as well as adults – to wash their hands even more.

It can be difficult, however, to get children to remember to wash and many are likely to resist.

But what if washing hands was connected to a fun, creative activity? What if instead of simply reaching for the soap, a machine could drop it right into your hands?

Well, such a machine was recently built by a boy and his sister in the U.S. state of Maryland as part of a creative competition. The not-for-profit Rube Goldberg organization is holding the competition.

Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist, engineer and inventor – among other things. He was known for his complex chain reaction machines.

On the organization's website, Goldberg's granddaughter Jennifer George describes such a machine as an overly complex "wacky contraption that in the end does a very simple task."

Every year, the Rube Goldberg competition considers inventions made from everyday items that use complex systems to carry out a simple task.

At first, the task for 2020 was supposed to be "turn on a light." But when the coronavirus pandemic happened, the task was changed to "drop a bar of soap into someone's hand." Here are some tasks from past competitions:

open an umbrella

water a plant

make a cup of coffee

turn on a radio

The task is not the only thing that has changed this year because of the pandemic.

Most of those taking part in the competition are schoolchildren. In past years, they created the machines in person and on teams at school. But with schools closed to slow the spread of the virus, organizers changed the rules. This year, the team can include any family members or "quarantined groups." People were asked to send in videos of the machines to compete.

One thing has not changed: The machine must complete the task in 10 to 20 steps.

In Maryland, the Diel family wanted to enter. So, 11-year-old Caitlin and her 13-year-old brother Ben designed and built their own Rube Goldberg machine. Next, they had to demonstrate² that it could complete the task – throwing the soap just right to be caught in someone's hand.

Dressed in her bathing suit, Caitlin waited in the shower as Ben started the chain-reaction machine from the other end. Here are some of the steps they used.

First, a marble dropped into a tube. That sent a toy train speeding to hit a deodorant³ stick. The deodorant stick went flying into a stuffed⁴ toy animal – a rabbit. The toy rabbit then raced along a zip line to shoot a bar of soap.

After six hours and 106 failed attempts – they finally had success – the soap dropped right into Caitlin's waiting hands. With their video demonstration⁵, they can now enter the competition.

Ben said that remembering all the times he and his family spent building the machine together had made "great memories." Caitlin said now when she hears "wash your hands," she thinks of the Rube Goldberg machine that drew her family together.

Jennifer George said this year's competition was designed in part to keep families busy and active during long-term stay-at-home orders. The program also aims to teach important lessons with creativity, artistic⁶ expression and just plain fun, she added.

As the United States and other countries begin slowly reopening, health experts say hand washing remains⁷ an important protection against the coronavirus.

However, if children are thinking about a deadly virus each time they wash their hands, mental health experts say they may feel afraid. So, a fun competition may help to create good feelings about a task they must do over and over again.

Dr. Anne Glowinski teaches child psychiatry⁸ at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She told the Reuters news agency⁹ that "creativity and play" connects with children. It is better than the message, "we have to wash our hands because of this horrible virus," Glowinski added.

But if you do not have the time to make a Rube Goldberg machine, singing a song during handwashing is fun too!

So far, the Rube Goldberg competition has drawn¹⁰ more than 200 entries worldwide. Winners are to be announced on June 7.

People creating the best and strangest machines will receive Rube Goldberg gift bags. The bags include books, water bottles, light-up hats and other fun items.

I'm Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

chain reaction – n. a series of events in which each event causes the next one : a series of events caused by one single event

cartoonist – n. a person who draws pictures (as in a newspaper) making people or objects look funny or foolish

wacky – informal adj. amusing¹¹ and very strange

contraption – n. a piece of equipment o r machinery¹² that is unusual or strange

quarantine – n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease¹³ or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading

shower – n. a bath in which water is sprayed¹⁴ on the body or a device¹⁵ for providing such a bath

marble – n. a little ball made of a hard substance (such as glass) and used in various games

deodorant stick – n. a product used to remove or hide unpleasant odors¹⁶

zip line – n. a cable¹⁷ suspended¹⁸ above an incline¹⁹ to which a pulley and harness²⁰ are attached for a ride

psychiatry – n. a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 demonstrate   

vt.论证，证明；示范；显示；vi.示威游行

参考例句：

• Let me demonstrate to you how this machine works.我给你演示一下这台机器的运转情况。
• How can I demonstrate to you that my story is true?我怎样才能向你证明我的话是真实的呢？

3 deodorant   

adj.除臭的；n.除臭剂

参考例句：

• She applies deodorant to her armpits after she showers.沐浴后，她在腋下涂上除臭剂。
• Spray deodorant and keep the silk garments dry before dressing.在穿衣之前，洒涂防臭剂并保持干燥。

4 stuffed   

adj.充满的；饱的v.塞住( stuff的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装进；把…装满；（使）吃撑

参考例句：

• stuffed animals in glass cases 玻璃柜里的动物标本
• I was stuffed to the gills with chocolate cake. 我嘴里塞满了巧克力蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

9 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 amusing   

adj.有有趣的，好玩的

参考例句：

• The girl was amusing herself with a doll.那女孩在玩洋娃娃自娱。
• He related some amusing stories in his childhood to his children.他向孩子们述说了他少年时代的一些趣事。

12 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

13 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

14 sprayed   

v.喷( spray的过去式和过去分词 )；向…扫射（或抛洒），往…上撒；尤指雄猫撒尿（以示领地占有）

参考例句：

• They sprayed aerosol insect repellent into the faces of police. 他们将喷雾驱虫剂喷在了警察的脸上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The front of the house had been sprayed with white paint. 房子的正面已喷上了白漆。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。

16 odors   

气味，名声( odor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The garden was a fairyland of beautiful flowers and sweet odors. 那座花园是个繁花似锦、香气袭人的仙境。
• Cooking odors can circulate throughout the entire house. 做饭的香味可以传到家里的各个角落。

17 cable   

n.缆绳，索；电缆；电报；vt.电汇，打电报

参考例句：

• Don't forget to cable us as soon as you arrive.别忘了一到就给我发个电报。
• The worker attached a cable.工人连接电缆。

18 suspended   

a.被暂时搁置的

参考例句：

• A lamp was suspended from the ceiling. 一盏吊灯悬在天花板上。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area. 英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

19 incline   

v.(使)倾斜；倾向于，赞同；n.斜坡，斜面

参考例句：

• I incline to his opinion on this matter.对这件事我倾向于他的观点。
• The coach breast ed a slight incline.马车上了一个慢坡。

20 harness   

n.马具；类似马具的装备；vt.给上马具

参考例句：

• He paid ten dollars for the new harness.他花十美元买了这件马具。
• I harness the horse to the cart. 我把马套在车上。