Wang Zhonglin started playing table tennis only four years ago. But last year, he and other researchers came up with a clever way to up their game; Build a smart table.
Now they've built a prototype (样品). It can measure where a ball lands, how fast the ball's going, where it's headed and the angle it was traveling. The table can do that because its special wood surface forms the top layer (层) of a novel self-powered sensor. The data it acquires could guide players to perform better.
Importantly, the new smart table won't need a battery to detect the ball. When a ball hits the wood, it sets off a chain of events that can both produce a small electric current(电流) and record measurements of the ball's behavior.
What makes the new game table truly unique is its use of wood as one of the layers because wood can produce electricity by rubbing against it. But Wang's group realized they couldn't rely on wood that comes directly from a tree. It's too hard and too easily broken. They needed a kind of wood that could bend. So they boiled the wood in chemicals for seven hours. Then they dipped the wood in boiling water. Once it came out of the boiling baths, the wood bent easily.
The scientists then cut the treated wood into small squares. Each measured just 1.8 inches on a side. Those squares became the top layer. Beneath this wood, they added a layer of metal to conduct electricity. They attached that layer to a metal wire. Then, instead of using a table-tennis ball, they hit the surface with a type of hard plastic. When it registered an electric current, they moved on to building a test table.
“It is amazing. To me, self-powered sensors of wood is the first move toward using energy harvesting and sensing in sports," said Askar, an engineer in Canada. And it need not end with table tennis, he added.
1.What can we know about Wang's invention?
A.Its battery lasts very long. B.It sells well in the market.
C.It can accelerate the ball's speed. D.It can judge the ball's direction.
2.Why did Wang use wood surface?
A.It is easy to get. B.It can produce electricity.
C.It is hard enough. D.It is environmentally friendly.
3.What was the wood like after being treated?
A.It bent easily. B.It shrunk greatly.
C.It broke easily. D.It became harder.
4.What can be inferred from Askar's words?
A.Sports meets will end with a table tennis match.
B.The technology will be used in other sports.
C.Table tennis isn't the first to use self-powered sensors.
D.The table tennis ball will be self-powered in the future.
Air travel is growing around the globe, and so is its contribution to climate change. The climate cost of flying has drawn more public attention in recent years, even leading to“ flight shame” in some places, especially for local or avoidable flights.
And while a decline in air travel would help with climate change，flight shame can also be added by other ways that make air travel more environmentally friendly. That includes switching to cleaner，renewable fuel , but as a new study indicates , there's also another, less obvious option: flying at lower altitudes.
In a new study, researchers used computers to predict how adjusting aircraft altitudes might reduce the number of contrails(尾迹)，which we see as white lines across the sky containing black carbon particles (颗粒)，thus reducing their warming effect. The study found that aircraft would only need to adjust their altitudes by about 2 ,000 feet, and since some flights have a larger climate effect than others , only a small part of flights would need to make any adjustments.
Of course flying at a lower altitude might increase flying time and it also means burning significantly more fuel, and thus giving off more C02, but the benefits of controlling contrails are worth it.
In addition to changing altitudes，better engine technology could also help control contrails, the researchers add, since black carbon particles are produced by incomplete fuel combustion ( 燃烧). With more efficient engines, aircraft could reportedly reduce their contrail by as much as 70%。Combined with slight altitude adjustment for a small part of flights, this could help reduce overall contrail problems by 90%，the study suggests.
This is promising, but more research i still needed, and it may be a while before improvements like these take effect at a significant scale. So, while it's good to know air travel can have a smaller effect on the climate, for now the best way to achieve that is often by simply staying on the ground whenever possible.
1.What might be the effect of“flight shame" ?
A.People will avoid traveling by plane.
B.Airline companies will limit service targets.
C.The cost of air travelling will become higher.
D.People will feel shamed if they haven't taken a plane.
2.Why did the researchers suggest flying at lower altitudes?
A.Planes can travel faster. B.Planes can save more fuel.
C.Planes may give off less C02. D.Planes may have less warming effect.
3.What is mainly talked about in paragraph 5?
A.A way to change altitudes. B.The future of engine technology.
C.An approach to reducing contrails. D.The concept of incomplete combustion.
4.In which section of a website might this text appear?
A.Energy. B.Climate.
C.Finance. D.Safety. .
Personal growth would be a good way to sum up Tarik Black. Indeed, at this very moment, the man himself is sporting a ski cap with the words “Be More" on it, which he takes to heart.
While many other former NBA players would be busy padding their own pockets, he has taken the opposite approach: creating a charity to help underprivileged youth in the U. S. The Tarik Black Foundation aims to inspire kids and prepare them to become successful adults. The organization is based in Memphis , where Tarik Black grew up and play ed college basketball.
Sure, they offer a basketball summer camp, but they also train teenagers how to put on a tie and perform well at a job interview.“ We take them to apartment buildings and teach them about what you should look for in purchasing an apartment," he tells me.“We take them out to nice dinners and teach them table manners.
They organized an art show in Los Angeles where the teenagers got dressed formally and learned how to
socialize with others. In Houston, they partnered with the National Tennis Association for a charity event.
“My mother would drive me around Memphis and show me people who are growing up in circumstances that don't have opportunities. She would always tell me, 'If you ever get a chance to give back to these people , then you must," he says, leaning back into the chair.
The family moved to Israel in the summer of 2018 , when Black signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel's best basketball powerhouse. And the Maccabi Tel Aviv season will end just in time for him to return to Memphis to . conduct his summer camps in July, 2019.
It's still up in the air if Black will be coming back for a second season in Tel Aviv. But he's not worried.“Honestly, the doors are open for us to seek after anything we want if you keep a big picture in mind.”
1.What does the underlined word“padding" in paragraph 2 mean?
A.Hiding. B.Checking.
C.Filling. D.Choosing.
2.What can the youth learn in the Tarik Black Foundation?
A.Sales skills. B.Cooking skills.
C.Social skills. D.Building skills.
3.Which word can be used to describe Tarik Black?
A.Confident. B.Humorous.
C.Honest. D.Modest.
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A.An NBA Player Is Coming Back
B.Black Signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv
C.Personal Likes Matters More to a Star
D.The Basketball Star Gives back to U.S Youth
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1.How is Earworms MBT Language Learning Bundle special?
A.It can teach users French. B.It is suitable for beginners.
C.It teaches by playing songs. D.It offers the biggest discount.
2.Who might be a possible user of the 10-course training service?
A.A native Frenchman. B.A French Beginner.
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D.Language Zen-Spanish language Learning Program.
阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。
On March 3, Eric Johnson was asleep when the family’s six-year-old Australian shepherd, Bella, woke him up. Bella was acting unpredictably, giving Johnson the sense that “something just didn’t feel right.” Bella sensed danger, and alerted the family to the tornado that soon destroyed their home.
When Johnson woke up, he turned on the TV and found out that a tornado was headed toward their town of Cookeville, Tennessee. He quickly grabbed his wife and their three children and put them in the bathtub. Nearly 45 minutes later, around 2:00 am, the tornado hit and destroyed the house. Johnson was thrown into the backyard.
Johnson said, “Bella was hiding under our bed when the tornado hit our house. She was thrown into our yard and survived and was missing after that. It was hard for us knowing she had survived but we couldn’t find her. She was the piece of our family that was missing.” The furious 175 mph twister destroyed everything in its path. The Johnsons would not have survived if not for Bella.
Johnson suffered a head injury and his wife had broken ribs, but they soon set about searching for their beloved heroic dog. They left pieces of clothing around the destroyed neighborhood, hoping that Bella would recognize the scent and find her way back home. Church friend and dog tracker Sarah Romeyn also joined in.
She borrowed cameras from a local animal rescue group and set them up in areas where people reported seeing her. She also worked with other dog trackers and even sought tips from residents with the help of the Putnam County Police Department.
When leads dried up, the Johnsons and Romeyn pressed on. “I was still finding time searching in parking lots, but it was tough. Because nobody had found a body, in rescue you can’t give up until you know you don’t have a positive outcome. And I hadn’t given up,” Romeyn said.
Paragraph 1: In time, they found a glimmer of hope when Romeyn got a call from friend Karen Ritacco, who said that Bella was behind her shop._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Paragraph 2: Romeyn was happy to play a part in the rescue, but also credits the community for their help.___________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
为让学生走进农业，体验生活，学生会打算本周六组织英语俱乐部成员和交换生去生态园参与体验活动。请你代表学生会，根据所给信息，写一则通知，内容包括：
1.活动主要内容（观农业成果展、采摘等）；
2.集合时间、地点。
参考词汇：生态园：ecological garden
注意：1.词数80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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