Plants do not listen to the radio. But a team of researchers in Greece recently found a way to turn lemons into very small “radio stations” that can broadcast information about their trees’ moisture content to a smartphone—the first step toward creating what the researchers call an “Internet of plants.”
Scientists had previously attached sensors to trees to measure their water use, but “no other team had created a wireless radio network among plants, sending information while consuming only a few microwatts and costing just a few dollars,” says project leader Aggelos Bletsas, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Technical University of Crete.
The network consists of several basic components: an existing FM radio station, an antenna (天线) attached to a lemon growing on a tree, a humidity (湿度) sensor in the lemon, a transistor connected to an antenna and an FM receiver. First, the antenna picks up the signal from the FM station, and then passes the signal to the transistor, which is modulated by the humidity sensor. The sensor switches the transistor on and off at a rate dependent on the plant’s moisture level: if the soil is wet or if the atmosphere is humid, that rate is lower; if it is dry, the rate is higher. Finally, the antenna broadcasts this information to the radio receiver on a mobile phone.
In this way, plants can tell farmers if they are thirsty. “We can literally ‘listen’ to the moisture of the plant, using our mobile FM radio with a $3.4 sensor,” Bletsas says. “Two of these sensors for every acre on any given farm might change the way we conduct agriculture and ‘understand’ plants.” He notes that more sensors may be needed for the best possible results. Such real-time information could enable better control of air and soil moisture.
Why go through all this trouble and not just use already common wireless technology, such as Bluetooth? “Not only is our technique less complex, as we are just borrowing signals in the environment,” Bletsas says, but “a Bluetooth-based sensor costs about $25. Our final aim is to launch sensors onto the market costing less than $1.”
“Bletsas and his team are completely changing the way of environmental sensing using very simple equipment and surprisingly little power,” says Alexandros Dimakis, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, who was not involved in the research. “Their work could be a transformational Internet of Things technology for agriculture and for monitoring the environment.”
Bletsas and his colleagues have already applied for a patent for their innovative technology in America.
1.The radio network created by Greek researchers _________.
A.consumes much energy
B.can be put in a smartphone
C.uses simple technology at low cost
D.broadcasts radio programs to plants
2.What does the underlined word “modulated” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Monitored. B.Adjusted.
C.Measured. D.Connected.
3.What is Alexandros Dimakis’ attitude to the “radio network”?
A.Positive. B.Critical.
C.Neutral. D.Doubtful.
4.What is the purpose of the passage?
A.To discuss methods of studying plants.
B.To assess the efficiency of Internet of plants.
C.To stress the importance of keeping soil’s moisture.
D.To introduce a new way of measuring plants’ water use.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
Plants do not listen to the radio. But a team of researchers in Greece recently found a way to turn lemons into very small “radio stations” that can broadcast information about their trees’ moisture content to a smartphone—the first step toward creating what the researchers call an “Internet of plants.”
Scientists had previously attached sensors to trees to measure their water use, but “no other team had created a wireless radio network among plants, sending information while consuming only a few microwatts and costing just a few dollars,” says project leader Aggelos Bletsas, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Technical University of Crete.
The network consists of several basic components: an existing FM radio station, an antenna (天线) attached to a lemon growing on a tree, a humidity (湿度) sensor in the lemon, a transistor connected to an antenna and an FM receiver. First, the antenna picks up the signal from the FM station, and then passes the signal to the transistor, which is modulated by the humidity sensor. The sensor switches the transistor on and off at a rate dependent on the plant’s moisture level: if the soil is wet or if the atmosphere is humid, that rate is lower; if it is dry, the rate is higher. Finally, the antenna broadcasts this information to the radio receiver on a mobile phone.
In this way, plants can tell farmers if they are thirsty. “We can literally ‘listen’ to the moisture of the plant, using our mobile FM radio with a $3.4 sensor,” Bletsas says. “Two of these sensors for every acre on any given farm might change the way we conduct agriculture and ‘understand’ plants.” He notes that more sensors may be needed for the best possible results. Such real-time information could enable better control of air and soil moisture.
Why go through all this trouble and not just use already common wireless technology, such as Bluetooth? “Not only is our technique less complex, as we are just borrowing signals in the environment,” Bletsas says, but “a Bluetooth-based sensor costs about $25. Our final aim is to launch sensors onto the market costing less than $1.”
“Bletsas and his team are completely changing the way of environmental sensing using very simple equipment and surprisingly little power,” says Alexandros Dimakis, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, who was not involved in the research. “Their work could be a transformational Internet of Things technology for agriculture and for monitoring the environment.”
Bletsas and his colleagues have already applied for a patent for their innovative technology in America.
1.The radio network created by Greek researchers _________.
A.consumes much energy
B.can be put in a smartphone
C.uses simple technology at low cost
D.broadcasts radio programs to plants
2.What does the underlined word “modulated” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Monitored. B.Adjusted.
C.Measured. D.Connected.
3.What is Alexandros Dimakis’ attitude to the “radio network”?
A.Positive. B.Critical.
C.Neutral. D.Doubtful.
4.What is the purpose of the passage?
A.To discuss methods of studying plants.
B.To assess the efficiency of Internet of plants.
C.To stress the importance of keeping soil’s moisture.
D.To introduce a new way of measuring plants’ water use.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
— the team finished most of their research work?
—Yes, but the rest rather difficult.
A.Has, are B.Has, is C.Have, are D.Have, is
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
–Why do you want the radio so much?
-- _________ to the news, sir.
A.Listening | B.Listens | C.Listened | D.To listen |
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
Plants may not have eyes and ears,but they can recognize their siblings (兄弟姐妹),and researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered how.The ID system lies in the roots and the chemical signals they secrete (分泌).
Canadian researchers published that sea rocket,a common seashore plant,can recognize its siblings.Susan Dudley observed that when siblings are grown next to each other in the soil,they “play nice” and don’t send out more roots to compete.However,the moment one of the plants is thrown in with strangers,it begins competing with them by rapidly growing more roots to take up the water and mineral nutrients in the soil.
After reading Dudley’s study,Bais decided to find the method behind the sibling recognition.Working in his laboratory,Bais and his doctoral student Meredith Biedrzycki set up a study with wild populations of Arabidopsis thaliana.In a series of experiments,young seedlings were exposed to liquid media containing the root secretions from siblings,from strangers,or only their own secretions.The length of the longest lateral (侧面的) root was measured.The exposure of plants to the root secretions of strangers induced (引诱) greater lateral root formation than exposure of plants to sibling secretions.Strangers planted next to each other are often shorter,because so much of their energy is directed at root growth.Because siblings aren’t competing against each other,their roots are often much shallower (浅的).
Biedrzycki did the painstaking laboratory research,observing more than 3,000 plants involved in the study every day for seven continuous days and documenting the root patterns.“Arabidopsis roots are nearly translucent (半透明的) when they are young and were also twisted when I removed them from plates,”Biedrzycki notes.“This manuscript (手稿) is very important for my research since the focus of my thesis project is understanding the biochemical ways behind root secretions.”
The research also may have implications for the home gardener.“Often we’ll put plants in the ground next to each other and when they don’t do well,we blame the local garden center where we bought them or we attribute their failure to a germ,”Bais says.“But maybe there’s more to it than that.”
1.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
A.A Great Biology Researcher
B.Plants Recognize Their Siblings
C.Plants’ Roots and Secretions
D.A Research on Plants
2. What encouraged Bais to study the sibling recognition?
A.Sea rocket.
B.Plants’ sensing system.
C.Biedrzycki’s thesis project.
D.Dudley’s study.
3. What does the underlined word “painstaking” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Important. B.Adventurous.
C.Careful. D.Hardworking.
4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.The local garden center should be blamed when plants can’t grow well.
B.The local garden center often sells low quality seeds to customers.
C.Plants in the home garden can’t grow well because of the germ and seeds.
D.Competing against strangers,plants in the home garden can’t grow well.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The team of researchers from the University of Lincoln, UK, is designing and building an app to help farmers in hot climates identify and record the spread of locusts(蝗虫) on their land.
By recognizing locusts through the smartphone’s camera, the app will be able to identify the stage of the insect's growth and record its location. This information can then be utilized so that the farmers can use pesticides(杀虫剂) more accurately in the early stages of their life time, greatly reducing the amount of crop damage.
This approach could also reduce remaining pesticide levels, leading to increased food safety while maintaining food security and protecting nearby water systems.
“Each year, approximately 18 million hectares of land are damaged by locusts, influencing hugely farmers and their productivity, explains Dr. Bashir Al-Diri from the School of Computer Science at the University of Lincoln.” Their monitoring techniques currently rely on field surveys by people through digging insect eggs, but this information only helps farmers to make mid and long-term forecasting decisions and can delay effective management measures. By digitally recording the exact number, age and location of locusts, we hope this new app will put more knowledge and more power into the hands of the farmers.
Dr. Al-Diri and his team of computer scientists work with the Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology at the University of Lincoln, aiming to support and improve productivity, efficiency and farming through research, education and new technology.
With advanced technology, the developers hope that the app will also be used for a wide range in the future to capture and document information about the natural world. For example, it could easily be adapted to help individuals identify plant diseases or to digitally capture the number and type of birds and wildlife in specific locations as part of national and international surveys.
1.What do we know about the app mentioned in the passage?
A.It has helped farmers record the spread of locusts.
B.It will be of great use for farmers in hot climates.
C.It may cost the farmers more than they expect.
D.It will remind farmers of what the locusts look like.
2.Which can replace the underlined word "utilized” in the passage?
A.Accessed. B.Controlled.
C.Arranged. D.Progressed.
3.What can we know according to Dr. Bashir Al-Diri?
A.Farmers don't know how to deal with locusts.
B.Their techniques can be used to dig insect eggs.
C.Farmers suffer greatly because of locusts.
D.Some steps must be taken before using the app.
4.What is the purpose of Al-Diri and his team?
A.To check if the app is useful in killing locusts.
B.To educate farmers on how to protect themselves.
C.To assist in raising agricultural production level.
D.To direct farmers to change their farming methods.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A team of researchers in the UK has shown that children who were taken to the library more often and owned more books at two years old achieved higher scores in school tests when they began primary school. The research also showed that although social background has a noticeable effect on a child’s readiness for school, attending pre-school and having their parents teach them a wide range of activities have a positive effect---while extended exposure to television lowers their scores.
“One message coming through loud and clear is that how a child learns in his very early years is critical (至关重要的) for a smooth transition into the educational system,” said Professor James Law. “This is a very positive message, as it gets us away from the belief that a child’s educational future is pre-determined by standard measures of socio-economic disadvantage, such as income, housing, or the mother’s education.”
Data from the study shows that children from a positive communication environment had a better expressive vocabulary by their second birthday. These children went on to achieve higher scores in language, reading and maths tests when they entered school. In the early years, the communication environment was a better predictor of children’s success with language than their general social background.
Most children develop speech and language effortlessly, but some are slow to acquire these skills and go on to struggle with literacy (读写能力) and academic skills throughout their schooling. This project set out to uncover what factors contributed to these problems.
Professor Sue Roulstone said, “These findings are an encouragement to all parents to provide a positive communication environment for their children from the very start of their lives. The project did identify particular aspects of the communication environment, such as having children’s books around and not having the television on too much. But the main message is that, as parents, we can have an impact on how our children learn to talk by providing a range of communication experiences. And the better our children are at talking by the age of two years, the better they will do when they start school.”
1.According to the passage, what is the most important factor contributing to children’s success at school? _____.
A. Their general social background.
B. Being taken to a library as early as possible.
C. Being involved in various activities.
D. Their communication environment.
2.From the research, Professor James Law concluded that _____.
A. children could naturally have a smooth transition into the educational system
B. the very early years had a big effect on children’s school performance
C. communication with children after they were over two years old was more effective
D. children’s educational future was pre-determined by their parents’ social position
3.The study shows that two-year-old children who have a positive communication environment do better in _____.
A. maths B. reading
C. writing D. speaking
4.What is implied in the passage? _____.
A. The research could help children who suffer from learning difficulties.
B. Parents should take their children to school as early as possible.
C. Teachers should teach children how to communicate with their parents.
D. Children who have good language abilities will not have difficulties in class.
5. People can most probably find this passage in the _____section of a website.
A. environment B. education
C. lifestyle D. Science
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
People usually turn on the radio to listen to evergreen songs, which _____ them of their past.
A.tell | B.remind | C.warn | D.convince |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
You are the collector in the gallery of your life. You collect. You might not mean to but you do. One out of three people collects tangible(有形的)things such as cats, photos and noisy toys.
There are among some 40 collections that are being shown at “The Museum Of”—the first of several new museums which, over the next two years, will exhibit the objects accumulated by unknown collectors. In doing so, they will promote a popular culture of museums, not what museums normally represent.
Some of the collections are fairly common—records, model houses. Others are strangely beautiful—branches that have fallen from tree, for example. But they all reveal (显露)a lot of things: ask someone what they collect and their answers will tell you who they are.
Other on the way include “The museum of Collectors” and “The Museum of Me.”These new ones, it is hoped, will build on the success of “The Museum Of.” The thinkers behind the project want to explore why people collect, and what it means to do so. They hope that visitors who may not have considered themselves collectors will begin to see they, too, collect.
Some collectors say they started or stopped making collections at important point: the beginning or end of adolescence—“it’s a growing-up thing; you stop when you grow up,”says one. Other painful times are mentioned, such as the end of a relationship. For time and life can seem so uncontrollable that a steady serial(顺序排列的)arrangement is comforting.
1.How will the new museums promote a popular culture of museums?
A. By collecting more tangible things.
B. By showing what ordinary people have collected.
C. By correcting what museums normally represent.
D. By accumulating 40 collections two years from now.
2.What can be learned about collectors from their collections?
A. Who they are.
B. How old they are.
C. Where they were born.
D. Why they might not mean to collect.
3.Which of the following is an aim of the new museums?
A. To help people sell their collections.
B. To encourage more people to collect.
C. To study the significance of collecting.
D. To find out why people visit museums.
4.According to the last paragraph, people may stop collecting when they
A. become adults
B. feel happy with life
C. are ready for a relationship
D. feel time to he uncontrollable
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
——Do you know the answers to these questions asked by your little brother?
——Of course not, but I can’t let him know________.
A. them B. one C. those D. that
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Experts like to say the best form of exercise is whatever kind you’ll actually do. But that may not always be the case; new research finds that people who combine exercise with their social lives may be at an advantage over solitary(独自) exercisers. Tennis, badminton and soccer are all better for longevity(长寿) than cycling, swimming, jogging or gym exercise, according to the research.
The study was based on data from about 8,500 adults who were part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. They completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire, which included questions about type and frequency of physical activity, and were monitored by the researchers for around 25 years, a period during which about 4,500 of the subjects died.
Tennis came out on top in the research. Compared with people sitting all day, those who reported playing tennis as their main form of exercise could expect to add 9.7 years to their life time, followed by badminton (6.2 years), soccer (4.7 years), cycling (3.7 years), swimming (3.4 years), jogging (3.2 years) and health-club activities (1.5 years).
Tennis likely took the top spot because “it’s very interactive,” says study co-author Dr. James O’Keefe, a physician at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. “At every point you’re talking. It’s just a very natural way to emotionally bond with people, besides getting your exercise.” But he adds that the study may not have been able to fully account for the fact that wealthier, better-educated people—who tend to be healthier to begin with—may be more likely to play tennis.
Activities like running and weight lifting still extend your life and offer plenty of other health benefits. But for the best possible benefits, O’Keefe says gym-goers may want to consider combining those workouts with activities that foster social connection.
O’Keefe, whose exercise typically includes running and weight lifting, says he’s even changed his own behavior because of the study: he and his family have taken up badminton.
“You can’t play badminton without feeling like a kid again,” he says. “It’s just pure fun.”
1.Which of the following is best for living a long life?
A. Cycling. B. Badminton.
C. Swimming. D. Gym exercise.
2.How many people were still living at the end of the research?
A. About 8,500. B. About 4,500.
C. About 4000. D. About 2500.
3.What matters most to the result of the research?
A. Family life. B. Social connections.
C. Frequency of exercise. D. Wealth and education.
4.What does O’Keefe do after the finding?
A. He puts the theory into practice.
B. He plays badminton just for fun.
C. He feels like playing badminton with kids.
D. He takes more exercise than before.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析