陳麗芳

一個小型機器人ECHO正在南極和企鵝們和諧共存，為科研人員提供數(shù)據(jù)。科研人員希望更多地了解氣候變化如何影響生活在南極的動物。

主題語境：生態(tài)保護 篇幅：329詞 建議用時：6分鐘

Antarctica is often called the most remotecontinent on Earth. But if you ask many penguinspecies， Antarctica is anything but remote. Itis home.

This is especially true for the planets larg?est penguin， the emperor penguin. These birdsare over one metre （3.3 feet） tall and are known for making their home in the coldest placeon Earth. The males even care for eggs all through the dead of a sunless winter in the heartof the continent.

As you can imagine， this makes studying emperors very challenging for humans.Were not created to survive in this habitat. But at the same time， we desperately want toknow more about these animals. So what is the solution？ Meet ECHO—the yellow robot cre?ated to spy on penguins！

We say“spy”， but in truth， ECHO is more of a roommate to one particular colony ofemperor penguins. It doesnt attempt to hide itself. Instead， it walks （or rather， wheels） itselfright up to the birds that it is observing. As for the birds， they will sometimes curiouslycheck out the robot. But for the most part， they ignore it and go about their business. This?works out well for the scientists who created ECHO， the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institu?tion （WHOI） in Massachusetts， USA. As long as scientists can first capture and tag （給……加上標簽） a penguin with a taped?on microchip， ECHO can do the rest.

It moves among the birds， scanning their tags， and giving scientists information abouthow the birds move around—when they leave a certain area， when they return， or if theychoose not to return at all. And it can do these all without exposing the birds to a constanthuman presence—or exposing human researchers to exhausting work in the brutal cold.

Scientists are observing the emperors habits to better understand the threats to us andthe rest of the planet. Thanks to the data collected by ECHO， we would now know how to in?vestigate！

Reading Check

1. What makes the studying of emperor penguins so difficult？

A. Their secret habitat. B. The remote distance.

C. The extreme cold. D. Their hatching habit.

2. How do the penguins react to ECHO？

A. They are much frightened.

B. They just take it for granted.

C. They run away from it at once.

D. They choose to stay away from it.

3. What does ECHO focus on while working？

A. The penguins tags. B. The penguins diet.

C. The penguins eggs. D. The weather changes.

4. Whats the last paragraph mainly about？

A. The significance of ECHO.

B. The advantages of ECHO.

C. The crisis facing our planet.

D. The market potential of ECHO.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

It moves among the birds， scanning their tags， and giving scientists information abouthow the birds move around—when they leave a certain area， when they return， or if theychoose not to return at all. 它在企鵝之間移動，掃描它們的標簽，并向科學家提供有關它們是如何移動的信息——它們何時離開某個區(qū)域，何時返回，或者它們是否選擇根本不返回。

【點石成金】本句是一個主從復合句?，F(xiàn)在分詞scanning和giving 作伴隨狀語；how引導的名詞性從句作介詞about的賓語。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

in the heart of 在……中心

spy on 監(jiān)視；窺視

attempt to do sth 嘗試做某事

check out 核實；結賬離開

go about 著手做；處理

expose...to 把……暴露于……