Mars is a neighboring planet in our solar system. Scientists study Mars because it could hold clues that could help us learn more about life on Earth. For decades, scientists have used robot technology to better understand Mars. In December 2020, scientists introduced a group of robots named Mars Dogs at a yearly meeting.
The Mars Dog is a four-legged robot created by the company Boston Dynamics. It, along with other similar robots, can move around in ways the wheeled rovers (探测器) that explored the planet never could. Traditional Mars rovers are limited mostly to flat surfaces. However, many scientifically interesting Martian regions are only reachable by crossing very rough (崎岖的) ground or going below ground. Walking Mars Dogs are well-suited for such challenges-even if they fall down, they can get back up again. These robots can also explore underground by walking around rocks and lowering themselves into caves. They are even capable of selecting which path to take. While they do this, they collect measurements to build a map of what they sec.
A Mars Dog would also be about 12 times lighter than current rovers. It would be able to travel much faster, reaching normal walking speeds of 5 kilometers per hour during tests. Compare that to the Curiosity rover that is currently exploring Mars. Curiosity rolls along the Martian surface at about 0. 14 kilometers per hour.
Before going to Mars, the team members are testing the robot. They even take the robot to outdoor locations similar to Martian landscapes. Those tests show that the robots, without any help, can walk around rocks and map deep caves. "These behaviors could one day enable significant scientific missions to take place on the Martian surface and subsurface," the scientists said at the yearly meeting.
In this fast-developing world, it can be said that technology has killed culture and traditions. Radio was known as a stress reliever in the past, but the digitalization of music has done great damage to the radio industry. Radio stations no longer have a large audience that they once had. People can now easily download music from the Internet, or listen to it online.
In the technology-dependent era, George Oliver realized that it was nearly impossible to live a life without the Internet. If radio should be brought back and compete with the existing music streaming platforms, he has to take the radio online. On October 28, 2015, he founded Realmuzic.net.
Launching an online radio site and maintaining it was no easy job. George had to get his head into technology. He faced and overcame many challenges, and turned a deaf ear to those who always laughed at his idea. His passion for bringing back the golden times for radio was much stronger than any of these difficulties. George and his DJs team put in all their efforts, and used all their knowledge and every bit of energy to make this happen.
Just like any other business, Realmuzic.net began with a rough start. Not many people knew about this online radio station and were too absorbed in the new tech to turn to the radio-centric music streaming service. Giving up was not an option, so they decided to target the 80's and 90's kids with their nostalgic (怀旧的) playlists and carefully selected song collections that played 24/7 on Realmuzic.net. Their decision was right: they saw a huge increase in their site-visits. Their next step was to bridge the gap between younger generations and radio.
This is Scientific America's 60-Second Science. I am Christopher Intagliata.
The Apollo missions brought back 842 pounds of rock and soil from the moon, that's nearly 2200 different samples. But the most interesting one, according to a scientist Meenakshi Wadhwa, is a sample named "Apollo 1-0-0-8-5 collected by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11.
"He was about to step back into the lunar module(登月舱) when he turned around and saw there were little spaces in the rock box. He knew that geologists on earth would be just so excited to study these materials, so he just scooped up nine scoops(勺) of soil and put it into the box." Wadhwa explained.
It was one of the most well studied samples of the Apollo missions. And a geologist named John Wood noticed white flecks(微粒) of rock in the soil, which inspired him to dig deeper into the moon's ancient past.
"This was quite a leap of imagination — he proposed that the whole of the moon had been almost covered with a magma(岩浆) ocean nearly 4.5 billion years ago. This was a revolutionary idea at the time, because people had thought the moon had formed cold, so it completely changed our idea how the moon formed."
But Wadhwa has a more personal reason to appreciate this sample. She met her husband Scott Parazynski also because of this rock sample. Scott, a mountaineer at that time, wanted to climb Mount Everest with a moon rock while Wadhwa was the chairman of the NASA committee that gives access to the samples for scientific purposes.
Neil Armstrong's last-minute scoop of moon dust brought two people together here on Earth and upturned our understanding of how the moon — and the Earth itself-got here.
Thank you for listening for Scientific American's 60-Second Science.
Nowadays, many of us are working long hours at home, so more than ever, we are in need of a pet to help relieve anxiety and provide company for the lonely days. There are simply too many benefits to list, so we've gathered only our top reasons.
Working long hours from home can never be a nice thing. Without all the human contact we would normally get in the office, we can often find ourselves feeling lonely and isolated. However, with a pet at home we're likely to feel much better.
A call to head outdoors. For those who have an animal that enjoys going outdoors, pets can serve as a great reminder of heading outdoors to get some fresh air. However, often owners will return from their walks feeling calmer, more relaxed and more energized. Whatever the weather, getting outside is beneficial to us.
Caring for something else. Often, when we feel loneliness or anxiety, we tend to be focusing inwards, to our own worries and self-doubts. Therefore, it's advisable to invest time in our pet's well-being by giving them the best care we can.
Motivation (动力) and routine. Pets are a source of motivation for their owners simply because they rely on us so heavily. Without a pet, we'll find it hard to keep our daily routine while working at home. . But when we have a pet to look after, we have to get up early and be ready for the day ahead. This is going to benefit both the pet and ourselves.
A. An end to loneliness.
B A time killer in daily life.
C. We tend to skip meals or sleep late.
D. Pets often walk here and there and make our house dirty.
E. The positive effects a pet can have on our mental health are amazing.
F. The task of heading out for a walk on a rainy day may not seem attractive.
G. Directing our attention to the outside world helps relieve those negative feelings.
Weeks ago, I went to visit my son Chase's teacher for math problems in the fifth-grade classroom. Afterward, we began to 1 about teaching children and we both agreed the most important thing is to shape little hearts to be kind and brave and 2 to a larger community. Not until then was I told a(n) 3 activity in her class.
Every Friday afternoon, she asks her students to write down four children with whom they want to 4 in the following week, and nominate (提名) one student to be the 5 brilliant classroom citizen. All the 6 votes are handed to her. After the students go home, she 7 those pieces of paper and studies them. She looks for patterns. "Who is not getting requested by anyone else? Who never gets 8 enough to be nominated?" 9 she is not looking for a new seating plan or "brilliant" citizens. 10, she is seeking lonely children, who are struggling to 11 others.
It's like taking an X-ray of a 12 to see beneath the surface and into the hearts of students. As she said, the 13 comes out on those private sheets of paper. I was quite 14 and couldn't help asking, "How long have you been doing this?" "Every single Friday afternoon since Columbine," she said.
This brilliant woman watched Columbine, knowing all outward violence begins as inner 15. So she decided to fight violence early and often within her 16 What she is doing when 17 those lists is saving lives. She knows everything-even love, even belonging — has a 18. She finds the patterns and 19 the codes (密码) of disconnection. Then she gets lonely kids the help they need. It's math to her. All is 20— even math.
Jason was nervous on his first day of school. He climbed onto a third-floor balcony (阳台) put legs over the side. His teachers tried their best to bring him down, but failed. However, firefighter who was dressed as "Spiderman" succeeded in (save) him.
Firefighter David Smith was called in after the boy's teachers had failed (get) him down from the balcony. "He was asking his mother," Smith said. "He was crying, and wouldn't let any of us get near him." After he heard a conversation between the boy's mother and his teachers about his love of superheroes, Smith hurried home to get (he) Spiderman clothes.
"I told him Spiderman was there to save him. No one would hurt him," Smith said. "Then I told him to walk slowly toward me. I was really nervous that he might fall if he got too excited and started running." Then the crying boy (break) into a smile, and eventually walked into the Ereman's arms.
The superhero (create) by writer Stan Lee in the early 1960s. It recently has regained (popular) through a series of movies made about him. In them he is acted by superstar Tobey Maguire, performed with Kirsten Dunst and James Franco.
参考词汇：寄宿家庭 host family
注意：1）词数80左右;
2）开头语已为你写好。
Dear Peter,
I came back from England last week.
……
Yours,
Li Hua
One weekend in July, Jane and her husband, Tom, had driven three hours to camp overnight by a lake in the forest. Unfortunately, on the way an unpleasant subject came up and they started to quarrel. By the time they reached the lake, Jane was so angry that she said to Tom, "I'm going to find a better spot for us to camp" and walked away.
With no path to follow, Jane just walked on for quite a long time. After she had climbed to a high place, she turned around, hoping to see the lake. To her surprise, she saw nothing but forest and, far beyond, a snowcapped mountain top. She suddenly realized that she was lost.
"Tom!" she cried. "Help!"
No reply. If only she had not left her mobile phone in that bag with Tom. Jane kept moving, but the farther she walked, the more confused she became. As night was beginning to fall, Jane was so tired that she had to stop for the night. Lying awake in the dark, Jane wanted very much to be with Tom and her family. She wanted to hold him and tell him how much she loved him.
Jane rose at the break of day, hungry and thirsty. She could hear water trickling (滴落) somewhere at a distance. Quickly she followed the sound to a stream. To her great joy, she also saw some berry bushes. She drank and ate a few berries. Never in her life had she tasted anything better.
Feeling stronger now, Jane began to walk along the stream and hope it would lead her to' the lake.
As she picked her way carefully along the stream, Jane heard a helicopter. Is that for me? Unfortunately, the trees made it impossible for people to see her from above. A few minutes later, another helicopter flew overhead. Jane took off her yellow blouse, thinking that she should go to an open area and flag them if they came back again.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
3）请在答题卡的相应位置作答；
4）字体端正，格式规范，卷面整洁。
Paragraph 1:
But no more helicopter came and it was getting dark again.
Paragraph 2:
It was daybreak when Jane woke up.
