5.4.4 课外阅读拓展篇
Reading B
Nature is clever[2]
Nature might be the world’s best designer（设计师）and engineer（工程师）.It seems to have a solution（解决办法）for everything.Humans learn from its designs when making things.This is called biomimicry（仿生学），which means the “imitation（模仿）of life”.Here are some ideas we picked up from nature’s solutions.
Kingfisher’s beak:
Japanese bullet trains（子弹头列车）run fast（around 300 km/h）and quietly，but they weren’t always like this.They used to make a lot of noise.One of the train’s engineers，who was also a birdwatcher，found a solution in the kingfisher’s beak（翠鸟的喙）.He saw a kingfisher dive into the water with a very small splash（水花）.This is because the bird has a large head and narrow（窄的）beak.So the engineer made the front of the bullet train narrow as well.This helps the train move fast with little air resistance（阻力）and thus make very little noise.
Sticky feet of geckos:
When making space（太空）robots，NASA’s scientists ran into a problem — how to make the robots “stick”（粘）to spacecraft（航空器）while making repairs（修理）in outer space.They looked to see how nature solved a similar problem.They got an idea from watching geckos（壁虎）walk on walls.The geckos have toe pads（趾蹼）with small hairs.These hairs help them stick to walls.A similarly “hairy” material was used to make the space robots’ feet.
Plant stomata:
Sports clothes are the best clothes to wear while working out.They are made out of breathable material（可呼吸的材料）and don’t hold your sweat（汗水）.The material has pores（孔洞）that are just like plant stomata（气孔）.Stomata help plants breathe.Our sweat dries and becomes vapor（蒸汽）as we exercise.
The pores let the vapor go out and let cooler and drier air go in.This design keeps our skin at a comfortable temperature（舒适的温度）.
Ⅰ.Read and answer.
Ⅱ.Read and write T(true)or F(false).
( )1.NASA scientists got an idea from geckos’ toe pads.
( )2.The small hairs on the geckos’ toe pads help them walk on walls.
Ⅲ.Read the passage and choose the best answer.(https://www.daowen.com)
1.Which of the following describes biomimicry?
A.Borrowing ideas from other cultures.
B.People learn from scientists who study nature.
C.Humans look to nature to find solutions to problems.
2.What does the front of a Japanese bullet train look like?
A.The splash when a kingfisher goes into the water.
B.The kingfisher’s narrow beak.
C.The kingfisher’s large head.
3.By learning from geckos, what problem did NASA’s scientists solve?
A.What material to use to make hairy robot feet.
B.How to make a robot that can walk in outer space.
C.How to fix a robot on a spacecraft.
Ⅳ.Complete the sentences
【注释】
[1]摘自《21世纪学生英文报》初一版第743期，2021-06-21。
[2]摘自《21世纪学生英文报》初一版第723期2020-12-28