Unit 5 Learning from nature

Section Ⅰ Starting out & Understanding ideas

基础训练

单词拼写 根据首字母或汉语提示，用本部分所学单词的正确形式填空。

1.Jim is always m Miss Li in class， which makes her quite angry.

2.A have long had the feeling that the places we live in can affect our thoughts， feelings and behavior.

3.A large amount of solar energy has been c into electrical energy since amounts of advanced equipment were introduced.

4.Our football players gave a s performance in the final and we all cheered.

5.There’s a new （前沿） in 3D printing that’s beginning to come into focus： food.

6.The park on the （滨水地区） is bound to be a good place for rest and entertainment.

7.We once walked across a frozen （池塘） at two in the morning.

8.All the workers were working day and night to make sure the （管道系统） system ran smoothly.

选择填空 用方框中所给短语的适当形式填空。

respond to take... for granted live in harmony with covert... into meet the needs of

1.We must never lose sight of the fact that man must nature.

2.Traditional teaching methods can’t the social and economic development.

3.Capturing energy from the sun and it electricity to run your toaster sounds like magic.

4.We are always been told not any emails requesting personal information， no matter how official they look.

5.Don’t anything . You had better know that the harder you work， the luckier you’ll be.

课文语法填空

Trees， plants and flowers are all around us and we enjoy their beauty every day. Nature is presented in various 1 （architect） designs as well.

People 2 interest is exploring the relationship between art and science will enjoy Singapore’s ArtScience Museum. The building was designed 3 （show） the connection between nature and the modern city environment. Visitors are often amazed to find themselves in an urban building that so 4 （true） captures the beauty of natural forms.

Harare’s Eastgate Centre is 5 superb example of biomimicry. Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce was inspired to create the Centre while 6 （watch） a nature documentary in which termites were constructing their nests. The design reduces the need for traditional air conditioning and heating systems.

The world’s first algae­-powered building is in Hamburg， Germany， whose surface is covered in panels that contain algae. The panels capture heat 7 the sun and convert it into energy that 8 （power） the building. And the algae inside the panels can 9 （harvest） and used to produce fuel.

10 （create） buildings such as these enables us to live in closer harmony with our environment.

1.   2.   3.   4.   5.

6.   7.   8.   9.   10.

阅读理解

Traditionally， robots have been hard， made of metal and other rigid materials. But a team of scientists at Harvard University in the US has managed to build an entirely soft robot—one that draws inspiration from an octopus （章鱼）.

Described in science journal Nature， the Octobot could pave the way for more effective autonomous robots that could be used in search， rescue and exploration. “The Octobot is a minimal system which may serve as a foundation for a new generation of completely soft， autonomous robots，” the study’s authors wrote.

Robots built for precise， repetitive movements in a controlled environment don’t do so well on rough terrains （地形） or in unpredictable conditions. And they aren’t especially safe around humans， because they’re made out of hard and heavy parts that could be potentially dangerous to their users.

So researchers have been working on building soft robots for decades. They’ve taken inspiration from nature， looking to animals from jellyfish to cockroaches， which are often made up of more flexible matter.

But creating a completely soft robot remains a challenge. Even if engineers build a silicone

（硅酮） body， it’s still a grand challenge to construct flexible versions of essential parts， such as a source of power.

“Although soft robotics is still in its early stage， it holds great promise for several applications， such as search-and-rescue operations and exploration，” Barbara Mazzolai and Virgilio Mattoli of the Italian Institute of Technology Center for Micro-BioRobotics， wrote in a comment. “Soft robots might also open up new approaches to improving wellness and quality of life.”

1. What is the special feature of Octobot？

A. It’s very small.  B. It’s made of metal.

C. It’s soft.  D. It’s like an octopus.

2. What is the weakness of traditional robots？

A. They’re hard to control. B. They’re too heavy to move.

C. They can’t predict conditions. D. They can’t always behave well.

3. Which is the most challenging part in building Octobot？

A. Its silicone body.                   B. Its complex structure.