Reading Explorer 3 Foundation 单词和文章
2025-2-6|2025-2-5
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1A A Mysterious Visitor | In October 2017, astronomers in Hawaii saw something surprising. A strange object was moving through the solar system. They had seen many asteroids before, but this was something different. It was long and thin - like a cucumber. The object’s speed and direction also showed something surprising. This was an interstellar object - the first ever seen.The object was named ’Oumuamua - Hawaiian for “visitor from afar.” Nobody is sure exactly what it is. The simplest idea is that ’Oumuamua is a strangely shaped piece of rock. Perhaps it was knocked out of a far - off star system. However, astronomers saw that its speed increased after passing the sun. Some scientists therefore suggest a different theory.“’Oumuamua could be a piece of alien technology,” says Professor Abraham Loeb from Harvard University. Loeb believes this could explain the object’s long, thin shape, and also its change in speed. Maybe ’Oumuamua was a spaceship that came to explore our solar system. “All possibilities should be considered,” says Loeb.’Oumuamua can no longer be seen from Earth. But astronomers continue to study the information they got from it. It is still not clear if the object was a large rock, or something else altogether. ’Oumuamua will likely be a mystery for many years to come. | astronomer, asteroid, explore, knock, speed, strange, theory, alien |
1B The Lost City of Atlantis | Most people have heard the story of the lost city of Atlantis. But is any part of the story true?Over two thousand years ago, the Greek writer Plato wrote about Atlantis, an island in the Atlantic Ocean. The island’s people were very rich. They built a big city with many great buildings. But the people became greedy - they had many things, but they still wanted more. So the gods became angry. Earthquakes and large waves began to strike the island. Finally, Atlantis sank into the sea.Many explorers have looked for Atlantis. In 2004, explorer Robert Sarmast reported finding the remains of a city under the sea near Cyprus. However, Sarmast and other scientists later realized the structures he found under the sea were natural, not man - made. Mark Adams, author of the 2016 book Meet Me in Atlantis believes the city was in Morocco. Plato wrote about red and black stone circles around the city. Adams found similar red and black stones in the desert there, very near the Atlantic Ocean.Most people, however, think Atlantis is simply a story. The purpose of the story may be to teach people not to be greedy. Richard Ellis also wrote a book about Atlantis in 1999. He says “there is not a piece of solid evidence” for a real Atlantis.So was the island real or not? We only know one thing. The mystery of Atlantis will be with us for a long time. | finally, lost, purpose, report, remain, rock, sink, strike |
2A The World of Speed Eating | Competitive eating - or speed eating - is exactly what its name suggests. Contestants eat as much as they can, usually within a time limit. Eating competitions can involve various foods - pizza, pies, ice cream, chili peppers. They can also offer large prizes to the winners.The Biggest CompetitionThe world’s largest competitive eating event is Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. The event is held every Fourth of July in Brooklyn, New York. According to legend, this tradition began over a hundred years ago. Four immigrants were arguing about who loved their new country the most. Finally, they worked out a way to decide. They would see who could eat the most of a famous American food - the hot dog. James Mullen, an Irish immigrant, won by eating 13 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Nathan’s Fourth of July tradition was born.Eating ChampionsThe current champion of the contest is Joey Chestnut. Chestnut - an American - also holds the world record for hot dog eating - 74 in less than 10 minutes. That’s just over 8 seconds per hot dog. For many years, the Nathan’s Contest champion was Takeru Kobayashi from Japan. He is smaller and lighter than Chestnut, and doesn’t look like an eating champion. However, he holds many world records for eating different types of food.Bad Taste or Just Sport?Not everybody thinks competitive eating is a good thing. It can be unhealthy for the contestants, and many people in the world are going hungry. Kobayashi first won the event in 2001 when he was 23 years old. So are eating competitions in bad taste? For competitive eaters, it’s a sport like any other. As Kobayashi says, “Food fighters … think of themselves as athletes.” | argue, athlete, exactly, record, tradition, unhealthy, various, work out |
2B The Hottest Chilies | You may have experienced the feeling. Your mouth feels like it’s on fire. Your eyes start to water. You just ate one of nature’s hottest foods - the chili pepper!Chili peppers, also called chilies, are found in dishes around the world. They are in dishes like Indian curries, Thai tom yum soup, and Mexican enchiladas. Chilies come from the capsicum plant. They are “hot” because they contain something called capsaicin.Capsaicin is very good for your health. It helps you breathe better, and it may even help keep you fit. Capsaicin makes you feel less hungry. It also makes your body burn more calories.We can measure the heat of chilies in units called Scoville heat units (SHU). The world’s hottest chili is the Carolina Reaper. It sometimes measures up to 2 million SHU!Eating a hot chili can be painful, but some people love to eat them. Anandita Dutta Tamuly, a woman from Assam, India, became famous for eating chilies. She ate 51 hot peppers in just two minutes! The peppers were Naga jolokia (“ghost peppers”). They grow in Assam and are the third - hottest chilies in the world.“I found eating chilies was a great way to stay healthy,” says Tamuly. She began eating chilies when she was a child. She eats chilies when she is sick, too. “Every time I have a cold or flu, I just eat some chilies and I feel better. To be honest, I barely notice them now.” | breathe, contain, dish, fit, health, hungry, painful, plant |
3A Digging for the Past | When I was in third grade, I watched a video that recreated the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb. I remember Howard Carter peering through a narrow hole in the tomb with a candle. A workman asked what he could see: “Wonderful things!” Carter said. From that moment, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.Today, I’m lucky to work as an archeologist. I study the lives of people who lived in Egypt’s Nile Delta. It’s exciting work. Sometimes you find something that was buried three thousand years ago. Holding a piece of history is an amazing feeling.So I decided what I wanted to be at the age of nine, and I made it happen. Seems easy, right? Not quite! The road wasn’t easy. I did my studies - university, then a PhD. But along the way I was told many things: I was too young, I wasn’t qualified, I should get married and have kids. I also needed money, so I applied for six grants. The first five replies said no. The last reply came: This time it was yes. Finally, I could start my own excavation.For anyone thinking about a career, I would say: Never give up. If you want to do something, keep trying. If people tell you no, use that - it will push you. At the beginning, it hurts. But the next no hurts a little less. It makes you stronger and actually helps you.Second, focus on your goals. And I stress yours. You don’t have to follow other people. If they say something has never been done, make it happen. You may be the first to do it. There are always challenges, but you overcome them in the end. | amazing, career, decide, follow, married, history, hurt, lucky |
3B Getting the Shot | Joel Sartore is a writer and a photographer. His words and beautiful images show his love of photography and of the natural world. He was National Geographic’s 2018 Explorer of the Year.My first job was for a newspaper. After a few years there, I met a National Geographic photographer. He liked my photos and said I should send some to the magazine. So I did. That led to a one - day job. And that led to a nine - day job, and so on.To get into National Geographic, you have to give them something they don’t have. It’s not enough just to be a great photographer. You also have to be a scientist, for example, or be able to dive under sea ice, or spend maybe several days in a tree.It’s now more difficult to work for magazines. Technology makes it easy to take good pictures, which means there are more photos and photographers. Also, the Web is full of photos from all around the world that are free, or cost very little. The photos are often good enough to be put in books and magazines that once paid for photographers and their photos.Advice? Well, work hard. Be passionate about every project you work on. Take lots of pictures in different situations. Look at others’ photos thoughtfully and learn from them. And be curious about life. There’s something to photograph everywhere.But be a photographer for the right reasons. If you do it for the money, you probably won’t really be happy. Do you want to make the world a better place, or make people see things in a different way? If so, you’ll enjoy the work much more. | enough, project, several, situation, spent, pay, free, cost |
4A I’ve Found the Titanic! | As a boy, Robert Ballard liked to read about shipwrecks. He read a lot about the Titanic. “My lifelong dream was to find this great ship,” he says. On August 31, 1985, Ballard’s dream came true. He found the wreck of the Titanic. The ship was in two main parts, lying four kilometers under the sea. Using video cameras and an undersea robot, Ballard looked around the ship. He found many items that told the sad story of the Titanic’s end. For example, he found a child’s shoes, a reminder of the many deaths that happened that night in 1912.In 1986, Ballard visited the Titanic again. This time, he reached the ship in a small submarine. A deep - sea robot took photos inside the ship. When other people saw the photos, they wanted to visit the ship, too.When Ballard returned in 2004, he found the Titanic in very bad condition. Other explorers had taken away about 6,000 tons, like notes, dishes, and shoes. Some even took pieces of the ship. They think these things should be moved to a safer place, but Ballard doesn’t agree.Ballard believes that taking things from the Titanic is wrong. Instead, he wants to put lights and cameras on and around the shipwreck. This way, people can see the great ship and remember what happened to it. “As long as she needs protection,” says Ballard, “the Titanic will always be part of my life.” | agree, condition, death, dream, instead, item, reach, return |
4B My Descent to the Titanic | In 2001, I was part of an expedition to explore the Titanic. Our team used two small deep - sea robots, one blue and one green. My job was to make sure the robots’ batteries worked well.Three days into the expedition, the green robot got stuck inside the Titanic. Even worse, one of its batteries was damaged. That was dangerous, as the battery could explode. It could harm the robot and the ship. We had to find a way to get it out.In the middle of the ocean, though, there are no stores to buy supplies. So, we had an idea. We took a coat hanger and put it inside the blue robot. The plan was to use the hanger’s hook to pull out the green robot.Two crew members and I got ready to go down in a three - man submarine. A crane lifted us and placed us in the water. Then we started to sink - 12,500 feet to the ocean bottom. If anything went wrong, we were totally on our own.At about 9,000 feet, a crewmate accidentally touched some wires. Suddenly, all the sub’s lights went out. We were in complete darkness. It was terrifying, but the pilot was able to fix it, and we carried on.Finally, we reached the Titanic’s wreckage. First, we could just see pieces of metal. Then we started to see suitcases and shoes. Over a thousand people fell here, but their bodies disappeared long ago.For about 12 hours, we tried to pull the robot out with the coat hanger. Finally, we got it and brought it to the surface. There was no way we were going to leave it behind. That little robot was part of our team. | battery, carry on, fix, metal, pilot, plan, pull, totally |
5A The Disease Detective | Six children were in the hospital. They were very sick, but the doctors didn’t know what to do. They called Dr. Richard Besser, an expert on strange illnesses.First, Dr. Besser needed to find the cause of the illness. He looked for germs in the children’s bodies. In every child, Dr. Besser found the same type of the bacteria E. coli. He then looked at the bacteria’s DNA. It showed him that this type of E. coli was dangerous.Dr. Besser knew E. coli could move from animals to humans. Had the children touched animals that carried the bacteria? Besser found other E. coli in the area where the children lived. But it wasn’t enough.Besser then made a list of what the sick children had eaten. They had all eaten cheese, apple pie and fish. He then made a list of what healthy children in the area had eaten. They had eaten the cheese and fish, but not the apple juice.Besser went to where the apple juice was made. He saw animals around the apple trees. He also saw the workers using dirty apples that had fallen on the ground. More importantly, he saw that the apples were not washed before the juice was made, and that the juice was not heated. Doing these things would kill the bacteria. Besser then knew it was the apple juice that made the children sick.Besser’s E. coli case had a happy ending. The children got better. And what Besser learned that day now helps keep others safe. | touch, kill, illness, ground, expert, dirty, dangerous, vehicle |
5B At the Scene of a Crime | It’s 5:30 a.m., and your phone rings. A police officer says someone broke into a store and took some expensive items. They need you right away. It is your job to study the whole scene for clues that will help catch the thief. You are a crime scene investigator, and the game is on.Outside the store, you see a broken window, but there is no glass on the street. There are shoeprints, and marks made by a vehicle’s tires. You look at the shoeprints. They’re large, so you’re likely looking for a man. You photograph the shoe’s pattern. This can tell you the type of shoe. You then measure the space between the shoeprints. You now know how long the person’s steps were. This gives you an idea of how tall the thief was.As you follow the shoeprints over to the tire marks, the spaces between the steps get bigger. They lead to the passenger’s side of the vehicle. Now you know the thief probably didn’t work alone. You photograph the tire marks. They can help you find out the type of vehicle and the direction it went.The most important clues will come from a person’s body. You find some fingerprints near the broken window. Using a computer, you can compare these prints against millions of others. You also find a hair. You keep it, because you know hair contains a person’s DNA. You can compare this with other people’s DNA, too. If you find a match for the fingerprint or the DNA, you will know who was in the store.Will you find the thief? You now have a lot of information, so it’s possible. For a crime scene investigator, it’s all in a day’s work. | step, space, possible, direction, compare, catch, alone, touch |
6A Planting for the Planet | When he was nine years old, Felix Finkbeiner gave a class presentation on climate change. The young German spoke about deforestation and its effect on the planet. At the end of his talk, he challenged the people of his country to help by planting one million trees. Nobody thought much would come of a nine - year - old’s school project. Before he was 20, however, Finkbeiner’s efforts had resulted in the planting of more than 14 billion trees around the world.Finkbeiner and his classmates began the project - named “Plant - for - the - Planet” - by planting the first tree outside their school. Other schools followed the example, and news of the one - million challenge spread. As a result, Finkbeiner was asked to speak at the European Parliament. Other invitations soon followed, and when he was just 13, he spoke at a United Nations conference in New York. “We cannot trust that adults alone will save our future,” he said in the speech. “We have to take our future in our own hands.”Finkbeiner is now in his twenties, and Plant - for - the - Planet is an organization with around 70,000 members. It works to teach people about climate change and to encourage the planting of more trees. Germany’s one millionth tree was planted long ago. The goal now is one trillion - 150 for every person on Earth.Finkbeiner continues to give talks on climate change to world leaders. “I don’t think we can give up on this generation of adults,” he says, “and wait 20 or 30 years for our generation to come to power. We don’t have that time. All we can do is push [current world leaders] in the right direction.” | challenge, classmate, invitation, member, news, presentation, save, speech |
6B Fatal Attraction | A hungry fly speeds through a forest. It smells nectar and lands on a green leaf. It starts to drink the sweet liquid. Suddenly, the fly’s world turns green. The two sides of the leaf close against each other. Long green teeth lock together around it. The fly has been caught by a Venus flytrap. There is no escape.The Venus flytrap is perhaps the most famous killer plant. However, scientists have only recently started to understand how it hunts and eats. After years of study, plant scientist Alexander Volkov believes he now knows the Venus flytrap’s secret. “This,” says Volkov, “is an electrical plant.”There are three small hairs along each of the Venus flytrap’s two leaves. When an insect touches a hair, it creates an electrical signal in the leaf. The insect can continue feeding - for now. But if it touches another hair within 20 seconds, the trap snaps shut. This system allows the plant to tell the difference between a drop of water, for example, and a moving creature.Once trapped, an insect has little chance of survival. Instead of nectar, the Venus flytrap now releases a different liquid - one that slowly eats away at the insect. Ten days later, almost nothing is left. The plant’s leaves open again, and the Venus flytrap is ready for its next meal. | along, difference, electrical, famous, forest, leaf, lock, within |
7A Understanding Dreams | Our dreams come from a part of the brain that contains our thoughts and memories. A person can have up to six dreams a night. Each one usually lasts from 10 to 40 minutes. Everyone dreams, but not everyone remembers their dreams. Most people dream in color, usually with sound. And we usually dream about ourselves and the people we know.Alan Siegel is a scientist who studies dreams. “[Dreams can tell us a lot about ourselves,” he says, “and can help us figure out problems.” Another scientist, Robert Stickgold, thinks dreams come from our memories. Stickgold says that dreaming about past events is useful because it helps us learn from them.Here are a few types of dreams and what people think they mean.Dream 1: You Meet Someone While in Your PajamaThis dream may be the result of an embarrassing event in your life. Some people think we dream about embarrassing situations if our brains are trying to deal with an event in our own lives.Dream 2: You’re FlyingIf you dream about flying, you are probably quite happy. This is a good period in your life. You may feel that other people see you as a leader.Dream 3: You Didn’t Study for a TestThis probably means you are worried about an important future event. If you haven’t prepared for it, your dream may be telling you, “It’s time to get to work!” | worried, useful, result, problem, prepare, period, memory, last |
7B Seeing the Impossible | Can you believe everything you see? Not always! Sometimes our minds and our eyes make mistakes and get confused. This may be because we are looking at an optical illusion.The word optical means “related to sight” - the way we see things. An illusion is something that looks different from the way it really is. In short, an optical illusion is a trick that our eyes play on us.Look at these optical illusions and compare what you see with what your classmates see. The way we see things is often personal, so not everyone will see things the same way.Are the lines straight?At a first look, most people say “No.” But if you compare the lines against an object with a straight edge, you’ll see they are. The small circles in the squares help create the illusion.What color are the squares?Square 1 is clearly gray. But what about square 2? Is it white? Is it light gray? You may not believe it, but squares 1 and 2 are exactly the same color. Your eyes see the colors, but your brain notices the shadow made by the apple. It therefore decides that the square in the shadow is a lighter color than it really is.Are the circles moving?If you look closely at this picture, the circles may appear to move. Of course, this is impossible. How can a picture move? When we see circle - in - circle shapes, like in car wheels, they are usually moving. Our brains are used to seeing these shapes move. When our eyes see this shape, our mind decides that the image is moving. Other scientists believe the illusion of movement is caused by the movements of our eyes as we look at the different colors and patterns of the picture. | believe, trick, therefore, straight, personal, mistake, mind, impossible |
8A A Penguin’s Year | Emperor penguins are the largest penguins on Earth. Each adult is over a meter tall, and can weigh up to 40 kilograms.For many months each year, emperors live near the sea in large groups. However, the weather gets colder in May, and ice covers large areas of ocean. Each group moves many kilometers from the water. There, each mother penguin lays just a single egg. Then all the hungry mothers walk back to the ocean to find food. The father penguins put their eggs on top of their feet. They cover the eggs with a special piece of skin called the brood pouch.For two months, the father penguins protect the eggs and keep them warm. They do this through some of the coldest weather conditions on Earth. By July, it is winter in Antarctica. Most other animals leave for warmer places, but the father penguins stay.By August, each mother penguin returns just in time to see her baby hatch. The chick is then moved to her brood pouch. This can be difficult. If the chick falls, it can freeze quickly. The penguin parents must be very careful. Once the chick has been moved, the father penguin can go back to the ocean to find food.Over the next few months, penguin parents take turns going to the ocean for food. They each make the trip several times, bringing back food for the chick. The chick is always hungry and grows rapidly.By December, winter is ending. The chick can now live on its own. Soon it enters the water for the first time. It will swim and eat until next April, and then return. After a few more years, it, too, will start its own family. | adult, careful, enter, freeze, on your own, parent, skin, weigh |
8B Do Animals Laugh? | We know animals have emotions. They can feel fear. We also think they feel love, since they have strong relationships with each other. So are animal emotions similar to our own? And do animals have a sense of humor?A Parrot’s JokeSally Blanchard’s parrot Bongo Marie didn’t get along with her other parrot, Paco. In fact, Bongo Marie clearly didn’t like Paco at all! One day Blanchard cooked a chicken for dinner. She started to cut the chicken with a knife. “Oh, no! Paco!” Bongo Marie said loudly and laughed. Blanchard laughed, too, and said, “That’s not Paco.” “Oh… no,” said Bongo Marie. This time, she sounded disappointed. Then the parrot laughed at her own joke.Yoga DogJean Donaldson enjoys yoga - and so does her dog Buffy. While Donaldson does yoga, Buffy carefully places her toys on Donaldson’s body. If a toy falls, Buffy runs to put it back. Does this behavior have any real purpose? “She thinks it’s hilarious!” says Donaldson.Animal LaughterCan dogs “laugh”? Recent research shows that dogs can tell when they want to play. They make a special sound - a kind of “laugh”. Psychologist Patricia Simonet recorded the sound. Then she played it back to dogs and studied their behavior. “All the dogs seemed to like the laugh,” says Simonet. So do animals have a sense of humor? If laughter is a clue, then perhaps the answer is “yes”. | behavior, fear, in fact, joke, laugh, place, relationship, sense of humor |
9A A Love Poem in Stone | Often called ‘a love poem’ in stone,” the Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful buildings ever made. It is also perhaps the most beautiful expression of love in the world.The emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal for his empress, Mumtaz Mahal. They lived happily together for 18 years. Then, in 1631, Mumtaz died during the birth of their fourteenth child. Before she died, the emperor made her a promise. To remember her, he would build the most beautiful monument in the world.Building the Taj Mahal was a huge task. It is said that it took more than 20,000 people and 1,000 elephants. They worked for over 20 years to build the monument and its central dome.In 1658, five years after the building was finished, Shah Jahan’s son became emperor. He put Shah Jahan in prison. Shah Jahan stayed there until his death in 1666. His body was then put in the Taj Mahal with the woman he loved.There are many legends about the Taj Mahal. In one story, Shah Jahan had the builders’ hands cut off after the building was complete. This was supposedly done so they could never build anything as beautiful as the Taj Mahal. Another says he also wanted to build a black Taj Mahal. These are interesting stories, but they are probably not true.The love story between Shah Jahan and his wife ended sadly. But the monument to their love still stands today. Millions of tourists visit every year. They come to see the marble change color in the light of the rising sun or a full moon. | together, promise, finish, complete, central, birth, during, tourist |
9B The Great Dome of Florence | In 1419, a clockmaker named Filipo Brunellechi started work on a very difficult project. He was building the dome of Florence’s main cathedral, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. For 1,500 years, the world’s largest dome belonged to the Pantheon in Rome. Brunelleschi’s job was to build one even larger.The building of the cathedral began in 1296. By 1359, much of it was complete, but no one knew how to build its dome. Many builders could build concrete domes. However, the dome in Florence needed to be wider than any dome ever built. A concrete dome would be too heavy and would easily fall. The cathedral, therefore, remained unfinished for many years.Filippo Brunellechi promised to find a solution. He said he would build two domes, an inner dome made of stone and an outer one made of light bricks. He would use lighter materials as he worked upwards. Strong rings made of stone, wood, and iron would hold everything together.Brunellechi also had to find a way to lift the material high into the air. What did he do? He invented a new machine to do the job.Building the dome took 16 years. Brunelleschi had done something no one else could. However, he left no pictures of his design. So - even today - experts don’t fully understand how this incredible structure was built. | design, incredible, invent, lift, light, remain, solution, wide |
10A Wild Weather | In late June 2018, the weather forecast for western Japan predicted heavy rain, but no one was prepared for what was to come. By mid - July, large areas were flooded. Some areas received over 100 centimeters of rain. Cars and trucks floated down the street. Whole buildings were washed away. At least 225 people died, and millions had to leave their homes.The weather is changing. Over the last few years, heavy rains have caused floods in many parts of the world. There have been droughts in Brazil and Australia. Heat waves in Europe have killed thousands. There have been more hurricanes and tornadoes, and they have struck with more power than ever before. In 2017 alone, the financial cost from weather events around the world was 340 billion dollars.As more wild weather events happen, people are asking questions: What is happening with the weather? And why? Is this natural, or are we to blame?The answer seems to be: a little of both. Wild weather is natural. But most scientists agree human activity has made the Earth warmer. This global warming makes heat waves more likely. The higher temperatures also cause more water to enter the air. This causes heavier and more frequent rain. Many scientists also believe global warming makes hurricanes and other storms stronger.This means we’re likely to see more wild weather. “But we don’t have to just stand there and take it,” says scientist Michael Oppenheimer. He and other experts say we need to stop the Earth from getting warmer. We also need to be prepared, to do things that will help save lives. | at least, blame, financial, float, forecast, large, power, temperature |
10B When Weird Weather Strikes | Most of us know about hurricanes, droughts, and floods. But from time to time, nature delivers a weather event that is really unusual.One day in 2005, people in a small town in Serbia saw an unusual sight. It was raining frogs! Without any warning, they found their streets filled with the little jumping creatures. “There were thousands of them,” one person told a local newspaper. “I thought perhaps a plane carrying frogs had exploded,” said another. Scientists believe a tornado passed over a lake and sucked up the frogs. It then dropped them on the town, far away.As if tornadoes aren’t dangerous enough, some can actually be made of fire. When a wildfire reaches very high temperatures, it causes the air to heat up and then rise. Cooler air moves quickly to replace the hot air. This creates strong winds, which suck up the fire. When this happens - like it did in 2014, in Denver, United States - a fire tornado is created. A tornado like this can become 15 meters wide and grow as tall as a 40 - story building.In 1942, hundreds of thousand - year - old skeletons were found under the ice of Lake Roopkund in the Himalayas. Many had holes in their skulls but they weren’t hurt in any other way. For years, the cause of their deaths was a mystery. Today, scientists think they were killed by giant hailstones. Hailstones are balls of ice that form when raindrops turn into ice. The ice pieces increase in size until the wind cannot hold them up. This results in hailstones falling to the ground, often at speeds of over 160 kilometers an hour. For the unlucky people at Lake Roopkund, there was nowhere to run. | actually, deliver, drop, explode, increase, local, unusual, warning |
11A The Mammoth’s Tale | The strange animal in the ice looked like it was sleeping. Ten - year - old Kostia Khudi and his brother had never seen anything like it. Their father, a reindeer herder named Yuri Khudi, went to ask a friend for advice. But when he returned, the body had disappeared.Yuri soon found the animal’s body leaning against a store in a nearby town. While he was away, his cousin had sold it to the store owner. Dogs had eaten part of the tail and ear. But it was still in almost “as close to perfect condition as you can imagine,” says scientist Daniel Fisher. The police came to help. The body was taken by helicopter to a museum. The animal was a baby mammoth from the Ice Age. It was female, so the scientists named it after Yuri’s wife.From Siberia, the mammoth was sent to the Netherlands and Japan. Scientists there studied it in detail. Studies of her teeth and tusks showed she was just one month old when she died. Research has also shown us the sequence of events that led to her death. Lyuba fell and died near a muddy river. The mud helped keep her body frozen until she was found, 40,000 years later. Scientists hope that further studies will help explain how mammoths like Lyuba lived. They also want to know why mammoths became extinct. | disappear, further, imagine, in detail, nearby, owner, perfect, store |
11B Monsters of the Deep | Sea monsters are not just imaginary. Millions of years ago, real monsters actually lived on Earth.Eyes in the DarkTemnodontosaurus was definitely an unusual animal. Its name means “cutting - tooth lizard,” and with good reason - it had very big teeth. It also had some of the largest eyes in nature. They were over 25 centimeters across! With such big eyes, Temnodontosaurus could easily find its food in the dark water.Terror of the DeepKronosaurus - the “Kronos lizard” lived in the seas that once covered Australia. But it probably used its fins to climb out of the water and lay its eggs on land. Its head was two meters long, and its teeth were as big as bananas! The main purpose of strong jaws and teeth like these was to catch smaller animals. In fact, Kronosaurus was one of the most dangerous predators of all time.The StalkerKnown as the “lord of the seas,” Thalassomedon was a large sea monster with a very long neck. It also had a special way of hunting fish: It carried stones in its stomach! These helped keep the largest part of its body and tail down in the dark water. Meanwhile, its long neck slowly rose up toward the fish. The fish didn’t have a chance to get away from Thalassomedon. They couldn’t see the sea monster until it was too late! | climb, cover, definitely, hunt, meanwhile, rise, toward, way |
12A The Robots are Coming! | You have probably seen robots in movies such as Star Wars or Transformers, but soon, robots may be part of our daily lives. Today’s scientists are working on robots with various skills. For example, it is likely that robots will soon help take care of children or the elderly, or do dangerous jobs such as fighting fires.Early robots were made to do simple things, mainly in factories. Since then, robots have changed a lot. Humans operated these early robots. Today’s robots - like Honda’s ASIMO - work on their own. ASIMO can run, climb stairs, and dance. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot can run fast, jump, and even do backflips - all on two legs!Then there are robots designed to be like humans. These robots have faces and can also talk. Such robots can learn new things, and show us how they “feel”. Sophia - a social robot - has a face that looks so human she sometimes makes people feel uncomfortable.Scientists aren’t just building human - like robots. They are also making robots that look and act like animals.At NASA, for example, scientists have made a robot snake. These snake - bots can enter holes and move over rough ground. They might one day help scientists look for signs of life on Mars. Other animal robots include the frog - bot, which can jump over objects, and the sticky - bot, which can walk up walls. There are also dog - like robots, like SpotMini, which have four legs and can run at high speed. Who knows? Perhaps in the future, we’ll all have our own robot pet. | act, daily, factory, operate, rough, sign, simple, uncomfortable |
12B How Will We Live in 2045? | Welcome to life in the future! You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. You’ve recently had a new anti - aging treatment, so you look like a 30 - year - old. And many people your age could live to be 120 now, so at 60 - you’re not old at all.Science has also found amazing ways to keep people healthy. Nanotechnology can help cure many illnesses, including cancer. And if any part of your body is unhealthy, you can “grow” a new one in a laboratory.As you get dressed, you say to your shirt, “Turn red.” It becomes red. In 2045, “smart” clothes contain nanoparticles that carry electricity, so you can program clothes to change colors or patterns.On the way to the kitchen, you want to call a friend. Your cell phone is by the window because it gets its energy from the sun. But you don’t need to pick up the phone. You can just touch your jacket sleeve to make the call.It’s breakfast time. You reach for the milk, but a voice says, “Don’t drink that!” Your fridge knows the milk is old, and tells the supermarket to replace it. Ten minutes later, it’s delivered by a drone.As you leave for work, the lights turn off by themselves. Your home goes into “sleep mode” to save energy. In 2045, cars drive themselves, so you just tell your driverless car where you want to go.Will all this come true? Perhaps the future is much closer than we think. | electricity, get dressed, mirror, pick up, program, recently, turn, voice |