节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-07-20
难易度:High
关键字:bleak, stimulus, prototype, donate, Namib Desert, nanotechnology, green
consumer
We're talking all about Beetle Bottles today, and how they are helping to
improve technology.
Something that we can learn from beetle bottles is maybe how to collect water in
a certain way that can maybe help the human water problem that we have today,
especially in many countries, there is a shortage of water.
How can we learn from these little creatures?
Well, let's continue learning in the next part of our lesson for today.
(Music).
Beetle Bottles.
Though the little Namibian creatures were the stimulus for the development of
several water-collection materials or devices,
NBD Nano is putting their own stamp on the idea.
They want to create a portable bottle that will collect water from the air as
the beetles do.
To achieve this, they have created a nano-designed surface imitating the
beetle's wings, made up of both water-attracting and water-resistant parts.
Once they have a working prototype, it will likely first be sold to green
consumers, military groups and greenhouses.
However, NBD Nano really hopes these sales will allow "beetle bottles" to be
donated to Third-World countries - a very honorable goal.
(Music).
That is a very honorable goal, something wonderful that they could be doing with
these beetle bottles.
Well, going to the beginning of this section:
Though the little Namibian creatures were the stimulus for the development of
several water-collection materials or devices,
NBD Nano is putting their own stamp on the idea.
Now that's quite a long sentence.
And at the beginning of this sentence, we saw that these creatures were the
stimulus for the development of some different things.
Now "stimulus" is from our Word Bank.
What is a stimulus, Gabe?
Well, the stimulus for something is the initial or the beginning cause of
something.
So this is the stimulus, or it stimulated an idea for this kind of technology.
Well, stimulus is the beginning cause for something.
So it could inspire something that you do.
It's the beginning cause.
Now we learned about the cuttlefish earlier this year.
And this was a stimulus.
This creature in the sea was a stimulus for certain kinds of clothes that we
might wear in the future - the cuttlefish fashion.
This is a stimulus.
That's right.
Well, maybe you can think about what is your stimulus for learning English.
What is the reason that you wanted to start learning?
Maybe your stimulus is to travel abroad.
You want to go abroad.
You want to go to other countries.
And learning English would be helpful.
So it's kind of like a motivation as well, your stimulus for doing something.
Well, later on in the sentence:
NBD Technology... NBD Nanotechnologies is putting their own stamp on the idea.
OK. So many people are trying to learn from the beetle bottle, but NBD Nano is
putting their stamp on the idea.
Let's take a look at this phrase and learn something new with Liz in the Grammar
Gym.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
And here's today's Grammar Tip sentence:
NBD Nano is putting their own stamp on the idea.
Our focus is on the phrase: to put one's stamp on something.
A stamp is that little piece of paper we stick on an envelope to mail it.
It can also be that thing we press to leave a print on something.
But in today's sentence, "stamp" means a way to show that something belongs to
you or has your unique quality.
So in today's article, the idea of collecting water did not come from NBD Nano.
However, NBD Nano has taken the idea and developed something that is uniquely
their own.
They have put own stamp on the idea.
Use this phrase "to put one's stamp on something" when you want to talk about
how something has a unique quality or belongs to someone in a special way.
For example:
The band put their stamp on a popular children's song, and the song became a hit
overnight.
Or: The restaurant put its stamp on a traditional Chinese dish by adding western
ingredients to it.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Bye-bye.
Have you put your own stamp on something just like NBD Nano?
Well, they want to create a portable bottle that will collect water from the air
as the beetles do.
So they want to use this ability of the beetles to just collect water out of the
air so that they can make a portable water bottle that can do the same thing.
That's right.
And of course water bottles should be portable.
"Portable" just means you can take it with you from place to place.
It's easy to do that.
And of course, I think beetles... or these beetles can teach us how to do this.
We continue.
To achieve this, they have created a nano-designed surface imitating the
beetle's wings made up of both water-attracting and water-resisting parts.
So we're learning a lot from this animal.
Of course there are water-attracting parts.
That means it attracts water.
And water-resisting.
That means it keeps the water out.
That's right.
And this is a very interesting way to collect water.
So it pulls the water in, it attracts it.
And then pushes it away so that the beetles can drink it.
And this company is using a nano-designed technology that... or a nano-designed
surface to imitate the beetle's wings.
Now it says that once they have a working prototype, it will likely first be
sold to green consumers, military groups and greenhouses.
That's right.
Well, let's take a look at this word from our Word Bank.
It is "prototype." And a prototype is like the first model that you make.
Maybe it's not perfect.
Maybe it doesn't look like the one you want to sell, but it is functional.
You see how you can use it - the prototype.
That's right.
So it's the first version of something.
And it's a good way to start a new invention.
You need to have a prototype to see what needs to be improved.
Now however, NBD Nano really hopes these sales will allow "beetle bottles" to be
donated to Third-World countries - a very honorable goal.
So they're going to sell them to many different people like green consumers,
military groups and greenhouses.
But it seems like in the end, they really want to donate the bottles to
Third-World countries.
It's true. And let's take a look at that word.
The word is "donate." When you donate something, that means you have something
of value and you're giving it to someone else who needs it.
You donate something.
Carolyn, do you ever donate anything like money or clothes to other people?
Well, I do.
I often make donations.
I donate money to different organizations that I support.
And here they want to donate bottles to people who maybe can't find fresh, clean
water.
And that is indeed a very honorable goal.
Well, it's time for us to learn something new with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
And then we'll join Michelle.
When people talk about the poorest countries of the world, they often refer to
them as Third-World countries.
Steve, where does this description come from?
Well, Ken, we have to go back in history a little to after World War II when the
world split into two large spheres of influence with opposing views of
government.
One sphere consisted of the American-influenced democratic industrial countries,
which became known as the First World.
Right.
The other sphere, the Second-World countries, were nations influenced by the
Soviet Union like the communist-socialist states of Eastern Europe.
And all the remaining nations not aligned with either the U.S. or the Soviet
Union were regarded as Third-World countries.
Today you might hear "Third World" to describe the developing countries of
Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A Third-World country may be characterized by a high infant mortality rate, low
economic development,
high levels of poverty and heavy dependence on industrialized nations.
Also, the terms First World and Second World are not used much anymore these
days since the Soviet Union no longer exists.
And we should also bear in mind that there is no official definition of
Third-World country.
So what's a better term to use?
We can use "developing country" or "lower-income country".
(Chinese).
OK.
(Chinese).
OK. Get ready to learn more from our teachers.
Today they've been talking about beetle bottles, a very interesting new
technology that could really help with water stress in our world today,
and could be donated to people in Third-World countries.
Now would you want to buy one of these beetle bottles?
What do you think about this, Gabe?
Would you buy one?
Well, Carolyn, it does sound very interesting, but I would want to make sure
that these beetle bottles could also keep pollution out.
You want to make sure you're living in a clean area if you're going to use a
bottle that takes moisture from the air to drink.
I think that's important to think about.
Well, that is very important to consider.
And I wonder, maybe you should write them a letter and tell them your
suggestions, Gabe.
That's a very honorable idea, Carolyn.
Well, that is all for today here on Studio Classroom.
But we will see you again next time.
Think about these beetlebottles!