What do butterfly wings have to do with puter screens? What do birds have to do with high speed trains?
These may sound like strange things to put together. But scientists, inventors, and designers are doing just that. They are learning from nature to create new technology.
The word biomimicry (仿生学) bines two words: biology and mimicry. So people using biomimicry try to use examples in nature to design new technology.
Biomimicry is not a new idea. People have been studying nature for hundreds of years. Leonardo DaVinci used birds as models to invent his flying machine. And when the Wright Brothers made the first successful airplane, they also studied birds. In 998, Janine Benyus, a natural science writer and teacher, wrote a book about biomimicry. To develop her interest in the subject, Janine Benyus started the Biomimicry Institute.
The Biomimicry Institute is a non-profit organization. It brings together scientists, designers, inventors and many other people. It offers classes to teach people biomimicry. It provides money for people to research and test new technologies. And it wants all people, from children to adults, to think about new ways to learn from nature.
People involved with the Biomimicry Institute believe that biomimicry can help solve many of the world’s problems. Often, new technologies can harm nature, but this is not true for biomimicry. Let’s look at some examples.
Butterflies have colorful wings because light shines off them in a special way. Scientists want to copy these same ways to make light shine off puters. They hope this will make for more colorful screens.
Another example of biomimicry is the bullet train. It travels at speeds of over 250 kilometers per hour! But it had a problem: it made too much noise!
Through the observation of birds, scientists thought about a kind of bird, the kingfisher(翠鸟). The kingfisher can dive into water without making any noise because of the shape of its beak(喙). Researchers thought that if they could design the front of the train like this beak, the train would be quieter. Well, it worked!
【小题1】The first paragraph is written to .A．start a discussion B．make a brief summary C．introduce the topic of the text D．test readers' knowledge on science【小题2】Why did Janine Benyus set up the Biomimicry Institute? A．To honor the Wright Brothers.B．To show her recent inventions.C．To gather talented people for her research.D．To explore the link between nature and technologies.【小题3】We know from the text that the Biomimicry Institute .A．earns a lot by giving classes on biomimicry B．tells people about their technologiesC．gives free support to scientists D．teaches children about birds【小题4】The author gives the two examples at the end of the text to show .A．biomimcry works harmoniously with natureB．the fast development of modern technologyC．how biomimcry changes our lifeD．how nature inspires scientists【小题5】What’s the main idea of the text?A．Biomimicry is widely used in the world.B．People copy nature to create new technologies.C．The Biomimicry Institute was set up for science.D．Birds play an important part in new technologies.C
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(答案→)C
解析：这篇文章介绍了仿生学，讲的是人类模仿自然创造新科技。作者举例说明什么是仿生学，并说明仿生学对人类是无害的。
【小题1】写作意图题：文章第一段通过举例，提出仿生学这个话题。选C
【小题2】细节题：从第四段的句子：It provides money for people to research and test new technologies. And it wants all people, from children to adults, to think about new ways to learn from nature.可知Janine Benyus创办the Biomimicry Institute.是探索自然和科技的关系。选D。
【小题3】细节题：从第四段的句子：It provides money for people to research and test new technologies. 可知Biomimicry Institute.给科学家提供免费的支持。选C
【小题4】细节题：从第五段的句子：new technologies can harm nature, but this is not true for biomimicry. Let’s look at some examples.可知作者举例是为了说明仿生学对人类无害。选A
【小题5】主旨题：从第一段的句子：They are learning from nature to create new technology. 可知这篇文章讲的是人类模仿自然创造新科技。选B。