VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-02-24 Science Education…on a Bus! 在公共汽车上进行科学教育

AS IT IS 2014-02-24 Science Education…on a Bus! 在公共汽车上进行科学教育

Hello, and welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

大巴上的科学教育

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today on the program, we report on a new device for quadriplegics -- people who have lost control of their bodies from the neck down.  Not every part of their body is paralyzed.

在今天的节目里，我们带来一种为四肢瘫患者设计的新设备——这些患者无法控制颈部以下的肢体，而不是身体的所有部分都瘫痪。

“The tongue not only is, has sensory 1 inputs 2 to the brain, but it also has a very good motor capability 3.”

“舌头不仅能向大脑输入知觉，还有很好的移动控制能力。”

But first, we report on an unusual way to study science in the state of Maryland.  High school students across Maryland now have a chance to perform experiments with the help of real scientists using laboratory equipment on a bus.

不过首先，我们讲述马里兰州的一种不同寻常的科学学习方式。整个马里兰州的高中生现在有机会在真正的科学家的帮助下通过一辆大巴上的实验设备进行实验。

“We have anything from biology to forensic 4 science.  So we have a blood lab where they try and go ahead and test to see if any of our evidence samples have blood on it.”

“我们的设备涵盖生物学到刑事科学的各个方面。我们有血样实验室，他们在这里可以尝试和测试我们的证据采样是否有血迹。”

It’s America on the move today on As It Is, as we help you learn to read, speak, write and understand everyday American English.  Listen carefully, and before you know it, you will have improved your American English by listening to As It Is on VOA.

Science Education…on a Bus!

大巴上的科学教育

Most schools in America do not have the latest in laboratory equipment.  It is just too costly 5.  But the state of Maryland and a non-profit group found a way to make such equipment available during some parts of the school year.  As Steve Ember tells us, they put it on a bus!

美国的多数学校没有最新的实验设备，因为成本太高。但马里兰州和一个非营利组织发现了一种可以在学期中使用这些设备的方式。根据 Steve Ember 的报道，他们将设备放在了一辆大巴上！

The 13-meter-long Maryland BioLab is a mobile classroom filled with equipment that lets students explore many kinds of science.  It travels around the state visiting schools.  Today, the bus has stopped at Patapsco High School and Center for Arts in the city of Baltimore.  Science teacher Leah Warble is very pleased that her students could perform an experiment using real chemicals.

13 米长的马里兰生物实验室是一个移动教室，内部的设备可以让学生探索各个科学领域。它在州内的学校间穿梭。今天，这辆大巴停在了巴尔的摩市的帕塔普斯科高中与艺术中心。 科学教师 LeahWarble 对于她的学生能够使用真正的化学设备进行试验而感到高兴。

“And today the chemistry students were able to do an acid-based hydration, which just means they neutralize 6 an acid with a base. So normally, they would do it through simulations on the computer. And now is able to allow them to do it in real life, actual time and actually apply it to something that we use in real life -- which is biodiesel.”

“今天，这些化学学生可以做酸的水合作用，也就是说他们用基底中和一种酸。通常，他们只能通过电脑模拟来进行。而今天可以让他们在真实世界、真实时间里真正把它用在真实存在的材料中——生物柴油。”

Scientist Angel Mangus led the mobile laboratory on the day VOA visited.

科学家 Angel Mangus 是 VOA 采访当天的移动实验室负责人。

“There are two TVs, so there’s one down this end and there is one down that end.  If you get lost at any point in time on your paper or what I am saying and you can’t see me, I have a camera…”

“有两个电视，一个在这头，一个在另一头。如果你不明白纸上的内容或者我说的话，而且看不到我了，我有一个摄像头……”

Ms. Mangus says the equipment lets students explore many different kinds of scientific interests.

Mangus 说，这个设备可以让学生探索很多不同的科学兴趣。

“We have anything from biology to forensic science. So we have a blood lab where they try and go ahead and test if any of our evidence samples have blood on it.  We also have DNA 7 analysis lab where they try and test to see who did a specific crime.  And we also have chemistry.”

“我们的设备涵盖生物学到刑事科学的各个方面。我们有血样实验室，他们在这里可以尝试和测试我们的证据采样是否有血迹。我们还有 DNA 分析实验室，他们可以在这里尝试和测试谁实施了犯罪。我们还有化学设备。”

The mobile lab has been bringing bioscience education to schools around Maryland for more than ten years.

移动实验室在马里兰州的学校进行生物科学教育已经 10 多年了。

“It’s really nice to get them in here with hands-on activities. They get really excited and they want to be engaged.”

Ms. Mangus talks to the students about how she became a scientist.

能够让他们来到这里动手操作是很不错的。他们真的很兴奋，他们希望参与进来。Mangus 向学生讲述了她如何成为一名科学家。

“At the end of each class, if we have enough time, we like to take five or ten minutes, talk about us, ourselves.  Tell them how we got into science, maybe where we went to school, what we did, the different kinds of things that we could do.”

“在每节课的结尾，如果我们时间足够，我们会用 5 到 10 分钟谈谈我们自己。告诉他们我们是如何进入科学领域的，也许是我们去过的学校，做过的事，以及我们可以做的不同事情。”

She says many students finish their experiments and leave the bus excited about the possibility of becoming a scientist.

她说，很多学生在完成实验离开大巴后，对自己有可能成为科学家而感到兴奋。

The Maryland BioScience Foundation supports the BioLab program.  Brian Gaines is the chief executive officer of the foundation.  He says the organization’s goal is to help create the next generation of scientists.

生物实验室项目是由马里兰生物科学基金会支持的。Brian Gaines 是基金会的首席执行官。他说，该机构的目标是帮助下一代科学家的成长。

“One of the reasons that we do this, this program is to talk about careers in science -- not just science, but science, technology, engineering and math.”

“我们这么做的原因之一是这个项目关乎科学事业——不仅仅是科学，而是科学、技术、工程和数学。”

Mr. Gaines says students on the bus get real-life experience they do not get in a classroom.

Gaines 说，大巴上的学生获得了他们在教室里得不到的真实体验。

“The equipment that the students are using on the mobile lab, they don’t have in schools.  So our instructors 8 are actually scientists, they work alongside the teachers.  So they bring that science experience from the laboratory into the schools and they teach students how to use actually the newest techniques that we have in science.”

“学生们在移动实验室中能够使用的设备，是他们在学校所没有的。我们的讲师实际上是科学家，他们在老师身边帮忙。他们将实验室的科学经验带入学校，他们教学生如何使用我们在科学领域最新的技术。”

That made a difference to 15-year-old Seda Sinan, who is interested in biology.

这给 15 岁的 Seda Sinan 带来了不同，她对生物感兴趣。

“It, like gave me, like, more materials to work with than I had at school. It’s more, like, interactive 9.”

“它比学校给了我更多的学习内容，更加互动。”

Her classmate Shenara Jefferson agrees.

她的同学 Shenara Jefferson 表示同意。

“Well, it really showed me how just a little bit of difference can really impact, like, your product when you’re doing something in there.  Like, I only added just a little bit of the solution and it completely affected 10 my entire thing.”

“在那里做实验向我展示了一点点变化是如何影响你的结果的。比如，我仅仅添”加了一点溶液，就完全影响了整个东西。

Back in the school classroom, Leah Warble’s students continue working on the results of their experiments on the bus.

回到学校的教室，Leah Warble 的学生会继续对在大巴上得到的实验结果进行研究。

“It does help me do my job.”

“它的确帮助了我的工作。”

Ms. Warble says children usually do not know what they are interested in until they get real-life experience with a subject.

Warble 说，孩子们只有真实体验某个学科之后才会了解自己感兴趣的是什么。

“Well, the excitement of feeling like a real scientist -- I mean, even just a change in the, in the, what they were wearing, wearing goggles 11 and, and blue gloves versus 12 white gloves made them feel more television scientists, if you will.  To, to handle that kind of situation makes them feel like more responsible for the work because they are now intrigued 13 in, in doing it and they feel respected and responsible since we gave them those opportunities.”

“这种感觉自己像真正科学家一样的兴奋之情——我是说，即便只是有机会在那里，他们所穿的、所戴的防护眼镜和蓝手套、白手套，这会让他们感到更像电视里的科学家。去处理那样的情形能够让他们感到对工作更有责任，因为他们现在为实验着迷，他们感到受尊敬和有责任感，因为我们给了他们那些机会。”

A Wheelchair Controlled by Your Tongue!

一种通过舌头控制的轮椅

People paralyzed from the neck down must use a wheelchair to move around.  One of the biggest problems for them is controlling the movements of the wheelchair.  To help them, American scientists have invented a system that lets those who cannot move their arms and legs operate the wheelchair with their tongues.  The device is so easy to use that it may open up other possibilities for these people, who are called quadriplegics.

颈部以下瘫痪的患者必须使用轮椅来移动。对他们来说最大的问题之一是如何控制轮椅的移动。为了帮助他们，美国科学家发明了一种能够让无法移动肢体的患者用舌头操作轮椅的系统。这种设备非常容易使用，从而还给了这些四肢瘫患者其他的可能性。

A very small magnet is placed on the person’s tongue.  Each movement changes the magnetic field around the person’s head.  Sensors 14 in a headset read the changes and send them to a smartphone.  A smartphone application, or app, then changes them into commands for the wheelchair’s motors.  As the patient slowly moves his or her tongue, the wheelchair begins moving, then changes direction.

一个非常小的磁石被放置在人的舌头上。每次移动都会改变头部的磁场。耳机中的传感器接收这种变化并将其发送到智能手机。然后，一款智能手机应用（app）可以将其转化成轮椅发动机的指令。随着病人缓缓移动舌头，轮椅就可以移动并改变方向。

Maysam Ghovanloo is an associate professor of electrical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  He invented the tongue drive system.

Maysam Ghovanloo 是乔治亚理工学院电子工程系的副教授。他发明了这种由舌头控制的系统。

“The tongue not only is, has sensory inputs to the brain, but it also has a very good motor capability, so why not using the tongue as an output of the brain?”

“舌头不仅能向大脑传递知觉，还有很好的运动控制能力，那么为什么不用舌头作为大脑的一项输出呢？”

He says his invention is more useful for quadriplegics than voice commands, because their voices may be weak.  Researchers are developing other systems that would let quadriplegics use electrical signals from the brain to control devices.

他说，他的发明比语音控制对四肢瘫患者的作用更大，因为他们的声音可能会很微弱。研究人员也在研发其他能够让四肢瘫患者通过大脑的电子信号控制设备的系统。

Professor Ghovanloo says his patients were able to learn how to use the tongue drive in a few hours.  His team now is developing it for controlling almost anything.

Ghovanloo 教授说，他的病人能够在几个小时内学会如何使用舌头控制器。他的团队现在正在改进它，使之能够控制几乎所有东西。

“And the target device could be your wheelchair, could be your computer, could be your flat-screen TV, air conditioning system -- you name it, because the rest of the technology is already in place.”

“而目标设备可以是你的轮椅，可以是你的电脑，可以是你的平板电视、空调系统——随便什么，因为剩下的技术已经准备就绪。”

The Georgia Tech team also is seeking to put the magnetic sensors into a dental device.  So a headset would not be needed.

乔治亚理工的团队还在尝试把磁性感应器放进牙套中，这样就不需要耳机了。Ghovanloo 教授说，他的设备将在几年内起售。

Professor Ghovanloo says his device could be available for purchase within a few years.

And that’s our program for today.  It was written in Special English from reports by Faiza Elmasry in Baltimore, Maryland and George Putic in Washington.

I’m Christopher Cruise reporting from VOA Learning English headquarters in Washington.  I’ll be back next week at this same time, and June Simms will be here tomorrow, with another edition of As It Is.  I hope you’ll join us then, here on The Voice of America.