source: CET-6 2018-12

The public must be able to understand the basics of science to make informed decisions. Perhaps the most dramatic example of the negative consequences of poor communication between scientists and the public is the issue of climate change, where a variety of factors, not the least of which is a breakdown in the transmission of fundamental climate data to the general public, has contributed to widespread mistrust and misunderstanding of scientists and their research.
make informed decisions. 做出明智的选择
negative consequences负面影响(后果)
a variety of各种各样的
contributed to widespread mistrust导致了普遍的的不信任

The issue of climate change also illustrates how the public acceptance and understanding of science (or the lack of it) can influence governmental decision-making with regard to regulation, science policy and research funding.

However, the importance of effective communication with a general audience is not limited to hot issues like climate change. It is also critical for socially charged neuroscience issues such as the genetic basis for a particular behavior, the therapeutic potential of stem cell therapy for neurodegenerative diseases, or the use of animal models, areas where the public understanding of science can also influence policy and funding decisions. Furthermore, with continuing advances in individual genome (基因组) sequencing and the advent of personalized medicine, more non-scientists will need to be comfortable analyzing complex scientific information to make decisions that directly affect their quality of life.
genetic 遗传的
particular 特定的
individual genome (基因组) sequencing个人基因组测序

Science journalism is the main channel for the popularization of scientific information among the public. Much has been written about how the relationship between scientists and the media can shape the efficient transmission of scientific advances to the public. Good science journalists are specialists in making complex topics accessible to a general audience, while adhering to scientific accuracy.

Unfortunately, pieces of science journalism can also oversimplify and generalize their subject material to the point that the basic information conveyed is obscured or at worst, obviously wrong. The impact of a basic discovery on human health can be exaggerated so that the public thinks a miraculous cure is a few months to years away when in reality the significance of the study is far more limited.

Even though scientists play a part in transmitting information to journalists and ultimately the public, too often the blame for ineffective communication is placed on the side of the journalists. We believe, that at least part of the problem lies in places other than the interaction between scientists and members of the media, and exists because for one thing we underestimate how difficult it is for scientists to communicate effectively with a diversity of audiences, and for another most scientists do not receive formal training in science communication.

The University of Sydney said it is considering a range of options to mitigate risks.
mitigate 减轻

“These include provisions for increased cleaning and sanitiser stations, use of masks, online teaching and meetings, flexibility and support for staff and students, cancellation of larger events, daily monitoring of our community and more – depending on how the situation ultimately unfolds,” a university spokeswoman said.
ultimately unfolds 最终发展
cancellation of larger events取消大型活动         cancellation取消

“We will continue to adhere to the advice of health authorities, and take any further required actions as directed by NSW Health. The safety and wellbeing of our community is our highest priority.”
We will continue to adhere 我们将会继续采取
any further required 任何进一步的措施

Another university said online learning would be restricted because not all faculties could maintain the same level of quality without face-to-face teaching.

A Western Sydney University spokesman said: “Above all else, this is a public health issue, and we are following the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, and Commonwealth and State authorities.”
Above all else

Australian Catholic University said it was considering a number of options in the event of an outbreak including flexibility around class and exam timetabling and online course delivery.
a number of 多种

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said each university would have developed its own approach with measures and actions “appropriate for its unique circumstances”.
appropriate for its unique circumstances  适合其独特情况

A TAFE NSW spokesman said it would look at changes to the delivery of courses “in the event of extended disruption to operations” as a result of the coronavirus.

The essay on my English Reading Serise is source form the recent CET-6, and i realize that i will loss the opportunity to practice for next CET-6.If i always select the article in CET-6.So,I want to change the source of article.

University closures on the table in response to potential coronavirus outbreaks

大学停课应对潜在的新冠状病毒爆发

source:https://www.smh.com.au/national/university-closures-on-the-table-in-response-to-potential-coronavirus-outbreaks-20200302-p545ze.html

One of Australia’s largest universities is preparing for a full or partial closure of its campus if a major coronavirus outbreak occurs in Sydney.
full or partial 全部或部分

The closure option proposed by the University of Technology Sydney is among a number of strategies being discussed in the higher education sector, already suffering from the virus through the absence of foreign students particularly from China.

already suffering from the virus through the absence of foreign students particularly from China.这句话不知道如何拆分

propose 提出
education sector教育部门

Phil Honeywood, who chairs the global reputation taskforce co-ordinating the federal government and education sector’s response to the coronavirus, said Japan had set a precedent by closing its schools in response to local outbreaks.

“There is ample precedent for some temporary closure of institutions whether schools or post-secondary to mitigate or reduce the spread of the virus,” he said.

3.3

The University of Sydney said it is considering a range of options to mitigate risks.

“These include provisions for increased cleaning and sanitiser stations, use of masks, online teaching and meetings, flexibility and support for staff and students, cancellation of larger events, daily monitoring of our community and more – depending on how the situation ultimately unfolds,” a university spokeswoman said.

“We will continue to adhere to the advice of health authorities, and take any further required actions as directed by NSW Health. The safety and wellbeing of our community is our highest priority.”

Another university said online learning would be restricted because not all faculties could maintain the same level of quality without face-to-face teaching.

A Western Sydney University spokesman said: “Above all else, this is a public health issue, and we are following the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, and Commonwealth and State authorities.”

Australian Catholic University said it was considering a number of options in the event of an outbreak including flexibility around class and exam timetabling and online course delivery.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said each university would have developed its own approach with measures and actions “appropriate for its unique circumstances”.

A TAFE NSW spokesman said it would look at changes to the delivery of courses “in the event of extended disruption to operations” as a result of the coronavirus.

Perhaps it is time for farmers to put their feet up now that robots are used to inspect crops, dig up weeds, and even have become shepherds, too. Commercial growing fields are astronomically huge and take thousands of man-hours to operate. One prime example is one of Australia’s most isolated cattle stations, Suplejack Downs in the Northern Territory, extending across 4,000 square kilometers, taking over 13 hours to reach by car from the nearest major town—Alice Springs.

The extreme isolation of these massive farms leaves them often unattended, and monitored only once or twice a year, which means if the livestock falls ill or requires assistance, it can be a long time for farmers to discover.
unattended 不可到达的
livestock 家畜

However, robots are coming to the rescue.

Robots are currently under a two-year trial in Wales which will train ‘farmbots’ to herd, monitor the health of livestock, and make sure there is enough pasture for them to graze on. The robots are equipped with many sensors to identify conditions of the environment, cattle and food, using thermal and vision sensors that detect changes in body temperature.
a two-year trial 两年试用期
pasture 牧场
graze 放牧

“You’ve also got color, texture and shape sensors looking down at the ground to check pasture quality,” says Salah Sukkarieh of the University of Sydney, who will carry out trials on several farms in central New South Wales.

During the trials, the robot algorithms (算法) and mechanics will be fine-tuned to make it better suited to ailing livestock and ensure it safely navigates around potential hazards including trees, mud, swamps, and hills.
fine-tune 微调
swamps 沼泽

“We want to improve the quality of animal health and make it easier for farmers to maintain large landscapes where animals roam free,” says Sukkarieh.

The robots are not limited to herding and monitoring livestock. They have been created to count individual fruit, inspect crops, and even pull weeds.
crops 庄稼

Many robots are equipped with high-tech sensors and complex learning algorithms to avoid injuring humans as they work side by side. The robots also learn the most efficient and safest passages, and allow engineers and farmers to analyze and better optimize the attributes and tasks of the robot, as well as provide a live stream giving real-time feedback on exactly what is happening on the farms.
exactly 究竟、准确、恰好

Of course, some worry lies in replacing agricultural workers. However, it is fanners that are pushing for the advancements due to ever-increasing labor vacancies, making it difficult to maintain large-scale operations.

The robots have provided major benefits to farmers in various ways, from hunting and pulling weeds to monitoring the condition of every single fruit. Future farms will likely experience a greater deal of autonomy as robots take up more and more farm work efficiently.
take up work承担工作

For years, the U. S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then.

shortage 短缺
number of nurses 注册护士

So what’s the solution? Robots.

Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend. Toyohashi University of Technology has developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. This type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact.
ahead of the curve走在前列
individual个体  个人
likely 可能的
fairly 相当的、公平的、简直的，注意一词多义

Robots capable of social engagement help with loneliness as well as cognitive functioning, but the robot itself doesn’t have to engage directly—it can serve as an intermediary for human communication. Telepresence robots such as MantaroBot, Vgo, and Giraff can be controlled through a computer, smartphone, or tablet, allowing family members or doctors to remotely monitor patients or Skype them, often via a screen where the robot’s ‘ face’ would be. If you can’t get to the nursing home to visit grandma, you can use a telepresence robot to hang out with her. A 2016 study found that users had a “consistently positive attitude” about the Giraff robot’s ability to enhance communication and decrease feelings of loneliness.
Robots capable of social engagement   具有社交能力的机器人social engagement社交能力
engage 参与 涉及 从事
intermediary 中介

A robot’s appearance affects its ability to successfully interact with humans, which is why the RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research decided to develop a robotic nurse that looks like a huge teddy bear. RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance), also known as ‘Robear’, can help patients into and out of wheelchairs and beds with its strong arms.
appearance 外观

On the less cute and more scary side there is Actroid F, which is so human-like that some patients may not know the difference. This conversational robot companion has cameras in its eyes, which allow it to track patients and use appropriate facial expressions and body language in its interactions. During a month- long hospital trial, researchers asked 70 patients how they felt being around the robot and “only three or four said they didn’t like having it around.”
appropriate 适当的
facial expressions 面部表情

It’s important to note that robotic nurses don’t decide courses of treatment or make diagnoses (though robot doctors and surgeons may not be far off). Instead, they perform routine and laborious tasks, freeing nurses up to attend to patients with immediate needs. This is one industry where it seems the integration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement.

While human achievements in mathematics continue to reach new levels of complexity, many of us who aren’t mathematicians at heart (or engineers by trade) may struggle to remember the last time we used calculus (微积分）.
struggle to remember 很难记起

It’s a fact not lost on American educators, who amid rising math failure rates are debating how math can better meet the real-life needs of students. Should we change the way math is taught in schools, or eliminate some courses entirely?
这是美国教育工作者不容忽视的事实。他们(注意到不断上升的数学失败率的那些人)一直在争论：如何才能让数学更好的贴近学术的实际生活需要。
eliminate 消除
entirely 完全地

Andrew Hacker, Queens College political science professor, thinks that advanced algebra and other higher-level math should be cut from curricula in favor of courses with more routine usefulness, like statistics.
in favor of preferring to choose someone or something that you believe is better

“We hear on all sides that we’re not teaching enough mathematics, and the Chinese are running rings around us,” Hacker says. “I’m suggesting we’re teaching too much mathematics to too many people. . . not everybody has to know calculus. If you’re going to become an aeronautical (航空的）engineer, fine. But most of us aren’t.”

Instead, Hacker is pushing for more courses like the one he teaches at Queens College： Numeracy 101. There, his students of “citizen statistics” learn to analyze public information like the federal budget and corporate reports. Such courses, Hacker argues, are a remedy for the numerical illiteracy of adults who have completed high-level math like algebra but are unable to calculate the price of, say, a carpet by area.
remedy弥补
illiteracy文盲

Hacker’s argument has met with opposition from other math educators who say what’s needed is to help students develop a better relationship with math earlier, rather than teaching them less math altogether.

Maria Droujkova is a founder of Natural Math, and has taught basic calculus concepts to 5-year-olds. For Droujkova, high-level math is important, and what it could use in American classrooms is an injection of childlike wonder.
最后一句：(在课堂上的) 作用 是 注射剂(of孩子们的好奇心)
injection 注射剂、注射、充血

“Make mathematics more available,” Droujkova says. “Redesign it so it’s more accessible to more kinds of people: young children, adults who worry about it, adults who may have had bad experiences. “

Pamela Harris, a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, has a similar perspective. Harris says that American education is suffering from an epidemic of “fake math”一an emphasis on rote memorization (死记硬背）of formulas and steps, rather than an understanding of how math can influence the ways we see the world.
epidemic 流行的 泛滥的

Andrew Hacker, for the record, remains skeptical.
remains skeptical 持怀疑态度

“I’m going to leave it to those who are in mathematics to work out the ways to make their subject interesting and exciting so students want to take it,” Hacker says. “All that I ask is that alternatives be offered instead of putting all of us on the road to calculus. “
alternatives be offered 提供备选方案

On Jan. 9, 2007, Steve Jobs formally announced Apple’s “revolutionary mobile phone”—a device that combined the functionality of an iPod, phone and Internet communication into a single unit, navigated by touch.

It was a huge milestone in the development of smartphones, which are now owned by a majority of American adults and are increasingly common across the globe.

As smartphones have multiplied, so have questions about their impact on how we live and how we work. Often the advantages of convenient, mobile technology are both obvious and taken for granted, leaving more subtle topics for concerned discussion:Are smartphones disturbing children’s sleep? Is an inability to get away from work having a negative impact on health? And what are the implications for privacy?

But today, on the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, let’s take a moment to consider a less obvious advantage: the potential for smartphone technology to revolutionize behavioral science. That’s because, for the first time in human history, a large proportion of the species is in continuous contact with technology that can record key features of an individual’s behavior and environment.
obvious 明显的
revolutionize 革新
proportion 大部分

Researchers have already begun to use smartphones in social scientific research, either to query people regularly as they engage in their normal lives or to record activity using the device’s built-in sensors. These studies are confirming, challenging and extending what’s been found using more traditional approaches, in which people report how they behaved in real life or participate in relatively short and artificial laboratory-based tasks.
engage in 参与、从事
as they engage in their normal lives 当他们从事正常生活时
either … or … 表示或者或者
neither … nor …表示既不也不

Such studies are just first steps. As more data are collected and methods for analysis improve, researchers will be in a better position to identify how different experiences, behaviors and environments relate to each other and evolve over time, with the potential to improve people’s productivity and wellbeing in a variety of domains. Beyond revealing population-wide patterns, the right combination of data and analysis can also help individuals identify unique characteristics of their own behavior, including conditions that could indicate the need for some form of intervention—such as an unusual increase in behaviors that signal a period of depression. Smartphone-based data collection comes at an appropriate time in the evolution of psychological science. Today, the field is in transition, moving away from a focus on laboratory studies with undergraduate participants towards more complex, real-world situations studied with more diverse groups of people. Smartphones offer new tools for achieving these ambitions, providing rich data about everyday behaviors in a variety of contexts.
evolve 发展、演变
revealing 揭示
indicate 表明
intervention 干涉、介入
depression 抑郁
appropriate 适当
unusual increase in behaviors 异常的增加of行为
the field is in transition 这个领域正在转型
in a variety of contexts 在各种情况下
how different experiences, behaviors and environments relate to each other and evolve over time 不同的经历、行为、环境如何随着时间的流逝互相影响

Children with attention problems in early childhood were 40% less likely to graduate from high school, says a new study from Duke University.
在早起童年有着注意力障碍的孩子从高中毕业的可能性低于40%
likely可能性

The study included 386 kindergarteners from schools in the Fast Track Project, a multi-site clinical trial in the U. S. that in 1991 began tracking how children developed across their lives.
clinical trial 临床试验

With this study, researchers examined early academic attention and socio-emotional skills and how each contributed to academic success into young adulthood.
early academic attention 早期学习注意力

They found that early attention skills were the most consistent predictor of academic success, and that likability by peers also had a modest effect on academic performance.
most consistent predictor 最一致的预测
peers 同辈
这里的 likability by peers 和上文的 socio-emotional skills 对应，大概就是比较会做关系、和同辈|同行之间关系比较好

By fifth grade, children with early attention difficulties had lower grades and reading achievement scores than their peers. As fifth-graders, children with early attention problems obtained average reading scores at least 3% lower than their contemporaries’ and grades at least 8% lower than those of their peers. This was after controlling for IQ, socio-economic status and academic skills at school entry.
这是在控制变量(……)之后(的结果)

Although these may not seem like large effects, the impact of early attention problems continued throughout the children’s academic careers. Lower reading achievement scores and grades in fifth grade contributed to reduced grades in middle school and thereby contributed to a 40% lower high school graduation rate.

“The children we identified as having attention difficulties were not diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (注意力缺乏多动症）(ADHD), although some may have had the disorder. Our findings suggest that even more modest attention difficulties can increase the risk of negative academic outcomes”, said David Rabiner, an associate dean of Duke’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, whose research has focused on ADHD and interventions to improve academic performance in children with attention difficulties.

Social acceptance by peers in early childhood also predicted grades in fifth grade. Children not as liked by their first-grade peers had slightly lower grades in fifth grade, while those with higher social acceptance had higher grades.

“This study shows the importance of so-called ‘non-cognitive’ or soft skills in contributing to children’s positive peer relationships, which, in turn, contribute to their academic success, ” said Kenneth Dodge, director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy.

The results highlight the need to develop effective early interventions to help those with attention problems stay on track academically and for educators to encourage positive peer relationships, the researchers said.

这句话的结构值得分析

“We’re learning that student success requires a more comprehensive approach, one that incorporates not only academic skills but also social, self-regulatory and attention skills, ” Dodge said. “If we neglect any of these areas, the child’s development lags. If we attend to these areas, a child’s success may reinforce itself with positive feedback loops. “

Professor Stephen Hawking has warned that the creation of powerful artificial intelligence (AI) will be “either the best, or the worst thing, ever to happen to humanity“, and praised the creation of an academic institute dedicated to researching the future of intelligence as “crucial to the future of our civilisation and our species”.
praise 赞扬
creation of an academic institute 建立学术机构
dedicated 专用
dedicated to researching the future of intelligence 专用于研究未来的智能

praised the (creation of an academic institute) (dedicated to researching the future of intelligence) as “crucial to the future of our civilisation and our species”.

Hawking was speaking at the opening of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Inteelgence (LCFI) at Cambridge University, a multi-disciplinary institute that will attempt to tackle some of the open-ended questions raised by the rapid pace of development in AI research. “We spend a great deal of time studying history,” Hawking said, “which, let’s face it, is mostly the history of stupidity. So it’s a welcome change that people are studying instead the future of intelligence.”
multi-disciplinary 多学科的

While the world-renowned physicist has often been cautious about AI, rising concerns that humanity could be the architect of its own destruction if it creates a super-intelligence with a will of its own, he was also quick to highlight the positives that AI research can bring. “The potential benefits of creating intelligence are huge,” he said. “We cannot predict what we might achieve when our own minds are amplified by AI. Perhaps with the tools of this new technological revolution, we will be able to undo some of the damage done to the natural world by the last one—industrialisation. And surely we will aim to finally eradicate disease and poverty. And every aspect of our lives will be transformed. In short, success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation.”|
amplifie 放大
architect of its own destruction 自身毁灭的建筑师

Huw Price, the centre’s academic director and the Bertrand Russell professor of philosophy at Cambridge University, where Hawking is also an academic, said that the centre came about partially as a result of the university’s Centre for Existential Risk. That institute examined a wider range of potential problems for humanity, while the LCFI has a narrow focus.
examined 在这里是研究的意思
narrow focus. 很窄的关注领域

AI pioneer Margaret Boden, professor of cognitive science at the University of Sussex, praised the progress of such discussions. As recently as 2009, she said, the topic wasn’t taken seriously, even among AI researchers. “AI is hugely exciting,” she said, “but it has limitations, which present grave dangers given uncritical use.”
As recently as 直到最近

The academic community is not alone in warning about the potential dangers of AI as well as the potential benefits. A number of pioneers from the technology industry, most famously the entrepreneur Elon Musk, have also expressed their concerns about the damage that a super-intelligent AI could do to humanity.
as well as 以及、同时 、同级比较 常用来连接两个并列的成分
as well
常用作状语，作“又；也”解，相当于too或also，常位于句末，无须用逗号与句子分开。如：
 
   I am going to London and my sister is going as well（＝going，too）.
   我要到伦敦去，我妹妹也要去。
 
   I not only play the guitar，I sing as well（＝I also sing ）.
   我不但弹吉他，而且还演唱。
口语中缓和语气