This 12-year-old Girl Built a Robot to Find Plastics in the Ocean
Anna Du was walking along the beach when she noticed plastics there. She reached down to pick them up, and quickly realized there were many more tiny pieces than she could deal with. It seemed impossible to clean them all up.
Du, 12 years old at the time, tried to solve the problem like any good scientist—first, by doing a little research. That’s how she learned that 8 million tons of plastics end up in the oceans every year.
Then she got to work building something that could help solve the problem; a remote-operated vehicle(遥控潜水器), or ROV. Her ROV can move through water and find plastics on the ocean floor.
The actually cool part of Du’s ROV is the detection(探测) system. She uses a camera along with three different kinds of light to find the plastics. She also uses visible(可见的) light to find unnatural colors that might make the plastics stand out.
“She has a very good engineering sense to break down a problem like this and then go after it,” says engineer Casey Machado. “It sounds simple, but it’s a level of thinking that’s really amazing. ”
Du started attending public events and workshops at a university when she was five years old, and so she picked up the engineering skills necessary to build her ROV. She says actually getting her ROV to move through water well was not easy. She failed many times, but she never gave up trying and testing.
When asked about future plans, she mentions wanting to address the effects of climate(气候) change. “I think there are a lot of problems that could be solved with new inventions,” says Du.
Du thanks her parents, who for years have taken her to student outreach activities, for supporting her interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). She says she has been able to meet students and scientists there.
“I know I want to be an engineer because I like building things to help solve world problems,” says Du. “But I’m not sure what kind of engineer I want to be yet.”
34．What did Anna Du notice while walking along the beach?
35．How old was Du when she did a little research to solve the problem?
36．What can Du’s ROV do?
37．Why does Du want to be an engineer in the future?
38．What made Du succeed in building her ROV?
答案
34．She noticed plastics.
35．At the age of 12. / When she was 12 years old.
36．It can move through water and find plastics on the ocean floor.
37．Because she likes building things to help solve world problems.
38．Her good engineering sense to break down a problem, the engineering skills necessary to build it, her persistence(not giving up) and her parents' support.（另外答出the careful observation, the awareness of protecting the oceans也可酌情给分）
【分析】
文章大意：本文主要讲Anna Du十二岁时就制作了自己的遥控潜水器，她从小就对STEM感兴趣，长大后想成为一名工程师，帮助解决世界问题。
34．根据第1段中“Anna Du was walking along the beach when she noticed plastics there.”可知Anna Du在海滩散步的时候注意到了塑料。故答案为：She noticed plastics.
35．根据第2段中“Du, 12 years old at the time, tried to solve the problem like any good scientist—first, by doing a little research.”可知Du做了一点调查来解决这个问题的时候，她12岁了。故答案为：At the age of 12. / When she was 12 years old.
36．根据第3段中“Her ROV can move through water and find plastics on the ocean floor.”可知Du的ROV能够在水中移动，找到海底的塑料。故答案为：It can move through water and find plastics on the ocean floor.
37．根据最后一段中Du的话“I know I want to be an engineer because I like building things to help solve world problems”可知她想要成为一名工程师是因为她喜欢制造东西来帮助解决世界问题。故答案为：Because she likes building things to help solve world problems.
38．根据第5段中“She has a very good engineering sense to break down a problem like this and then go after it”可知她在解决问题方面有良好工程悟性；根据第6段中“and so she picked up the engineering skills necessary to build her ROV”可知她学会了建造ROV所需的工程技术；根据第6段中“She failed many times, but she never gave up trying and testing.”可知她不轻言放弃；根据倒数第2段中“Du thanks her parents, who for years have taken her to student outreach activities, for supporting her interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).”可知Du的父母很支持她。这几点都是她成功制作ROV的重要因素。故答案为：Her good engineering sense to break down a problem, the engineering skills necessary to build it, her persistence(not giving up) and her parents' support.（另外答出the careful observation, the awareness of protecting the oceans也可酌情给分）
