英語作文閱讀文章
我們提高英語的水平寢室有很多種，有一種就是可以看一些英語的新聞和閱讀，還有英語的電視劇和電影，這樣可以很快的提高我們的英語口語，接下來小編給大家帶來英語新聞，需要的同學們可以看一看。
課外閱讀1
In ancient Greek mythology, Medusa’s gaze turnsonlookers to stone. Yang Shuo, a junior softwaremajorat Wuhan University, can crush fruit inthe Fruit Ninja game simply by moving his eyes. The 21-year-old and his teammates recentlydeveloped a mask which operates a computer by eye movement.
在古希臘神話中，美杜莎可以用目光將看到她的人變成石頭。而來自武漢大學軟體專業的大三學生楊碩在玩水果忍者遊戲時，卻可以通過移動視線來切水果。最近這位21歲的大學生和隊友們共同研發出了一個通過眼球運動來操控電腦的面具。
The aim is to help physically challenged people and possibly to pioneer a new area in computercontrol technology. Their product enables users, who have weak muscles or are disabled, tooperate a computer.
這項發明旨在幫助殘障人士，並極有可能開創計算機操控技術的新紀元。他們的產品可以幫助那些肌無力或身患殘疾的使用者來操作電腦.
Their eye movement is captured by digital cameras fixed to the glasses, enabling the eyes toact like a computer mouse.
固定在眼鏡上的數碼像機能夠捕捉使用者的眼球運動，這樣一來雙眼就可以代替電腦滑鼠的功能。
"We wanted to develop a technology that helps others and solves the toughest problems,” saidYang, leader of the team named “Xight”.
"我們希望開發一種技術，可以幫助他人解決最棘手的難題,""Xight”團隊隊長楊碩稱。
Li Jin, 21, a junior softwaremajorat the university, found a challenging problem during his visitto Chongqing Disabled Person’s Federation in an off-campus activity last year. Li noticed thatdisabled people wanted to communicate via the Internet, but many were unable to because oftheir physical condition.
21歲的李今同樣是武大軟體專業的大三學生。他在去年參加參加重慶殘聯的校外活動期間發現了一個極具挑戰性的難題。李今注意到，儘管殘疾人士希望通過網路與外界溝通，但很多人因為身體狀況而無法實現這一想法。
"Let’s see what we can do,” said Yang.
“讓我們來看看自己能做些什麼。"楊碩說.
The idea of using the eyes to control a computer came up. “Because the eye is one of the mostagile parts of the human body,” said Li.
於是，他們想到了用眼睛來控制電腦。“因為眼睛是人類身體上最靈活的部分之一。”李今說.
However the team discovered that eyes can be too quick to be captured by camera for anaccurate positioning function.
但該團隊發現眼球運動過快，相機難以捕捉其運動狀況，無法實現精確定位功能。
As a result, their prototype glasses could only function in four corners of a computer screenwith the head held still, which wasn’t practical.
因此，他們原先製作的眼鏡原型只有在保持頭部不動的情況下，控制電腦的四個角，缺乏實用性。
The team reckoned that with lots of experiments and calculations, apatternof eye movementcould be traced and programmed.
他們思考後認為，通過大量的試驗和計算，可以追蹤眼球運動的方式，並編寫相關程式。
For 20 days they worked wearing a neck brace before they finally made a breakthrough with ahead localization algorithm, which can accurately locate the target and execute commands.
他們頭戴頸託工作了20天，終於取得了突破，研究出一個可以準確定位目標、執行命令的頭部定位公式。
"Many times when I took off the neck brace, I felt that it was hard to move my eyes and myneck was killing me,” said Yang. “But it was worth the pain.”
“有好多次我摘下頸託，發現眼睛都動不了了，脖子也疼得要命。”楊碩說，“但是這些痛苦都值得。”
Xbox experts were excited to learn that Xight was even quicker than hand-waving karate moveswhen playing Fruit Ninja at a national competition sponsored by Microsoft. Mark Taylor, director of Development and Platform Evangelism Group, is amazed by thepotentialof Xight’swork.
在微軟贊助的一項全國性競賽中，Xight視線追蹤系統在水果忍者遊戲中的動作甚至比空手道中的揮拳動作還要迅速，Xbox專家們在得知該訊息後興奮不已。微軟大中華區開發工具及平臺事業部主管馬克•泰勒對Xight的潛力感到十分震驚。
"This product not only showcased technical brainpower but also a promisingmarketperspective,” said Taylor.
“該產品不僅展現出技術智慧，更展示出了很好的市場前景。”泰勒說。
Taylor is right.
泰勒說的沒錯。
In the US, software and digital glasses with a similar function cost $8,000. But Xight’s can bemuch more competitive.
在美國，擁有類似功能的軟體和數碼眼鏡售價高達8000美元。而Xight的價格更具競爭力。
"Even if we refine the appearance of the glasses and the function in a more user-friendlyway, it won’t cost more than 500 yuan,” said Yang.
"即使我們為了提高使用者體驗度，而改善眼鏡外觀及其功能，它的成本也不會超過500元。"楊碩說.
Many investors have alreadycontacted the team trying to put the invention into commercialproduction. But the team refused.
許多投資商紛紛找到Xight團隊，試圖將該發明投入商業生產，但都被婉拒了。
"Atpresent, our focus is to improve Xight and make it an idealapplicationfor disabled people. When we achieve this we’ll consider commercializing our innovation,” said Yang, who hasbeen busy preparing a thesis and materials for Xight’s patentapplication.
“目前，我們的重點是改進Xight，使它成為殘疾人士的理想應用。當我們成功之後才會考慮將發明成果商業化。”楊碩說。他正在為Xight申請專利準備論文及相關材料.
Not surprisingly, the team won the top prize in the innovation competition and willrepresentChina at the worldwide innovation challenge to be held in Sydney, Australia, nextmonth.
不出所料，Xight團隊最終贏得了該創新競賽的特等獎，並將於下個月代表中國參加在澳大利亞悉尼舉辦的全球創新挑戰賽.
The four are racking their brains to incorporate new elements likegesturecontrol and voicecontrol in Xight to spice up the human-machine interface concept.
目前，四位成員正在絞盡腦汁為Xight配備手勢控制和聲音控制等新元素，為人機互動理念加些新料。
"One day, when you return home, you will tell the computer to dim the light, use ahandgestureto turn on the TV and glance at the air conditioner to lower the temperature,” said Yang.
“未來有一天，回家後你可以用語音指令指揮電腦調暗燈光，用手勢開啟電視，看一眼空調就能調低溫度。"楊碩說。
課外閱讀2
A new study says boosting students' levels of physical education improves their grades, HealthDay News reported.
據《每日健康新聞》報道，最新研究稱，鼓勵學生多上體育課有助於他們提高學習成績。
Swedish researchers followed more than 200 schoolchildren. Some children were assigned to anintervention group that received physical education five days a week, plus extra training inmotor-physical skills such as balance and coordination. The other children were assigned to acontrol group that received usual levels of physical education.
瑞典科學家對200多名在校學生進行了跟蹤試驗。一部分學生被指定分到干預組，每週需要上5天體育課，此外還需要訓練身體運動技巧，如身體協調性和平衡性的鍛鍊。剩下的同學被分到控制組，他們還和平常一樣上體育課。
The study showed that 96 percent of students in the intervention group achieved grades thatmade them eligible to advance to upper-secondary school, compared with 89 percent ofstudents in the control group.
研究結果表明，干預組有96%的學生取得了好成績，可以順利升初中，而控制組只有89%的學生。