VOA慢速英语2015 学生开发由指纹解锁的枪

AS IT IS 2015-08-30 Student Develops Gun Unlocked by Fingerprint¹ 学生开发由指纹解锁的枪

A gunman killed two members of a television news crew in the United States earlier this week. Their TV station broadcast the shooting “live,” in real time. The shooting shocked many Americans and people around the world. 

The United States has the highest rate of civilian² firearm ownership in the world. A recent study rated the U.S. among the top countries in public mass shooters per person. A mass shooting is an attack in which four or more people were killed or injured.

One U.S. teenager wants to help prevent such attacks. Kai Kloepfer lives in Boulder³, Colorado.

It was three years ago, when a gunman opened fire in a crowded theater in nearby Aurora⁴, Colorado.

The gunman killed 12 people and injured 70 others.

Kai Kloepfer has a talent for technology. He has been teaching himself engineering skills since he was a child. After the attack in Aurora, he decided⁵ to use his skills to help prevent mass shootings.

"I kind of set out to improve the safety of firearms,” he said.

A safer gun

The young man’s goal was to make a gun that would not work in the hands of a killer⁶. But he knew it would be impossible for him to stop dangerous people from buying guns.

So he changed direction. He decided to create a gun designed to preventing accidental shootings.

“Every 30 minutes in the United States, a child dies or is injured by a firearm," Kloepfer said. "Add up a child every 30 minutes over even, say a week, and you have an astronomically⁷ larger number of people than has ever been injured in any type of mass shooting in the United States.”

A more recent study found that guns are to blame for killing⁸ or injuring at least 10,000 children across the U.S. every year. That information comes from the Children’s Defense⁹ Fund, a private group.

The gun Kai Kloepfer designed only works when unlocked by the fingerprint of the owner, and not for anyone else. The gun only recognizes the touch of its owner.

A winning design

It took the teenager seven months and over 1,500 hours to create a plastic model of his "smart gun." He entered his fingerprint handgun in a local science fair and won. In fact, he kept winning, all the way to the 2013 INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair. At the age of 16, he won the world’s top youth science competition.

More than 7.4 million people compete at science and engineering fairs around the world, Kai said. “But only 1,500 people each year get to attend the Intel Science Fair. I was selected by the judges to attend the Intel Science Fair and actually ended up winning first place grand award in engineering for that year.”

His INTEL award included a monetary¹⁰ prize. He asked the SmartTech Challenges Foundation for a grant. He received $50,000 from the organization. Its goal is to support innovation in gun safety.

Kai Kloepfer is now 18 years old. He has been using the grant money to improve the technology. He says the weapon he designed “doesn’t change the function of a firearm at all. It just makes it safer.”

He is now working to add the fingerprint lock technology to a real gun. He says he expects to one day see his “smart gun” for sale next to other firearms.

The young man plans to spend the next year improving his fingerprint handgun. Then he will start college at one of the world’s top universities - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Words in This Story

talent – n. a special ability that allows someone to do something well

impossible – adj. not possible; unable to happen or to be done

youth – n. young people

innovation – n. the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices, or methods

1 fingerprint   

n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹

参考例句：

• The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
• The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

4 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

7 astronomically   

天文学上

参考例句：

• The bill was astronomically high. 账单上的金额高得没谱儿。
• They have only been read as the multitude read the stars, at most astrologically, not astronomically. 它们之被群众阅读，有如群众之阅览繁星，至多是从星象学而不是从天文学的角度阅览的。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。