VOA标准英语2012--Festival Promotes Science as Fun Frontier

Festival Promotes Science as Fun Frontier

To these children, it's all fun and games. But the marbles in this so-called "Chaos¹ Machine" teach them about physics, gravity and more, says exhibitor Tony Montuori.

"It also teaches kids all kinds of useful skills about debugging, engineering, because you look at the track and you figure out, 'Hey, what's wrong with it? How can I make it better?'" Montuori noted². 

From robotic cars to wheels on Mars, exhibitors showed everything from human revolutions to a different kind of spin that shows how the body works. 

There were robots controlled by sensors³ on clothes and one controlled by an iPad.

Anousheh Ansari traveled to the International Space Station at her own expense and hopes to inspire students.

"I think this is a wonderful event where they get exposure to different areas of science and can think about some career opportunities, things they can do when they enter the job market," Ansari said.

And there is plenty of interest in NASA's next generation space capsule, the Orion.

"I'm glad to see the whole space program is going on because, I don't know, it seemed to me at least that all was kind of dead, but it's alive and well and looks great," said Fourteen year-old student Andrew Clancy.

And there was a chance to fly an F-16 Fighting Falcon⁴ cockpit demonstrator and see drones, robots, robots and more robots.

Daria Jordan of Spelman College showed off the robot she programmed.

"The project name is 'Beyoncebot' and is using a humanoid robot to address childhood obesity," Jordan explained. 

Students also got a chance to walk across water, see the air, and feel the air in a hurricane simulator.

They also checked out observatories⁵ and observations from a historical figure, Albert Einstein. 

Organizers say the goal is to get kids as excited about scientists and engineers as they are about Hollywood celebrities⁶ and sports stars. 

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

4 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

5 observatories   

n.天文台，气象台( observatory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• John Heilbron, The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories, 3-23. 约翰．海耳布隆，《教会里的太阳：教堂即太阳观测台》，第3-23页。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists use satellites, land observatories and historical data to provide information about the weather. 气象学家使用卫星、上天文台和历史资料来提供有关天气的信息。 来自互联网

6 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目