英语演讲比赛预赛朗读文章之一

1、Fast running robots
PEOPLE aren’t the only ones that can run on two legs – robots can, too! Mabel the robot runs just like a human, only much faster.
Scientists in the US built Mabel – she can run at a speed of 10.9 kilometers per hour. She even set a Guinness (吉尼斯) world record for the fastest robot running on two legs.
Mabel was born in 2009. It took scientists three years to get her up and running. Her legs are light and springy (有弹力的). When she is running, Mabel is much like a human.
Robots like Mabel will soon be able to do dangerous work, like looking for people inside a burning (着火的) house. According to one of the scientists who worked on Mabel, Jonathan Hurst, the research they did to make a running robot may help people in other ways, too. “People in wheelchairs (轮椅) may be able to walk again,” said Hurst.  
            2、The nose knows cancer
DOGS don’t just find drugs (毒品) with their noses, but lung cancer (肺癌), too.
The American magazine Popular Science reported that a dog could tell if a patient has lung cancer by smelling his or her breath (呼吸).
Researchers in Germany trained dogs and asked them to smell 220 people. The group had healthy people, lung cancer patients and people who have another lung disease (疾病). The dogs picked out patients with lung cancer.
However, scientists do not know what exactly the dogs are smelling. They are working hard to explain it. Scientists hope to use this information to make “electronic (电子的) noses” to use in hospitals.  
               3、Look into the news
“MIRROR (镜子) mirror on the wall, what’s happening in Libya right now?”
Now with this new mirror from the New York Times, you can brush your teeth while reading the latest news and watching videos in your bathroom.
The mirror works with some very new software (软件). You can use it to get the news, schedule events on your personal calendar (日程表) and leave messages for family members.
There’s another kind of new mirror, too. It can read the signals (信号) of the person standing in front of it. According to what the user is wearing, it gives fashion tips and suggestions on his or her clothes.
Going shopping or eating out? Don’t go in a hurry! The magic mirror offers (提供) you coupons (优惠券), too.  
          4、Clever robot chats it up
WHO are you talking to on the Internet? It may not be a human!

A British software developer (软件开发者), Rollo Carpenter, made a piece of software called Cleverbot. It can fool people into thinking that they are talking to a human being, not a machine.

At a computer festival in India, 30 people talked with an online chatter (聊天者) for four minutes. The chatter could either be a Cleverbot or a real person behind a screen. People watched what the chatters wrote on a big screen and voted (投票). Cleverbot succeed in fooling more than half of the 30 people into thinking that it was human.

Let’s see some questions that Cleverbot answered. Will you be fooled? 
            5、World’s tiniest camera
A CAMERA helps record beautiful places while traveling. It also makes luggage (行李) heavier. Now the world’s smallest camera will save you from this worry.

American company Hammacher Schlemmer made this camera. It’s no larger than a fingertip (指尖) and it’s only 28g. But it takes pictures and videos just like normal cameras.

There is a very small SD card inside the camera for saving pictures and videos. You can connect (连接) your camera to a computer for showing pictures and video to family and friends.

The camera’s battery (电池) keeps it working for 30 minutes. It needs one hour to get fully recharged (再充电).