The days when a cellphone was used for nothing beyond calling and texting are gone. Today, we turn smart phones into magical machines with apps that transform them into musical instruments or business machines or video players. But it turns out that we are only searching the surface. Who knew that smart phones would make pretty good satellites?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Smart phones forecast the weather

      Networking expert Open Signal has discovered something interesting: the sensors in Android phones designed to measure battery  temperature, light, pressure and 80 on can be used to generate surprisingly accurate weather reports. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

Smart phones save the rainforests

       Detecting illegal logging(盗伐) may sound like a novel app, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}: in Indonesia, the non-profit organization Rainforest Connection' wants to use donated Android phones to detect illegal logging. As Newscientist reports, “The phonesare equipped with solar panels specifically designed to take advantage of the brief periods when light reaches the forest floor. Their microphones stay on at all time, and the software listens for the sound of a chainsaw(链锯).”

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        Researchers at the university of Illinois have developed an iPhones app that turns the phone into a fully featured mobile medical lab that uses the phone's camera to detect proteins, bacteria, viruses and other organisms.

Smart phones drive cars

        Google's self-driving cars carry around  $30,000 ofhigh-tech hardware and sensors, but students at Australia's Griffith University think they can get the job done with asingle smart phone.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. but it's a serious business.

B. Here are someuses for smart phones the makers probably didn't imagine.

C. so it can beused to detect the sound of a chainsaw.

D. It has been used in many fields.

E. Get enough phones involved and you will have a weather sensing network.

F. Smart phones serve as mobile medical labs.

G. They have built a model that relies mainly on the phone's camera and built—in GPS.

    The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff they call “books”.

    I was going to have my examination the next day. "When can I go to bed?" I asked myself. I didn't answer, in fact I dared not.

    The clock struck twelve. "Oh, dear!" I cried, "ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy ."

    The clock struck one. I was quite desperate now. I forgot all I had learnd. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.

    England's highest main-line railway station is in serious trouble, deserted and unmanned since it was officially closed in 1970, Dent, located high in the hills of Yorkshire, wakes up on six summer weekends each year, when a special train unloads walkers, sightseers and people who simply want to catch a train from the highest station to its platforms.

    But even this limited being may soon be brought to an end. Dent station located on the Settel to Carlisle railway line, is said to be surrounded by the most beautiful scenery in the country. But no amount of scenic beauty can save the line because of the British Rail's money problems.

    It is now an open secret that British Rail sees no future for this railway line. Most of its trains disappeared some time ago. Bridges, built a century ago, are falling down. It is not alone. Half a dozen railway routes in the North of England are facing a similar threat. The problem is an old system and an almost total lack of cash to repair it. Bridges and tunnels are showing their ages, the wooden supports for the tracks are rotting（腐烂） and engines and coaches(车厢) are getting old.

    On main lines between large cities, the problem is not too bad. There lines still make a profit and cash can be found to keep them in good condition. But on the country branch line, the situation is different. As track wears out, it is not replaced. Instead speed limits are introduced, making the journey longer than necessary and discouraging travelers.

    If a bridge is dangerous, there is often only one thing for British Rail to do: go out and find money from another places. This is exactly what it did a few months ago when a bridge at Bridling station was threatening to fall down. Repairs were calculated at 200,000 pounds just for one bridge, so British Rail was pleased, and rather surprised when two local councils(理事会) offered half that amount of money.

    Researchers at Brigham found about one in five teenagers now have some degree of hearing damage. The researchers did not say why hearing loss has risen, but other experts have strong suspicions. One likely culprit, they say, is MP3 players.

    An MP3 player can be dangerous to hearing when its decibel level is turned up too high. High-decibel sounds can damage nerve endings, called hair cells. If a sound is loud enough, the damage can be permanent. A loud sound can shake the membrane (薄膜) on which the hair cells sit- “like an earthquake”. That shake can break or even uproot hair cells. When that happens, the hair cells are finished. Human ears cannot regrow hair cells. Therefore, when listening to an MP3 player, set a volume limit and avoid exposure to loud sounds.

    On the other hand, the loudness of today's music may not be totally under your control. Music companies have been purposely turning up the volume. It's a trend called the fight for loudness.

    Play a CD from the 1990s. Then play a newly released tune. Don't touch the volume control. You'll probably notice that the new CD sounds louder than the old one. Why? Sound engineers who create CDs are using dynamic range compression (压缩), a technology that makes the quiet parts of a song louder and the loud parts quieter. The overall effect of compression is a louder recording.

    Many musicians and sound engineers aren't pleased. They say that compression is driving down the quality of today, s music, making it sound flat and blaring. Gray Hobish, a sound engineer, explains that music should be a combination of loudness and softness. But music companies want to make music louder so it will stand out. That's important in the competition among recording companies.

    What about listeners? Many teenagers listen to music on the go in noisy places and through headphones, all of which reduce sound quality. So young listeners may not notice the poorer quality of modem recordings. “To their ears,” says Hobish, “the music sounds fine. And they are not aware of the hidden threat of the music they are enjoying.”

    Most dog owners have probably been puzzled waiting for their dog to do its business. Instead of just finding a soft area of grass to go number two, they make a whole ritual(仪式) out of it, spinning in a circle before finally squatting(蹲下). Luckily, the ultimate pet owners' question may finally have been answered.

    A few theories have circulated about why dogs might circle before pooping  and most are similar to the reasons they spin before lying down. Trampling around in a circle would flatten the grass around, which would keep tall blades(叶片) from trapping their waste. Another explanation could be that they're scanning for snakes and predators before they become completely occupied.

    But Czech researcher Hynek Burda didn't quite buy into those theories. Dogs evolved from wolves, which didn't need to worry much about tall grass. And if they were scanning their environment, keeping still to listen and sniff would be more effective than giving the area a quick once-over. Instead, Burda suggested that dogs spin to get a feel for the Earth's magnetic pull.

    The Earth has a magnetic field around it protecting it from radiation from space, and some animals seem to use it to get a sense of where its North and South poles are. For instance, it's how birds know which way to migrate. In 2013, Burda published a study in the journal Frontiers in Zoology suggesting dogs have a strong internal compass, too. He and his team spent two years watching 70 dogs poop and pee and recording which way they faced and how strong the magnetic(磁的) field was.

    As it turns out, when the magnetic field was calm, dogs preferred to poop facing either north or south.

    The pattern couldn't explain why dogs like facing the Earth's poles, but the researchers think it might help them remember where they marked their territory.

    If they can remember which way they were facing, they might find it easier to find that spot again. So before you roll your eyes when your dog takes ages to do his business, remember that Fido might just be getting scientific about his potty spot.

    "What kind of rubbish are you?" This question might normally cause anger, but in Shanghai it was brought about weary complaints over the past few months. On July 1st, the city introduced strict rubbish-sorting regulations that are expected to be used as a model for our country. Citizens must divide their waste into four separate categories and put it into specific public bins. They must do so at scheduled times, when monitors are present to ensure that rules are obeyed and to examine the nature of one's rubbish.

    Violators could be hit with fines of up to 200 yuan ($29). For repeat violators, the city can add black marks to their credit records, making it harder for them to obtain hank loans or even buy train tickets.

    Shanghai authorities are responding to obvious environmental problem. It produces 9 million tons of garbage a year. But like other cities in china, it lacks a recycling system. Instead, it has relied on rubbish pickers to pick out whatever can be reused. This has limits. As people get wealthier, fewer of them want to do such dirty work. The waste, meanwhile, just keeps piling up. China produces 80 billion pairs of one-off chopsticks a year.

    Many citizens appear to support the idea of recycling in general but are frustrated by the details. Rubbish must be divided according to whether it is food, recyclable, dry or hazardous(有害的), the distinctions among which can be confusing, though there are apps to help work it out. Some have complained about the rules surrounding food waste. They must put it straight in the required public bin, forcing them to tear open plastic bags and toss(投掷）it by hand, Most annoying are the short periods for throwing trash, typically a couple of hours, morning and evening. Along with the monitors at the bins, this means that people go at around the same time and can keep an eye on what is being thrown out; no one wants to look bad.