年度風云兒童

山東 李全忠

美國《時代》雜志每年都會選出年度風云人物，2020年《時代》雜志首次選出“年度風云兒童”。 美國科羅拉多州的15歲印度裔發明家拉奧（Gitanjali Rao）當選2020年的“年度風云兒童”。

題材人物體裁記敘文文章詞數 難度 建議用時325 ★★★ 6 分鐘

Scientist and inventor Gitanjali Rao is TIME Magazine's first-ever “Kid of the Year”. The 15-year-old was chosen from a list of thousands of other amazing kids who are working to change the world. The honor is in recognition of Rao's commitment to creating scientific solutions. At 10 years old, she created a lead (鉛) detection tool after learning about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Since then, she's also come up with an app that helps diagnose early-stage prescription opioid (鴉片樣物質)addiction and another tool that can prevent cyber-bullying.

There was never one__“aha moment” for her, she says. Through the years, she says she's simply built up her love of science and technology to craft innovative and impactful solutions to different problems that matter to her and others around her. She calls it “science for kindness”. “My goal is to innovate for the better,innovate to make positive change in this world,”she says. “And that's what makes me keep going and that's what drives me—knowing that people out there do need help.”

Her opiate tool uses recent developments in protein detection methods to assist in identifying addiction early on, she says. After a sample of bodily fluid is analyzed, a user can receive his results on a mobile app, in addition to other resources such as a map of addiction centers close by, she says.Rao came up with the idea after a family friend was in a car accident and became addicted to prescription opioids.

Kindly, her app for spotting and preventing cyber-bullying, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify words and phrases online that could be considered bullying.

“These are things I never thought I would actually do, but here I am today accomplishing them,”she says. “So dream big, come up with ideas, have fun with it, and then look at how you can do it because there's no one stopping you but yourself,” she says.

Reading Check

1. What do we know about Gitanjali Rao from the first paragraph?

A. She suffered from cyber-bullying.

B. She stood out when very young.

C. She was chosen from thousands of scientists.

D. She has been studying the water crisis for 5 years.

2. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 2 mean?

A. Seeing is believing. B. Easy come, easy go.

C. No pains, no gains. D. It is never too old to learn.

3. What actually inspired Gitanjali Rao to invent the app that's helpful for opioid addiction?

A. Her family friend's story.

B. Her parents' sincere support.

C. The passion for finding solutions.

D. The recognition of Rao's commitment.

4. Which of the following words can best describe Gitanjali Rao?

A. Enthusiastic and determined.

B. Courageous and calm.

C. Cooperative and generous.

D. Ambitious and professional.

Language Study

你喝的水安全嗎？ Gitanjali Rao會給你一個滿意的答案。

Fill in the blanks with the proper form of the given words.

Gitanjali Rao, a Colorado teenager 1. ____________(invent) a mobile device to test for lead in drinking water, is TIME's Kid of the Year for 2020. The magazine 2. ____________(announce) the award Thursday, citing (表彰) Rao's ability 3. ____________(apply) scientific ideas to real-world problems—and her desire to motivate other kids to take up their own causes.

It's just the latest 4. ____________(recognize) for Rao, 15, who was named last year to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. She won praise in 2017 after she responded to the Flint, Mich. water crisis by creating a device named Tehys, 5. ____________(use) carbon nanotube（納米管） sensors to detect lead in water. She went on to team up 6. ____________scientists in the water industry to try to get the device on the market.