All That Is Hot新聞微閱讀四篇

萬宇婧

1

New school desks in Mexico

墨西哥學校用新式課桌防肥胖

Rows of sleek［ 造型優美的］ new school desks equipped with bike pedals［ 踏板］are allowing students in Mexico to power through their class work while crankingout some light exercise， burning off calories. For the students at a high schooljust outside the bustling city of Monterrey，the new bike desks offer benefits beyondexercise. “When we’re physically active， italso helps keep us focused，” said a 13-yearoldstudent. It’s actually incredible.” Theschool currently features 2 classrooms fullydecked out with the new desks， but the planis to gradually add them to all 21 classrooms.

Mexico has a desperately high obesity［肥胖］ rate， with more than a third ofits population dangerously overweight and more than 75% at a greater weightthan is considered healthy. And as children age， many pack on pounds. Anational study showed about 8% of children under 5 were overweight orobese， which rises to almost 19% for kids between 5～11 years old. Largeamounts of excess body weight during early years poses numerous dangersto children’s health， including increased risk of diabetes， high blood pressure，liver disease， bone and joint problems， fatigue and asthma. Most children do?not outgrow weight problems acquired in early life， and obesity in adulthoodis known to contribute to strokes， heart disease， and dementia.

墨西哥的一些學校在教室里配備了裝有自行車踏板的新式課桌，學生可以一邊上課，一邊“踩單車”燃燒卡路里。墨西哥蒙特雷市的一所高中啟用了這款新式“自行車課桌”，它給學生帶來的好處不僅僅是能鍛煉身體。一名13歲的學生表示：“當我們的身體動起來時，我們也更能集中注意力。這太不可思議了?！蹦壳?，該校已經有2 間教室裝配了這種新式課桌，學校計劃將這種課桌推廣到全部21 間教室。

墨西哥的肥胖率非常高，超過三分之一的人口超重，超過75% 的人體重超過健康標準。隨著兒童年齡的增長，許多兒童的體重也在不斷上升。一項全國性研究顯示，墨西哥5 歲以下兒童中約8% 超重或肥胖，5～11 歲兒童的肥胖率更是幾乎達到19%。童年時期超重會對其健康造成諸多危害，包括增加患糖尿病、高血壓、肝病的風險以及增加出現骨骼和關節問題、疲勞和哮喘的概率。大多數兒童在成長過程中都無法擺脫在早年產生的體重問題，而成年后肥胖會導致中風、心臟病和癡呆等疾病。

Fill in the blanks：

The desks equipped with_____________may help students burn off calories.

2

Chinese drug-sniffing squirrels

中國首批“緝毒松鼠”上崗

The police dog brigade［ 大隊］ in Chongqingnow has successfully trained a team of six drugsniffing［嗅；聞］ squirrels［松鼠］. In a compilation ofvideo clips released online by People’s Daily，the squirrels are seen scratching boxes andclambering over a variety of items. In someclips， the squirrels are seen darting betweenboxes and canisters of similar sizes and colors， before pausing to sniff them.According to The Paper that these squirrels are small and agile， and able tosearch through tiny spaces in warehouses and storage units that dogs cannotreach. “The squirrels have been trained to use their claws to scratch boxes inorder to alert their handlers if they detect drugs，” the Chongqing police said.The training program developed for the squirrels in Chongqing can also beused to train other animals to sniff out drugs.

重慶市警犬大隊成功培訓出了一批緝毒松鼠，共計6 只。在《人民日報》的一組視頻片段中，這些緝毒松鼠在不同的物品上爬來爬去。其中一些片段中可以看到松鼠在大小和顏色相似的盒子和罐子之間來回走動，時不時停下來聞一聞。據《澎湃新聞》報道，和緝毒犬不同，松鼠體型較小、動作敏捷，適合搜索一些物流倉庫、快遞站內狗無法進入的狹小空間。重慶警方稱：“經過訓練，松鼠會在找到毒品后使用抓撓的方式告訴訓導員，該處可能存在毒品。”重慶市警犬大隊自主研發的松鼠訓練系統可以被應用于訓練其他動物嗅出毒品。

Fill in the blanks：

The drug-sniffing squirrels have been trained to sniff out__________in the nooks and crannies of warehouses and storage units.

3

Which jobs will be replaced by ChatGPT？

ChatGPT可能取代哪些職業？

ChatGPT， a chatbot developed byOpenAI， went viral with related topicsgenerating a lot of buzz. Chatbots andartificial intelligence［人工智能］ tools likeChatGPT that can almost instantlyproduce increasingly sophisticated［ 見多識廣； 老練的］ written content are alreadybeing used to perform a variety of tasks.

ChatGPT can write computer code to program applications and software.It can check human coders’ language for errors and convert ideas from plain?English into programming language. David Autor， an MIT economist whospecializes in labor， pointed to some mid-level white-collar jobs as functionsthat can be handled by AI， including work like writing human resourcesletters， producing advertising copy and drafting press releases. “Bots will bemuch more in the realm of people who do a mixture of intuitive and mundanetasks，” he said. “There is no question that software will make them cheaper.”

美國OpenAI 研發的聊天機器人程序ChatGPT 爆火，相關話題多次引發熱議。類似ChatGPT 的聊天機器人和人工智能工具可以迅速生成越來越復雜的書面內容，并已被用于執行各種任務。

ChatGPT 能為應用程序和軟件編寫代碼，能檢查程序員編程語言的錯誤，還能將簡單的想法從英語轉化成程序語言。麻省理工學院經濟學家大衛·奧特爾指出，人工智能可以接手一些中級白領的工作，例如撰寫人力資源信函、廣告樣本和新聞稿。他說：“機器人最有可能介入那些憑直覺式的、單調的工作領域。毫無疑問，軟件會使這些工作的成本降低。”

Fill in the blanks：

A variety of jobs may be replaced by_________， which is a chatbot developed by OpenAI.

4

A blue-ringed octopus in a hot pot restaurant

火鍋店驚現劇毒章魚

A consumer i n a hot potrestaurant found that one octopuslooked a little bit different. Hesuspected that it was a venomousblue-ringed octopus and then took aphoto and posted it on social mediafor confirmation. After the inquiry，his suspicion was immediately?confirmed by the official account of Nature History， that it was a blue-ringedoctopus.

The blue-ringed octopus is one of the world’s most venomous marineanimals. They eat small crustaceans， including crabs， hermit crabs， shrimp，and other small sea animals. They can be identified by their yellowish skinand characteristic blue and black rings that change color dramatically whenthey are threatened. Blue-ringed octopuses spend most of their time hiding increvices.

The blue-ringed octopus， despite its small size， carries enough venomto kill 26 adult humans within minutes. Currently， no blue-ringed octopusantivenom is available. If you ever encounter this blue and yellow beauty，back away in a hurry. In fact， there have been no known deaths from its bitesince the 1960s. As long as you keep your hands to yourself， you should befine.

網友稱在火鍋店發現一只章魚看起來不太一樣，他懷疑是有毒的藍環章魚，于是拍照發布到社交媒體進行驗證。經過詢問，他的懷疑得到《博物》雜志官方微博回應——該章魚確為藍環章魚。

藍環章魚是世界上最毒的海洋動物之一。藍環章魚食甲殼類動物，包括螃蟹、寄居蟹、蝦和一些其他小型海洋生物。藍環章魚體表呈黃褐色，其最醒目的標志就是身體上的藍黑色圓環。遇到危險的時候，圓環會迅速變色。藍環章魚大部分時間愛躲藏在石頭縫隙處。

盡管體型相當小，一只藍環章魚所攜帶的毒素卻足以在數分鐘內殺死26名成年人，并且目前還沒有研制出有效的抗毒素。如果你遇到了這種“美麗又危險”的生物，請盡快遠離。事實上，20 世紀60 年代以來，還沒有人因被它咬到而死亡。只要你不伸手觸摸，你就不會有事。

Fill in the blanks：

The blue-ringed________is one of the most venomous marine animals on the planet.