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Section C: In this section, you will hear five short news items. Each item will be read only once.
第三节：在本节中，你将听到五段短新闻。每段新闻只读一遍。
After each item, there will be a fifteen-second pause.
每段新闻后有15秒钟的停顿。
During the pause, read the question and the four-choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer.
在停顿期间，阅读问题和A、B、C、D四个选项，并选出最佳答案。
Then mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the centre.
然后在答题纸上用一条线标出相应的字母，线划在字母的中间。
16. American scientists say they have developed a way to grow wood material in a laboratory.
16.美国科学家表示，他们已经开发出一种在实验室中种植木质材料的方法。
The method could create different wood products indoors in a single process, greatly cutting the cost of production and reducing damage to the world’s forests.
这种方法可以在一个过程中在室内制造不同的木制品，大大降低生产成本，减少对世界森林的破坏。
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated a proof of concept by growing wood-like structures from cells taken from the leaves of a flowering plant.
麻省理工学院的研究人员通过从开花植物的叶子细胞中培养出类似木材的结构，证明了这一概念。
The results were recently reported in a study appearing in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
这一结果最近发表在《清洁生产杂志》上的一项研究中。
17. A Hong Kong-based robotics company says it plans to mass produce thousands of humanoid robots in 2021.
17.一家总部位于香港的机器人公司表示，计划在2021年批量生产数千个人形机器人。
Hanson Robotics says four different humanoid models will start leaving factories during the first half of the year.
Hanson Robotics表示，四种不同的人形模型将在今年上半年开始出厂。
One of the four is a robot named Sophia, which has received worldwide attention in recent years for looking and speaking in a very human-like way.
四个机器人中的一个是名为索菲亚的机器人，它近年来以非常像人类的方式看起来和说话都受到了全世界的关注。
The company’s founder and CEO, David Hanson, told Reuters the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for robots designed to assist and engage with humans.
该公司创始人兼首席执行官大卫·汉森告诉路透社，新冠肺炎疫情增加了对旨在帮助人类并与人类互动的机器人的需求。
“The world is going to need more and more automation to keep people safe.”
“世界将需要越来越多的自动化来保障人们的安全。”
18. Scientists have known for decades that the numbers of some shark species are decreasing.
18.科学家几十年前就知道，一些鲨鱼种类的数量正在减少。
But a new study shows just how severely their worldwide populations have dropped in the past 50 years.
但一项新的研究表明，在过去的50年里，它们在全球的数量下降得有多严重。
The numbers of oceanic sharks fell more than 70 percent worldwide between 1970 and 2018.
1970年至2018年间，全球海洋鲨鱼的数量下降了70%以上。
The information comes from a study that appeared recently in the journal Nature.
这一信息来自最近发表在《自然》杂志上的一项研究。
Stuart Sandin is a marine biologist who works at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
斯图尔特·桑丁是斯克里普斯海洋研究所的海洋生物学家。
He says that sharks are great hunters, fast swimmers and have extraordinary senses.
他说，鲨鱼是很棒的猎人，游得很快，感官也很灵敏。
19. A new study suggests lightning strikes that hit Earth after its formation may have unlocked a necessary chemical element to support the beginning of life.
19.一项新的研究表明，闪电在地球形成后击中地球，可能释放了一种支持生命开始的必要化学元素。
Researchers say the lightning may have supplied enough phosphorus to Earth during the first billion years after the planet was formed.
研究人员说，在地球形成后的头10亿年里，闪电可能为地球提供了足够的磷。
Scientists believe life started on Earth about 3.5 to 4.5 billion years ago.
科学家们认为，地球上的生命起源于大约35亿到45亿年前。
Phosphorus is an important element for the formation of life.
磷是生命形成的重要元素。
It helps form cell structures and supports DNA, the material present in nearly all living organisms.
它帮助形成细胞结构并支持DNA，DNA是几乎所有活着的有机体中都存在的物质。
But on early Earth, phosphorus is believed to have been locked inside minerals that cannot dissolve in water.
但在早期的地球上，磷被认为被锁在不能溶于水的矿物中。
20. Recently, the French Ministry of Culture worked on a new kind of dictionary that accepts the idea that many people outside of France speak the language.
20.最近，法国文化部开发了一种新的词典，它接受了法国以外的许多人说这种语言的想法。
The language has changed over time and is different in places like Ivory Coast in West Africa or Quebec in Canada, compared to how it is in Paris.
随着时间的推移，这种语言发生了变化，与巴黎相比，西非的象牙海岸或加拿大的魁北克等地的语言也有所不同。
A new online dictionary, called the French Speakers’ Dictionary, includes new French words from around the world.
一部名为《法语说话人词典》的新在线词典收录了来自世界各地的法语新词。
It was released on March 18—just in time for International French Speakers’ Day on March 20.
这本书于3月18日发布，正好赶上3月20日的国际法语演讲者日。
