《时代》新奖项！15岁少女科学家获《时代》首次“年度儿童”
《时代》新奖项！15岁少女科学家获《时代》首次“年度儿童”



Gitanjali Rao, a Colorado teenager who invented a mobile device to test for lead(铅) in drinking water, is Time’s Kid of the Year for 2020. The magazine announced the award Thursday, mentioning Rao’s ability to 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 recognition 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, using carbon nanotube sensors (纳米管传感器) to detect lead in water. The Lone Tree, Colo., native was named America’s Top Young Scientist when she was in the seventh grade. She went on to collaborate with scientists in the water industry to try to get the device on the market.
More recently, Rao has developed a phone and Web tool named Kindly, which uses artificial intelligence technology to detect possible early signs of cyberbullying(网络欺凌). “You type in a word or phrase, and it’s able to pick it up if it’s bullying, and it gives you the option to edit it or send it the way it is,” Rao tells Time. “The goal is not to punish. As a teenager, I know teenagers tend to lash out sometimes. Instead, it gives you the chance to rethink what you’re saying so that you know what to do next time around.”

Rao was chosen as Kid of the Year because of the way she has followed up her technical work with efforts to get other young people to work on solving the problems they see. “I don’t look like your typical scientist. Everything I see on TV is that it’s an older, usually white man as a scientist,” she told Time. “My goal has really shifted not only from creating my own devices to solve the world’s problems, but inspiring others to do the same as well. Because, from personal experience, it’s not easy when you don’t see anyone else like you. So I really want to put out that message: If I can do it, you can do it, and anyone can do it.”


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1.Gitanjali Rao created the device “Tehys” to _________.

A respond to water crisis

B get the device on the market

C detect lead in water

D win public praise

解析：选C。参考答案：C。考查细节理解。根据第二段可知，A是Rao的行为，并不是目的；B是她的希望；D是做这件事的结果，故选C。

2.What does Rao expect of the device “Tehys”?

A It’ll be environment-friendly.

B It’ll reach consumers one day.

C It’ll use artificial intelligence technology.

D It’ll help clean drinking water.

解析：选B。参考答案：B。考查细节理解。根据第二段最后一句She went on to collaborate with scientists in the water industry to try to get the device on the market.可知她(饶)希望能将该设备推向市场，故选B。

3.What does the underlined phrase “lash out” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A Punishing others.

B Spelling mistakenly.

C Hurting someone.

D Rethinking things.

解析：选C。参考答案：C。考查词义猜测。根据第三段“如果你打的字或短语带有欺凌性，系统就会挑选出并供你选择是否发送”，bullying“恃强欺弱、欺凌”，由此可推测出Rao认为青少年倾向于具有“欺凌性”，故选C。

4.What is the best title for the text?

A Gitanjali Rao’s Dream.

B A Device to Test for Lead in Water.

C Ways of Cyberbullying.

D Time’s Kid of the Year for 2020.

解析：选D。参考答案：D。考查主旨大意。根据全文内容尤其是首尾两段大意可知，全文围绕2020《时代》“年度儿童”展开，提到了Rao的希望和她发明的两个设备，ABC属于以偏概全，故选D。