共用题干
第三篇
Archive Gallery: The Best of Bionics（仿生学）
Humans might be the most highly-evolved species on the planet,but most animals possess skills we can
only dream of having.Imagine how much electricity we could save if we could see in the dark the way cats
do. Imagine leaping from tree to tree like a monkey.Giraffes（长颈鹿）,which are otherwise calm and good-
natured,sleep only 4.6 hours a day.
We realized a long,long time ago that nature provides the best blueprint（蓝图）for invention.We've
borrowed canals from beavers（河狸）and reflectors from cat's eyes.Although the words "bionics" became
popular only after the 1960s,history shows that nature has always provided ideas on solving everyday prob-
lems. Our archives（档案）don't go back to the time of Leonardo da Vinci and his bird-like flying machines,
but we can take you to the late 19th century,where we applied those same principles for building our first
practical airplanes.
To prepare for their flight at Kitty Hawk,the Wright brothers studied the movements of pigeons to figure
out how they stayed high up when they were heavier than air. Their success inspired scores of successors to
improve on the airplane by studying various aspects of nature,One of Orville Wright’、pupils caught and
stuffed seagulls to examine their wingspan.Meanwhile,two French inventors examined spinning sycamore（美
国梧桐）seeds in an effort to apply those same motions,reversed,to a helicopter.
Some examples are more obvious than others.The outside of the airplane designed by the Wright
brothers looks like a minimalistic（简单抽象艺术）structure. On the other hand , Barney Connett ' s fish
submarine（潜水艇）actually looks like a fish.
Some bio-inspired concepts have yet to be invented.In the 1960s，the US Army commissioned several
university professors to conduct research on the motor skills of animals in hope of applying those same abili-
ties to tanks. Tanks that run like horses or jump like grasshoppers（蚂昨）一sounds shocking,doesn't it?
But imagine how life would change if we could achieve that.
What happened after the Wright brothers' success?
A:People carried out a systematic study on pigeons.
B:People could fly their airplanes for fun.
C:People kept their airplanes at a French gallery.
D:People studied more animals and plants to develop the airplane.