1.
Love the way you walk
Listen carefully to the footsteps in the family home, and you can probably work out who is walking about. The features most commonly used to identify people are faces, voices and fingerprints. But the way they walk is also a giveaway.白滚滚真身
张曼玉男朋友 Researchers have used video cameras and computers to analyze people’s gaits, and are now quite good at it. But translating such knowledge into a practical identification system can be tricky. Cameras are often visible, are difficult to set up, require good lighting and may have their view blocked by other people. A team led by Dr. Ozanyan and Dr. Scully have been looking for a better way to recognize gait. Their answer: pressure-sensitive mats.
Such mats are nothing new. They have been part of security systems. But Ozanyan and
Scully use a complicated version that can record the amount of pressure applied in different places as someone walks across it. These measurements form a pattern unique to the walker. The researchers turned to an artificial-intelligence system to recognize such patterns, and it seemed to work. In a study in 2018, they tested the system on a database of footsteps of 127 people. They found its error rate in identifying who was who was a mere 0.7%. And Scully says even without a database of footsteps to work with, the system can determine someone’s sex and, with reasonable accuracy, a subject’s age.
One application of the mat-based gait-recognition system might be in health care, particularly for the elderly. A mat placed in a nursing home or an old person’s own residence could monitor changes in an individual’s gait that indicates certain illnesses. That would provide early warning of someone being at greater risk of falling over.
Gait analysis might also be used as a security measure in the workplace, monitoring access to restricted areas, such as parts of military bases, server farms or laboratories dealing with dangerous materials.
Perhaps the most interesting use of the mats, though, would be in public places, such as airports. For that to work, the footsteps of those to be recognized would need to have been stored in a database, which would be harder to arrange than the collection of photographs and fingerprints that existing airport security systems rely on. Many aircrew or preregistered frequent flyers would welcome anything that speeded up one of the most tiresome parts of modern travel.
1.What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 2?
A. Research equipment. B. Research findings.
C. Research assumption. D. Research background.
2.According to Paragraph 3, the mat is used to _______.
A. collect data B. ensure safety C. determine age D. analyse pressure
3.The gait-recognition system might be applied to _____.
A. monitor security work progress B. detect potential health problems没房没车木有钻戒
C. keep track of travelling frequency D. warn passengers of possible dangers
4.The main purpose of the passage is to _____.
池子恋上王思聪前女友?A. compare and educate B. examine and assess
C. discuss and persuade D. explain and inform
2. Few items make more of a fashion statement than wearing feathers. In Europe, the trend first came to prominence(引人注目) during the 16th century Renaissance (文艺复兴) period, symbolizing wealth and power. Similarly, nowadays, the feather industry is seen as an expensive decoration for designer items, including handbags and boots.
However, the Native American culture falls on the opposite end, viewing feathers as sacred parts of their civilization.
Native American is the blanket item for a member of any of the local people of North, C
entral and South America, many of whom were wiped out by diseases brought over by European colonists. Today, their traditional culture survives to an extent in specific Native American Reserves around the US and Canada, aiming to protect the remaining tribes.
Though each tribe has its own culture, feathers are widely seen as a symbol of bravery and are often integrated into the iconic headdress or warbonnet(战冠) designs worm by the most influential and powerful members of a tribe.
As a key symbol for a tribe, a warbonnet should reflect a tribe's home. As such, they are usually made up of feathers mainly from the local area, which results in widely differing designs around the US.
Of these feathers, an eagle feather is the most highly valued. Within the Native American culture, eagles are regarded for their strength and bravery, meaning anyone who possesses or wears its feathers should also demonstrate these qualities.
Despite this spiritual significance, many not associated with the culture continue to wea
r headdresses with artificial feathers at music festivals and sporting events. Dennis Zotigh, Cultural Specialist, National Museum of the American Indian, said: “This is analogous to casually wearing a purple heart (a US military medal for bravery) that was not earned.”
Indeed, the feather is such a meaningful and spiritual part of Native American culture. So maybe the next time we find ourselves buying a shirt with a feather design or colorful feather earrings, we can appreciate the feather's symbolic history.
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