雅思閱讀材料大集合：日本推出地震手機預警服務
要考好雅思的閱讀部分，肯定需要多加練習。爲了方便大家備考，下面小編給大家帶來雅思閱讀材料大集合：日本推出地震手機預警服務。
In what has become a too-familiar experience in Tokyo, a crowded subway train screeches to a sudden halt. From around the car, mobile phones start to ring。
The sound is an emergency earthquake warning from an iPhone app that lets subscribers know when the quake will come, where the epicenter will be located and how strong the shaking will be. Often, seconds after the phone rings, the shaking starts。
Following the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which have left nearly 28,000 dead and missing, Japan has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks of varying strengths。
The app called Yure Kuru, or shaking coming, was developed by RC Solution Co, a Tokyo-based firm that specializes in providing disaster-related information services, such as relaying warnings or letting people confirm the safety of friends and family。
"Emergency quake warnings began several years ago, but the equipment to receive them was quite expensive," said Akira Kuriyama, president of RC Solution。
"We wondered if there wasn't a cheaper and easier way to provide this service, and we thought of smartphones."
The app, based on technology originally developed by Japan's Meteorological Agency and railway firms, was released in November 2010.
When the alarm is triggered, a window comes up on the phone screen saying that in approximately 10 seconds, there will be a quake of a certain strength. Users can decide for themselves at what strength of quake the phone will ring。
Prior to March 11, there were 100,000 subscribers, Kuriyama said. But now there are at least 1.5 million, and the company has stopped counting。
The app is symbolized by a cartoon catfish, which, according to Japanese folk belief, are said to warn of quakes。
"We're very happy to be of service," Kuriyama said. "Among other things, there still isn't a lot of understanding about the quake warning. If our app helps more people learn about this, and increases their safety, we'll be pleased."
乘坐擁擠的地鐵時發生地震在東京是再尋常不過的事情了。在地鐵急剎車時，車廂內各個角落的手機開始響起來。
這一響聲是iPhone的一款應用程序發出的緊急地震警報，讓用戶知道地震何時會來臨，震中在哪個位置，以及地震強度有多大。通常，手機響後幾秒鐘，地震就會開始。
在3月11日發生強震和海嘯之後，日本已發生數百次強度各異的餘震。這次強震和海嘯已導致近2.8萬人死亡或失蹤。
這款應用程序名爲Yure Kuru(地震來了)，是由一家專門提供災害信息服務的日本公司RC Solution研發的。該公司提供轉發警報或幫助確認親友的安全等服務。
RC Solution的總裁慄山明說：“緊急地震警報在幾年前就有了，但是接收警報的設備相當昂貴。”
“我們想知道是否有更廉價、更容易的方式來提供這一服務，於是我們想到了智能手機。”
這一應用程序基於日本氣象廳和鐵路公司研發的技術，於2010年11月發佈。
在警報響起時，手機屏幕上會彈出一個窗口，上面的文字顯示說，大約在10秒後，會發生一定級別強度的地震。用戶可以自行設定在發生何種強度的地震時手機會響起。
慄山說，在3月11日前，用戶數爲10萬，而現在至少有150萬用戶。由於用戶太多，公司已經停止計算用戶數。
這一應用程序的標誌是一條卡通鮎魚。據日本民間的說法，鮎魚可以預報地震。
慄山說：“我們很高興能對大家有所幫助。另外，人們在地震預警方面瞭解得並不多。如果我們的應用程序能夠讓更多的人對此有所瞭解，並讓人們更安全，我們會很高興。”
雅思閱讀材料大集合：一次性水溶婚紗時尚且環保
The age old dilemma about what brides should do with their wedding dress once their honeymoon is over appears to have been solved by scientists。
British researchers have developed an environmentally friendly garment that can simply be dissolved in water after being worn。
Fashion and engineering students at Sheffield Hallam University developed the wedding dress, which can be transformed into five new fashion pieces。
The dress has polyvinyl alcohol, a biodegradable substance that is used in laundry bags and washing detergents, knitted into the fabric. This enables it to be dissolved into water without harming the environment。
Their creation is to be featured in an forthcoming exhibition, titled, a sustainable marriage, which will be shown at the university later this month。
But the payoff for the bride wearing this dress would be that they would need to wear an umbrella to their nuptials if rain was likely to spoil their big day. The design might not be to everyone’s fancy either。
"The students wanted to challenge the notion that a wedding dress should only be used once and aimed to explore modern society's attitudes towards throwaway fashion,” said Jane Blohm, a fashion lecturer。
“The project is a union between art and technology which explores the possibilities of using alternative materials for our clothing。
“The wedding gown is perhaps one of the most symbolic garments in (a woman's) wardrobe and represents the challenges of ‘throwaway fashion’."
She added: “In order to reduce fashion's impact on the environment, the fashion industry must begin to challenge conventional attitudes and practices。”
A survey in 2008 found the average cost of a wedding was now more than ?20,000, compared with ?14,643 five years ago。
The average price of a wedding dress alone was ?997.
In what has become a too-familiar experience in Tokyo, a crowded subway train screeches to a sudden halt. From around the car, mobile phones start to ring。
The sound is an emergency earthquake warning from an iPhone app that lets subscribers know when the quake will come, where the epicenter will be located and how strong the shaking will be. Often, seconds after the phone rings, the shaking starts。
Following the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which have left nearly 28,000 dead and missing, Japan has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks of varying strengths。
The app called Yure Kuru, or shaking coming, was developed by RC Solution Co, a Tokyo-based firm that specializes in providing disaster-related information services, such as relaying warnings or letting people confirm the safety of friends and family。
"Emergency quake warnings began several years ago, but the equipment to receive them was quite expensive," said Akira Kuriyama, president of RC Solution。
"We wondered if there wasn't a cheaper and easier way to provide this service, and we thought of smartphones."
The app, based on technology originally developed by Japan's Meteorological Agency and railway firms, was released in November 2010.
When the alarm is triggered, a window comes up on the phone screen saying that in approximately 10 seconds, there will be a quake of a certain strength. Users can decide for themselves at what strength of quake the phone will ring。
Prior to March 11, there were 100,000 subscribers, Kuriyama said. But now there are at least 1.5 million, and the company has stopped counting。
The app is symbolized by a cartoon catfish, which, according to Japanese folk belief, are said to warn of quakes。
"We're very happy to be of service," Kuriyama said. "Among other things, there still isn't a lot of understanding about the quake warning. If our app helps more people learn about this, and increases their safety, we'll be pleased."
乘坐擁擠的地鐵時發生地震在東京是再尋常不過的事情了。在地鐵急剎車時，車廂內各個角落的手機開始響起來。
這一響聲是iPhone的一款應用程序發出的緊急地震警報，讓用戶知道地震何時會來臨，震中在哪個位置，以及地震強度有多大。通常，手機響後幾秒鐘，地震就會開始。
在3月11日發生強震和海嘯之後，日本已發生數百次強度各異的餘震。這次強震和海嘯已導致近2.8萬人死亡或失蹤。
這款應用程序名爲Yure Kuru(地震來了)，是由一家專門提供災害信息服務的日本公司RC Solution研發的。該公司提供轉發警報或幫助確認親友的安全等服務。
RC Solution的總裁慄山明說：“緊急地震警報在幾年前就有了，但是接收警報的設備相當昂貴。”
“我們想知道是否有更廉價、更容易的方式來提供這一服務，於是我們想到了智能手機。”
這一應用程序基於日本氣象廳和鐵路公司研發的技術，於2010年11月發佈。
在警報響起時，手機屏幕上會彈出一個窗口，上面的文字顯示說，大約在10秒後，會發生一定級別強度的地震。用戶可以自行設定在發生何種強度的地震時手機會響起。
慄山說，在3月11日前，用戶數爲10萬，而現在至少有150萬用戶。由於用戶太多，公司已經停止計算用戶數。
這一應用程序的標誌是一條卡通鮎魚。據日本民間的說法，鮎魚可以預報地震。
慄山說：“我們很高興能對大家有所幫助。另外，人們在地震預警方面瞭解得並不多。如果我們的應用程序能夠讓更多的人對此有所瞭解，並讓人們更安全，我們會很高興。”
雅思閱讀材料大集合：沙特將建世界大廈高達1600米
A skyscraper called The Kingdom Tower will soon rise in the port city of Jeddah. It will dwarf buildings nearby because it was planned to be the world’s tallest.
被稱爲“帝國大廈”的摩天大樓將屹立於沙特港口城市吉達。該大廈將會使周邊建築相形見絀，因爲這將會是新的世界樓。
To occupy a ground space of 3.5 million square meters and measuring a dizzying 1 mile or 1.6- kilometer high, it will overshadow the Burj Khalifa , the current world’s tallest building in Dubai twice its height of 828-m (2717ft).
帝國大廈總面積將達350萬平方米，高達一英里(1.6千米)。更有甚者，帝國大廈將會比現今位於迪拜的世界樓哈利法塔(828米/2717英尺)高出一倍。
This building will be a hotel, offices, apartments, and shopping centers. It will be able to accommodate 80 thousand inhabitants and one million visitors every year. It is estimated that it will take 12 minutes by elevators to travel to the topmost floor. Plans to start construction of this USD 30 billion structure was already made known by the Saudi Royal Family.
該大廈將會集酒店、寫字樓、公寓與購物中心於一體，總共能容納多達八萬的居民。另外，每年能接待上百萬的遊客。據稱就算是乘坐電梯也要花上12分鐘才能到大廈頂層。這項耗資達300億美元的工程計劃已獲得沙特王室的批准。
