2021-2022学年度高一版第29期总第823期

Picking out monkeys (P6)
太原市外国语学校  王丽媛

I. Lead-in 
Is it possible to recognize one monkey among a number of monkeys? 
Can each monkey be distinguished among a great number of them? 
 

Facial recognition technology can help. 
Have you used facial recognition technology before? When and why? 

II. While-reading 
Read the text carefully and answer the following questions. 
1.    What may be an easier way for scientists to tell monkeys apart in their studies?
Facial recognition technology. 

2.    How does the facial recognition technology help tell thousands of snub-nosed monkeys apart?
Similar to human facial recognition, the technology that is used to identify monkeys uses their facial features to create a database (数据库) that includes every monkey.
When the system is fully developed, it can be connected with cameras set up in the mountains. The system will automatically recognize the monkeys, name them and analyze their behavior. 

3. What is the advantage of this technology? 
  Mobile phones and portable cameras are used with the monkeys in tests at distances ranging from about 3 to 10 meters, so such a method is non-invasive. 

4. What is the difficulty in applying this technology to monkeys?
  Three factors make it difficult to tell members of a crowd of snub-nosed monkeys apart:
  A. The hairy faces of monkeys make facial recognition more complicated;
  B.  The color of their hair causes them to blend into their environment;
  C. High-quality pictures and videos of monkeys, which are needed to improve the system, are difficult to get, for monkeys do not cooperate with researchers in the same way humans do. 

5. What is the goal of the team working on telling apart members of a crowd of snub-nosed monkeys? 
  The team’s goal is to successfully identify each of the snub-nosed monkeys living on Qinling Mountain. 

III. Reading for details 
Judge whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
(     )  1. In the past, to distinguish animals in the wild, scientists had to make marks on each of them.
(     )  2. This study is being carried out by a team from Germany.
(     )  3. In this study, the recognition success rate is 98 percent.
(     )  4. There are about 3,000 snub-nosed monkeys living on Qinling Mountain in Shaanxi province. 

Key: ＴＦＦＦ

IV. Post-reading 
What can facial recognition technology be used for? Is it good for human beings? Discuss in groups of four, and try to put down the benefits (好处) and drawbacks (弊端) it may bring us. 

V. Homework
What do you think of facial recognition technology? Is it good or bad for us? Why?
Please use some data from your group discussion to support your ideas.