2020-2021学年度第39期总第831期
Detect earthquakes (P3)
石家庄市鹿泉区第一中学  刘文娟

Read for structure and predict
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Read the lines
Read the text carefully and find key words and information in each paragraph and take some notes.

① Vivien He, 17, a Southern California high school student, has built a low-cost seismometer device that delivers earthquake early warnings for homes and businesses. Costing less than $100 (about 650 yuan), her seismometer could someday be a regular household safety device akin to a smart smoke detector, He said.
② About the size of a Rubik’s cube, the seismometer has a sleek, consumer-ready look. The device’s geophone detects incoming ground motion, while onboard hardware and software translate the geophone‘s electrical signals into a digital waveform. When earthquakes are stronger than the alert threshold set by the user, the device can sound the onboard alarm for on-site warning, send a text message to local subscribers of the regional warning service, and can be controlled from a smartphone.
③ He got the idea for the seismometer after reading a paper about the unusual seismic "quiet" that descended over the Earth. She then began reading about earthquake early warning and building a giant three-ring binder of highlighted papers. The research gave He the confidence that she could build a low-cost device for earthquake early warning.
④ After that, it was time to figure out the components, the programming and the design. He researched, designed, built, and tested the entire device over a summer and fall spent. Her home lab occupies a corner of a bedroom with "bedside drawers full of little wires and extra geophones and components." she said.  
⑤ The device evolved over time as He’s skills improved. Along with its alert and notification functions, the final design contains a data card that can hold up to four years' worth of standard earthquake waveform files that can also be used for seismological studies.
⑥ He plugged in her first seismometer one night after midnight last September. "And then I went to sleep, and then the next day I woke up and there had been an earthquake in Los Angeles and I was like, oh, it's fate!" She compared the seismic signal captured by her device to one produced by a U.S. Geological Survey station near her house, "and the waveform looked the same," she recalled.
⑦ The seismometer has since successfully detected several recent earthquakes in Southern California. He has set up a nonprofit, Melior Earth, to help her get the device to those who need an inexpensive earthquake early warning system. "I do have hopes that I would be able to provide this to lower-income families and neighborhoods with less earthquake-proof infrastructure," she said.

Read between the lines
What can we infer from these sentences?
•1) Costing less than $100 (about 650 yuan), her seismometer could someday be a regular household safety device akin to a smart smoke detector.

convenient; proper size

•2) He got the idea for the seismometer after reading a paper about the unusual seismic "quiet" that descended over the Earth. She then began reading about earthquake early warning and building a giant three-ring binder of highlighted papers.

hard to sense; strong learning ability

•3) He plugged in her first seismometer one night after midnight last September. "And then I went to sleep, and then the next day I woke up and there had been an earthquake in Los Angeles and I was like, oh, it's fate!"

successful; more than excited; thankful

•4) He has set up a nonprofit, Melior Earth, to help her get the device to those who need an inexpensive earthquake early warning system. "I do have hopes that I would be able to provide this to lower-income families and neighborhoods with less earthquake-proof infrastructure," she said.

selfless; Consumer-ready /friendly; devoted
Assignment
Please write a review of He’s experience.
For further information, please click the links below:
https://sciencestruck.com/how-are-earthquakes-detected
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/130927-earthquake-early-warning-system-earth-science