Question

New software is able to analyze exactly how many hairs there are in a patch of skin and could help in testing the effectiveness of baldness(秃头) treatments and depilatory(脱毛的) creams, say Australian researchers.

Researchers from CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences in Sydney report their findings in the November issue of the journal Skin Research and Technology.

The software, developed with a UK company, will make it easier for researchers developing hair removal creams to accurately assess how well they work, says Dr Pascal Vallotton.

"Up to now they were counting the number of hairs that survived after treatment by hand. That's hard work and it's difficult because you may count a hair twice or you may miss it." he said.

The software relies on images captured by a small flatbed scanner(扫描仪) pressed onto the skin. Using a mathematical algorithm(算法), the software then identifies and traces each individual hair based on an understanding of a hair's unique features, such as its relative straightness.

The software is able to distinguish between hairs and other features on the skin such as wounds or moles(痣).

"Our skin irregularities(不规则) make it difficult to say this is a hair or this is a mole," Dr Vallotton said.

Comparison between earlier and later images can also determine if hair is growing quickly or slowly, he says.

Unfortunately, to check the accuracy of the software, the researchers still had to adopt the old-fashioned method of counting hairs, helped by volunteers from neighboring labs who put their skins on the line for science.

"We had 12 volunteers, mostly from neighboring labs, and we acquired images of hair before and after treatment," Dr Vallotton said.

To ensure an accurate count, the individual hairs had to be marked off as they were counted, but after such a laborious process, the researchers were pleased to discover the software results were comparable to the manual(手工的) count.

Dr Vallotton says the software could also be useful in testing the effectiveness of balding(秃头的) treatments and counting or tracing substances other than hairs, that are long and thin and otherwise difficult to image.

 

64. What do we know about the new software?

A. It has replaced human labor completely.           B. It is mainly used to detect hair problems.

C. It can be used for develop new medicine.          D. It can be used to test medical treatments.

65. What plays a key role in counting the number of hairs with the software?

A. A scanner.                                           B. A calculator. 

C. A hair's unique feature.                          D. A mathematical algorithm.

66. What did the 12 volunteers do in the experiment?

A. They counted the hairs by hand.                 B. They divided the hairs into parts.

C. They controlled laborious process.              D. They offered their hair for experiment.

67. Which is the best title of the text?

A. Do you think it is possible to count hairs?       

B. New software makes counting hairs easy.

C. Australians find new treatments for baldness.  

D. New software is found in Britain and Australia.

Answer 1

64. D. 推理判断题。根据文章的第1至3段的内容可知，这种新的软件可用于数某块皮肤上的毛发的数量、还可辅助检验治疗秃头和脱毛霜的效果。因此可判断D的陈述符合文章原文的意思。

65. A. 推理判断题。 根据第五段的内容可知，这种新的软件主要依赖扫描仪在皮肤上拍摄的图像，根据头发的特点使用数学计算方法识别头发，因此扫描仪的作用是至关重要的。

66. D. 细节理解题。根据文章的9至11段可知，为了验证这种新软件的准确性，研究者采用了过时的数头发办法。他们请到12名志愿者参与试验，结果发现软件得到的结果可与人工数头发的结果相似。第九段中的helped by volunteers from neighboring labs who put their skins on the line for science一句表明志愿者提供自己的头发作为实验品。

67. B. 主旨大意题。全文的属于新闻报导，主要介绍澳大利亚和英国的研究者研制出的一种新的软件，它可以分析出某人的头发的数量。因此B项的陈述揭示出了文章的重要内容。