Last summer, a teacher from Hangzhou named Yu Miaomiao travelled to the source of the Yangtze River and became a volunteer at a conservation station. She stayed for about a month, at an altitude of 4,540 metres. In the daytime she walked outdoors, picked up and sorted rubbish, measured air temperature and recorded wild animals. At night she still had to type hundreds of groups of data into an Excel spreadsheet by hand.
One thing surprised her. AI tools have already entered daily work in big cities, yet the people guarding one of China’s most important rivers were still copying numbers one by one. The job was slow, tiring and easy to get wrong. She began to ask a simple question: could technology take some of this weight off their shoulders?
After she returned to Hangzhou, she told friends in the local tech community about the problem. More than one hundred engineers at Alibaba answered her call. Within one month, they worked together outside office hours and built a new system for ecological monitoring that can recognize animals such as the Tibetan fox from photos. The system also replaces the endless spreadsheet work with automatic records.
On 15 September, her story spread widely online and touched many readers. She received a public welfare award of 10,000 yuan. She decided at once to give all the money to the conservation group, so that the system could be upgraded and more infrared cameras could be bought for the station.
The story carries a simple message. A volunteer saw a real problem on the ground, engineers offered their skills for free, and the two sides met in the middle. Code is not only for business products. Sometimes it also guards snow mountains and rivers, and the people who look after them.
Words to know:
- volunteer (志愿者)
- conservation (保护，保育)
- altitude (海拔)
- sort (把……分类)
- spreadsheet (电子表格)
- monitoring (监测)
- recognize (识别，辨认)
- upgrade (升级，提升)
长难句拆解 · 定语从句 + so that 目的状语从句
例句：Within one month, they worked together outside office hours and built a new system for ecological monitoring that can recognize animals such as the Tibetan fox from photos.
主干是 they worked together outside office hours and built a new system（两个并列谓语 worked 和 built，用 and 连接）。句首的 Within one month 是时间状语，outside office hours 说明他们是在业余时间做的。
that can recognize animals such as the Tibetan fox from photos 是定语从句，修饰前面的 a new system，而不是修饰最近的 monitoring——判断依据是语义：能识别动物的是系统，不是监测。这种「从句与先行词被介词短语隔开」的结构在雅思阅读里很常见，遇到时先问一句「这个从句在说谁」。
直译：一个月内，他们利用业余时间协作，做出了一套新的生态监测系统，它能从照片中识别藏狐等动物。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
下面 6 组替换都出自本文，右侧是对应的替换说法，点开核对。
- travelled to → went to / made a trip to（表示「前往」，travelled 更强调路途）
- take some of this weight off their shoulders → reduce their burden（比喻义与直白说法互换）
- answered her call → responded to her request（表示「回应求助」）
- recognize animals → identify animals / tell animals apart（识别类动词的多种说法）
- replaces … with → takes the place of … by using（replace A with B 的改写）
- guards snow mountains and rivers → protects snow mountains and rivers（guard 与 protect 常可互换）
阅读自测 · 3 题
三道题分别对应细节、定位与词义，先不看答案。
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- 判断正误（T / F / NG）：Yu Miaomiao worked at the conservation station for more than three months.
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- 简答：What did Yu Miaomiao have to do at night during her time as a volunteer?
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- 选词填空：The new system can ______ animals such as the Tibetan fox from photos.（A. recognize B. measure C. replace）
参考答案与解析
每题给出答案与判断依据，注意最后提到的干扰项套路。
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- F（错误）。原文写 She stayed for about a month，不到三个月。这是典型的「偷换时间」干扰项：把 about a month 换成 more than three months，数字方向被改掉，扫读时最容易漏看。
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- She had to type hundreds of groups of data into an Excel spreadsheet by hand. 依据在第一段最后一句，属于直接定位题，不必自己发挥。
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- A. recognize。原文写 the system can recognize animals such as the Tibetan fox from photos。measure 和 replace 都在文中出现过（measured air temperature / replaces the endless spreadsheet work），属于「文中出现过就选」的陷阱，判断时要看搭配是否成立。
中文译文
去年夏天，杭州教师于淼淼前往长江源头，成为长江源水生态环境保护站的一名志愿者。她在那里待了大约一个月，海拔 4540 米。白天她在野外奔走，捡拾并分类垃圾、测量气温、观测记录野生动物；到了晚上，她还得把上百组数据手动录入 Excel 表格。
有一件事让她很意外。AI 工具早已进入大城市的日常工作，可守护着中国最重要河流之一的人，还在一个一个地抄数字。这项工作又慢又累，还容易出错。她开始想一个简单的问题：技术能不能替他们卸下一部分重量？
回到杭州后，她把这个问题告诉了身边技术圈的朋友。上百名阿里巴巴工程师响应了她的求助。一个月内，他们利用业余时间协作，做出一套新的生态监测系统，能从照片里识别藏狐等动物。这套系统还用自动记录取代了没完没了的表格工作。
9 月 15 日，她的故事在网上广泛传播，打动了许多读者。她获得了一份 1 万元的天天正能量公益奖金。她当即决定把奖金全部捐给保护组织，用来升级这套系统，并为保护站添置更多红外相机。
这个故事传递的道理很简单。一位志愿者在地面上看到了真实的问题，一群工程师无偿拿出自己的技能，双方在中间相遇。代码不只服务于商业产品，有时候，它也在守护雪山与江河，以及守护它们的人。