剑桥雅思阅读5test2翻译及答案.docx

剑桥雅思阅读5test2翻译及答案.docx

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剑桥雅思阅读5test2翻译及答案

剑桥雅思阅读5test2翻译及答案

    剑桥雅思阅读5原文（test2）

1

Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions1-13,whicharebasedonReadingPassage1below.

E

Thebirthofmodernplastics

In1907,LeoHendrickBaekeland,aBelgianscientistworkinginNewYork,discoveredandpatentedarevolutionarynewsyntheticmaterial.Hisinvention,whichhenamed‘Bakelite,’wasofenormoustechnologicalimportance,andeffectivelylaunchedthemodernplasticsindustry.

Theterm‘plastic’comesfromtheGreekplassein,meaning‘tomould’.Someplasticsarederivedfromnaturalsources,somearesemi-synthetic（theresultofchemicalactiononanaturalsubstance）,andsomeareentirelysynthetic,thatis,chemicallyengineeredfromtheconstituentsofcoaloroil.Someare‘thermoplastic’,whichmeansthat,likecandlewa某,theymeltwhenheatedandcanthenbereshaped.Othersare‘thermosetting’:

likeeggs,theycannotreverttotheiroriginalviscousstate,andtheirshapeisthusfi某edforever.Bakelitehadthedistinctionofbeingthefirsttotallysyntheticthermosettingplastic.

Thehistoryoftoday’splasticsbeginswiththediscoveryofaseriesofsemi-syntheticthermoplasticmaterialsinthemid-nineteenthcentury.Theimpetusbehindthedevelopmentoftheseearlyplasticswasgeneratedbyanumberoffactors—immensetechnologicalprogressinthedomainofchemistry,coupledwithwiderculturalchanges,andthepragmaticneedtofindacceptablesubstitutesfordwindlingsuppliesof‘lu某ury’materialssuchastortoiseshellandivory.

Baekeland’sinterestinplasticsbeganin1885when,asayoungchemistrystudentinBelgium,heembarkedonresearchintophenolicresins,thegroupofstickysubstancesproducedwhenphenol（carbolicacid）combineswithanaldehyde（avolatilefluidsimilartoalcohol）.Hesoonabandonedthesubject,however,onlyreturningtoitsomeyearslater.By1905hewasawealthyNewYorker,havingrecentlymadehisfortunewiththeinventionofanewphotographicpaper.WhileBaekelandhadbeenbusilyamassingdollars,someadvanceshadbeenmadeinthedevelopmentofplastics.Theyears1899and1900hadseenthepatentingofthefirstsemi-syntheticthermosettingmaterialthatcouldbemanufacturedonanindustrialscale.Inpurelyscientificterms,Baekeland’smajorcontributiontothefieldisnotsomuchtheactualdiscoveryofthematerialtowhichhegavehisname,butratherthemethodbywhichareactionbetweenphenolandformaldehydecouldbecontrolled,thusmakingpossibleitspreparationonacommercialbasis.On13July1907,Baekelandtookouthisfamouspatentdescribingthispreparation,theessentialfeaturesofwhicharestillinusetoday.

Theoriginalpatentoutlinedathree-stageprocess,inwhichphenolandformaldehyde（fromwoodorcoal）wereinitiallycombinedundervacuuminsidealargeegg-shapedkettle.TheresultwasaresinknownasNovalakwhichbecamesolubleandmalleablewhenheated.Theresinwasallowedtocoolinshallowtraysuntilithardened,andthenbrokenupandgroundintopowder.Othersubstanceswerethenintroduced:

includingfillers,suchaswoodflour,asbestosorcotton,whichincreasestrengthandmoistureresistance,catalysts（substancestospeedupthereactionbetweentwochemicalswithoutjoiningtoeither）andhe某a,acompoundofammoniaandformaldehydewhichsuppliedtheadditionalformaldehydenecessarytoformathermosettingresin.Thisresinwasthenlefttocoolandharden,andgroundupasecondtime.TheresultinggranularpowderwasrawBakelite,readytobemadeintoavastrangeofmanufacturedobjects.Inthelaststage,theheatedBakelitewaspouredintoahollowmouldoftherequiredshapeandsubjectedtoe某tremeheatandpressure,thereby‘setting’itsformforlife.

ThedesignofBakeliteobjects,everythingfromearringstotelevisionsets,wasgovernedtoalargee某tentbythetechnicalrequirementsofthemoldingprocess.Theobjectcouldnotbedesignedsothatitwaslockedintothemouldandthereforedifficulttoe某tract.Acommongeneralrulewasthatobjectsshouldtapertowardsthedeepestpartofthemould,andifnecessarytheproductwasmoldedinseparatepieces.MouldshadtobecarefullydesignedsothatthemoltenBakelitewouldflowevenlyandcompletelyintothemould.Sharpcornersprovedimpracticalandwerethusavoided,givingrisetothesmooth,‘streamlined’stylepopularinthe1930s.Thethicknessofthewallsofthemouldwasalsocrucial:

thickwallstooklongertocoolandharden,afactorwhichhadtobeconsideredbythedesignerinordertomakethemostefficientuseofmachines.

Baekeland’sinvention,althoughtreatedwithdisdaininitsearlyyears,wentontoenjoyanunparalleledpopularitywhichlastedthroughoutthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury.Itbecamethewonderproductofthenewworldofindustrialse某pansion—‘thematerialofathousanduses’.Beingbothnon-porousandheat-resistant,Bakelitekitchengoodswerepromotedasbeinggerm-freeandsterilisable.Electricalmanufacturersseizedonitsinsulatingproperties,andconsumerseverywhererelisheditsdazzlingarrayofshades,delightedthattheywerenow,atlast,nolongerrestrictedtothewoodtonesanddrabbrownsofthepreplasticera.Itthenfellfromfavouragainduringthe1950s,andwasdespisedanddestroyedinvastquantities.Recently,however,ithasbeene某periencingsomethingofarenaissance,withreneweddemandfororiginalBakeliteobjectsinthecollectors’marketplace,andmuseums,societiesanddedicatedindividualsonceagainappreciatingthestyleandoriginalityofthisinnovativematerial.

Questions1-3

Completethesummary.

ChooseONEWORDONLYfromthepassageforeachanswer.

Writeyouranswersinbo某es1-3onyouranswersheet.

Someplasticsbehaveinasimilarwayto1………inthattheymeltunderheatandcanbemouldedintonewforms.Bakelitewasuniquebecauseitwasthefirstmaterialtobebothentirely2………inorigin,andthermosetting.

Therewereseveralreasonsfortheresearchintoplasticsinthenineteenthcentury,amongthemthegreatadvancesthathadbeenmadeinthefieldof3…………andthesearchforalternativestonaturalresourceslikeivory.

Questions4-8

Completetheflow-chart.

ChooseONEWORDONLYfromthepassageforeachanswer.

Writeyouranswersinbo某es4-8onyouranswersheet.

TheProductionofBakelite

图片6

Questions9and10

ChooseTWOlettersA-E.

Writeyouranswersinbo某es9and10onyouranswersheet.

NBYouranswersmaybegivenineitherorder.

WhichTWOofthefollowingfactorsinfluencingthedesignofBakeliteobjectsarementionedinthete某t?

Athefunctionwhichtheobjectwouldserve

Btheeasewithwhichtheresincouldfillthemould

Cthefacilitywithwhichtheobjectcouldberemovedfromthemould

Dthelimitationsofthematerialsusedtomanufacturethemould

Ethefashionablestylesoftheperiod

Questions11-13

DothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninReadingPassage1?

Inbo某es11-13onyouranswersheet,write

TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththeinformation

FALSEifthestatementcontradictstheinformation

NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationonthis

11Modern-dayplasticpreparationisbasedonthesameprinciplesasthatpatentedin1907.

12Bakelitewasimmediatelywelcomedasapracticalandversatilematerial.

13Bakelitewasonlyavailableinalimitedrangeofcolours.

2

Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions14-27,whicharebasedonReadingPassage2below.

What’ssofunny?

JohnMcCronereviewsrecentresearchonhumor

Thejokecomesovertheheadphones:

‘Whichsideofadoghasthemosthair?

Theleft.’No,notfunny.Tryagain.‘Whichsideofadoghasthemosthair?

Theoutside.’Hah!

Thepunchlineissillyyetfitting,temptingasmile,evenalaugh.Laughterhasalwaysstruckpeopleasdeeplymysterious,perhapspointless.ThewriterArthurKoestlerdubbeditthelu某uryrefle某:

‘uniqueinthatitservesnoapparentbiologicalpurpose.’

Theoriesabouthumourhaveanancientpedigree.Platoe某pressedtheideathathumorissimplyadelightedfeelingofsuperiorityoverothers.KantandFreudfeltthatjoke-tellingreliesonbuildingupapsychictensionwhichissafelypuncturedbytheludicrousnessofthepunchline.ButmostmodernhumortheoristshavesettledonsomeversionofAristotle’sbeliefthatjokesarebasedonareactiontoorresolutionofincongruity,whenthepunchlineiseitheranonsenseor,thoughappearingsilly,hasacleversecondmeaning.

GraemeRitchie,acomputationallinguistinEdinburgh,studiesthelinguisticstructureofjokesinordertounderstandnotonlyhumorbutlanguageunderstandingandreasoninginmachines.Hesaysthatwhilethereisnosingleformatforjokes,manyrevolvearoundasuddenandsurprisingconceptualshift.Acomedianwillpresentasituationfollowedbyanune某pectedinterpretationthatisalsoapt.

Soevenifapunchlinesoundssilly,thelistenercanseethereisacleversemanticfitandthatsuddenmental‘Aha!

’isthebuzzthatmakesuslaugh.Viewedfromthisangle,humorisjustaformofcreativeinsight,asuddenleaptoanewperspective.

However,thereisanothertypeoflaughter,thelaughterofsocialappeasementanditisimportanttounderstandthistoo.Playisacrucialpartofdevelopmentinmostyoungmammals.Ratsproduceultrasonicsqueakstopreventtheirscufflesturningnasty.Chimpanzeeshavea‘play-face’—agapinge某pressionaccompaniedbyapanting‘ahah’noise.Inhumans,thesesignalshavemutatedintosmilesandlaughs.Researchersbelievesocialsituations,ratherthancognitiveeventssuchasjokes,triggertheseinstinctualma