很多雅思考生為了提高雅思閱讀分數，做了很多題目，但成效不大，這時可以想想是不是備考書籍選擇不當造成，建議考生們多多看劍橋雅思真題。上海新航道雅思小編第一時間給大家帶來了雅思劍5Test2閱讀譯文Passage1-BAKELITE The birth of modern plastics。希望可以幫助廣大雅思考生輕松備考雅思。

  雅思劍5Test2閱讀譯文Passage1-BAKELITE The birth of modern plastics

  酚醛塑料——現代塑料的誕生

  In 1907, Leo Hendrick Baekeland, a Belgian scientist working in New York, discovered and patented a revolutionary new synthetic material. His invention, which he named ‘Bakelite,’ was of enormous technological importance, and effectively launched the modern plastics industry.

  1907年，比利時科學家Leo Hendrick Baekeland在紐約工作時發現了一種全新的合成材料，并申請了專利。他將自己的發明稱作“酚醛塑料”，他的這一發明在技術上起到了極其重要的作用，并有效地催生了現代塑料業。

  The term ‘plastic’ comes from the Greek plassein, meaning ‘to mould’. Some plastics are derived from natural sources, some are semi-synthetic (the result of chemical action on a natural substance), and some are entirely synthetic, that is, chemically engineered from the constituents of coal or oil. Some are ‘thermoplastic’, which means that, like candlewax, they melt when heated and can then be reshaped. Others are ‘thermosetting’: like eggs, they cannot revert to their original viscous state, and their shape is thus fixed for ever. Bakelite had the distinction of being the first totally synthetic thermosetting plastic.

  “塑料(plastic) ”這一術語原于希臘詞plassein，意思就是“塑造”。某些塑料源自天然材料，某些塑料是半人工合成塑料，即由天然材料發生化學反應形成的。還有的塑料是完全由人工合成的，也就是通過煤或布油的成分發生化學反應形成的。有些塑料是熱塑性塑料，即像贈燭一樣，受熱后形狀可以重塑。有些塑枳隄熱固性塑料，就像雞蛋一樣，受熱后無法再回到原來的黏滯狀態，是永久定型的。酚醛塑料是第一種完全由人工合成的熱固性塑料。

  The history of today’s plastics begins with the discovery of a series of semi-synthetic thermoplastic materials in the mid-nineteenth century. The impetus behind the development of these early plastics was generated by a number of factors — immense technological progress in the domain of chemistry, coupled with wider cultural changes, and the pragmatic need to find acceptable substitutes for dwindling supplies of ‘luxury’ materials such as tortoiseshell and ivory.

  當代塑料的歷史源于19世紀中期對一系列半人工合成的熱塑材料的發現。早期研制這些塑料材料有多個動因：化學領域的巨大的技術進步，文化觀念的巨大轉變，以及等找合適的材料代替供應量日益減少的奢侈原料(如玳瑁殼和象牙)的實際需要。

  Baekeland’s interest in plastics began in 1885 when, as a young chemistry student in Belgium, he embarked on research into phenolic resins, the group of sticky substances produced when phenol (carbolic acid) combines with an aldehyde (a volatile fluid similar to alcohol). He soon abandoned the subject, however, only returning to it some years later. By 1905 he was a wealthy New Yorker, having recently made his fortune with the invention of a new photographic paper. While Baekeland had been busily amassing dollars, some advances had been made in the development of plastics. The years 1899 and 1900 had seen the patenting of the first semi-synthetic thermosetting material that could be manufactured on an industrial scale. In purely scientific terms, Baekeland’s major contribution to the field is not so much the actual discovery of the material to which he gave his name, but rather the method by which a reaction between phenol and formaldehyde could be controlled, thus making possible its preparation on a commercial basis. On 13 July 1907, Baekeland took out his famous patent describing this preparation, the essential features of which are still in use today.

  Baekeland對塑料的興趣始于1885年，當時他還是比利時的一個年輕的化學專業學生。 Baekeland開始研究的是酚醛樹脂。酚醛樹脂是苯酚(石炭酸)和一種醛(與酒精類似的揮發性液體)結合的粘稠狀的產物。不過，他很快就放棄了這一課題，直到多年以后才重新開始這一研究。到了1905年，由于當時剛發明了一種新型照相紙，他賺了些錢，成為了紐約市的一位富人。當Baekeland忙著賺錢的時候，塑料研究方面取得了幾項重大進展。1899年至1900 年間，第一種可以投入大規模工業生產的半人工合成熱塑材料獲得了專利。從純科學的角度講，Baelcelmid對塑料這一領域的貢獻并不在于他發現了酚醛塑料這種以他名字命名的材料，而是在于控制苯酚和甲醛反應的方法，正是這種控制方法使酚醛塑料可以進行大規模的商業制備。1907年7月13日，Baekeland獲得了描述這一制備過程的專利，其中主要步驟至今仍在使用。

  The original patent outlined a three-stage process, in which phenol and formaldehyde (from wood or coal) were initially combined under vacuum inside a large egg-shaped kettle. The result was a resin known as Novalak which became soluble and malleable when heated. The resin was allowed to cool in shallow trays until it hardened, and then broken up and ground into powder. Other substances were then introduced: including fillers, such as woodflour, asbestos or cotton, which increase strength and moisture resistance, catalysts (substances to speed up the reaction between two chemicals without joining to either) and hexa, a compound of ammonia and formaldehyde which supplied the additional formaldehyde necessary to form a thermosetting resin. This resin was then left to cool and harden, and ground up a second time. The resulting granular powder was raw Bakelite, ready to be made into a vast range of manufactured objects. In the last stage, the heated Bakelite was poured into a hollow mould of the required shape and subjected to extreme heat and pressure, thereby ‘setting’ its form for life.

  Baekeland的這個專利列舉了三個步驟：首先，苯釀和甲醛(從木材或煤中提取)在真空的卵形瓶中進行反應，生成一種叫Novalak的樹脂，這種樹脂可溶且受熱后有延展性。然后使這種樹脂在淺盤中冷卻、變硬，最后破碎，碾成粉末。接著加入其他的物質，包括填料，如木屑、石棉或棉花，以增加強度和防潮，還要加入催化劑(加速兩種化學物質的反應但自身在反應后卻不發生變化的物質)和六元化合物(一種有氨和甲醛的化合物，為生成熱塑性樹脂提供必要的甲醛)。然后將得到的樹脂再次冷卻，使其變硬，重新碾成粉末。由此形成的顆粒狀粉末就是粗質酚醛塑料，可以用來制造一系列的其他物品。在最后一步，將受熱的酚醛塑料澆進所需形狀的中空模具中，施以高溫髙壓，使其永久定型。

  The design of Bakelite objects, everything from earrings to television sets, was governed to a large extent by the technical requirements of the molding process. The object could not be designed so that it was locked into the mould and therefore difficult to extract. A common general rule was that objects should taper towards the deepest part of the mould, and if necessary the product was molded in separate pieces. Moulds had to be carefully designed so that the molten Bakelite would flow evenly and completely into the mould. Sharp corners proved impractical and were thus avoided, giving rise to the smooth, ‘streamlined’ style popular in the 1930s. The thickness of the walls of the mould was also crucial: thick walls took longer to cool and harden, a factor which had to be considered by the designer in order to make the most efficient use of machines.

  酚醛塑料制成品形狀的設計，無論是耳環還是電視機外殼，都在很大程度上取決于塑形過程中的技術要求。設計要避免物品在塑形過程中卡在模具中取不出來。一個常用的規則就是物品越深人模具的部分應越細。若有必要，則將物品分成幾部分，單獨塑形。模具的設計要十分小心，使熔化的酚醛塑料能平均地全部流人模具中。尖角不實用，因此要盡量避免，由此也帶來了20世紀30年代光滑的流線型形狀的風行。模具壁的厚度也很關鍵。模具壁越厚，冷卻硬化需要的時間就越長。為了使(生產)機器能得到高效的使用，模具厚度這個因素是設計者必須加以考慮的。

  Baekeland’s invention, although treated with disdain in its early years, went on to enjoy an unparalleled popularity which lasted throughout the first half of the twentieth century. It became the wonder product of the new world of industrials expansion — ‘the material of a thousand uses’. Being both non-porous and heat-resistant, Bakelite kitchen goods were promoted as being germ-free and sterilisable. Electrical manufacturers seized on its insulating properties, and consumers everywhere relished its dazzling array of shades, delighted that they were now, at last, no longer restricted to the wood tones and drab browns of the preplastic era. It then fell from favour again during the 1950s, and was despised and destroyed in vast quantities. Recently, however, it has been experiencing something of a renaissance, with renewed demand for original Bakelite objects in the collectors’ marketplace, and museums, societies and dedicated individuals once again appreciating the style and originality of this innovative material.

  盡管起初Baekeland的這一發明受到人們的鄙視，但后來卻受到前所未有的歡迎，在20世紀前半葉一直都很流行。這一發明成了工業擴張時期的寵兒，被稱為是“萬能材料”。由于能防滲抗熱，用酚醛塑料制成的廚房用品都在宣傳中強調其無菌，可消毒的特點。電器制造商利用其絕緣的特性，消費者則享受到其鮮艷奪目的色彩，慶幸自己不用再忍受“前塑料時代”只有木色和棕色的單調了。到了20世紀50年代，酚醛塑料又再度失去人們的寵愛，遭到人們的鄙視，被大量銷毀。而最近，酚醛塑料又好像重煥了生機，收藏品市場上對原來用酚醛塑料制成的物品需求又有所增加。博物館、各種社團和熱衷于此的個人收藏者又開始重新欣賞起這種創新型材料的風格和其新穎別致的特點。

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