人教版高二英語課文下冊Unit 18 Inventions - Integrating Skills 2

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INVENTIONS

Computers that use light instead of electricity, "smart" clothes that can make phone calls and play music, house paints that change colour with the seasons, e-paper and ads that speak to you -- the list of amazing new inventions that seem to be just around the comer is long and inspiring. How many of these new technologies will actually become reality remains to be seen, but it is clear that the next fifty years will be exciting. Here is a look at some of the new ideas that may shape our future.

NOW YOU SEE IT , NOW YOU DON’T

Researchers in Japan have invented a kind of paint that makes things invisible. It may sound incredible, but the new paint reflects light in such a way that the human eye is fooled. The technology behind the paint is fairly simple: instead of letting the light rays bounce back in the normal way, the paint sends the light back to the source. It is as if a basketball backboard was made so that a ball thrown at an angle would bounce right back at the person throwing it. The paint does not really make things disappear, but by changing the way the light bounces it does make it possible to "see through" objects. The technology has many potential uses. The paint could be used to make interesting clothes and to help doctors see through the skin of a patient and thus be able to work better. It may also be used to hide things that we do not want others to see.

DON’T TOUCH THAT KNIFE

Most of us probably hope that we will never have to face major surgery. Even though doctors are well-trained and modem technology makes it possible to save lives, many operations are still dangerous and painful. Now, however, scientists believe that they might be able to help doctors to cure patients with less risk. A new and very small robot has been invented. This robot can enter the human body through a small hole so that it is no longer necessary to cut the patient. Instead of using knives and other large tools, doctors can use a computer to move the tiny robot around. If the technology can be used on human beings, operations will be safer and less painful.

THAT WILL NEVER WORK , OR WILL IT?

The most exciting inventions are always the ones that have not yet been made. The tree challenge for any inventor is to dare to dream and believe that what seems impossible today may one day become possible. Among the many inventions that are being discussed by some scientists are several that may seem ridiculous to us. For example, one scientist is trying to build a device that will allow information to enter the human body. In early experiments, the scientist was able to send sound into humans and dolphins, with some success. He is now working on sending visual information to the brain, so that blind people could be able to "see". The scientist believes that it may be possible to "learn" by sending information to the brain.

Other inventors are trying to make something out of nothing. One group of scientists think that it may be possible to make energy from space itself. According to their theories, what we think of as empty space does in fact contain energy in the form of movement. They describe space as true "perpetual motion", that is, movement that never stops. They claim that there are energy fields everywhere -- because of the laws of physics, there are always small movements everywhere. For hundreds of years, people have tried to build machines that never stop, but the laws of physics show that it cannot be done. The "space motion ", however, could turn out to be endless. The scientists working on the programme believe that these fields of energy can be put to work. If they are successful, a new and cheap energy source will become available to us.

It should be said that most scientists think that these inventions will never work. Perhaps they are right, but we would do well to keep in mind that many inventions that we now take for granted were greeted with doubt. People laughed at Benjamin Franklin's early discoveries and many other great scientists had to wait many years before their ideas were accepted. It is also important to remember that new inventions do not always work well in the beginning -- a good example is the first airplane, which only flew a very short distance.