职称英语考试真题阅读判断.docxVIP

职称英语考试真题阅读判断  职称英语考试真题阅读判断 NewUnderstandingofNaturalSilk’sMysteries Naturalsilk,asweallknow,hasastrengththatmanmadematerialshavelongstruggledtomatch.InadiscoverythatsoundsmorelikeanancientChineseproverbthanamaterialssciencebreakthrough,MITresearchershavediscoveredthatsilkgetsitsstrengthfromitsweakness.Or,morespecifically,itsmanyweaknesses.Silkgetsitsextraordinarydurabilityandductilityfromanunusualarrangementofhydrogenbondsthatareinherentlyveryweakbutthatworktogethertocreateastrong,flexiblestructure. Mostmaterials--especiallytheonesweengineerforstrength--gettheirtoughnessfrombrittleness.Assuch,naturalsilkslikethoseproducedbyspidershavelongfascinatedbothbiologistsandengineersbecauseoftheirlightweight,ductilityandhighstrength(poundforpound,silkisstrongerthansteelandfarlessbrittle).Butonitsface,itdoesntseemthatsilksshouldbeasstrongastheyare;molecularly,theyareheldtogetherbyhydrogenbonds,whicharefarweakerthanthecovalentbondsfoundinothermolecules. Togetabetterunderstandingofhowsilkmanagestoproducesuchstrengththroughsuchweakbonds,theMITteamcreatedasetofcomputermodelsthatallowedthemtoobservethewaysilkbehavesattheatomiclevel.Theyfoundthatthearrangementofthetinysilknanocrystalsissuchthatthehydrogenbondsareabletoworkcooperatively,reinforcingoneanotheragainstexternalforcesandfailingslowlywhentheydofail,soasnotsoallowasuddenfracturetospreadacrossasilkstructure. Theresultisnaturalsilksthatcanstretchandbendwhileretainingahighdegreeofstrength.Butwhilethatsallwellandgoodforspiders,beesandthelike,thisunderstandingofsilkgeometrycouldleadtonewmaterialsthatarestrongerandmoreductilethanthosewecancurrentlymanufacture.Ourbestandstrongestmaterialsaregenerallyexpensiveanddifficulttoproduce(requiringhightemperaturetreatmentsorenergy-intensiveprocesses). Bylookingtosilkasamodel,researcherscouldpotentiallydevisenewmanufacturingmethodsthatrelyoninexpensivematerialsandweakbondstocreatelessrigid,moreforgivingmaterialsthatarenonethelessstrongerthananythingcurrentlyonoffer.Andifyouthoughtyouweregoi