时间:2018-12-07 作者:英语课 分类:2010年VOA慢速英语(十)月


英语课

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.


When we print something, a flat page comes to mind. For example, you might use a photocopier 1.


(SOUND)


Photocopiers 2 print in two dimensions.


Now, imagine how this would work for three dimensions. A machine prints layers of material -- usually plastic—one on top of the other. The layers are very thin -- usually one-fifth or one-tenth of a millimeter. The layers then combine to form a solid object.


There are many versions of this kind of technology. But the basic idea is the same for most 3-D printers. The process is called additive 3 fabrication.


These 3-D printers have become powerful tools for product designers. Computer-aided design programs use software to direct the printer. Designers can then create a solid model in a short time and easily make changes and tests.


The 3-D printing technology was first developed in the nineteen eighties. But high cost put them out of the reach of many researchers and businesses. Early printers were limited. High cost and limited uses meant the 3-D printer market was small.



Stratasys officials Woody Frost, left, and Fred Fischer with a uPrint 3D printer in Bangalore, India last year


Now, lower-cost printers are available to a much wider market, including small businesses and individuals.


In January, the global technology company Hewlett-Packard agreed to sell 3-D printers manufactured by Stratasys. Stratasys has made 3-D printers for years. Last year, it introduced one for less than fifteen thousand dollars.


More companies are using 3-D printing to directly manufacture some products. For example, Freedom of Creation, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, prints furniture and art. Bespoke 4 Innovations in San Francisco, California wants to design and print artificial limbs. Co-founder Scott Summit says these prosthetic limbs can be designed exactly for a patient’s body for less money than existing products.



An assembled Makerbot product


But 3-D printing still has limits. For example, metals are more difficult to print than plastics. However, airplane maker 5 Boeing prints some airplane parts. And printers are being used to create some rare parts for old machines.


For people interested in new technology, a New York based company, Makerbot, sells kits 6 to people who want to build a small 3-D printer. Some kits cost less than one thousand dollars.


And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. For transcripts 7 and MP3s go to voaspecialenglish.com. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.


 



1 photocopier
n.复印机
  • You've left your master in the photocopier.你把原件留在影印机里了。
  • If the photocopier stops working,just give it a clout.如果那部影印机停止运转的话就敲它一下。
2 photocopiers
n.影印机,复印机( photocopier的名词复数 )
  • I was quite taken with your line of photocopiers with collation and stapling capability. 我被贵公司能够自动整理和装订的系列复印机吸引住了。 来自辞典例句
  • Printers, photocopiers and fax machines are modern office appliances. 打印机、印机和传真机是现代办公用具。 来自互联网
3 additive
adj.附加的;n.添加剂
  • Colour is often an additive in foods.颜料经常是各种食物中的添加物。
  • Strict safety tests are carried out on food additives.对食品添加剂进行了严格的安全检测。
4 bespoke
adj.(产品)订做的;专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 );订(货);证明;预先请求
  • His style of dressing bespoke great self-confidence. 他的衣着风格显得十分自信。
  • The haberdasher presented a cap, saying,"Here is the cap your worship bespoke." 帽匠拿出一顶帽子来说:“这就是老爷您定做的那顶。” 来自辞典例句
5 maker
n.制造者,制造商
  • He is a trouble maker,You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼,你不要跟他在一起。
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
6 kits
衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 ); 成套用品; 配套元件
  • Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
  • Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品,玩具和游戏,木制的玩具,智力玩具,手艺装备。
7 transcripts
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句
学英语单词
aircraft control
allochthonous limestone
anal cerari
andre weils
apreciate
asclepiadaceae mildweed family
athletic training
backward flow forming
base and bracket
Bernsdorf
blast chiller
censurer
Chomskyist
chromosome set
Claonaig
code interpreter
conterion
continuous hot strip mill
cotija
crank up something
credulities
cross section paper
current problem
cyclorotation
decreased overhead
deductions from gross payroll
double-list sorting
double-tube method
drift-way
eccentric orbit
elementary body
European black and white
family practice
farm plot for one's personal needs
fingerpaint
gasp at
guard-rooms
Hammurabi
hand held computer
hand on heart
handbrake
hernioenterotomy
IEDB
image plane scanner
infraglenoid tubercles
input vector
Jales
karnatakin
klontz
klutznick
laurestina
leg formula
line alveolar
main rod brass wedge bolt
momma's boy
mouth-tooth diseases
notre - dame de paris
number jumped
numericise
one over one address code
oryzopses
perforated distribution plate
permeability and acid resisting binder
phalangeal cell
photoelectric cathode photoelectric cell
plantar metatarsal arteries
Polish language
Psephellus
public-intoxication
pyramidiot
rajaan
reciprocal chiasmata
relative bending radius
Rhaponticum carthamoides
right lower abdomen
Sarmanovo
scattered ion intensity
Sec Def
Sir Harold George Nicolson
sissonne ouverte
sizing machinery
sodium carbonte
spuddle
stiff as a board
stochastic disturbance
storage(tank)
strategic opportunities
suspended-level viscometer
table-setting
talk down
testamenti factio passiva
the big five
The Holy Spirit
theory of controls
Trollope,Frances Milton
uncoupled bond
united states postal services
vaa
vetoproof
volder
wind-shadows
wonderwater