【易伯华课堂】雅思阅读流程图填空题讲解--BAKELITE

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BAKELITE

The birth of modem plastics

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

真题解析：

长难句练习：

1. 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.

参考译文：纯粹地从科学方面来讲，Baekeland对这个领域的主要贡献，并不是实际地发现了这个用他的名字命名的材料，而是控制苯酚和甲醛之间的反应的方法，这个被控制了的反应能够使其化学配制建立在商业利用的基础之上。

知识点：

1)not---but rather---: 不是---而是---

2)not so much---as---: 与其说---不如说---

2. 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.

参考译文：在最初的年头里尽管被人所轻视Baekeland的发明一直受到前所未有的欢迎这种流行持续并贯穿了二十世纪上半叶。

知识点：

1)disdain：鄙视、蔑视

2)parallel的用法：

提供与---相似或相当之物与 ---相似：比得上