Chapter Eight,Science and Technology 科学技术,Part I Background Reading,Why Phones are Replacing Cars? Phones are now the dominant technology with which young people, and urban youth in particular, now define themselves. What sort of phone you carry and how you customise it says a great deal about you, just as the choice of car did for a previous generation. In todays congested cities, you can no longer make a statement by pulling up outside a bar in a particular kind of car. Instead, you make a similar statement by displaying your mobile phone, with its carefully chosen ringtone, screen logo and slip cover. Mobile phones, like cars, are fashion items: in both cases, people buy new ones far more often than is actually necessary. Both are social technologies that bring people together; for teenagers, both act as symbols of independence. And cars and phones alike promote freedom and mobility, with unexpected social consequences.,The design of both cars and phones started off being defined by something that was no longer there. Cars were originally horseless carriages, and early models looked suitably carriage-like; only later did car designers realise that cars could be almost any shape they wanted to make them. Similarly, mobile phones used to look much like the push-button type of fixed-line phones, only without the wire. But now they come in a bewildering rang of strange shapes and sizes Less visibly, as the structure of the mobile-phone industry changes, it increasingly resembles that of the car industry. Handset-makers build some models themselves and outsource the design and manufacturing of others. Specialist firms supply particular sub-assemblies in both industries. Outwardly different products are built on a handful of common underlying “platforms” in both industries, to reduce costs. In each case, branding and design are becoming more important as the underlying technology becomes increasingly interchangeable.,That mobile phones are taking on many of the social functions of cars is to be welcomed. While it is a laudable goal that everyone on earth should someday have a mobile phone, cars ubiquity produces mixed feelings. A chirping handset is a much greener form of self-expression than an old banger. It may irritate but it is safe. In the hands of a drunk driver, a car becomes a deadly weapon. That is not true of a phone. Despite concern that radiation from phones and masts causes health problems, there is no clear evidence of harm, and similar worries about power lines and computer screens proved unfounded. Less pollution, less traffic, fewer alcohol-related deaths and injuries: the switch from cars to phones cannot happen soon enough.,Part II Interpretation Lead-in,A. 重点词汇 Vocabulary Preview 纳米技术 nanotechnology 生物技术 biotechnology 先进电池技术 advanced battery technology 传感器核跟踪技术 sensors and tracking technologies 碳捕获和储存技术 carbon capture and storage technology DNA指纹识别技术 DNA fingerprinting 智能材料 smart material 可持续发展 sustainable development 电子信息产业 electronic and information industry 龙头企业 leading enterprises 食品添加剂 food additives 尖端科学仪器 highly sophisticated equipment 生物芯片 biochip,骨髓移植 bone marrow transplantation 量子计算机 quantum computer 信息高速公路 information highway 安乐死 euthanasia 克隆技术 cloning technology 转基因动物 transgenic animal 闭路电视 close-circuit television 科学前沿 scientific frontier 细胞培养 cell culture 畸形 deformity 热核熔化能源 fusion energy X射线同步设备 X-ray synchrotron device 燃料电池 fuel cells 化学能 chemical energy 辐射能 radiant energy,随机存取 Random access 数据处理 Data processing 运载火箭 carrier rocket 集成电路 integrated circuits 复合材料 composite material 地面监控站 ground tracking station 杂交水稻 hybrid rice 光纤通讯 fiber-optic communication 海洋开发 marine development 条形码 bar code 远程工作 teleworking 远程购物 teleshopping,B. 句子精炼 Sentence in Focus 1. 雷达是无线电科学的一项新发展。 Radar is a new development in Radio Science. 2. 无线电波正是最适宜用来探测远距离目标及其距离的有效波类。 Wireless waves are just the waves most suitable to be used in detecting a distant target and finding its ranges. 3. 信息高速公路可能会包含计算机网络、有线电视、交互式电话设施和其他技术。 The highway will probably consist of computer networks, cable TV, interactive phone services and other technologies.,4. 科技的发展紧密联系着经济和社会的发展。 The development of science and technology is closely connected with the development of economy and society. 5. 纳米生物技术所显现出的新领域为科学和工程技术在更宽广的领域内提供了新的转化机会。 The emerging field of nanobiotechnology provides new opportunities to transform wide areas of science and engineering. 6. 发明家已经开发出一种验明身份的新方法，使用的是一台扫描眼球的机器。 Inventors have developed a new way to identify people, using a machine that scans their eyeballs.,7. 购物付账时使用指纹而不是支票、信用卡或电子手段，它是最新的不用现金的结账方式之一。 Paying for products with a fingerprint, rather than checks, cards or electronic devices, i