节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-05-23
难易度:High
关键字:startle, incredible, replacement, profound, game changer


























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Well, we're on the second day of our article 3-D Printing: No Factory Required!
And we've been talking about the future of 3-D printing.
Perhaps one day we'll be able to send a 3-D printer to Mars where astronauts can
print more printers and assemble things on the Planet Mars.
It's an even more incredible thing that they can do things in the medical
industry, which we're going to be learning about now in the next reading today.
(Music).
3-D Printing: No Factory Required!
A company called Organovo has developed a type of 3-D printer that can take a
human's cells and use them to create organic tissues.
Organovo successfully printed their first blood vessels in 2010, and they are
looking ahead to the day when they can print entire replacement organs.
Making an impact.
Last year, analysts at the Atlantic Council released a report titled "Could 3-D
Printing Change the World?".
The authors predict that 3-D printing will be a game changer on many levels.
They believe that 3-D printing could have "as profound an impact on the
manufacturing world as the PC in the Internet on the information world.".
(Music).
Wow! 3-D printing can definitely make a big impact on our world.
Well, we are talking about the medical field here.
And there is a company we're talking about.
A company called Organovo has developed a type of 3-D printer that can take a
human's cells and use them to create organic tissues.
All right.
So this company has a 3-D printer; and what can it do with human cells?
Well, it can recreate some tissues.
Well, this is a very special kind of 3-D printer, not one that you could buy for
your home.
It's very special from this company Organovo; and it can take a human's cell and
make organic tissues.
So that's actually a living part of a human body.
Well, Organovo successfully printed their first blood vessels in 2010, and they
are looking ahead to the day when they can print entire replacement organs.
So they think that one day there will be a time when they can replace organs
within our body.
And they...
We see this phrase: looking ahead to the day.
That's something we want to talk about.
To look ahead to something, what does that mean, Gabe?
That means you're kind of expecting something to happen in the future.
It hasn't happened yet.
We haven't invented this thing yet.
There's no way to do it, but we're looking ahead.
We could also say we're looking forward to it, looking ahead to it.
I think many people look ahead to a time of peace in the world.
We want this to happen.
We're looking ahead.
Is it possible?
I think so.
That's right.
So you can look ahead to the day when something will happen.
You could also maybe look ahead to having a new job.
Looking ahead to a big celebration.
It's something you hope to have in the future.
Well, there's another word in this sentence that we should probably talk about
from our Word Bank - the word "replacement".
They're hoping to print replacement organs.
And if something is a replacement, then it is used instead of something else.
It replaces the original thing.
All right.
So you might talk about replacement organs, wow, inside your body.
Or I also think about replacement parts.
Some things you can just... if... if they go bad, if they break, then you can
replace them with something else.
Those are replacement parts.
Maybe a factory makes a lot of these different parts.
And they're all the same, and so you can use them to replace each other.
Replacement parts.
And that kind of reminds me what we talked about yesterday how 3-D printers are
being used to make parts or print parts for jets or even racecars.
They are used to make replacement parts if these things break.
Well, we have another section here titled: Making an impact.
If you make an impact on something, then you are making a difference.
There's something big happening here.
How does it continue?
Last year - pretty recently - last year, analysts at the Atlantic Council
released a report titled "Could 3-D Printing Change the World?".
That is quite an interesting report.
It's a good question to ask.
Can this really change the world?
Well, it is an interesting question because 3-D printers do sound very
impressive and they have a lot of startling abilities like being able to print
parts of themselves.
Well, the authors of this study, the authors predict that 3-D printing will be a
game changer on many levels.
This is an interesting phrase that it's going to be a game changer, Gabe.
Well, game, yeah, usually I think of a game as something kind of fun you play
with your friends.
But this is used in another way.
We're talking about maybe even the game of life.
The way that things are done in the world or in society or in technology, this
game could change because of 3-D printing.
So 3-D printing may have a very big impact on the way things are done in our
daily lives.
These authors of this study, they believe that 3-D printing could have as
profound an impact on the manufacturing world as the PC in the Internet on the
information world.
Well, those have had a pretty profound impact on the information world.
Let's look at that word "profound" for a minute.
It's from our Word Bank.
And it means that something has made a major change, there's a big difference.
How would you use this, Gabe?
Well, I think about people who have made a profound impact on me, like maybe
some of my teachers in school or at university.
They had a profound impact on my life.
They said things and taught things that I will always remember.
And I think it's true, PC in the Internet have a profound impact on the
information world.
The age we live in, sometimes it's called the Information Age, and that's
because of the Internet and things like that.
So now 3-D printing could have that big of an impact, a profound impact on our
world.
On our manufacturing world.
Well, that is a lot to think about.
But now it's time for us to join Michelle in the Language Lab.
(Chinese).
And now it's time to get back to our teachers.
Well, 3-D printing does seem like something that can change the way we do
things.
It could be a game changer in our world.
But based on our article today, do you think that 3-D printing will have a
profound impact on the manufacturing world?
Carolyn, what do you think about this?
Well, I think that if people start buying 3-D printers for their homes, then
they might not need to go out and buy as many things at the store, so.
They might not need those things that factories produce.
It could also really help to decrease prices for production because some things
are quite expensive.
And if you can make something that's high-quality with just a 3-D printer, maybe
things will become cheaper.
It's true.
Maybe things might become cheaper.
I do think there are plenty of things out there, though, that maybe can be
replaced by a 3-D printer and its capabilities.
But I think it would have a pretty big impact on the way we do things.
Well, it's time for us to say goodbye for now.
But we hope to see you next time right here at Studio Classroom.
See you then.
See you.