【英语时差8,16】折纸艺术

Yaël: Hey Don, look what I've got here!

Don: Oh cool, its one of those little origami cranes. I didn't know you were into the whole origami thing.

Y: Well the little paper figures are pretty cool, but what really excites me about origami are all of its modern applications.

D: Modern applications?

Y: Yeah, some of the same paper folding techniques used in origami to create figures like this little crane here have been adopted by researchers in fields as diverse as medicine, space science, and consumer electronics.

D: Really?

Y: Sure. For example in the early 2000s researchers at the University of Oxford¹ incorporated an origami pattern called the "waterbomb base" into a heart stent design. This allowed the device to fold into a very small package for its trip through the small blood vessels² leading to the weakened artery³ where it could then be expanded to provide support and hold the artery open.

D: Cool!

Y: Scientists working in the automobile⁴ industry have used origami folding patterns in making computer simulated airbags. Also space scientists have recently used origami techniques to fold a large lens of a telescope up into a tiny package that fits nicely in a spaceship, and then can be unfolded again out in space.

D: It sounds like all of these designs have used origami folding methods in a similar way: to make something that needs to be large and expansive at its destination small and compact for its journey there.

Y: Bingo.  

 

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

4 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。