万花筒 2012-02-07&02-10 手机再也不怕水！？

 A cellphone rests in its watery-grave,a distressing¹ sight for cellphone users everywhere. But this one, isn't dead. "Hello, this Alexan,thanks for calling ,welcome, how may I help you?"Liquipel is a start-up company based in Santa Ana, California. It's also the name of the company's marquis product - a nano-coating designed to protect every component² of a mobile device from water damage. Liquipel co-founder Kevin Bacon says the technology fills a significant gap in the cellphone market. "Liquipel is a preventative coating, so it's not something that we're marketing³ in a way that we want people swimming with their devices or needlessly exposing them to water. That's more to prevent those accidents which usually water-damage your electronics, such as being caught in the rain, dropped in the sink, or unfortunately, it happens, put in the toilet, or if you've got to take a quick call in the shower, those types of things." The company won't discuss their patent-pending technology in detail, other than to say that Liquipel is a vaporised liquid that covers all components⁴ of a cellphone with a coating one thousand times thinner than a human hair. Sales agent Sarah Chitrars says the process is simple. "What we're able to do is place your electronic device inside our especially engineered Liquipel machine. In that machine we have a chamber⁵ that pumps down and ignites our plasma⁶ process to permeate⁷ your device on a molecular⁸ level, so the internal and external components. At the end of that process, which takes about 30-35 minutes, your phone has been Liquipeled." At the moment the business runs on a mail order basis with customers paying $59 to have their cellphone treated. After Liquipel debuted⁹ their product at the recent Consumer Electronics Show In Las Vegas, Kevin Bacon says the company was overwhelmed with orders and is now processing one thousand phone an hour. But eventually, he says he'd like to take the technology further. "The coating itself is applicable to all type of personal electronic devices so we hope to see it in the majority of products that are going to be coming or released. It's just right now we've chosen to focus primarily on mobile phones, just because we feel like they're the ones that are most likely to come into situations where they're gonna be water-damaged. So I mean these phones have become an extension of ourselves and we shouldn't be limited by the environments that we're able to take them into."And that includes the bathroom. The company wants to expand, bringing relief to cellphone users everywhere. Rob Muir, Reuters

1 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

2 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

5 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

6 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

7 permeate   

v.弥漫，遍布，散布；渗入，渗透

参考例句：

• Water will easily permeate a cotton dress.水很容易渗透棉布衣服。
• After a while it begins to permeate through your skin.过了一会，它会开始渗入你的皮肤。

8 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

9 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。