SEE a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hitting "print" on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object like you would a picture. But it is not that hard to understand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂)and certain metals. The thinner each layer is --- from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair --- the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was barely affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and introduced to more diverse and common uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of ---flutes (笛子), bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell University in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, according to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3-D printing becomes more commonplace, it may bring about certain problems --- such as piracy. "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?" an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?
小题1:According to the article, in the future, the 3-D printing technology will ___.
A．enable people to make better purchases online
B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers
C．change the way we make many products
D．shorten the time it takes for people to get what they buy online小题2:What was the big event happening in the 3-D printing industry last year?
A．The 3-D printing technology was taken out ofthe factory.
B．The 3-D printer became more affordable forconsumers.
C．The 3-D printer was used for medical treatmentfor the first time.
D．3-D printing technology began to be used invarious fields.小题3:How is the last paragraph developed?
A．By analyzing a cause and an effect.
B．By making comparisons.
C．By giving examples.
D．By presenting research findings.小题4:What is the best title of the passage?
A．Printing out everything
B．Technology in the future
C．Online shopping disappearing
D．Great demand for 3-D printers
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:C
小题4:A
题目分析：本文主要讲述的就是3D打印机在未来的广泛使用，能够改变很多做事的方式方法。
小题1:C 细节题。根据文章1,2段Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.说明未来的3-D打印机会改变我们生产很多产品的方式，故C正确。
小题2:B 细节题。根据文章第五段Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC.说明去年3D打印机变得很便宜了，故B正确。
小题3:C 总结题。根据最后一段such as piracy和an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News.说明在本段中使用了举例说明的方法来组织这个段落。故C正确。
小题4:A 主旨大意题。本文主要讲述的就是3D打印机在未来的广泛使用，能够改变很多做事的方式方法。故A正确。
点评：本文主要讲述的就是3D打印机在未来的广泛使用，能够改变很多做事的方式方法。此类文章的最大的障碍是词汇以及考生对阅读内容的不熟悉，需要考生在阅读的时候有足够的耐心。要养成在上下文串联中猜测词义的能力，根据上下文中出现的同义词，近义词，反义词，以及词义的解释来理解生词。同时要抓住文章的中心，不要受其他信息的影响。要根据题目及选项以及文章的上下文串联合理的判断推理。