P1 塑料 The Development of Plastics

　　P2 鸟的大脑

　　P3 创新 Ingenuity

　　朗阁名师高川川点评

　　1. 本场考试的难度偏难，主要是选择题和配对题较多，做题时间不够，加上题目较长，对阅读速度要求很高。

　　2. 整体分析：三篇文章分别是社会类(P1，P3)和动物类(P2)。

　　本次考试暂时没有收到具体题目数量的反馈，但是学生普遍反映本次考题的难度大，只在第一篇出现填空题，其他还是以配对和选择，判断，Heading为主。尤其很多学生反映第三篇文章的难度大，题目长，对题目的理解需要耗费大量时间。

　　3. 部分答案及参考文章：

　　Passage 1：塑料The Development of Plastics

　　题型：填空7+判断6

　　参考文章：

　　The History of the Invention of Plastics

　　A

　　Natural polymers include such familiar substances as silk, rubber, and cotton. Plastics are artificial polymers. Plastics are used on a daily basis throughout the world. The word plastic is a common term that is used for many materials of a synthetic or semi-synthetic nature. The term was derived from the Greek plastics, which means "fit for molding." Plastics are a wide variety of combinations of properties when viewed as a whole. They are used for shellac, cellulose, rubber, and asphalt. We also synthetically manufacture items such as clothing, packaging, automobiles, electronics, aircrafts, medical supplies, and recreational items. The list could go on and on and it is obvious that much of what we have today would not be possible without plastics.

　　B

　　In the early part of the twentieth century, a big boom occurred in polymer chemistry when polymer materials such as nylon and Kevlar came on the scene. Much of the work done with polymers focuses improvement while using existing technologies, but chemists do have opportunities ahead. There is a need for the development of new applications for polymers, always looking for less expensive materials that can replace what is used now. Chemists have to be more aware of what the market yearns for, such as products with a green emphasis, polymers that break down or are environmentally friendly. Concerns such as these have brought new activity to the science arena and there are always new discoveries to be made.

　　C

　　The evolution of the chemistry behind plastics is mind numbing, and the uses for plastics are endless. In the Middle Ages, when scientists first started to experiment, plastics were derived from organic natural sources, such as egg and blood proteins. It wasn't until the 19th and 20th centuries that the plastics we know today were created. Many Americans will recognize the name Goodyear, it was Charles Goodyear who began the modern-day plastic revolution when he vulcanized rubber in 1839, paving the way for the tire. Prior to his discovery, products made with rubber did not hold up well in warm temperatures or climates. Rubber is only one source of plastic, however, and three key inventors followed Good year's path and took plastic from a nearly unusable hard substance to the invaluable man-made resource it is today.

　　D

　　The son of a brass lock manufacturer, Alexander Parkes was born in Birmingham, England in 1813. Parkes was raised around metal fabrication. In his first job he worked as an apprentice at Birmingham's brass foundry, owned by Samuel S. Messengers and Sons. Parkes switched his attention from brass work to electroplating when he went to work for George and Henry Elkington.It was there Parkes developed his inventive spirit. Parkes’ first patent, awarded in 1841, dealt with electroplating delicate items such as flowers, but throughout his career Parkes reportedly held more than 80 patents on his works with both metals and plastics. Parkes is credited with inventing the first man-made plastic, which he patented as Parkesine in 1856. Parkes introduced this combination of nitrocellulose and solvents to England in 1862 at the London International Exhibition. While Parkesine itself did not prove to be a successful material in its original formulation, it was too flammable, it laid the groundwork for successful derivative materials from future inventors. One of those inventors being John Wesley Hyatt.

　　E

　　What Alexander Parkes started, John Wesley Hyatt took to the next level. Hyatt was born in Starkey, New York in 1837, and patented several hundred inventions. Hyatt's link to plastics comes in the form of the game of billiards Billiard balls were originally made of ivory, a commodity that was in steep decline in the 1800s. Most likely inspired by the $10,000 reward being offered, Hyatt took on the challenge of finding a substitute material to manufacture billiard balls. Hyatt's experiments began with a combination of Parkes' Parkesine, a solid form of nitrocellulose, and another English inventor, Frederick Scott Archer's, discovery of liquid nitrocellulose. Hyatt combined to two to create celluloid, which he patented in 1870.

　　F

　　Celluloid was used for numerous products, including billiard balls for Hyatt's own company rather than his former employer. Celluloid also produced false teeth, combs, baby rattles, and piano keys. Despite its replacement by newer synthetic materials in today's marketplace. Hyatt's patented version of celluloid is still used to produce ping-pong balls. There is no doubt that the invention of celluloid was the next important rung in the plastic manufacturing ladder, including the use of celluloid in film production.

　　G

　　Much like Parkes' invention led to Hyatt's success, Hyatt's celluloid influenced Leo Baekeland. This Belgium-born chemist paved the way for George Eastman, of Eastman Kodak, to build the photographic empire we know today. Born in 1863, Baekeland's first invention was Velox, a paper which allowed photographs to be taken in artificial light. Eastman purchased the Velox process from Baekeland for a reported $750,000 in 1899. Baekeland used that money to fund his own in-home laboratory.

　　H

　　Baekeland moved his experiments from photography paper to synthetic resins, and invented Bakelite, a combination of phenol and formaldehyde in 1907. Bakelite was officially patented in 1909. Bakelite was a hard, yet moldable, plastic, and was considered the product that led the world into the Age of Plastics.

　　Bakelite was used in everything from buttons to art deco furniture to television sets. While these items are made from different types of materials today, Bakelite is still used in the production of items such as car brakes and materials used in the space shuttle.

　　参考答案：

　　1. photographic

　　2. Bakelite

　　3. switches

　　4. Britain/ UK

　　5. fireproof

　　6. clear and glass-like

　　7. rigid

　　8. FALSE

　　9. NOT GIVEN

　　10. FALSE

　　11. TRUE

　　12. FALSE

　　13. TRUE

　　Passage 2：鸟的大脑

　　题型：List of Headings+名称配对(类似于人名观点的配对)(具体题目数量和文章内容待确认)

　　Passage 3：创新 Ingenuity

　　题型：前后句配对+单选+判断(具体题目数量和文章内容待确认)

　　考试预测

　　1. 本次考试的难度应该是7月复考以来难度最大的一场考试。虽然P1是旧题，17和18年都考过，很多同学在机经中也做到过，但主要原因是本场填空题数量少，出现了人名观点配对的衍生版本，前后句配对和List of Headings题型。本月每场考试都出现了配对题，特别是人名观点配对。我们之前也一再强调要注意前后句配对的题型主要搭配形式和做题思路，终于在这场考试种出现，并且是剑桥真题种常见的篇章搭配形式。Heading题这是本月第二次出现，在接下来的备考中还是要重点预警。

　　2. 下场考试的话题可能有关社会类，动物类和管理类。

　　3. 重点浏览2016到2018年机经。