Imagine having an idea, drawing it on paper, bringing it to a store and seeing it turned into an object. This is now possible with the help of 3D printers. Such machines were once used just by universities and big companies, but now, stores with 3D printing services are appearing around the United States.
Bryan Jaycox and his wife opened The Build Shop LLC in Los Angeles two years ago. The Jaycoxs offer 3D printing classes and services for anyone who is interested.
“I think 3D printing is going to be huge. It’s going to have a huge influence on society as a whole.” says KiChong Tran, one of the students in a recent class. He plans to open a 3D printing business in Cambodia (柬埔寨).
3D printing services are coming into American people’s life. The UPS Store is a nationwide retailer (零售商) that provides copying and other services. The UPS Store recently put 3D printers in three of its independently-owned stores. Burke Jones owns one of the stores in San Diego.
“The demand has been amazing. There has been a lot of interest from people. It’s been much more than I would have imagined.”
The UPS Store plans to add 3D printers in three more stores.
For $11, someone used a 3D printer to produce two small plastic parts as part of a knuckle (指节) for a hand. He works for the company which is testing finger prosthetics (假肢). He says the same–day or next-day printing services will speed up testing of parts and get them to patients faster.
Staples, an American store, is selling 3D printers on its website for as low as about $1,300. As with any technology - experts expect the printing speed to increase and the price to go down.
Bryan Jaycox requires $15 an hour to print an object. He also sets the price depending on the size of the object and up to $50 an hour for design and labor services.
Mr Jaycox thinks that within five years, 3D printing technology could become more user friendly. But KiChong Tran says even today’s technology can make a difference in a developing country like Cambodia.
“With 3D printing you can give them tools, so they are responsible more for their own development and they learn skills beyond just like learning English and becoming a tour guide or something like that. You can actually create things that give value to the world.”
He says it’s not just Cambodia but anywhere where there is a 3D printer, it can turn a good idea into reality.
小题1:What can 3D printers do according to the passage?

A．Come up with an idea.

B．Draw on a piece of paper.

C．Help users to spend less money.

D．Turn an idea into a physical object.

小题2:What does the underlined part mean in this passage?

A．Make users’ life better.

B．Make friends with users.

C．Make 3D printers easier to use.

D．Use 3D printers to make money.

小题3:What can we infer from the passage?

A．3D printing is becoming popular in the world.

B．There is no 3D printing business in Cambodia.

C．The UPS Store is the biggest 3D printing company.

D．3D printing plays the most important role in daily life.

小题4:What’s the passage mainly about?

A．The future of 3D printing in the world.

B．The 3D printing business in Cambodia.

C．The development and growth of 3D printing business.

D．The 3D printing classes and services in different places.

How quickly can you count from one to ten? Do you use ten different words to do it? Can you do it in English, or do you have to use your first languages? Do you count on your fingers? Many people think that numbers and math are the same all over the world. But scientists have discovered that it is not true.
People in different parts of the world use different ways to count on their fingers. In the United States, people think begin counting with their first fingers, which they extend or stick out. They then extend the rest of their fingers and finally the thumb(拇指）to count to five. Then they repeat this with the other hand to get to ten. In China, people count by using different finger positions. In this way, a Chinese person can easily count to ten on only one hand.
Besides ways of finger counting, scientists have found that cultures and languages are also different when it comes to numbers. Some languages have only a few words for numbers, and others have no words for numbers. A group of scientists studied aboriginal(土著的）people in Australia. These people don’t have hand movements to stand for numbers. They don’t even have word for numbers. However, they are still able to understand different ideas about numbers.
In a similar study, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered that people of the Piraha tribe(部落） in northwestern Brazil don’t have words for numbers such as “one” or “three.”. They are not able to say “five trees” or “ten trees” but can say “some trees,” “more trees,” or “many trees.” Professor Edward Gibson said that mist people believe that everyone knows how to count, “but here is a group that does not count. They could learn, but it’s not useful in their culture, so they’ve never picked it up.”
Although all humans are able to understand quantities(数量）,not all languages have numbers and not all people use counting. Number words in a certain language are a result of people needing numbers in their daily lives. Now we know that people have different ideas about numbers and math, too.
小题1:The writer begins with the four questions in order to______.

A．make a survey	B．interest readers
C．tell a story	D．solve math problems

小题2:What do we learn from the difference in finger counting between the U.S. and China?

A．People from China count much faster than people from the U.S.

B．People from China need two hands to count from one to ten.

C．People of different cultures may use different ways of finger counting

D．People of different cultures use the same way of finger counting.

小题3:Which of following is true about aboriginal Australians?

A．They have only a few words for numbers

B．They have hand movements to stand for numbers

C．They can only count to five on their fingers

D．They can understand different ideas about numbers

小题4:The study of the Piraha tribe shows that____

A．people all over the world know how to count

B．People of the tribe have words for number

C．Some groups of people are not smart enough to count

D．Counting is not useful in the culture of the tribe

小题5:What is the main idea of the passage?

A．people from different cultures have different ideas about numbers and math

B．Chinese people can count more easily on their fingers than Americans

C．In some aboriginal culture,people don’t even know how to count

D．Some languages don’t have number words because people don’t need numbers.