(2018·天津高考·C)
There’s a new frontier in 3D printing that’s beginning to come into focus: food. Recent development has made possible machines that print, cook, and serve foods on a mass scale. And the industry isn’t stopping there.
Food production
With a 3D printer, a cook can print complicated chocolate sculptures and beautiful pieces for decoration on a wedding cake. Not everybody can do that — it takes years of experience, but a printer makes it easy. A restaurant in Spain uses a Foodini to “re-create forms and pieces” of food that are “exactly the same, ” freeing cooks to complete other tasks. In another restaurant, all of the dishes and desserts it serves are 3D-printed, rather than farm to table.
Sustainability(可持续性)
The global population is expected to grow to 9. 6 billion by 2050, and some analysts estimate that food production will need to be raised by 50 percent to maintain current levels. Sustainability is becoming a necessity. 3D food printing could probably contribute to the solution. Some experts believe printers could use hydrocolloids (水解胶体) from plentiful renewables like algae(藻类) and grass to replace the familiar ingredients(烹饪原料). 3D printing can reduce fuel use and emissions. Grocery stores of the future might stock “food” that lasts years on end, freeing up shelf space and reducing transportation and storage requirements.
Nutrition
Future 3D food printers could make processed food healthier. Hod Lipson, a professor at Columbia University, said, “Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content, like vitamins. So instead of eating a piece of yesterday’s bread from the supermarket, you’d eat something baked just for you on demand. ”
Challenges
Despite recent advancements in 3D food printing, the industry has many challenges to overcome. Currently, most ingredients must be changed to a paste(糊状物) before a printer can use them, and the printing process is quite time-consuming, because ingredients interact with each other in very complex ways. On top of that, most of the 3D food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad. Some experts are skeptical about 3D food printers, believing they are better suited for fast food restaurants than homes and high-end restaurants.
【文章大意】本文属于科普性说明文, 主要介绍了打印食物的一些知识。
1. What benefit does 3D printing bring to food production?
A. It helps cooks to create new dishes.
B. It saves time and effort in cooking.
C. It improves the cooking conditions.
D. It contributes to restaurant decorations.
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据第二段中的“it takes years of experience, but a printer makes it easy”可知打印食物耗时少; 第二段中后面的两个例子则说明了打印食物可以减少人们的付出。
2. What can we learn about 3D food printing from Paragraph 3?
A. It solves food shortages easily.
B. It quickens the transportation of food.
C. It needs no space for the storage of food.
D. It uses renewable materials as sources of food.
【解析】选D。细节理解题。根据“from plentiful renewables like algae and. . . ”可知, 打印食物的原料是可再生的。
3. According to Paragraph 4, 3D-printed food .
A. is more available to consumers
B. can meet individual nutritional needs
C. is more tasty than food in supermarkets
D. can keep all the nutrition in raw materials
【解析】选B。推理判断题。根据本段中的“Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content. . . you’d eat something baked just for you on demand. ”可知消费者可以根据自己的需求定制化地做出自己需要的食品来满足自己的需求。
4. What is the main factor that prevents 3D food printing from spreading widely?
A. The printing process is complicated.
B. 3D food printers are too expensive.
C. Food materials have to be dry.
D. Some experts doubt 3D food printing.
【解析】选C。细节理解题。根据第五段中的“On top of that, most of the 3D food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad. ”可知“最困难的是食物打印需要干的材料, 因为肉类和奶制品容易变质。”
5. What could be the best title of the passage?
A. 3D Food Printing: Delicious New Technology
B. A New Way to Improve 3D Food Printing
C. The Challenges for 3D Food Production
D. 3D Food Printing: From Farm to Table
【解析】选A。主旨大意题。文章属于总分结构, 第一段是总, 其余段落是分。第一段的首句又是第一段的核心。由首段首句可知食物打印是3D打印的尖端项目。
