Flat pasta that changes shape 可变形的意面

袁梁建

1 If you're a pasta （意大利面） lover， then you know that the noodles come in all sorts of different shapes. There are flat noodles， round noodles， shells， fancy spirals， and many more. Some of these pastas， like ordinary spaghetti， pack easily into a small box or package. But others require much larger boxes because their hard 3D shapes wrap around a whole lot of air.

2 Now a team of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University （CMU） has figured out a way to deal with the problem. The team of scientists have developed an unusual way of making flat pasta that allows it to turn into fancy 3D shapes as it cooks.

3 Lining Yao， who leads the “Morphing Matter Lab” at CMU， says the team got the idea of 3D pasta from “flat-pack furniture”. Flat-pack furniture， such as that sold by IKEA， comes tightly packed in a box， but then can be built into a large piece of furniture that takes up a much greater amount of space.

4 To bring the flat-pack idea to the pasta world， the scientists used a fairly simple trick—stamping grooves （凹槽） in the pasta. “The groove side expands less than the smooth side， leading the pasta to change into shape，” explains one of the researchers.

5 But knowing what kinds of grooves to make and where to make them is the trick. By figuring out just the right spots for grooves， the researchers were able to control the final shape of the pasta. The scientists used computers to help them plan their groove patterns. The team came up with lots of different shapes. The pasta looks， feels， and tastes just like ordinary pasta once it is cooked.

6 The team hopes their new method will help the environment in two ways. Like flat-pack furniture， it should take up less space when it's being transported. The pasta should also require much less packaging， meaning far less plastic waste.

Reading  Check

Choose the best answers according to the text.

Detail 1. What can we know about the traditional pasta？

A. Flat noodles are easy to cook.

B. Pasta does harm to the environment.

C. Round noodles are easy to carry and pack.

D. Different noodles come in different shapes.

Detail 2. What inspires the new invention according to the text？

A. Flat-pack furniture. B. The groove side.

C. Unusual spaghetti.    D. The heavy package.

Detail 3. How can scientists keep the final shape of the pasta under control？

A. By calculating the places for grooves accurately.

B. By figuring out the right length of time.

C. By choosing special materials for grooves.

D. By using computers to plan groove patterns.

Inference 4. What's the author's purpose in writing the text？

A. To tell a story of the new pasta.

B. To introduce the invention of the new pasta.

C. To compare the new paste with the traditional.

D. To explain the function of different sizes of pasta.

Language  Study

Discover the difficult sentence in the text

The team of scientists have developed an unusual way of making flat pasta that allows it to turn into fancy 3D shapes as it cooks. 一個科学家小组开发了一种不同寻常的制作扁平意大利面的方法，这种方法可以让意大利面在烹饪时变成精致的3D形状。

【点石成金】that引导定语从句，在从句中作主语，先行词为flat pasta;as引导时间状语从句，意为“当……的时候”。