The future of 3D-printed houses 未来的3D打印房屋

李彤

1 A US company， Mighty Buildings， can 3D - print a house and stick it in your back- yard for just￡ 75， 000. Mighty Buildings uses a 20ft - high printer stored in a California warehouse to make you a small cottage （小屋） and ships it to your property on a truck.

2“All you need to do is sit back and relax as we deliver and install your unit for you ， ” Mighty Buildings says on its website.

3Compared to new houses of a similar size in California， Mighty Buildings says its 3D- printed sheds cost 45 per cent less to build. The firm apparently takes just 24 hours to con- struct a 350-square-foot house， using 95 per cent less labour than traditional methods. The technique is also said to be more eco-friendly， producing 90 per cent less waste than a typi- cal build.

4It，s not the first company to offer 3D-printed buildings： An entire street of the high - tech houses is being built in Mexico. However， Mighty Buildings， technology is different as it prints more elements of the house—the dwellings in Mexico， for instance， only feature 3D-printed walls and floors.

5As much as 80 per cent of Mighty Buildings， construction process is now automated （自動化的） ， according to the company. The rest， including the windows， plumbing and electrics， is done separately on site.

6 According to the firm ，s website， prices start around $100， 000 （￡ 75， 000） for an environmentally friendly， studio - sized apartment. Mighty Buildings has already delivered two fully-functioning units in San Ramon and San Diego and is currently fulfilling multiple （多个的） other orders.

7 3D printing is a process of layering up a material to build complicated structures. It works just like regular house printers—but instead of ink， a 3D printer will use materials like plastic or metal. Using giant 3D printers， it ， s been proven possible to quickly and cheaplybuildhouses.Sadlythetechis far frommainstream fornow. Arecentreport suggested 3D-printed houses built in less than 24 hours will form a key part of the UK ，s housing market by 2025.

1. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about？

A. The construction process.B. The cost， labour and waste.

C. The house elements.D. The high-tech knowledge.

2. What advantage do 3D printers have according to the text？

A. They might produce less waste.

B. They must be more eco-friendly.

C. They may transmit a Mighty Unit to a warehouse.

D. They can take the place of traditional methods now.

3. What does the underlined word“dwellings”in paragraph 4 probably mean？

A. Structures.B. Methods.C. Elements. D. Houses.

4. What，s the purpose of the text？

A. To introduce 3D-printed houses.

B. To show us Mighty Buildings.

C. To present a US company.

D. To suggest the Mexico high-tech houses.

语篇研读

本文是一篇科技成果介绍类说明文，其主题语境为“人与社会”范畴中的“技术创 新”。文章介绍了一家美国公司 Mighty Buildings 以 3D 打印技术建造房屋的情况。文 章特别指出：尽管使用巨型 3D 打印机可以快速、廉价地建造房屋，但目前该技术还远 未成为主流。不过，到 2025 年，在 24 小时内建造的 3D 打印房屋将成为英国住房市场 的重要组成部分。全文结构如下：

语言学习

Ⅰ. 语料荟萃

Ⅱ. 语句分析

All you need to do is sit back and relax as we deliver and install your unit for you. 您 需要做的就是在我们为您交付和安装您的房屋时，坐下来休息。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。All is sit back and relax 是主句，其中 and 连接的 sit back 和 relax 是两个并列的省略了to 的不定式（短语），在句中作表语;you need to do 是省略了关系代词 that 的限制性定语从句，修饰先行词 all;as we deliver and install your unit for you 是 as引导的时间状语从句。

语言运用

Ⅰ. 例句仿写

根据上面短文中出现过的短语和表达方式，完成下面的句子。

1. 與 40年前相比，现在的卫生保健水平得到了极大提升。

_______________________________________ ， the level of health care has improved enormously nowadays.

2. 据说已经有人把这个消息告诉了史密斯先生。

_______________________________________ have been told the news.

3. 我想尽可能多了解这个行业，让自己有备无患。

_______________________________________about the industry so that I，m better prepared. Ⅱ. 写作实践

你校英语俱乐部将举办以“科技创造美好未来”为主题的征文比赛，请你用英语 写一篇短文参赛。

注意：

1. 词数 80左右;

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。