2020考研英语阅读理解精读100篇：Unit 52
Unit 52
Bryant Linares has one heck of a secret family recipe: how to make world-class diamonds. Seven years ago his father, Robert, produced a diamond in a high-pressure chamber of carbon gas and dropped it into an acid solution to clean it off. When he returned the next morning, he expected to find the usual yellow stone—a crude artificial diamond of some use to industry, perhaps, but not the stuff of dreams. At first there didn’t seem to be any stone at all. Then he saw, at the bottom of the beaker, so clear it was almost invisible, a perfect quarter-carat crystal of pure carbon. “It was the eureka moment,” says Bryant. ① His father had managed what many scientists had given up on long ago: to manufacture a stone that wouldn’t look out of place on an engagement ring.
Man-made diamonds are nothing new—industry started making them in the 1950s, and each year about 80 tons of low-quality synthetic diamonds are used in tools like drill bits and sanders. ② High-quality crystals, though, open up huge possibilities, jewelry being the least of them. Scientists are most excited about the prospect of making diamond microchips. As chips have shrunk over the years, engineers have struggled with ways of dissipating the heat they create. Because silicon, the main component of semiconductors, breaks down at about 200 degrees Fahrenheit, some experts believe a new material will be needed in a decade or so. Diamonds might fit the bill. They can withstand 1,000 degrees, and electrons move through them so easily that they would tend not to heat up in the first place. Engineers could cram a lot more circuits onto a diamond-based micro-chip—if they could perfect a way of making pure crystals cheaply.
The race is on. After working in secrecy for years refining their technique, the Linareses’ company, Apollo Diamond, now spits out 20 carats a week, both for jewelry and for diamond wafers that could be fashioned into microchips. Rivals have also been busy. Gemesis, a Sarasota, Fla., firm, has developed a “diamond growth chamber”—a press that squeezes out high-quality diamonds in much the same way that the early presses made rough ones. Gemesis is making blue diamonds—rare and sought-after gemstones.
Chipmakers are also getting into the act. The Japanese firm Nippon Telegraph and Telephone has already made prototype diamond semiconductors, and the Japanese government is actively promoting the technology. Most U.S. research is going on in universities and military labs, but Intel has recently taken an interest. Before the technology is ready for prime time, chipmakers will have to come up with a way to keep out impurities during manufacturing. And the attribute that makes diamonds so attractive—their hardness—also makes them difficult to manipulate.
The new diamonds are likely to show up first as tiny light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in flat-screen displays and high-definition televisions. And then, of course, there’s jewelry. Although synthetics still carry a stigma, even experts can’t tell the difference. Natural-diamond merchants claim they aren’t worried, but De Beers has made a device that can distinguish between the natural stones and the synthetics and is distributing it to jewelers. Will consumers care? We might find out next year when Gemesis is ready to market its blue diamonds in the United States.
注（1）：本文选自Newsweek；
注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2002年真题Text 4。
1. From the first paragraph, we learn that ______.
A) all the diamonds are almost invisible
B) many scientists had tried hard to make perfect diamonds long time ago
C) Bryant’s father expected to find a diamond used in industry
D) diamonds are produced with carbon gas
2. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?
A) Diamond can withstand higher degree than silicon.
B) The main component of semiconductors will be replaced in a few years.
C) High-quality crystals have least usages, esp. in jewelry.
D) Engineers could not find perfect ways of making pure crystal cheaply.
3. According to the passage, why can the companies increase and perfect their production of diamond?
A) They all work in secrecy.
B) They have improved their techniques.
C) They have developed their own diamond chambers.
D) They have turned the rough diamonds to high-quality ones.
4. Which of the following best defines the word “attribute”（Line 5, Paragraph 4）?
A) Quality.
B) Contribution.
C) Appearance.
D) Value.
5. The new diamond is NOT first used in ______.
A) LEDs
B) flat-screen displays
C) high-definition televisions
D) prototype diamond semiconductors
篇章剖析
本篇文章主要介绍了人造钻石的制造、用途和应用前景。第一段叙述了布赖恩特·李艾尔斯的父亲偶然发现了制造精美人工钻石的技术；第二段介绍工业上生产钻石的情况和人造钻石的用途；第三段说明钻石制造公司的制造技术不断进步；第四段叙述芯片制造商设法生产出钻石半导体来生产微芯片；最后一段介绍了人造钻石的应用前景。
词汇注释
recipe /ˈresɪpi/ n. 处方，秘诀
artificial /ˌɑːtɪˈfɪʃəl/ adj. 人造的，假的，非原产地的
eureka /ɪʊəˈriːkə/ int. 我发现了！（表达有重大新发现时的欢乐）
synthetic /sɪnˈθetɪk/ adj. 合成的，人造的，综合的
dissipate /ˈdɪsɪpeɪt/ v. 驱散，（使云、雾、疑虑等）消散；浪费（金钱或时间）
silicon /ˈsɪlɪkən/ n. 【化】硅，硅元素
wafer /ˈweɪfə/ n. 晶片，圆片；薄饼；干胶片
gemstone /ˈdʒemˌstəʊn/ n. 经雕琢的宝石
prototype /ˈprəʊtəʊtaɪp/ n. 原型；模型；典型
impurity /ɪmˈpjʊərɪti/ n. 杂质，混杂物；不洁，不纯
attribute /əˈtrɪbju(ː)t/ n. 属性，品质，特征
manipulate /məˈnɪpjʊleɪt/ vt. （熟练地）操作，操纵（人或市价、市场）；利用；应付；假造
stigma /ˈstɪgmə/ n. 污名，耻辱
distribute /dɪsˈtrɪbju(ː)t/ vt. 分发；分配；散布，分布
难句突破
① His father had managed what many scientists had given up on long ago: to manufacture a stone that wouldn’t look out of place on an engagement ring.
主体句式：His father had managed...
结构分析：这是一个复杂句，what引导的是宾语从句，to manufacture a stone实际上是what many scientists had given up的同谓语，that引导的是定语从句。
句子译文：他的父亲完成了许多科学家很久以前放弃的研究，即制造出一块用在订婚戒指上也显得再合适不过的钻石。
② High-quality crystals, though, open up huge possibilities, jewelry being the least of them.
主体句式：Crystals open up possibilities...
结构分析：Jewelry being the least of them是一个分词独立主格结构，在句中作伴随状语。
句子译文：高质量的水晶展现了巨大的应用潜力，用来制作珠宝只是其中最小的一部分。
题目分析
1. B 推理题。文中第一段讲到，布赖恩特的父亲完成了许多科学家很久以前放弃的研究，说明以前许多科学家曾努力去研究制造精美钻石。
2. C 细节题。选项A、B、D在文中第二段都可以找到相应的意思，C选项却和文中意思相悖。文中的意思是：高质量的水晶展现了巨大的应用潜力，用来制作珠宝只是其中最小的一部分。
3. B 细节题。文中第三段第二句谈到，阿波罗钻石公司秘密研究多年之后改良了技术，从而提高了产量，而盖迈希公司也通过成立“钻石成长室”，用和以往相同的方式制造出品质更高的钻石，可见他们也改进了技术。
4. A 语义题。attribute本身就是特点和性质的意思。从后面的their hardness（钻石的硬度），也可以推断出。
5. D 细节题。文中第五段第一行讲到新钻石可能首先被用在什么地方。
参考译文
布赖恩特·李艾尔斯有一副家传秘方：如何制造世界级的钻石。七年前，他的父亲罗伯特在一间高压碳气室中制造了一颗钻石，把它放入酸性溶液中清洗干净。第二天早晨当他回来时，他本指望看到通常的黄色钻石——在工业上具有某种用途的未加工的人工钻石，但可能并非梦寐以求的那种。开始他根本没有看到什么石头。接着他看到在烧杯底有一块完美的四分之一克拉的纯碳钻石，如此透明，几乎让人看不到它。“这是一个令人狂喜的时刻”，布赖恩特说。他的父亲完成了许多科学家很久以前放弃的研究，即制造出一块用在订婚戒指上也显得再合适不过的钻石。
人造钻石并不是什么新生事物，20世纪50年代工业上就开始制造了，每年大约生产800吨低质量的人造钻石，用来制造工具，如钻头和打磨机。高质量的水晶展现了巨大的应用潜力，用来制作珠宝只是其中最小的一部分。科学家对于制造钻石芯片的前景最乐观。因为芯片会在多年以后收缩，工程师们努力想办法驱散它们产生的热量。因为半导体的主要成分硅在大约华氏200度就会破裂，一些专家认为大约十年后将需要一种新的材料。钻石可能是合适之选。首先它们可以承受1,000度的高温，电子很容易通过钻石，它们不容易升温。如果工程师们能找到一种完美的低成本制造纯水晶的方法，他们可以在一个钻石芯片上安装更多的线路。
竞赛正在进行。理纳莱西（the Linareses）下属公司——阿波罗钻石公司秘密改进技术多年，如今坦言每周能生产20克拉钻石，用来制造珠宝和可以用来制造微芯片的钻石晶片。其竞争对手也很忙。佛罗里达州萨拉索塔的盖迈希（Gemesis）公司建造了一个“钻石成长室”，通过压力制造出高品质钻石，和以前制造低质量钻石的方法大体相同。盖迈希公司还可以生产蓝钻石，这是一种世人争相追求的珍贵宝石。
芯片制造商也在行动。日本电报电话公司也已经制造出钻石半导体样品，日本政府正积极推动这项技术。美国的多数研究在大学和军队的实验室进行，但英特尔公司最近也已产生兴趣。在这项技术进入全盛期前，芯片制造商必须提出一种生产过程中去除杂质的方法。钻石之所以如此吸引人，是因为它的硬度，而这一特性也增加了钻石制造难度。
新的钻石可能首先以微小的发光二极管，或者平板显示器和高清晰电视中的发光二极管的形态出现。当然还有珠宝。虽然人造的会带有瑕疵，但甚至专家们也不能分辨真伪。尽管天然钻石商人声称他们并不担心，但是德·比尔斯制造了一种可以区分天然钻石和人造钻石的设备，已经分发给珠宝商。消费者会在意吗？下一年盖迈希公司准备在美国销售它的蓝钻石，到那时，我们或许会明白的。
