第30课（378字 2分钟）

Passage Thirty

（K4 level）

1. Matt Mason has seen the future—and it’s fun.

2. Mason likes thinking about how machines can make our lives easier by doing the work we hate, such as cleaning.

3. He shows a hard floor cleaning system that’s built into the wall: it will blow dirt to a part of the room where it will be collected by a vacuum.

4. Then the system will drop some cleaner on the floor and an arm will mop it up.

5. Kara, an expert in Mason’s company, says that this may trouble you.

6. She adds that you can program it to come on at 3 a.m., and it will just wet-mop the floor for you.

7. When it comes to the kitchen, Bruce Beihoff, another expert at Whirlpool, is sure that in a few years, robots will be doing most of the boring work, freeing us to relax.

8. He says that more than just fun, future kitchens will be environmentally friendly.

9. He explains that a new system will be built in the house which can recycle energy lost from your kitchen to make the whole home warm.

10. Daniel Lee, a market expert, says that the fridge will be the center of the home.

11. He says that the fridge will have a touch screen where you can watch TV, surf the Internet, check your e-mail, keep a shopping list and order vegetables.

12. He says that your fridge is the first place you go in the morning and the last place at night.

13. Jane Langmuir, an expert of cooking machines, wonders why a 1.9-meter man and a 1.6-meter woman have to cook meals on counters of the same height.

14. She says that the height was decided over 50 years ago, according to the height of ordinary women.

15. She adds that times have changed and they have made a new counter where you press a button and it moves to whatever height you want.

16. At the same time, Ted Selker at MIT’s Counter lab has made the Dish maker which lets you make dishes and bowls out of plastics at home.

17. He explains that after each meal, the dishes are changed straight back into plastics.

生词表（New Words）

1. future 未来                        fun 乐趣 

2. thinking 思考                     machines 机器                easier 更轻松

hate 讨厌                           cleaning 清洁 

3. shows 展示                        cleaning system清洁系统wall 墙壁 

4. blow 吹                              dirt 灰尘                          collected 收集

vacuum 吸尘器 

1. system 系统                drop 洒                            cleaner 清洁剂

mop 擦拭 

6. trouble 困扰                       program 设定                  wet-mop 湿拖 

7. robots 机器人                    boring 无聊的                 freeing 解放

relax 放松 

8. environmentally friendly 环保的 

9. recycle 回收                       energy 能量                    lost 浪费

make 使                             warm 温暖 

10. center 中心 

11. touch screen 触摸屏        surf 浏览                         Internet 网络

e-mail 电子邮件                shopping list 购物清单   order订购

vegetables 蔬菜 

12. place 地方                        morning 早上                  night 晚上 

13. wonder 想知道                counters 操作台              height 高度 

14. decided 决定                    ordinary 普通的 

15. changed 改变                   counter 操作台                      press 按

button 按钮                        move 移动 

16. Dish maker碗碟制造机   dishes  碗                       bowls  碗

plastics  塑料 

17. meal  餐

1. 马特·梅森看到了未来，而且它充满乐趣。

2. 梅森喜欢思考机器如何通过做我们讨厌的工作来让我们的生活变得更轻松，比如清洁工作。

3. 他展示了一种内置在墙壁中的硬地板清洁系统：它会把灰尘吹到房间的一部分，然后由吸尘器收集起来。

4. 然后系统会在地板上洒上清洁剂，一个机械臂会擦拭干净。

5. 梅森公司的一位专家卡拉说，这可能会让你感到困扰。

6. 她补充道，你可以将它设定在凌晨3点启动，它会为你湿拖地板。

7. 关于厨房，惠而浦公司另一位专家布鲁斯·贝霍夫确信，几年内，机器人将会做大部分繁琐的工作，解放我们去放松。

8. 他表示，未来的厨房不仅仅是有趣，它们还将是环保的。

9. 他解释说，将有一种新系统被建造进家庭中，可以回收厨房中浪费的能量，让整个房屋变暖。

10. 市场专家丹尼尔·李说，冰箱将成为家庭的中心。

11. 他表示，冰箱将拥有一个触摸屏，你可以在上面看电视、上网、查看电子邮件、保持购物清单并订购蔬菜。

12. 他还说，冰箱是你早上起床时第一个去的地方，也是晚上最后一个去的地方。

13. 烹饪机器专家简·兰姆奎尔想知道，为什么一个1.9米的男人和一个1.6米的女人必须在高度相同的操作台上做饭。

14. 她说，这个高度是50多年前根据普通女性的身高来决定的。

15. 她补充道，时代已经变了，她们设计了一种新型操作台，你只需要按一个按钮，它就会自动调整到你想要的高度。

16. 与此同时，麻省理工学院的特德·塞尔克在他的厨房实验室制作了“碗碟制造机”，它可以让你在家里制作塑料的碗和盘子。

17. 他解释说，每顿饭后，这些碗碟可以直接变回塑料。