The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has just published a report on new materials and has looked at the case of nanotechnology（纳米技术）, which describes the science of the very small. Nanotechnology covers those man-made materials or objects that are about a thousand times smaller than the microtechnology（微电子技术）we use, such as the silicon chips of puters.
Nanotechnology gets its name from the nanometer, which is a billionth of a meter. There are about 600 consumer products already on the market that use nanotechnology. Nanomedicine is also being developed to fight cancer and other fatal diseases.
The Royal Commission found no evidence of harm to health or the environment from nanomaterials, but this “absence of evidence” is not being taken as “evidence of absence”. In other words, just because there are no apparent problems, this is not to say that here is no risk now or in the future. The mission is concerned about the pace at which we are inventing and adopting new nanomaterials, which could result in future problems that we are ill-equipped to understand or even find with current testing methods.
One of the problems about nanotechnology is that when we make something very small out of a well known material, we may actually change the functionality of that material even if the chemical position remains the same. Indeed, it is not the particle（颗粒）size that should concern us, but its functionality. Take gold, for example, which is a famously inert (惰性) substance, and valuable because of it. It doesn’t rust or corrode because it doesn’t interact with water or oxygen. However, a particle of gold that is between 2 and 5 nanometers in diameter bees highly reactive. This is not due to a change in chemical position, but because of a change in the physical size of the gold particles. How can a change in size result in a change of function? One reason is to do with surface area. Nanoparticles have relatively a much bigger surface area. It is like paring the surface area of a basketball with the total surface area of many pea-sized balls with the same weight of the single basketball. The pea-sized balls have a surface area many hundreds, indeed thousands of times bigger than the basketball, and this allows them to interact more easily with the environment. It is this increased interactivity that changes their functionality—and makes them potentially more dangerous to health or the environment.
【小题1】Why does the writer mention microtechnology in the first paragraph?A．to introduce the topic of nanotechnologyB．to help us better understand nanotechnologyC．to help us know more about microtechnologyD．to pare microtechnology with nanotechnology【小题2】The example of the “gold” in the last paragraph is intended to show that .A．gold is valuable because it is an inert substanceB．an inert substance like gold doesn’t interact with water or oxygenC．the function of gold is steady because it is an inert substanceD．the function of gold changes when made into something very small【小题3】Which process explains that there might be risks in nanotechnology? A．expand surface area →increase interactivity → change functionality→cause possible dangersB．expand surface area → change functionality → increase interactivity →cause possible dangersC．increase interactivity → expand surface area → change functionality→cause possible dangers D．increase interactivity → change functionality → expand surface area→cause possible dangers【小题4】What does the passage mainly focus on?A．the introduction of nanotechnology and its wide use B．the present use of nanotechnology and its future C．the potential danger nanotechnology may bring us D．the proposal to stop nanotechnology due to the potential dangerB
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(答案→)B
解析：人们在生活中时常会碰到纳米技术这个术语，那么什么是纳米技术呢？纳米技术对我们是有害还是有益呢？本文作者认为没有证据能证明纳米技术对人类无害并不等于纳米技术对人类真正无害。作者在文中通过举例来说明纳米技术对物质性能的改变很可能会对人类和环境造成危害。
【小题1】B推理判断题 。人们仅仅知道纳米技术这个术语，但是很多人不明白其含义，于是作者通过与微电子技术相对比，让读者更好的了解纳米技术，所以答案选B。
【小题2】D 推理判断题。文章末段首先介绍One of the problems about nanotechnology is that when we make something very small out of a well known material, we may actually change the functionality of that material纳米技术会改变一种物质的功能，然后提出以黄金为例（Take gold, for example）,由此可知作者用黄金这种物质为例来说明当黄金通过纳米技术被制成微小的物质时，它的功能性质会发生变化，答案选D。
【小题3】A细节理解题。根据文章末段中用同等重量的篮球和很多豌豆大小的球相比The pea-sized balls have a surface area many hundreds,…… and this allows them to interact more easily with the environment. It is this increased interactivity that changes their functionality—and makes them potentially more dangerous to health or the environment.可以得知A选项的过程能准确反映纳米技术可能导致的危险，故答案选A。
【小题4】C主旨大意题。文章首段向人们介绍了纳米技术，然后在第二段提出Nanomedicine is also being developed to fight cancer and other fatal diseases.，再从下文中通过举例来说明纳米技术可能对人类以及环境存在的危害，故C选项内容更能反映文章中心。