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    What's in a Name?
    Many American names come from England. But where did most English names come from? Centuries ago, most people in England had only one name--their first name. In the 11th century, five or six of the 50 people in a village might be named William, and it was easy to get confused(困惑). But in the Middle Ages, people found a way to describe each person exactly. If there were four Williams in one village, one might be referred to as William the son of John. A second might be called William from the hill. A third, William the blacksmith(铁匠). And a fourth, William the brown haired. In conversation, people might refer to the four Williams as William John's son, William hill, William smith, and William brown.
    It was 300 or 400 years before the extra(附加的) names gradually developed into last names, or surnames. They were passed on from generation to generation. By the 1300s, Robert, the son of William smith, had the name Robert smith, even if he was not a blacksmith like his father. As the last name became widely accepted, the first letter was capitalized, as in Robert Smith. By the 15th century, most people of the upper and middle classes had surnames.
    Many surnames were based on father-son relations. The “son of” part was added to the father's first name, like Johnson, meaning John's son. Sometimes it was shortened to just “s”, as in Jones or Evans. Surnames like Hill described the place where a person lived. They are the most common type of surname. A third kind of surname was based on a person's job. Forester was someone who looked after the forest. In the Middle Ages, occupation names such as Baker, Carpenter, and Miller became common. The fourth kind of surname was nickname(绰号). A man whose surname was Bear might be as fierce as a bear.
    Have you ever wondered why some surnames are so common? The most common surname in the English language is Smith. Being able to make metals(金属) into tools was an important skill in the Middle Ages, so many people were trained as blacksmiths. The most common American surnames are Smith, Johnson, William and Brown.
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打印出个世界

    ①3D打印,也叫三维打印,是快速成型技术的一种,也称“叠层制造”工艺,最早开发于上世纪80年代。这种工艺的原理是,在一个平面上指定的位置放置并固化材料,然后通过逐层打印,把材料堆积成三维物体。

    ②基于这样的工作原理,3D打印技术用于大批量的生产并不快,且成本昂贵,但此技术从零开始堆积材料,不受传统加工手段制约,可以制造几乎任意形状的产品。比如说你要在零件里面打印一些复杂却十分精确的孔,或者要做一个中空的牙齿模型,这时用3D打印工艺就比传统加工工艺快捷省事。最重要的是,3D打印技术让零件的制造不再拘泥于工艺,而取决于想法,越是稀奇古怪,越是传统加工工艺无法加工的零件,就越是3D打印技术的用武之地。比如科幻电影《我机器人》中出现的奥迪RDQ,其超现实的水滴形车身就是由德国库卡公司的工业机器人采用3D打印技术制造的

    ③由于3D打印技术自身的特点,其成熟的应用多出现在医学、教育领域,用于制造那些传统工艺无法精确完成,却又对人们的生活产生极大影响的单个零件。比如制造出用于移植手术的人造骨髓;还可以制作器官模型,供医生个人练习,为手术做准备。

    ④3D打印技术还在整形界享有一定的声誉。2005年,一位猛禽保育专家和一位牙医,用了18个月的时间,用3D打印技术为一只被子弹击碎了半个喙的白头海雕制造了一个“义喙”(注:假嘴)。在义喙安装手术后,这只幸运的鸟儿就摆脱了进食管,可以自主进食、饮水、梳理羽毛了。

    ⑤现在,3D打印技术正逐渐走进人们的日常生活。最近已经有人在用3D打印技术制作精致的玩具了,比如用光敏树脂制造的小熊U盘,还有人打印出了可以食用的 巧克力。如果你是一位DIY达人,等你闲来无事,甚至可以打印个自己来玩玩。

    ⑥在未来,随着 技术进步和成本下降,3D打印技术的适用范围将会更加广泛。