精讀外刊：神奇的磁鐵讓電腦的運行速度整整提高了1000倍

STRANGE crystal magnets could lead to supercharged computers.

Historically, faster processors have been made by cramming more transistors onto silicon chips. However, there are limits to this. We have replaced silicon with magnetic solid state hard drives, but they, too, have physical limits.

Word & Expression

1. crystal

• 英 [kr?st(?)l] 美 [kr?stl]
• n. 結晶，晶體；水晶；水晶飾品

Some of the finest drinking glasses are made from lead crystal.

一些最精緻的酒杯是用鉛晶質玻璃製成的。

Irish diamond

liquid crystal 液晶

crystal structure 晶體結構，結晶組織

single crystal 單晶

• adj. 水晶的；透明的，清澈的

transparent , liquid , clear

2. magnet

• 英 [?m?ɡn?t] 美 [m?gn?t]
• n. 磁鐵；[電磁] 磁體；磁石

Its possible to hang a nail from a magnet and then use that nail to pick up another nail.

把一顆釘子掛在一個磁體上再用這顆釘子去吸起另一顆釘子是可能的。

aimant , leading stone

permanent magnet 永久磁鐵

superconducting magnet 超導磁體；超導磁鐵

bar magnet 棒磁鐵；條形磁鐵

3. supercharged

• 美 [sup?t?ɑrd?d]
• adj. 超動力的；增加動力的；變得更有效的

The decision to open the country to foreign trade and investment, initially through Special Economic Zones along the coast, set China on its path of supercharged economic growth.

起初通過沿海特別經濟區實行的打開對外貿易和對外投資大門的抉擇，中國按著自己的道路超動力地發展。

• v. 過份給與；以增壓器增強（supercharge的過去分詞）

4. processor

• 英 [pr??ses?] 美 [prɑs?s?]
• n. [計] 處理器；處理程序；加工者

The frozen-food industry could be supplied entirely by growers and processors outside the country.

冷凍食品行業可以完全由國外的種植者們和加工者們供應。

treater , processing program

signal processor n. 信號處理機；訊息處理者

digital signal processor 數位訊號處理器

word processor n. 文字處理機；文字處理軟體

5. cram

• 英 [kr?m] 美 [kr?m]
• vt. 填滿，塞滿；死記硬背；猛吃

Terry crammed the dirty clothes into his bag.

特里把臟衣服塞進了包里。

stuff , be packed with

• vi. 狼吞虎咽地吃東西；死記硬背功課

She was cramming for her Economics exam.

她正為了應付經濟學考試而臨時抱佛腳。

cram for 臨時抱佛腳；填鴨式地學習；死記硬背

• adj. 填鴨式學的
• n. 死記硬背；極度擁擠

rote memorization , rotta

cram school 補習班；補習學校，強化學校

6. transistor

• 英 [tr?nz?st?; trɑ?n-; -s?-] 美 [tr?nz?st?]
• n. 晶體管（收音機）

Every transistor has at least three electrodes.

每個晶體管至少有三個電極。

tansistor

field effect transistor [計]場效應晶體管

bipolar transistor 雙極型晶體管

thin film transistor 薄膜晶體管

7. silicon

• 英 [s?l?k(?)n] 美 [s?l?k?n]
• n. [化學] 硅；硅元素

The new chip will be made from a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.

這種新的晶元將由大約郵票大小的一塊矽片製成。

silicon carbide 碳化硅（俗稱金剛砂）

silicon steel 硅鋼

silicon rubber 硅橡膠；硅掾膠；聚硅銅橡膠

8. replace

• 英 [r?ple?s] 美 [r?ples]
• vt. 取代，代替；替換，更換；歸還，償還；把…放回原處

One species of tree replaces another as a forest ages.

隨著森林老化，一種樹會取代另一種樹。

restore , return , shift , tender

replace with 替換為；以…代替

replace by 取代；以…代替

9. solid

• 英 [s?l?d] 美 [sɑl?d]
• adj. 固體的；可靠的；立體的；結實的；一致的

...the potential of greatly reducing our solid waste problem.

…大幅度減少我們的固體垃圾問題的可能性。

responsible , honest , united , consistent , reliable

solid foundation 基礎雄厚；實體基礎

solid waste 固體廢物，固態廢物；固體廢料，固體垃圾

solid state 固態

• n. 固體；立方體

Solids turn to liquids at certain temperatures.

固體在一定溫度下轉變成液體。

cube

10. drive

• 英 [dra?v] 美 [dra?v]
• n. 驅動器；駕車；[心理] 內驅力，推進力；快車道

The firm specialized in supplying pieces of equipment, such as terminals, tape drives, or printers.

這家公司專營各種設備配件，比如終端機、磁帶機、印表機。

driving mechanism , propulsion

drive system 驅動系統，傳動系統

hard drive （電腦）硬碟驅動器

• vt. 推動，發動（機器等）；駕駛（馬車，汽車等）；驅趕

His daughter Carly drove him to the train station.

她的女兒卡莉開車送他去火車站。

launch , force , impulse

drive in 釘入；趕進；運球突破

drive from 從…趕走…；從…開車來

• vi. 開車；猛擊；飛跑

Rain drove against the window.

雨打著窗戶。

belt , jab at

參考譯文

奇特的水晶磁鐵可能會導致超動力運行的電腦。

從歷史上看，更快的處理器是通過在矽片上加入更多的晶體管來實現的。然而，這是有限度的。我們已經用磁性固體硬碟取代了硅，但它們也有物理限制。

To store data in such drives, the spin of tiny magnets are flipped up or down to represent the 1s and 0s of binary code. But these ferromagnets have a practical limit. They can only reorient themselves about a billion times a second without vast amounts of energy input, limiting how fast they can efficiently save data.

Now, a team led by Tomas Jungwirth at the Czech Academy of Sciences has created a way to write data 1000 times faster on copper manganese arsenide crystals – a kind of material called antiferromagnets, in which adjacent atoms have spins in opposite directions.

Word & Expression

1. store

• 英 [st??] 美 [st?r]
• vt. 貯藏，儲存

Where in the brain do we store information about colours?

我們在大腦的哪個地方存儲有關顏色的信息？

reposit , put away

• n. 商店；儲備，貯藏；倉庫

They are selling them for $10 apiece at a few stores in Texas and Oklahoma.

得克薩斯和俄克拉何馬的一些商店正以每個$10的價錢出售它們。

shop , reserve , warehouse , market

department store 百貨公司；百貨商店

in store 貯藏著；準備著；將要發生

chain store 連鎖商店

2. spin

• 英 [sp?n] 美 [sp?n]
• n. 旋轉；疾馳

He threw it back again, putting a slight spin on the ball.

他把球略帶旋轉地又投擲了回去。

revolution , rotation , rolling , turning

electron spin 電子自旋

• vt. 使旋轉；紡紗；編造；結網

The latest disks, used for small portable computers, spin 3,600 times a minute.

用於小型手提電腦的最新磁碟每分鐘轉動3600次。

turn , swing

spin out 消磨；拖延時間

spin in 上床；睡午覺

• vi. 旋轉；紡紗；吐絲；暈眩

My head was spinning from the wine.

當時我因喝了酒而感到眩暈。

wheel , circle

3. flip

• 英 [sl?p] 美 [sl?p]
• vi. 滑動；滑倒；犯錯；失足；減退

He had slipped on an icy pavement.

他在結冰的人行道上滑倒了。

slide , bowl

let slip 錯過；無意中吐露；放走

slip away 逃走；悄悄溜走

slip in 悄悄溜入；偷偷溜進去

• vt. 使滑動；滑過；擺脫；塞入；閃開

Robert had slipped her a note in school.

羅伯特上學時偷偷地塞給了她一張字條。

shed , slide

• n. 滑，滑倒；片，紙片；錯誤；下跌；事故

We must be well prepared, there must be no slips.

我們必須好好準備，一定不要有差錯。

error , accident , mistake , fault , sliding

• adj. 滑動的；有活結的；活絡的

slidable

• abbr. 串列線路介面協議，是舊式的協議（Serial Line Interface Protocol）

4. binary

• 英 [ba?n?r?] 美 [ba?n?ri]
• adj. [數] 二進位的；二元的，二態的

The message contains Unicode characters and has been sent as a binary attachment.

這條信息含有統一碼字元，已經以二進位附件形式發送。

dualistic , bibasic

binary image 二進位映象

binary system 二進位

binary data 二進位數據；二進數據；二元數據

5. ferromagnet

• [,f?rom?gn?t]
• n. 鐵磁物質；鐵磁的磁體

A ferromagnet can even affect the flow of a current in a nearby nonmagnetic metal.

鐵磁物質甚至會影響附近非磁性金屬內的電流。

6. reorient

• 英 [ri???r?ent; -?r-] 美 [,ri?r??nt]
• vt. 使適應；再調整

China had to reorient her foreign policy according to the new situation.

中國必須根據新的形勢重新調整其外交政策。

adapt , condition , suit , season

7. manganese

• 英 [m??g?ni?z] 美 [,m??ɡ?niz]
• n. [化學] 錳

One half cup of pineapple delivers almost half the daily recommendation of manganese yet weighs in at only 40 calories.

半杯菠蘿汁提供著將近一半錳的每天推薦攝入量，然而僅有40卡路里熱量。

manganese steel 錳鋼

manganese ore 錳礦石，錳礦；硬錳砂

high manganese steel 高錳合金鋼， 高錳鋼

8. arsenide

• 英 [ɑ?s(?)na?d] 美 [ɑrs?,na?d]
• n. [無化] 砷化物

Moreover, gallium arsenide is much more expensive than silicon in the first place.

另外，最重要的是，鎵砷化物比硅貴得多。

gallium arsenide 砷化鎵

9. antiferromagnet

• [?nti,fer?um?ɡnit]
• n. 反鐵磁性物質

On the basis of standard spin-wave theory, the magnetic dispersion relations for a two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet are investigated.

利用標準的自旋波理論，研究了二維三角海森堡反鐵磁體的色散關係。

10. adjacent

• 英 [?d?e?s(?)nt] 美 [?d?esnt]
• adj. 鄰近的，毗連的

The schools were adjacent but there were separate doors.

這些學校相鄰，但是有各自的門。

nearby , neighbor

adjacent rock 圍岩

adjacent structure 毗連建築物

adjacent sea 近海；邊緣海；鄰海

參考譯文

在這樣的驅動器上存儲數據，小磁體的自旋向上或向下翻轉代表1和0的二進位代碼。但這些材料有一個實操中的限制。沒有大量的能源支持的話，他們只能每秒重新自我調整十億次，而這會限制他們有效保存數據的速度。

目前，由捷克科學院Tomas Jungwirth領導的一個團隊已經研究出在銅砷化物晶體上以1000倍的速度寫入數據的一種方法——這種材料被稱為反鐵磁性物質，在其中相鄰的原子在相反方向旋轉。

The researchers made antiferromagnet squares about the width of spider silk to store each bit of data. Then they ran extremely short electric pulses – lasting about a trillionthof a second – through them to flip the spins in each square. By firing pulses in quick succession, the spins could be flipped about a trillion times a second, they say (http://arxiv.org/abs/1711.08444).

It would take 1000 times as much energy to flip a ferromagnet this fast, says Jacek Furdyna at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He says this new material shows promise, especially as the experiment was done at room temperature.

Word & Expression

1. width

• 英 [w?tθ; w?dθ] 美 [w?dθ]
• n. 寬度；廣度

The road was reduced to 18 ft in width by adding parking bays.

這條路增加了停車區域後，寬度減少為18英尺。

breadth , extents

pulse width 脈衝寬度；脈衝持續時間

pulse width modulation [計]脈衝調製；脈寬燈；脈衝間隔燈

band width 頻帶寬度

2. electric pulse

• [?lektr?k / p?ls]
• 電脈衝

It then delivers an electric pulse up to 10 volts which essentially masks pain signals.

接著這種感測器傳遞達10伏特的電脈衝，基本能掩蓋疼痛信號。

electrical pulse

3. succession

• 英 [s?kse?(?)n] 美 [s?ks???n]
• n. 連續；繼位；繼承權；[生態] 演替

Adams took a succession of jobs which have stood him in good stead.

亞當斯做了一連串對他很有利的工作。

series , heritage , progression

in succession 接連地，連續地

a succession of 一連串；一系列

in quick succession 緊接地

4. trillion

• 英 [tr?lj?n] 美 [tr?lj?n]
• n. [數] 萬億

...a 4 trillion dollar debt.

…一筆4萬億美元的債務。

5. promise

• 英 [pr?m?s] 美 [prɑm?s]
• n. 許諾，允諾；希望

If you make a promise, you should keep it.

如果你許下一個諾言，你就應該遵守它。

wish , hope , pleasure

show promise 有成功的希望

make a promise 允許；允諾

great promise 前程遠大；大有前途

• vt. 允諾，許諾；給人以…的指望或希望

The post office has promised to resume first class mail delivery to the area on Friday.

郵局已承諾在星期五恢復該地區第一類郵件的遞送。

pledge , vouchsafe

promise oneself 指望

• vi. 許諾；有指望，有前途

參考譯文

研究者們將反鐵磁性物質做成了約蜘蛛絲寬度的正方形來存儲每一比特的數據。然後他們運行了一個非常短的電脈衝——持續約每秒萬億次——通過它們在每個正方形區域中翻轉。通過快速連續地觸發脈衝，旋轉可達每秒上萬億次，他們說。

使鐵磁體如此快速的旋轉會消耗1000倍的能量，印第安納州聖母大學的Jacek Furdyna說。他說這種新的材料顯示了希望，特別是這個實驗是在室內溫度情況下完成的。

【句子精講】

They can only reorient themselves about a billion times a second without vast amounts of energy input, limiting how fast they can efficiently save data.

without的用法

• 表示否定，其意為「沒有」「無」「不需」。

He went out without his umbrella.

他外出沒有帶傘。

I was without anyone to look after my child.

沒有人替我照看孩子。

The letter had been posted without a stamp.

那封信沒貼郵票就寄出去了。

若用於否定詞no, not, never等之後，則表示肯定，其意為「沒有……不」「沒有……則不能」「每……必定」。

There is no smoke without fire.

無風不起浪。

Don』t go out without a coat on.

不要沒穿外衣就出去。

They never meet without quarrelling.

他們一見面就爭吵。

What he has said is not without reason.

他說的話不是沒有道理。

• 其後除可接名詞或代詞外，也可接動名詞。

He walked past me without speaking.

他從我身旁走過，一句話也沒說。

He left without paying his bill.

他沒有付賬就走了。

It is strange that he should have gone away without telling us.

真奇怪，他沒有告訴我們一聲就走了。

• 有時表示條件，意為「若無」「若非」。

Without water, we cannot live.

沒有水，我們就活不了。

Can you see without your glasses?

你不戴眼鏡能看得清東西嗎？

這樣用時，有時還可引出虛擬語氣，相當於 but for。

Without your advice I would have failed.

假若沒有你的勸告，我想必已失敗了。

I never could have done it without your help.

如果沒有你的幫助我永遠也不會完成這事。

• 後接兩個並列成分時，既可用and也可用or，即without A and B與without A or B 同義，相當於without A and without B，同時否定A、B兩者。

We cannot survive for long without food and [or] water.

我們沒有食物和水就活不了多久。

• 所引出的介詞短語通常用作狀語，但有時也可用作表語，表示「沒有」。

He is without bias.

他沒有成見。

You yourself aren』t without blame.

你自己也不是沒有責任。

We were without electricity for three hours but it』s on again now.

我們的電停了3小時，現在又有了。

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