文章大意:这是一篇新闻报道。文章介绍了三星公司Rathore和他的团队致力于将废弃的渔网回收再利用,并成功将其用于制作三星Galaxy系列手机,在这个突破之后,三星的目标是在未来的产品线中使用更多的升级循环材料。
Plastic fishing nets, the so-called ghost nets, abandoned yearly in the sea—about 1 million tons—are more than just rubbish; they’re a killer. Fish, sea birds, and turtles get caught in the netting and die, with more species at risk.
Much shocked at this, Pranveer Singh Rathore, a materials-science engineer and materials R&D manager at Samsung, and his team set themselves the task of giving new life to the deadly nets. Last month, Samsung revealed a new line of Galaxy products made in part from recycled plastic fishing nets for the first time. The company estimates this year alone it can recycle over 50 tons of ocean-bound plastic into the key components that will go into its smartphones, tablets, and computers, thus taking a bite out of the global ghost nets problem.
It’s no small task to give waste fishing nets a second act. The nets are typically made of a substance called nylon which tends to dramatically degrade (降解) the longer it sits in the ocean and is exposed to the sun. “This makes it nearly impossible to use abandoned fishing nets directly,” Rathore explains. Besides, high-performance smartphone, tablet, or PC has to be waterproof and can survive severe weather. The nylon in the fishing nets falls far short of that level of durability (耐用).
To deal with that problem, Samsung last summer teamed up with two partners: one to collect and transform the nets into tiny nylon pellets (颗粒) while the other to strengthen their toughness and durability. The end result: The partners hit upon an eco-friendly and high-performance plastic material that’s being used to build the component parts for its latest line of products. For example, two parts of the Galaxy S22 mobile phone—the key bracket and the inner cover—are made of these fishing-net plastic materials. Samsung aims to use even more upcycled materials in future product lines.
“That’s the hope for the globe and our mission,” Rathore smiles.
8. What does the underlined word “
this” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Rubbish in the sea. | B.Recycling the deadly nets. |
C.Ocean species’ extinction. | D.Ghost nets’ threat to sea life. |
9. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?
A.The low level of durability of nylon. | B.The second act of waste fishing nets. |
C.The great difficulty in reusing ghost nets. | D.The positive comment on Samsung’s products. |
10. What is special about Samsung’s new Galaxy products?
A.They are made from tiny nylon pellets. | B.They put an end to the problem of fishing nets. |
C.They can stand up to water and severe weather. | D.They contain materials recycled from ghost nets. |
11. What can we learn about Rathore’s work?
A.It makes plastic easier to break down. | B.It marks the shift of Samsung’s mission. |
C.It protects the planet from choking on plastic. | D.It raises public awareness of ocean exploration. |