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Invisible Reality: Cloak of Concealment 现实中的魔幻：隐形斗蓬

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In ancient mythology, heroes disappeared into thin air at will to conquer their foes. According to the Greeks, the legendary Perseus killed the Gorgon Medusa while wearing an invisibility helmet. And in modern literature, the boy wizard Harry Potter has his very own invisibility cloak. Suddenly vanishing may seem like the wonderful concoction of fiction and fantasy, but today’s scientists are inching closer to making invisibility a possibility.

远古神话里的英雄随意消失以打败敌人；根据希腊人的故事，传奇人物帕修司戴了一个隐形头盔杀了梅杜莎；出现在现代文学中的小巫师哈利波特则拥有一件自己的隐形斗蓬。突然间消失看似完美地结合虚构与幻想，但今日的科学家正一步步地使隐形成真。

The reason we can see things is that light waves reflect off them and back to our eyes. In other words, all we really see is light. So, for a real invisibility cloak to work, it would have to completely cover something and divert light away from it. In 1999, physicist Sir John Brian Pendry became the first to posit that materials could be made to manipulate light waves. Since then, physicists from around the world have been trying to find a way to put his theory into practice.

我们之所以能看到东西是因光波自物体反射到我们的眼睛。换句话说，我们真正看到的其实是光线。所以，一件真正的隐形斗蓬要完完全全罩住一个物体并分散光线才能发挥作用。1999年，物理学家约翰．布莱恩．彭德里爵士是第一位认为人类可制做出操纵光波的材料。自从那时起，全世界的物理学家试着找出将他理论运用在现实中的方法。

Incredibly, such cloaks already exist, though they are incredibly tiny – just a few thousandths of a millimeter across. They are made from what are known as metamaterials, which utilize nanotechnology. Basically, these materials change the speed and direction in which light travels, bending light waves to stop them from being reflected by the object the cloak is covering.

不可思议地是，这类斗蓬已经存在，虽然他们出奇的微小，只有几千分毫米宽。制作隐形斗蓬的材料来自以奈米科技做成的「超材料」。基本上，这种材料可改变光行走的速度与方向，使光波弯曲，进而使光波不会从被遮盖的物体表面反射出去。

These cloaks could be used one day to conceal soldiers and military vehicles, or to block out urban eyesores like factories or power plants. Though the invisibility cloak is still in its infant stages today, it is no longer the far-fetched stuff of legend that we once thought it was.

这种斗蓬能在未来用在掩蔽士兵与军事用车，或遮住如工厂和发电厂之类碍眼的东西。虽然隐形斗蓬仍在研发阶段，但它已不是我们认为传说中才有的荒诞想法了。

－by Joe Henley

Vocabulary

单词发音

invisible [ɪnˋvɪzəb!] adj. 看不见的；无形的

cloak [klok] n. 斗篷，披风

conquer [͵kɑŋkɚ] v. 战胜；克服

vanish [ˋvænɪʃ] v. 突然不见；消失

fantasy [ˋfæntəsɪ] n. 空想；幻想

reflect off 反射回

manipulate [məˋnɪpjə͵let] v.（熟练地）操作，运用

incredibly [ɪnˋkrɛdəblɪ] adv. 难以置信地; 很，极为

conceal [kənˋsil] v. 隐蔽，隐藏

eyesore [ˋaɪ͵sɔr] n. 看上去不顺眼的东西，难看的东西

infant [ˋɪnfənt] adj. 初期的；初创的

far-fetched [ˋfɑrˋfɛtʃt] adj. 牵强的; 不可信的; 靠不住的

More Information

单词发音

foe [fo] n. 敌人，仇敌

concoction [kənˋkɑkʃən] n. 混合（物）; 配制物; 调配物

inch [ɪntʃ] v. 使缓慢地移动

divert something away  使....转变〔方向或用途〕

posit [ˋpɑzɪt] v.【正式】假定; 假设 to assume the existence of; postulate

block out 挡〔光〕to cover over so as to be illegible

Reading Questions

1.   According to the passage, why do we see things?

A.  Because light reflects off them and back to our eyes.

B.  Because our eyes emit a special light wave.

C.  Because light from the sun doesn’t actually reach Earth.

D.  Because humans have a special extra-sensory perception.

2.   Which of the following statements about the invisibility cloak is NOT true?

A.  It stops things from reflecting light.

B.  It alters the speed and direction that light travels.

C.  It is made from materials that are artificially made.

D.  It can cover large objects, such as military vehicles.

3.   What is implied at the end of the passage?

A.  The invisibility cloak will soon be in everyone’s home.

B.  The invisibility cloak is in the early stages of its development.

C.  The invisibility cloak only exists in myths and legends.

D.  The invisibility cloak is days away from being on the market.

Metamaterials: The Next Photonics Revolution

Invisibility Cloak Findings at Duke University

Answer