2º BACHILLERATO (READINGS)

Aquí tenéis una lectura muy interesantes para seguir practicando:

READING

Graphene – the material of the future

One of the most amazing scientific developments of recent years is the invention of a new material called graphene. It was invented by a team of scientists at the University of Manchester in the UK. It is an incredible material with amazing properties and many potential applications. Experts agree that this new material will revolutionise the world of technology in the next few decades.

Graphene is made of carbon, which is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. Carbon comes in many forms – diamonds are made of carbon, and so is coal; the lead in your pencil is made of a kind of carbon called graphite. Graphene is the thinnest material known to man – it is only one atom thick. You would need to pile up 25,000 sheets of it to make a pile as thick as one sheet of paper. In fact, it is so thin that you can’t even see it.

Apart from being invisible and incredibly thin, it is also the strongest material in the world – around 300 times stronger than steel. And, despite its strength, it is completely flexible. It also conducts electricity efficiently.

All of these properties add up to make it the super material of the future. It will be used to make mobile phones slimmer and smarter and to make computers smaller and more powerful. Graphene will be used to make ‘smart’ windows – windows that can change from transparent to opaque. It will be used to make super strong plastics which will replace metals in the manufacture of cars and planes. In the not too distant future we’ll see ‘rollable e-paper’ – flexible screens you can read and then roll up and put in your pocket.

The problem is that, at present, not only is grapheme the thinnest, strongest and most adaptable material in the world, it is also by far the most expensive. At the moment the costs of producing graphene make it economically unviable. But there is huge investment by both governments and private companies in the new grapheme technology, and it won’t be long before we see it in products all around us.

A.   Decide whether these statements are true or false.

1. Graphene hasn’t been invented yet. _____
2. There are only limited uses for graphene. _____
3. There is a lot of carbon in the world. _____
4. One sheet of graphene is the same thickness as one sheet of paper. _____
5. Graphene is a stronger than other metals. _____
6. Graphene is not a good conductor of electricity. _____
7. They will use graphene in car factories one day. _____
8. We won’t have products made from graphene in the near future. _____

 B.   Complete the table with words from the article.

Adjective	Adverb
complete
	scientifically
efficient
	recently
economical
	incredibly
	potentially
	amazingly