「翰林技術高中二年級下學期 Lesson 6: Print-It-Yourself」- Reading

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You have probably had a bad shopping experience or two. You go to buy clothes, furniture, or sports equipment, for example, and you can't find exactly what you want. So, you settle for something similar but different. You could order custom-made items, but they will most likely be expensive. There is a way to make them much cheaper, though. Do you know what to do?

The answer is simple: Print them yourself. The latest technology of 3D printing is able to take digital files and transform them into real products. Though the method was invented in 1983, it is only recently that 3D printers have been regularly used to make everyday things. They can produce different kinds of objects, with different materials, all from the same machine.

How does 3D printing work? You get started by designing a 3D object on an ordinary PC. You connect it to a 3D printer, press "print" and then watch an amazing process. 3D printing turns a whole object into thousands of tiny slices, and then makes it layer by layer, from the bottom up. The layers stick together to form a solid object. 3D printers can create moving parts like wheels. In fact, you could print an entire bicycle with a 3D printer, or even a car! No matter what it is, it could be 3D printable someday.

Without doubt, 3D printing is one of the most thrilling new developments in technology, and it has great potential. It has already been used to print such things as space rocket engines, five-story office buildings, and artificial limbs for disabled people. It is changing manufacturing and helping to create a world where anyone can design and build what they want.
With 3D printing, the future is looking very exciting.

你可能曾有過一、兩次不愉快的購物經驗。比如說，你去買衣服、家具或運動設備，卻找不到完全符合自己想要的。所以，你只好妥協，買了個類似但卻不一樣的東西。你可以訂製客製化商品，但卻很有可能會很昂貴。不過，其實有個方式可以讓這些物品便宜很多。你知道怎麼做嗎？

答案很簡單：自己列印。最新的 3D 列印技術就是能將數位化的檔案轉換成真實的產品。雖然這個方法早在 1983 年就發明了，但直到最近 3D 印表機才經常用來製造日常生活的物品。它們可以用不同的原料製造不同種類的東西，而且全都出自同一台機器。

3D 列印是怎麼完成的？一開始先在一般普通的電腦上設計 3D 物品。然後把電腦連到 3D 印表機，按下「列印」的按鈕，然後就可以欣賞一個令人嘖嘖稱奇的過程。3D 列印把一個完整的物品分成數以千計的細微部分，然後從底部一層一層往上製作出來。這些層次堆疊起來就會形成立體的成品。3D 印表機可以創造像是輪子的活動零件。事實上，你可以用 3D 印表機印出一整台腳踏車或甚至一部車子!不管是什麼，總有一天都有可能用 3D 列印的方式製造出來。

3D 列印無疑是最讓人興奮的科技新發展之一，而且潛力無窮。目前它已經被使用來印製像是太空火箭的引擎、五層樓高的辦公大樓以及給身障人士使用的義肢。它正在改變製造業，並且幫助打造一個人人都可以將自己想要的東西設計並打造出來的世界。有了 3D 列印，未來看起來精彩可期。