可變形的意面

四川 袁梁建

科學家們研發了一種不同尋常的方法來制作意面，使它在烹調時變成奇特的3D形狀。 他們希望這樣的意面在存儲和運輸方面能有利于環境保護。

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1 If you're a pasta (意大利面) lover, then you know that the noodles come in all sorts of different shapes. There are flat noodles, round noodles, shells, fancy spirals, and many more. Some of these pastas, like ordinary spaghetti, pack easily into a small box or package. But others require much larger boxes because their hard 3D shapes wrap around a whole lot of air.

2 Now a team of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has figured out a way to deal with the problem. The team of scientists have developed an unusual way of making flat pasta that allows it to turn into fancy 3D shapes as it cooks.

3 Lining Yao, who leads the “Morphing Matter Lab” at CMU, says the team got the idea of 3D pasta from “flat-pack furniture”. Flat-pack furniture, such as that sold by IKEA, comes tightly packed in a box, but then can be built into a large piece of furniture that takes up a much greater amount of space.

4 To bring the flat-pack idea to the pasta world, the scientists used a fairly simple trick—stamping grooves (凹槽) in the pasta. “The groove side expands less than the smooth side, leading the pasta to change into shape,” explains one of the researchers.

5 But knowing what kinds of grooves to make and where to make them is the trick. By figuring out just the right spots for grooves, the researchers were able to control the final shape of the pasta.The scientists used computers to help them plan their groove patterns. The team came up with lots of different shapes. The pasta looks, feels, and tastes just like ordinary pasta once it is cooked.

6 The team hopes their new method will help the environment in two ways. Like flat-pack furniture, it should take up less space when it's being transported. The pasta should also require much less packaging, meaning far less plastic waste.

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The team of scientists have developed an unusual way of making flat pasta that allows it to turn into fancy 3D shapes as it cooks. 一個科學家小組開發了一種不同尋常的制作扁平意大利面的方法，這種方法可以讓意大利面在烹飪時變成精致的3D形狀。

【點石成金】that引導定語從句，在從句中作主語，先行詞為flat pasta；as引導時間狀語從句，意為“當……的時候”。