Вы услышите диалог. Определите, какие из приведённых утверждений A-G соответствуют содержанию текста (1 — True), какие не соответствуют (2 — False) и о чём в тексте не сказано, то есть на основании текста нельзя дать ни положительного, ни отрицательного ответа (3 — Not stated).
A. At present rechargeable batteries last approximately ten years.
B. Rechargeable batteries last less than they could because of tiny fractures inside them.
C. Chris produces self-repairing car paints.
D. The materials delivered to the battery are the same as in self-healing paints.
E. The materials delivered to the battery enlarge its capacity.
F. With this approach applied to the battery, its lifetime will be five times longer.
G. Chris has got an electric car.
A. At present rechargeable batteries last approximately ten years. FALSE
B. Rechargeable batteries last less than they could because of tiny fractures inside them. TRUE
C. Chris produces self-repairing car paints. NOT STATED
D. The materials delivered to the battery are the same as in self-healing paints. FALSE
E. The materials delivered to the battery enlarge its capacity. FALSE
F. With this approach applied to the battery, its lifetime will be five times longer. FALSE
G. Chris has got an electric car. FALSE
Chris: Hi, Scott. Haven’t seen you for ages! What have you been doing all this time?
Scott: Actually, I am really busy at work. You know about the problem of rechargeable batteries that last less and less long after each recharge, don’t you?
Chris: Yes, after a while the battery has to be replaced, which is not ideal given how much they cost. Can you help it in any way?
Scott: We want to create the equivalent of an internal plaster for a battery. In a nutshell, we put things into batteries that make them perform much better and a lot safer. We would like batteries to last ten years. But they don’t, because of the charge and discharge cycling.
Chris: What’s actually going on inside the battery as they age?
Scott: There’re a lot of things happening. Probably the simplest way to explain it is that there are small cracks that open up inside the battery. So physically, particles are breaking and two layers of different materials are separating, and the result is that the battery can no longer give you the power that you need.
Chris: So your work is dedicated to stopping that decay?
Scott: Exactly. We’re giving the battery a dose of medicine when it needs it. In other words, when little cracks open up, we put things in there that heal those cracks so your battery is like new.
Chris: So you are literally doping the electrodes with stuff so that if an area breaks, it repairs itself. This is, I suppose, like self-repairing car paints, where there are little capsules of various things, and when they get exposed by the paint being damaged, they ‘heal’ the paint. Are you doing the same with batteries?
Scott: Exactly, in fact we started with the very work that you’re talking about — self-healing coating, self-healing paints, self-healing polymers. The materials that we deliver to the batteries are of course completely different, but they also bridge the cracks.
Chris: I suppose you have to choose the composition of those materials very carefully so that they don’t reduce the capacity of the battery.
Scott: Oh absolutely. Whatever we put into the battery cannot disrupt its natural performance. What we do is we give it additional functionality such as self-healing behaviour.
Chris: And with this approach applied to the battery, how much longer can you extend its working life?
Scott: Well, I don’t know the answer yet. It’s still way too new and a little bit far away to be able to predict. My goal is to be able to extend the lifetime by two, three or four times. If we did that, imagine how the economics of electric vehicles would change. We’re not talking about replacing a battery pack every three or four years now, we’re talking about one battery pack that could last the lifetime of the car or even longer.
Chris: This will be a real breakthrough in the development of electric vehicles. I think it’s time to think about buying an electric car for myself.
Scott: There’s no need to hurry. We haven’t finished our work yet. Oh, I am already late for work.
Chris: I wish you good luck!
