科学60秒:石灰加上糯米糊，城墙变得更坚固
来源：沪江听写酷
2011-04-20 09:35
文章较难，大家听写填空即可~
Mmm, sticky rice. It’s a glutinous side dish that’s perfect for practicing your chopstick skills, for ___1___ curry sauce and, amazingly, for building really strong pagodas.
The Chinese have been building with mortar made from sticky rice and limestone since the time of the Ming Dynasty. Now scientists have figured out this ancient secret, in a study in the journal Accounts of Chemical Research.
Mud is probably the oldest mortar used to ___2___ bricks or stones. About 5,000 years ago, China started producing lime for construction. At least 1,500 years ago Chinese masons discovered that mixing in sticky rice soup makes lime even stronger.
Some tombs and city walls that were ___3___ with the stuff are still standing. They’ve survived earthquakes and even modern bulldozers. The key, say the chemists, is amylopectin, a component of starch that interacts with the calcium carbonate in limestone to form a mortar that’s more water-resistant and less ___4___ shrinkage than lime mortar alone.
And that’s true even today. In 2006 traditional sticky rice mortar was used to restore the Shouchang bridge, built some eight centuries ago. Because even for an ancient stone bridge, sometimes sticky rice ___5___.
Mmm, sticky rice. It’s a glutinous side dish that’s perfect for practicing your chopstick skills, for ___1___ curry sauce and, amazingly, for building really strong pagodas.
The Chinese have been building with mortar made from sticky rice and limestone since the time of the Ming Dynasty. Now scientists have figured out this ancient secret, in a study in the journal Accounts of Chemical Research.
Mud is probably the oldest mortar used to ___2___ bricks or stones. About 5,000 years ago, China started producing lime for construction. At least 1,500 years ago Chinese masons discovered that mixing in sticky rice soup makes lime even stronger.
Some tombs and city walls that were ___3___ with the stuff are still standing. They’ve survived earthquakes and even modern bulldozers. The key, say the chemists, is amylopectin, a component of starch that interacts with the calcium carbonate in limestone to form a mortar that’s more water-resistant and less ___4___ shrinkage than lime mortar alone.
And that’s true even today. In 2006 traditional sticky rice mortar was used to restore the Shouchang bridge, built some eight centuries ago. Because even for an ancient stone bridge, sometimes sticky rice ___5___.
sopping up
hold together
reinforced
prone to
hits the spot
嗯~~糯米，不但可以用来练筷子功，还可以用来把咖喱酱吸得干干净净，不过最神奇的应该是这个——糯米是建造超坚固宝塔的上上之选。
自明代以来，中国人就用糯米和石灰做的灰浆盖房子。如今，科学家们终于揭开了这个古老秘方之谜。（参见《化学研究述评》）
粘合砖块砾石最古老的材料应该要数泥浆了。5000多年前，中国开始生产石灰建房。距今至少1500年前，中国的石匠发现，和糯米糊调在一起，石灰浆竟然会更坚固。
在历经数次地震以及推土机的震慑之后，那些用糯米石灰浆加固过的墓碑和城墙至今依然稳固。化学家称，它们长久稳固的关键就在于支链淀粉。支链淀粉是淀粉的一种成分，它与石灰中的碳酸钙发生化学反应，形成一种比单一的石灰浆更抗水、更不易收缩的一种浆。
至今为止，这个方法仍然受用。2006年，传统的糯米浆被用于修复800多岁高龄的寿昌桥。因为啊，就算是古老石桥的需要，糯米也一样能满足~