最新15篇文章贯通英语四级词汇MP3 Unit12-Part1（在线收听）

[00:07.21]UNIT12

[00:12.03]The Duct Tape

[00:14.00]Among the contents of 

[00:16.62]the toolboxes of most people 

[00:18.92]in the western world 

[00:20.23]you would expect to find 

[00:21.76]a hammer and nails, a drill,

[00:24.17]screwdrivers and some screws. 

[00:26.47]But if you were to 

[00:28.88]ask people from North America 

[00:30.41]what the most useful item 

[00:31.83]in their toolboxes was, 

[00:33.58]the majority of people would  

[00:35.88]undoubtedly tell you that 

[00:37.51]it was duct tape. 

[00:39.05]Indeed, it has become 

[00:41.02]an indispensable addition 

[00:42.66]to every person's perception 

[00:44.63]of what constitutes necessity.

[00:47.03]Maybe you have never 

[00:50.10]heard of duct tape. 

[00:51.63]It is the brand 

[00:53.16]name of a tape. 

[00:54.36]Not only is it a tape, 

[00:56.35]but also it is 

[00:58.08]a special kind of tape.

[01:00.05]The name of the tape 

[01:02.02]comes from the fact that 

[01:03.45]it was designed as 

[01:04.54]an insulating tape that 

[01:06.07]can be used in duct work

[01:07.82](channels or conduits that 

[01:09.90]are used for heat to travel 

[01:12.09]through to get to 

[01:13.51]different areas of a building).  

[01:15.04]Incredible though it seems, 

[01:17.89]someone actually put a picture 

[01:19.20]of a duck on the  packaging 

[01:20.95]of the tape from one manufacturer 

[01:23.03]perhaps just as a joke 

[01:25.33]or maybe because the design 

[01:26.86]artist did not understand 

[01:28.83]the origin of the name. 

[01:30.79]Neither the word duck 

[01:32.77]nor duct was on the label.  

[01:35.06]Presumably, it was assumed 

[01:37.36]that everyone could identify the product.

[01:39.77]You can recognize the genuine tape 

[01:43.27]because of its silver grey colour. 

[01:46.22]The colour was likely chosen 

[01:48.52]because it closely resembles 

[01:50.60]the colour of the pipes 

[01:52.46]it would be used on.

[01:53.99]That was the primary 

[01:55.63]intended use of the tape. 

[01:57.06]It was unlikely that 

[01:59.02]the inventor realized how many 

[02:01.10]other uses could be 

[02:03.18]found for this product.