Where can materials with such properties be used?

6.19. Make a short presentation of a material widely used in the field you specialize in. Your presentation should include information about the following:

1. When people began using the material. If it is a synthetic material, who and when obtained it first.

2. Properties of the material relevant to the sphere of use described.

3. Uses of the material in the field of your specialization.

6.20. Read the sentences (1-3) below. What does the word smart mean in each one?

1. He wore a smart suit to the meeting.

2. She's the smartest girl in her class.

3. They stayed in a smart hotel in New York.

6.21. Look at the title of the text. Which of the meanings of the word smart is used? Read the text to check your answer.

Smart Materials

Smart – or shape memory – materials are an invention that has changed the world of engineering. There are two types: metal alloys and plastic polymers. The metal alloys were made first and they are usually an expensive mixture of titanium and nickel.

Shape memory materials are called 'smart' because they react to changes in their environment, for example:

• plastics that return to their original shape when the temperature changes. One use is in surgery where plastic threads 'remember' the shape of a knot, react to the patient's body temperature and make themselves into stitches.

• metal alloys that have a 'memory' and can return to their original shape. They are used in medical implants that are compressed so they can be put inside the patient's body through a small cut. The implant then expands back to its original shape. More everyday uses are for flexible spectacle frames and teeth braces, solids that darken in sunlight, like the lenses in some sunglasses.

• liquid crystals that change shape and colour. These have been used in climbing ropes that change colour if there is too much strain and weight on them.

The future of these materials and their possible uses is limited only by human imagination. One clever idea is that if cars were made of smart metal, a minor accident could be repaired by leaving the car in the sun!

6.22. Read the text again and choose the correct ending for the sentences below.

1. Smart materials change when

a) the weather changes.

b) something affects them.

c) the light is switched on.

d) they are put into a human body.

2. Plastic threads are used for

a) tying.

b) sewing.

c) knitting.

d) stitching.

3. Medical implants made from shape memory alloys are good because

a) they save lives.

b) they change colour.

c) they are easy to put in.

d) they react to changes in temperature.

4. Climbing ropes with liquid crystals change colour to

a) warn you.

b) amuse you.

c) make you heavy.

d) make you different from other climbers.

6.23. Find in the text words that mean the following:

1. materials made from mixing two metals

2. to change because something else happens

3. everything around a person or thing

4. the first or earliest

5. something medical put inside the body, e.g. a heart valve

6. to become bigger

7. that can bend or be bent easily

8. a situation in which something is holding weight and so might break

9. the ability to form pictures or ideas in your mind

10. small and not very important or serious