【正文】 chemistry in Germany had paid off handsomely, and by 1914 had resulted in the German chemical industry having 75% of the world market in chemicals. This was based on the discovery of new dyestuffs plus the development of both the contact process for sulphuric acid and the Haber process for ammonia. The later required a major technological breakthrough that of being able to carry out chemical reactions under conditions of very high pressure for the first time. The experience gained with this was to stand Germany in good stead, particularly with the rapidly increased demand for nitrogenbased pounds (ammonium salts for fertilizers and nitric acid for explosives manufacture) with the outbreak of world warⅠ in 1914. This initiated profound changes which continued during the interwar years (19181939). 1． 化學工業(yè)的起源 盡管化學品的使用可以追溯到古代文明時代，我們所謂的現(xiàn)代化學工業(yè)的發(fā)展卻是非常近代（才開始的）。 20 世紀初，德國花費大量資金用于實用化學方面的重點研究，到 1914 年，德國的化學工業(yè)在世界化學產品市場上占有 75%的份額。特別是由于 1914 年第一次世界大仗的爆發(fā)，對以氮為基礎的化合物的需求飛速增長。盡管這種發(fā)展的速度近年來已大大減慢。它生產了數(shù)千種不同的化學產Before reading the text below, try to answer following question: 1. When did the modern chemical industry start? 2. Can you give a definition for the chemical industry? 3. What are the contribution which the chemical industry has made to meet and satisfy our needs? 4. Is the chemical industry capital or laborintensive? Why? 品，而人們通常只接觸到終端產品或消費品。然而現(xiàn)在有數(shù)千種化學產品被生產，從一些原料物質像用于制備許多的半成品的石油，到可以直接作為消費品或很容易轉化為消費品的商品。顯然，氯乙烯（或醋酸乙烯）的合成以及聚合是化學活動。 3. The Need for Chemical Industry The chemical industry is concerned with converting raw materials, such as crude oil, firstly into chemical intermediates and then into a tremendous variety of other chemicals. These are then used to produce consumer products, which make our lives more fortable or, in some cases such as pharmaceutical produces, help to maintain our wellbeing or even life itself. At each stage of these operations value is added to the produce and provided this added exceeds the raw material plus processing costs then a profit will be made on the operation. It is the aim of chemical industry to achieve this. 3． 對化學工業(yè)的需要 化學工業(yè)涉及到原材料的轉化，如石油 首先轉化為化學中間體，然后轉化為數(shù)量眾多的其它化學產品。 It may seem strange in textbook this one to pose the question ―do we need a chemical industry?‖ However trying to answer this question will provide(ⅰ ) an indication of the range of the chemical industry‘s activities, (ⅱ ) its influence on our lives in everyday terms, and (ⅲ ) how great is society‘s need for a chemical industry. Our approach in answering the question will be to consider the industry‘s contribution to meeting and satisfying our major needs. What are these? Clearly food (and drink) and health are paramount. Other which we shall consider in their turn are clothing and (briefly) shelter, leisure and transport. 在這樣的一本教科書中提出：“我們需要化學工業(yè)嗎 ？ ”這樣一個問題是不是有點奇怪呢？然而，先回答下面幾個問題將給我們提供一些信息：（ 1）化學工業(yè)的活動范圍，（ 2）化學工業(yè)對我們日常生活的影響，（ 3）社會對化學工業(yè)的需求有多大。 (1) Food. The chemical industry makes a major contribution to food production in at least three ways. Firstly, by making available large quantities of artificial fertilizers which are used to replace the elements (mainly nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) which are removed as nutrients by the growing crops during modern intensive farming. Secondly, by manufacturing crop protection chemicals, ., pesticides, which markedly reduce the proportion of the crops consumed by pests. Thirdly, by producing veterinary products which protect livestock from disease or cure their infections. (1)食物。第二，生產農作物保護產品，如殺蟲劑，它可以顯著減少害蟲所消耗的糧食數(shù)量。我們都很了解化學工業(yè)中制藥這一塊在維護我們的身體健康甚至延長壽命方面所做出的巨大貢獻，例如，用抗生素治療細菌感染，用 β抗血栓降低血壓。 Parallel developments in the discovery of modern synthetic dyes and the technology to ―bond‖ them to the fiber has resulted in a tremendous increase in the variety of colors available to the fashion designer. Indeed they now span almost every color and hue of the visible spectrum. Indeed if a suitable shade is not available, structural modification of an existing dye to achieve this can readily be carried out, provided there is a satisfactory market for the product. 與此同時，現(xiàn)代合成染料開發(fā)和染色技術的改善使得時裝設計師們有大量的色彩可以利用。 (4) Shelter, leisure and transport. In terms of shelter the contribution of modern synthetic polymers has been substantial. Plastics are tending to replace traditional building materials like wood because they are lighter, maintenancefree (. they are resistant to weathering and do not need painting). Other polymers, . ureaformaldehyde and polyurethanes, are important insulating materials for reducing heat losses and hence reducing energy usage. （ 4）住所，休閑和旅游。 Plastics and polymers have made a considerable impact on leisure activities with applications ranging from allweather artificial surfaces for athletic tracks, football pitches and tennis courts to nylon strings for racquets and items like golf balls and footballs made entirely from synthetic materials. 塑料和高聚物的應用對休閑活動有很重要的影響，從體育跑道的全天候人造篷頂，足球和網(wǎng)球的經(jīng)緯線，到球拍的尼龍線還有高爾夫球的元件，還有制造足球的合成材料。塑料和高聚物對整個汽車業(yè)的貢獻的比例是驚人的，源于這些材料 —擋板，輪胎，坐墊和涂層等等 —超過 40%。D) in Chemical Industries One of the main reasons for the rapid growth of the chemical industry in the developed world has been its great mitment to, and investment in research and development (Ramp。通常是銷售收入的 5%，而研究密集型分支如制藥，投入則加倍。 The chemical industry is a very high technology industry which takes full advantage of the latest advances in electronics and engineering. Computers are very widely used for all sorts of applications, from automatic control of chemical plants, to molecular modeling of structures of new pounds, to the control of analytical instruments in the laboratory. 化學工業(yè)是高技術工業(yè)，它需要利用電子學和工程學的最新成果。 The major chemical panies are truly multinational and operate their sales and marketing activities in most of the countries of the world, and they also have manufacturing units in a number of countries. This international outlook fo