学生版· Student Edition
一、导语
From 'useless' cages to rooms for chemistry — a Nobel built on the things no one thought worth building.
从「无用」的笼子，到装下化学反应的房间——一座诺奖，建在无人认为值得建造的东西之上。
二、英文成长故事· The Story
Susumu Kitagawa, the 2025 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, was born in 1951 in Kyoto, Japan. He earned his PhD in hydrocarbon chemistry from Kyoto University in 1979, then taught for years at a small regional college, Kinki University. Few outside his field had heard his name. Quietly, he studied how metal ions and organic molecules might assemble into orderly crystals — a question that seemed, to most, like a narrow curiosity.
2025 年诺贝尔化学奖得主北川进，1951 年生于日本京都。1979 年于京都大学取得碳氢化学博士学位，随后在地方院校近畿大学任教多年。圈外鲜有人听过他的名字。他默默研究：金属离子与有机分子，能否组装成有序的晶体——在多数人看来，这不过是个狭窄的癖好。
What set Kitagawa apart was a strange idea borrowed from an old Chinese philosopher. As a young man he read the physicist Hideki Yukawa, who cited Zhuangzi's notion of 'the use of the useless.' Kitagawa took it to heart: something need not show immediate use to matter. When he began building porous molecular cages, funding agencies called the work unstable and pointless, rejecting most of his proposals. He simply kept going.
北川与众不同之处，在于一个借自中国古代哲学家的古怪念头。年轻时他读过物理学家汤川秀树的著作，其中引述了庄子「无用之用」的思想。他深以为然：一样东西不必立刻有用才算重要。当他开始搭建多孔的分子「笼子」时，资助机构认为这项工作既不稳定又毫无意义，驳回了他大部分提案。他只是继续做下去。
The breakthrough came in 1997. Using cobalt, nickel or zinc ions linked by long molecules, Kitagawa built a three-dimensional framework with open channels. Gases could flow in and out; the structure stayed intact even after drying. He had shown that metal-organic frameworks could be both stable and useful — 'rooms' inside a tiny crystal where chemistry could happen. What funders called useless had found its purpose.
突破发生在 1997 年。北川用钴、镍或锌离子，以长链分子相连，构建出带有开放孔道的三维框架。气体可以进出自如；即便干燥之后，结构依然完好。他由此证明：金属有机框架既能稳定、又能实用——那是微小晶体内部可供化学反应发生的「房间」。曾被资助方称作「无用」的东西，找到了它的使命。
Today MOFs are called 'molecular LEGO,' crystals that work like Hermione's handbag — small outside, vast inside. They can harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, and store gases. Kitagawa, now in his seventies, still dreams of a machine that splits air into CO2, oxygen and water, then turns them into useful materials with renewable energy. His lesson is simple: the most useful things often begin as the ones no one thought worth building.
如今，MOF 被称为「分子乐高」，一种像赫敏魔法袋般的晶体——外表小巧，内里广阔。它们能从沙漠空气中取水、捕获二氧化碳、储存气体。年逾七旬的北川，仍梦想着一台机器：把空气拆分为二氧化碳、氧气与水，再用可再生能源将其转化为有用之物。他的启示很简单：最有用的东西，往往始于无人认为值得建造的那个。
三、高考实战· Gaokao Practice
1. According to the passage, what did Kitagawa achieve in 1997?
A. He won the Nobel Prize. | B. He built a framework with open channels. |
C. He studied in the United States. | D. He retired from teaching. |
2. What can be inferred about Kitagawa's response to rejection?
A. He gave up after being refused. | B. He changed his research field. |
C. He persisted despite funders' doubts. | D. He blamed the philosophers. |
3. The phrase 'the use of the useless' in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _____.
A. only practical things matter | B. philosophers are useless |
C. useless things should be discarded | D. something need not be useful now to matter |
4. Which title best captures the main idea of the passage?
A. Molecular LEGO: Building the Useless into the Useful |
B. How to Win a Nobel Prize |
C. The History of Kyoto University |
D. Why Gases Flow |
四、词汇积累· Word Bank
单词 Word | 释义 Meaning | 文中例句 Example |
hydrocarbon | (n.) 碳氢化合物 | PhD in hydrocarbon chemistry 碳氢化学博士 |
porous | (adj.) 多孔的 | building porous molecular cages 搭建多孔的分子笼 |
intact | (adj.) 完好无损的 | the structure stayed intact 结构依然完好 |
renewable | (adj.) 可再生的 | with renewable energy 用可再生能源 |
教师版· Teacher Edition
一、文本分析与主题学习全貌
主题 无用之用——以 2025 化学奖得主北川进为例，呈现他如何在资助方屡次驳回、被讥「无用」的境遇中，坚持搭建多孔分子结构，终以 1997 年开放孔道 MOF 突破，将「无用」化为「大用」。核心母题为「最有用的东西，往往始于无人认为值得建造的那个」，引导学生理解长期主义、抗挫与原始创新的价值。
体裁 人物传记 / 成长叙事（biographical narrative），夹叙夹议，主线清晰、可读性强，信息性与故事性兼顾，适合作科普阅读与价值引领素材。
语言特色 语言特色：多用时态对比（began / earned 与 now dreams）勾连过去与当下；比喻密集（molecular LEGO、Hermione's handbag、rooms inside a crystal）将抽象材料具象化；引用「无用之用」（the use of the useless）形成文眼；学术词汇（framework, porous, MOF, renewable）提升语篇厚度。
结构 结构：『京都求学与蛰伏→ 无用之用的信念与屡遭驳回 → 1997 开放孔道突破 → 遗产与梦想（分子乐高 / 沙漠取水 / 分空气）』四段递进，首尾以 useless / useful 意象呼应，形成闭环。
主题学习全貌：本篇可串联「科学精神与长期主义」「抗挫教育」「无用之大用（庄子 / 汤川秀树）」「材料化学与可持续发展」等单元，引导学生建立「人物—信念—突破」的阅读图式，并积累 hydrocarbon / porous / intact / renewable 等高考高频词块。
