第11課 我們呼吸的空氣
Have you any empty cups, or jugs, or bottles in your house? No, not one. You may have many which you call empty, but they are really all full of air.
小朋友, 你家里有空杯子、空水壺、空瓶子嗎? 沒有, 一個也沒有!可能有不少杯子瓶子, 你管它們叫“空的”, 可是, 它們都盛滿了空氣!
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to fill with water from the tap a bottle which has a narrow neck? The bottle is full of air, and the air must get out of it before the water can get in. Two things cannot be in the same place at the same time.
你注意過沒有, 用水龍頭往窄口瓶里面灌水, 想把瓶子裝滿, 是一件特別困難的事兒。因為瓶子里充滿了空氣, 只有空氣先出來, 水才能進去。這兩種東西, 在同一個時間, 同一個地點, 是不能待在一塊兒的。
Air and water are both called fluids, because they can flow from one place to another. Wind is nothing but air flowing from one place to another.
空氣和水都叫流體, 因為它們都能從一個地方流到另一個地方。風, 就是空氣從一個地方流到另一個地方。
Air is a gas. When pure, it has no colour, taste, or smell. The air is many miles high. Men have gone seven miles up in a balloon; but even then they were not near the top of the air.
空氣是一種氣體, 純凈的空氣是無色無味的。地球表面的空氣, 有好多英里厚呢。人類曾經(jīng)坐氣球升到7英里的高度, 可是, 這個高度離空氣的頂端還很遠呢!
But the air does not reach all the way to the sun, moon, and stars. The air lies all round the earth on which we live, and it is of great use to us.
可是, 空氣并不是一直延伸到太陽、月亮、星星的。空氣只在地球周圍有一層, 空氣對我們十分有用。
The air is of great use in helping things to burn. Let us light two or three bits of candle and put them under glass tumblers of different sizes. Soon all the candles will go out. The candle under the smallest tumbler, which has least air in it, will go out first.
空氣可以幫助燃燒。咱們點起兩三根蠟燭來, 把蠟燭倒扣在大小不同的平底玻璃杯里。很快, 蠟燭就都熄滅了。最小的平底杯里面, 空氣最少, 所以這里的蠟燭也就最早熄滅。
It is the air in a room that makes the fire burn brightly. It burns better when you open the door or the window, because you then let in more air.
房間里的空氣, 讓火燒得更旺。你在開門、開窗戶的時候, 火會燒得更好一些, 因為你把更多的空氣放進了屋子。
And it is the air that keeps all things alive. All animals and all plants must have plenty of fresh air to breathe, or they will soon die.
所有的生物, 也都需要空氣才能活。一切動物和植物, 都必須有足夠的新鮮空氣呼吸才行, 不然很快就會死掉的。
We must be very careful to let plenty of fresh air into the rooms in which we live. The windows should be left open a little, even at night.
我們一定要小心, 要讓自己的房間有足夠的新鮮空氣。就算晚上, 也要開一點兒窗戶。
Do you want to feel the air? All you need to do is to move your hand about quickly. Or you may squeeze a foot-ball, or a paper bag which you have blown full with your breath. All of these are full of air.
你想感覺一下空氣嗎? 只要把手很快地擺來擺去就行了。也可以擠一下足球, 擠一下吹足了氣的紙袋子。這些東西里面, 都充滿了空氣。