科学知识小贴士
课外英语
The Egyptians First Played Ball Games
The first true piece of sports equipment that man invented was the ball．
In ancient Egypt，as everywhere，pitching stones was a favorite children’s game．But a badly thrown rock could hurt a child．Looking for something less dangerous to throw，the Egyptians made what were probably the first balls．
At first balls were made of grass or leaves held together by vines．Later they were made of pieces of animal skin sewed together and stuffed with feathers or hay．
Even though the Egyptians were warlike，they found time for peaceful games．Before long they had developed a number of ball games，each with its own set of rules．Perhaps they played ball more for instruction than for fun．Ball playing was thought of mainly as a way to teach young men the speed and skill they would need for war．
埃及人首先开展球类运动
人类发明的第一样名副其实的运动器材是球。
在古埃及，像在其他地方一样，掷石头是孩子们爱玩的一项游戏。但是，一块乱扔的石头也能把一个小孩击伤。为了寻找一种危险性较小的可投之物，埃及人造出了也许是最早的一批球。
起初，球是用藤条把草或树叶捆在一起做成的。后来，人们将动物的皮缝合起来，里面塞进羽毛或干草做成球。
尽管埃及人是尚武的，他们依然抽时间开展和平的游戏。不久，他们便发明了许多球类游戏，每一项都有自己的一套规则。也许，他们打球不只是为了娱乐，更重要的是为了受教育和熏陶。打球主要被看作是训练年轻人掌握战争所需要的速度和技巧的一种手段。
Iceberg Season of Newfoundland andthe Steamship Titanic
Each year about four hundred icebergs survive the long journey from Greenland and Baffin Bay and float into the warm waters off the coast of Newfoundland．In April 1912the steamship Titanic struck one of these icebergs．It sank with a great loss of life．Shortly after，the Ice Patrol was founded to patrol the shipping lane near Newfoundland during the iceberg season．
The patrol is carried out by one or two U．S．Coast Guard boats．They locate and chart every iceberg in the waters and the information is radioed to nearby ships．Fourteen nations pay the costs of the patrol service．
Icebergs begin to threaten shipping in March．It is in May that the patrol boats are busiest．During that month an average of 130icebergs must be located and charted．By June the danger is over．
纽芬兰的冰山季节和轮船泰坦尼克号
每年大约有400座冰山完成格陵兰到巴芬湾的漫长行程，漂入纽芬兰近海地区的温暖水域。
1912年4月，轮船“泰坦尼克”号撞上了其中一座冰山。它沉没了，大批人丧生。旋即冰上巡逻艇队成立，在冰山季节中的纽芬兰附近的航道上进行巡逻。
这项巡逻任务是由一两艘美国海岸警备队的船只执行的。它们确定这一水域内每座冰山的位置，绘出图表，用无线电将情况传送给附近的船只。14个国家为这项巡逻工作支付费用。
冰山在3月份开始威胁船只的航行。巡逻艇最忙碌的时候是5月份，在这个月里，平均有130座冰山需要确定位置，并绘出图表。到6月份危险就不存在了。
The Last Part of This Century，an Age of Exploration
The last part of this century will be an age of exploration such as man has never known．There are eight planets，at least thirty moons，and thousands of asteroids to be explored．Their total area is about 250times that of the earth．Spaceships will not be able to land on some of them．But that still leaves to be explored an area ten times as great as the continents of the earth．
Exploring space may seem terrifying to some people．No doubt explorers of the past were terrified by the great empty oceans that lay before them．They conquered their fears，crossed the oceans，and built the New World．
In the past when explorers set sail into the unknown，they had to say goodbye to everything they knew at home．Space explorers will not face such great loneliness．Even when they travel far beyond the sun，they will be able to send messages back．
本世纪的末叶——探险的时代
本世纪的末叶将成为人类对向无所知的地方进行探险的时代。可供探险的有8大行星，至少有30个月亮和数以千计的小行星，其总面积约为地球面积的250倍。宇宙飞船不能在其中的一些星球上降落。但是仍有相当于地球大陆10倍的面积可供探险。
对于某些人来说，空间探险也许很可怕。过去的探险家们无疑曾被横陈在他们面前的巨大而空漠的海洋所震慑，但他们战胜了恐惧，跨越了海洋，建立了美洲。
过去，当探险者们起航前往无人所知之处时，他们不得不与家中所熟悉的一切告别。空间探险家们将不会面临如此巨大的孤独。即使他们在远离太阳的地方旅行，他们也能够把信息发送回来。
Columbus That Made Four Voyagesto the West
Columbus made four voyages to the west between 1492and 1504in his vain search for a sea route to Asia．The mystery of why he failed to find it haunted him and filled with sadness．
Wherever he went to Cuba，Puerto Rico，Jamaica，South America，Panama，down the coast of Central America—it was always the same story．Instead of golden palaces，there were grass huts and palm leaf tents．Instead of silk robed merchant princes，he found “Indians”who did not have so much as a shirt on their backs．
At times Columbus became reconciled to the truth that this new land was not China，not Japan，not the spice Islands．He seemed to accept it as a part of the earth that the geographers of Europe had never heard of before．It was another world—and he called it exactly that—but Columbus also insisted until he died that the land he had reached was an unknown part of Asia．
四次西航的哥伦布
哥伦布于1492到1504年间四次西航，希望找到一条通向亚洲的海上航线，但没有成功。失败常常萦绕心头，使他充满悲哀。
他沿着中美洲的海岸航行，无论他到什么地方——古巴、波多黎各、牙买加、南美洲和巴拿马，碰到的总是一样的情形。他看到的不是金色的宫殿，而是草棚和棕榈叶搭起的帐篷；映入眼帘的不是绸缎裹身的巨商豪富，而是连衬衣都穿不起的光脊梁印第安人。
有时，哥伦布不得不承认这一事实：这块新陆地不是中国，不是日本，也不是香料群岛。他似乎接受了下面这种说法，即这块陆地是欧洲地理学家们从未听说过的地球的一部分，是另外一个世界——他恰恰是这样称呼它的。但是哥伦布在离世以前一直坚持认为：他抵达的这块陆地是不为人知的亚洲一部分。
When People Began to Eat with the Fork
“Fingers were made before forks．”When a person gives up good manners，puts aside knife and fork，and dives into his food，someone is likely to repeat that saying．
The fork was an ancient agricultural tool，but for centuries no one thought of eating with it．Not until the eleventh century，when a young lady from Constantinople brought her fork to Italy，did the custom reach Europe．
By the fifteenth century the use of the fork was widespread in Italy．The English explanation was that Italians were averse to eating food touched with fingers，“seeing all men’s fingers are not alike clean．”English travelers kept their friends in stitches while describing this ridiculous Italian custom．
Anyone who used a fork to eat with was laughed at in England for the next hundred years．Men who used forks were thought to be sissies，and women who used them were called showoff sand overnice，Not until the late 1600’s did using a fork become a common custom．
人们何时开始用叉进餐
“手指比叉子先造出来”，当一个人毫不顾及体面，把刀和叉放在一边，用手抓食物的时候，有人很可能会重复这句俗话。
叉子本是一种古老的农具，几个世纪以来，从没有人想到用它来吃东西。直到11世纪，君士坦丁堡的一位年轻贵妇把她用的叉带到意大利，用叉进餐的风俗这才传入欧洲。
到15世纪，叉子已在意大利广泛使用。英国人的解释是，意大利人不愿吃手指碰过的东西，因为“他们发现，并不是所有人的手指都是干净的”。英国的旅行家们叙述这个可笑的意大利风俗时，总是使他们的朋友们笑得前俯后仰。
以后几百年中，凡用叉进餐的人在英国均遭嘲笑。用叉的男人们被认为是脂粉气太重，女人们则被指责为卖弄、炫耀和过分讲究。直到17世纪后期，用叉进食才成为一种风俗。
Cookware During the Reign ofEdward Ⅲof England