英国学生科学读本 第43期:一块粘土(2)

 　　What has become of the water? Dry clay is full of tiny pores, and it has sucked up the water into its pores.

　　水上哪儿去了？干燥的粘土满是细小的孔洞，把水都吸到孔洞里去了。

　　Now let us mould our lump of soft clay into the form of a cup, and fill it with water. The water does not soak through the clay, for all its pores are already full of water. Now you see why clay is used to line the bottoms and sides of ponds and canals. Clay will not let water pass through it: it is waterproof¹.

　　咱们再把这个软软的粘土大块，塑成一只杯子的形状，盛满水。水是不会渗过粘土的，因为粘土的孔洞已经盛满了水。现在你就知道，人们为什么用粘土，来铺在池塘和水渠的底下和侧面了，因为粘土不会让水透过去，粘土是“防水的”。

　　Let us mould another lump of clay into the shape of a brick. We shall take this lump of clay to a brick-maker, and ask him to bake it for us in his kiln². There it will become a hard red block like a brick, which would be very useful in helping³ to build a house.

　　咱们把另一大块粘土塑成砖的形状，把这块粘土拿给烧砖的工人，让他在砖窑里给我们烧一遍。这样，粘土就会变成一种暗红色的块儿，跟砖一样。这种粘土，在修建房子的时候非常有用。

　　Drain-pipes, tiles, chimney-pots, and many other articles are made of baked clay. Clay burned in rough lumps is sometimes used for making roads and foot-paths. It soaks up the rain-water, and so keeps the road dry.

　　渗水管、瓦片、烟筒的管帽，还有很多其他的物件，都是烧制的粘土做的。烧过的粘土大块，有时候用来修建街道和人行道。粘土能把雨水吸干净，让道路保持干燥。

　　Jugs⁴ and basins and cups and saucers are also made of baked clay. These vessels⁵ must not be porous⁶, or they will let the liquids escape which we put into them. The pores of such articles are filled up by dipping them into a mixture that makes them smooth like glass.

　　水壶、脸盆、杯子、碟子也是烧过的粘土做的，但是这些器皿可不能“渗透”，不然盛上液体就会漏出去。这种材料里的小孔，是浸在一种混合物里才堵上的，这种混合物，能让粘土像玻璃一样光滑。

　　A man who makes vessels out of clay is called a potter. He has a flat wheel in front of him on which he places the soft lump of clay, and as it spins round he moulds it with his hands into any shape he likes. Dishes made of clay are called pottery⁷ or earthenware⁸.

　　用粘土制作器皿的人叫“陶工”，陶工前面有一个扁平的轮子，他把软粘土放在上面，轮子一边转，他就一边用手，把粘土塑造成他想要的形状。粘土做的器皿统称陶器。

1 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

2 kiln   

n.（砖、石灰等）窑，炉；v.烧窑

参考例句：

• That morning we fired our first kiln of charcoal.那天上午，我们烧了我们的第一窑木炭。
• Bricks are baked in a kiln.砖是在窑里烧成的。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 jugs   

（有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
• Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语，祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

7 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

8 earthenware   

n.土器，陶器

参考例句：

• She made sure that the glassware and earthenware were always spotlessly clean.她总是把玻璃器皿和陶器洗刷得干干净净。
• They displayed some bowls of glazed earthenware.他们展出了一些上釉的陶碗。