万花筒2008-03-24:纸皮箱划船比赛

Students rece cardboard boats at Lindenhurst high school

That this is one of the projects they're most excited about. They are reconstrained to working with certain materials, for example, cardboard. They can’t not use anything, they cannot use styrofoam, they can’t use duct tape and they can’t use regular wrapping tape. They have to use Archimedes' principle, calculate the buoyancy, make sure that the boat can actually float and what they have, er, what that is is, what that deals with is that the amount of weight that goes in the down direction must equal to the weight of the water that the boat is actually displacing.  

We didn’t seal up our boat enough and when I leaned back, the back collapsed¹, so we started taking on water and the whole thing sunk.  

The idea is to see whose boat lasts the longest and whose design holds up in the water without sinking.  

Yeah, we just want, when our boat races, boat's still good, the inside still dry, so we could go again tomorrow for, another round.  

WORDS IN THE NEWS     

1. cardboard : n-uncount 硬纸板、卡纸板

Cardboard is thick, stiff paper that is used, for example, to make boxes and models.  

2. styrofoam : n-uncount  泡沫塑料

Styrofoam is a very light, plastic substance, used especially to make containers. (AM; in BRIT, use polystyrene) 

3. Archimedes' principle: 阿基米德原理

The principle that the net fluid force on a body submerged (or floating) in a stationary² fluid is an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body. This concept, perhaps the oldest stated principle in fluid mechanics, was first put forth³ by Archimedes in the third century B.C. 

4. buoyancy : n-uncount 浮力

Buoyancy is the ability that something has to float on a liquid or in the air.

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 stationary   

adj.固定的，静止不动的

参考例句：

• A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
• Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。