美国小学英语教材6:第239课 森林产品(4)（在线收听）

In making leather from raw hides, the tannin used is obtained from the wood and bark of hemlock and oak.

在通过生皮革制作皮革的过程中，使用的鞣酸是从木头，铁杉和橡树树皮中获得的，

It is this tannin which makes leather durable and soft.

鞣酸让皮革更加柔软，更耐用。

During the summer the bark is peeled from the trees and taken to factories where the tannin is taken out.

在夏天，我们会从树上削树皮，之后进入工厂提取鞣酸。

At one time the tanbark industry was so important that in the eastern United States hemlock trees were cut and stripped for the bark alone,

一度，树木产业非常重要，在美国东部，铁杉只用于采集树皮，

the wood being left to rot. Now the scarcity of hemlock trees and the use of other tannin materials have made the industry much less important.

剩下的木头只能腐烂，如今铁杉十分稀有，用其它材料制成的鞣酸让产业的重要性降低。

A great deal of wood is used for the manufacture of barrels, casks, tubs, and kegs. For these purposes, red oak, white oak, cypress,

大量木材被用来制作木桶，酒桶，木盆和小桶，为了制作这些物品，红橡树，白橡树，柏树，

and gum are most frequently used. Excelsior is still another valuable forest product; it is used for shipping fragile material and even for making mattresses and rugs.

以及树脂都是经常使用的东西，细刨花是另外一个珍贵的森林产品，它用来运输易碎的材料，甚至制作床垫和垫子。

Basswood makes the best excelsior, but cotton wood, poplar, and white pine are also used. The uses of wood are far from ended: paper pulp, spools,

椴树是制作细刨花的最好材料，但白杨，杨树以及北美乔松也经常拿来使用，树木的用途远不止如此，纸浆，线轴，

box boards, willow ware, toys, implements, tool handles, shuttles, a list would take up many pages. Indeed, over four thousand separate uses for wood have been listed.

箱板，藤制品，玩具，工具，刀柄，梭子，产品清单可以有很多页，我们列举了超四千种树木用途。

One other product of the forest is important enough to mention here, the Christmas tree. For the Christmas tree is the great winter crop of the forest,

另一个值得一提的重要森林产品是圣诞树，圣诞树是冬天森林的最好作物，

and it is one of the forest's oldest gifts. Its history extends so far back that its origin is hard to trace. Some say the custom arose with the Egyptians,

也是森林最古老的礼物之一，它的历史很久远，已很难追溯源头，有些人说这一传统来自埃及人，

who each year in December decorated their doors with branches of the date palm. Or, it may be connected with the great tree of Norse mythology,

每年的12月份，他们会用海枣树树枝装饰房门，或者与挪威神话中大树有关，

the Tree of Time within whose roots and branches Heaven and Earth are bound.

时光之树的树根和树枝与天地缠绕。