背誦名篇~~~通向「流暢英語寫作」的不二法門 [捷徑篇]

What Should We Do in Our Lives

             Augustus, a few minutes before his death, asked his friends who stood about him, if they thought he had  acted his part well; and upon receiving such an answer  as was due to his extraordinary merit, 'Let me then,' says he, 'go off the stage with your applause;' using the expression with which the Roman actors made their exit at the conclusion of a dramatic piece. I could wish that men, while they are in health, would consider well the nature of the part they are engaged in, and what figure it will make in the minds of those that leave behind them, whether it was worth coming into the world for; whether it be suitable to a reasonable being : in short, whether it appears graceful in this life, or will turn to advantage in the next.Let the sycophant or the buffoon, the satirist or the good companion, consider with himself, when his body shall be laid in the grave, and his soul pass into another state of existence, how much it will redound to his praise to have it said of him, that no man in England ate better, that he had an admirable talent at turning his friends into ridicule, that nobody outdid him at an ill-natured jest, or that he never went to bed before he had dispatched his third bottle. These are, however, very common funeral orations, and eulogies on deceased persons who have acted among mankind with some figure and reputation.

Augustus (奧古斯都)屋大維  (Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus 63 B.C--14 A.D)凱撒大將的侄孫，羅馬帝國的第一個皇帝，在位時期文治武功甚盛。
in the next：in the next life(根據基督教信抑，人死後，到最後審判時還要復活，由上帝賞善罰惡。所以作家這樣說)。
sycophant讒言者;食客
buffoon丑角;滑稽劇演員
satirist諷刺作家
redound 起作用;有助於(+to)
oration演說,演講
eulogy 頌詞;悼詞
decease死亡

       奧古斯都在去世前幾分鐘，問他左右的親信，對他在一生中所扮演的角色，他們覺得如何?在得到了與他的豐功偉績相適應的答覆之後，他使用了羅馬演員在演出結束就要下場時常用的一句台詞，說：「那麼，就讓我在你們的喝采聲中下台吧!」我希望人們在身強力壯的時候最好想一想他們究竟在扮演著什麼樣的角色，為了這個，是否值得到世上走這麼一趟；一旦他們離開人世，究竟會給後人留下一個什麼樣的印象；跟一個有理性的動物是否相稱――一句話，在今生是否光彩，到來世是否有利。那些趨炎附勢之徒，嘻嘻哈哈的混混兒，諷刺人的專家，吃吃喝喝的酒肉朋友，最好都能自思自想一番：將來，他的軀體埋入墳墓，他的靈魂進入另一種存在狀態，要是別人提起他來，只說全英國再沒有別人比他更會吃喝，他那挖苦別人的本領實在叫人佩服，在開惡毒玩笑方面沒有人能夠賽得過他，他不灌完三瓶酒絕不上床睡覺。然而，不少故世的人卻也只能得到這樣的悼詞和贊語，儘管他們在社會上也曾經出頭露面，聲聞遐邇。
【作者簡介】
阿狄生 (1672―1719)是十八世紀初具代表性的英國隨筆作家，與理查德•斯梯爾合辦刊物《旁觀者》。本文便節選該刊物。

Two Women

          In externals, they were two unobtrusive women; a per-fectly secluded life gave them retiring manners and habits. In Emily's nature the extremes of vigor and simplicity seemed to meet. Under an unsophisticated culture, inartifical tastes, and an unpretending outside, lay a secrecy power and fire that might have inflamed the brain and kindled the veins of a hero; but she had no worldly wisdom: her powers were unaccepted to the practical business of life : she would fail to defend her most manifest rights, to consult her most legitimate advantage. An interpreter ought always to have stood between her and the world. Her will was not very flexible, and it generally opposed her interest. Her temper was magnanimous, but warm and sudden; her spirit altogether unbending.
        Anne's character was milder and more subdued;  she wanted the power, the fire ,the originality of her sister, but was well endowed with quite virtues of her own. Long suffering, self-denying, reflective, and intelligent, a constitutional reserve and taciturnity placed and kept her in the shade, and covered her mind, and especially her feelings, with a sort of nun-like evil, which was rarely lifted. Neither Emily nor Anne was learned; they had no thought of filling their pitchers at the well-spring of other minds; they always wrote form the impulse of nature, the dictates of intuition, and from such stores of observation as their limited experience had enabled them to amass. I may sum up all by saying, that for strangers they were nothing, for superficial observers less than nothing; but for those who had known them all their lives in the intimacy of close relationship, they were genuinely good and truly great.

【註釋】
unobtrusive不引人注目
secluded與世隔絕的;隱退的
she had no worldly wisdom:她不知世故為何物
her most manifest rights:她自己最明顯的權利。
magnanimous寬大的;有雅量的
warm and sudden:熱情而激烈
subdued被制服的;順從的
constitutional reserve:熱情而激烈
taciturnity沉默寡言;緘默
intuition直觀(能力),直覺

兩個女人
夏洛蒂•勃朗特
             從表面看，她們是兩個毫不引人注目的姑娘，久處窮鄉僻壤使她們養成了靦腆的態度和緘默的習慣。在艾米莉身上，剛強的魄力與質樸的性格似乎匯合在一起了。在她那天真無邪的情性、質樸無華的愛好與坦白率真的態度之下，隱藏著一股魄力，一團烈火――那是足以激勵著英雄頭腦、點燃起英雄的熱血的。然而，對於處世之道她卻一無所知，她的聰明才智在生活的實際事務上毫無用處――她不懂得怎樣保護自己最明顯的權利，也不知道如何去考慮她最合法的利益。在她和社會之間，經常需要有那麼一個解說人員。她的決心是不容易改變的，而這決心又往往違背著她自己的利益。她的脾氣既寬宏大量，又熱情激烈。她的性格是寧折不彎的。
           安恩的性格卻是溫和而柔順。她缺乏她姐姐的那種氣魄、熱情和獨創性，然而她自有她自己那種文靜的美德。她聰明，然而總是忍耐、剋制、冥思苦想。氣質上的含蓄內傾，沉默寡言，總是把她擺到一個不引人注意的地位；她的思想,尤其是她的感情，似乎被一幅修女的面紗遮蓋著――這面紗很少揭開。不論艾米莉或安恩都不是博學之士――她們無意到別人的思想源泉那裡充實自己的思想。她們寫作，總是根據自己內心的衝動，根據自己感受的指使，根據自己那有限經驗所容許她們貯存的觀察所得。概括一句，我可以這麼說：對於陌生者，她們是微不足道的人；對於淺薄的人，也許不值一顧；然而，對於那些了解她們生平的親人來說，她們是真正優秀的人，也是真正偉大的人。
【作者簡介】
夏洛蒂•勃朗特（1816-1855），十九世紀英國作家，其名著有《簡•愛》。本文節選自回憶錄《艾里斯•貝爾與阿克頓•貝爾生平紀》。

About Sleep

             Care-worn people, however, might refresh themselves oftener  with day-sleep than they do; if their bodily state is such as to dispose them to it. It is a mistake to suppose that all care is wakeful. People sometimes sleep, as well as wake, by reason of their sorrow. The difference seems to depend upon the nature of their temperament; though in the most excessive cases, sleep is perhaps Nature's never-failing relief, as swooning is upon the rack. A person with jaundice in his blood shall lie down and go to sleep at noonday, when another of a different complexion shall find his eyes as uncloseable as a statue's, though he has had no sleep for nights together. Without meaning to lessen the dignity of suffering, which has quite enough to do with its waking hours, it is this that may often account for the profound sleeps enjoyed the night before hazardous battles, executions, and other demands upon an overexcited spirit.
       The most complete and healthy sleep that can be taken in the day is in summer-time, out in a field. There is, perhaps, no solitary sensation so exquisite as that of slumbering on the grass or hay, shaded from the hot sun by a tree, with the consciousness of a fresh but light air running through the wide atmosphere, and the sky stretching far overhead upon all sides. Earth, and heaven, and a placid humanity seem to have the creation to themselves. There is nothing between the slumbered and the naked and glad innocence of nature.

【註釋】
temperament氣質;性情
jaundice黃疸病
account for:解釋，說明
hazardous有危險的，冒險的
exquisite 精美的;精緻的
the creation:宇宙，世界

睡眠小議
亨特
         人在憂慮之中往往不能成眠，其實他們大可以通過白天睡覺來恢復一下精神，只要他們的身體狀況許可他們這麼做的話。認為有憂愁一定不能睡覺，是一種誤解。憂患有時促人清醒，有時催人睡眠。這種差別似乎由於人的氣質不同而產生。不過，在一些最最極端的場合下，睡眠或許是造物主賜給人的一種永遠不變的慰藉, 正如人到了拷問台上就要暈倒,一個血液中有了黃疸病的人一到中午倒頭便能入睡；相反，具有另外一種氣質的人，哪怕一連幾夜未眠，卻仍象一尊雕像似的，苦於不能合眼。筆者無意抹煞受苦受難的莊嚴性， 因為人在清醒的時候所遭到的苦難已經足夠叫他煩惱，然而這也正好說明了人處在兇險鏖戰或死刑處決的前夜，以及其他迫使精神過度興奮的狀態之中，為什麼還能夠酣然沉睡。
        最美滿、最身心舒暢的睡眠，只有當炎夏時節的白天，在那遼闊的田野上才能得到：躺在青草或者乾草上面安然入睡，一片樹蔭為你遮蔽著驕陽，你感覺到一種清新、爽快的微風在大氣之間回蕩，高高的天空環抱著自己，向四面八方伸延――什麼能比得上這樣美妙的感受?大地、蒼穹、和平的人類似乎充塞了整個的宇宙。在酣睡的人和赤條條、歡天喜地的大自然之間不存在任何隔閡。
【作者簡介】
亨特（1784-1859），十九世紀英國著名散文家。

The Arts of  Informal Essay Writers

         An essay is a thing which someone does himself; and the point of the essay is not the subject, for any subject will suffice, but the charm of personality. It must concern itself with something "jolly", as the school boys say, something smelt, heard, seen, perceived, invented, thought; but the essential thing is that the writer shall have formed his own impression, and that it shall have taken shape in his own mind; and the charm of the essay depends upon the charm of the mind that has conceived and recorded the impression. It will be seen, then, that the essay need not concern itself with anything ; it need not have an intellectual or philosophical or a religious or a humorous motive; but equally none of these subjects are ruled out. The only thing necessary is that the thing or the thought should be vividly apprehended, enjoyed, felt to be beautiful, and expressed with a certain gusto. It need conform to no particular rules. All literature answers to something in life, some habitual form of human expression. The stage imitates life, calling in the services of the eye and ear; there is a narrative of a teller of tales or the minstrel; the song the letter, the talk-all forms of human expression and communication have their anti-types in literature. The essay is the reverie, the frame of mind in which a man says, in words of the old song, "Says I to myself, says I ."

【註釋】
suffice 足夠,使滿足
humorous幽默的,詼諧的;滑稽的
ruled out:被排除
gusto愛好     
narrative敘事的;敘事體的
minstrel 吟遊詩人，藝人   
anti-type:對應類別
reverie白日夢;幻想

隨筆作家的藝術
亞瑟•克里斯托夫•本森

         隨筆，是某個人自己的手筆；隨筆的妙處並不在於題目(任何題目都可涉筆成趣)，而在於個性的魅力。隨筆自然要寫出某種(象小學生常說的)「有意思的」東西，某種可供嗅察、聽到、看見、感知、想象、思考的東西；但是最根本一點，作者必須有自己的看法，這看法又必須在他自己的心靈中自然形成，而隨筆的魅力即依靠著醞釀和記錄下這看法的心靈的魅力。由此可知：隨筆不必有什麼固定的內容，也不必有什麼知識性的、哲學性的、宗教性的或什麼滑稽性的目的――然而，對這種種題目也並不一概排除。唯一不可缺少的東西卻是那內容或思想必須經過活潑的理解，受到作者喜愛，對其妙味有所會心，並把它富有情趣地表達出來。這也不必遵循什麼特定的規則。文學本來不外是生活中某種事物的反響，人類某種表達習慣的再現。例如，戲劇演出便是藉助於視覺和聽覺來摹擬生活；此外，還有說書人或民間歌手的說唱，歌謠，信札，談話――人類的一切表達形式、交流形式在文學當中無不可以找出自己的相應類別。而作者在隨筆中所要表達的那種感想，那種心情，若用古歌謠中的詞句來說，就是：「我對我自己說道――我說。」
【作者簡介】
亞瑟•克里斯托夫•本森（1862-1925），英國作家。本文節選自其散文《隨筆作家的藝術》。

About Abrasion on Earth

             An object which is placed in the sunshine becomes hot and heat causes most materials to become slightly bigger-that is, to expand. An iron bar, for example, whose ordinary length is 5 feet becomes about 1/2 inch longer when it is made red-hot. The sun, of course, does not make rocks on the earth's surface red-hot, but rocks which are not protected by soil and plants do become quite warm in the sunshine. The surface of the rock expands very slightly, but the inside of the rock, which is not heated, does not expand. This causes a little crack, and gradually little pieces of the rock break away.
        The wind causes much wearing of rocks, particularly if sand and dust are blown along by it. If the wind blows over sandy country, such as deserts and beaches, it picks up quite a lot of sand and carries it along. The particles of sand rub, scratch and cut the rocks against which they are blown. Soft rocks may be gradually worn away and harder rocks are rubbed so that they become smooth and shiny. Sometimes a rock is made into a very strange shape because softer parts are worn away and harder parts are left. The wind near the ground carries most sand with it and so wears the lower parts of big masses of rock most. The lower part of a cliff may be worn away and then, in time, the upper part falls down.
        Sooner or later, the sand and the particles of rock drop from the wind to the ground. In sandy places you can often see heaps of sand forming little hills. They are called 「sand dunes」. Sand is blown along near the ground and some forms a little pile against a small bush, some grass, of a small rock. The pile grows and forms a sand dune. Sand may be carried many miles by the wind. A dry wind called the Harmattan, which blows from the Sahara desert over Ghana and Nigeria, carries much sand and dust. The dust falls to the ground as a fine powder.

wearing磨損的
pick up:捲起
worn away:磨碎，磨損
dune沙丘

             放在陽光下的物體會曬熱，而熱能使大多 數材料稍微變大，也就是發生膨脹。例如，一根鐵棒，原長六英尺，經加熱到赤熱狀態時，就會長出約半英寸來。當然，太陽不會把地球表面上的岩石曬到赤熱狀態。但是，沒有土壤和植物掩蔽的岩石，在陽光下的確會變得相當熱。岩石的表面會微微地膨脹，而未受熱的岩石內部則並不膨脹。這就產生小裂縫，逐漸地就有岩石碎片剝落下來。
        風使岩石遭到很大磨蝕，風裡裹著砂土和塵土吹來的時候尤其如此。如果風從沙漠和海灘等多砂地帶吹過，它就會捲走大量砂土。風吹到岩石上面，砂粒就磨蝕、刮削這些岩石。
       硬度低的岩石逐漸被磨碎，堅硬的則磨得鋥光滑溜。有時一塊石頭被弄成奇形怪狀，因為質地不硬的部分被磨掉，堅硬的部分留了下來。貼近地面的風帶走砂土最多，因此大塊岩石下部磨蝕得最為厲害。一個懸崖的底部可能被磨蝕掉，於是，總有一天崖頂將會倒塌下來。砂土和岩石的碎粒遲早會從風裡落到地面上。在多砂的地區，你常常可以看到形成小山般的一堆堆砂土。這些小山叫做「砂丘」。砂土是貼著地面被吹走的，在碰到小灌木、草叢或小塊石頭的地方形成了小砂堆。砂堆越來越大，就形成了砂丘。砂土可以被風帶到許多英里以外的地方。一種叫做「哈麥丹」(Harmattan)的干風，從撒哈拉大沙漠吹過迦納和奈及利亞，它帶走很多砂粒和塵土。這些塵土就象很細的粉末一樣落到地面上。
【作者簡介】
W.E.FLOOD,M.A., Ph.D.:弗拉德博士是位資歷很深的大學講師和科普作家。本文選自他所著的《The Earth on Which We Live》一書。

Two Exceptions
             Temperature is measured by means of a thermometer. One general form of thermometer depends upon the fact that most solids and liquids expand as their temperature rises. There are one or two exceptions. There is, for instance, a kind of steel called invar (from「invariable」) which does not change its dimensions as temperature changes; it is valuable for making pendulums, since, if the length of a pendulum changes, its time of vibration changes. It is also used for making very accurate measuring scales. In both cases, then, changes of atmospheric temperature have no effect if invar is used.
        Another exception is that very odd liquid, water, which has many strange properties. As water gets colder it contracts, which is ordinary behaviour, until it reaches the temperature of 30C. above freezing point. After that, as it gets colder, it expands. This is fortunate---for consider the freezing of a pond. As the water on top gets colder, it shrinks; and so, volume for volume, it becomes heavier and sinks. This goes on until all the pond is at 30C, but after that, as the water becomes colder it expands. Therefore the colder water stays on top and freezes, covering the pond with ice. If the water went on contracting down to the freezing point, the pond would become a solid block of ice in the end. This would not worry people who live in hot climates, but it would be very serious for those who live in cold climates, especially for those who want to break the ice and catch fish which live in the clod water beneath.
【註釋】
thermometer 溫度計               pendulum擺錘;鐘擺               
property特性,性能      

兩個例外
愛德華•內維爾
            溫度是用溫度計測量的。大多數固體和液體，在溫度升高時就膨脹，普通的溫度計就是以這種原理作為依據的。不過也有一兩個例外，例如有一種鋼叫做殷鋼(從「invariable」一詞而來)，在溫度變化時它的大小尺寸不變；這種鋼對於製造鐘擺很有價值，因為如果擺長改變，擺動的周期就改變。殷鋼還可用來製造非常精密的量具。在製造鐘擺和製造量具時，如果使用殷鋼，氣溫的變化對上述兩種情況就不會產生任何影響。
        另一個例外是水，一種很古怪的液體，它具有很多奇特的性質。在水溫降到冰點以上30C之前，水逐漸變冷，它就逐漸收縮，這是普通的性質。但以後水再變冷卻膨脹起來。考慮到池塘封凍，這倒是一件幸運的事。池塘上面的水遇冷便收縮，這樣，水就一塊接一塊地變重下沉。這種變化一直持續到整個池塘中的水溫降到30C 為止。但在此之後，當水溫再下降時，它便膨脹了。所以，較冷的水留在上面凍結，用冰來覆蓋整個池 。假如池塘里的水在冰點以上都不斷收縮下沉，那麼，整個池塘最後就會變成一個固體冰塊。這個情況並不使生活在熱帶地區的人們煩惱，但對於那些生活在寒冷地區的人們來說，特別是對於那些需要破冰捕獲冷水下層魚類的人們來說，卻是非常嚴重的問題。
【作者簡介】
PROFESSOR E.N.da C.ANDRADE, 本文選自愛德華•內維爾編著的《Physics for the Modern World》 (1951)愛德華•內維爾(1776-1961)是大英百科全書的物理學編輯，他還是倫敦大學物理學教授。

Three Physical States

            Most people would describe water as a colourless liquid. They would know that in very cold conditions it becomes a solid called ice, and that when heated on a fire it becomes a vapor called steam. But water, they would say, is a liquid.

        We have learned that water consists of molecules composed of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, which we describe by the formula H2O.But this is equally true of the solid called ice and the gas called steam. Chemically there is no difference between the gas, the liquid, and the solid, all of which are made up of molecules with the formula H2O.And this is true of other chemical substances; most of them can exist as gases or as liquids or as solids. We may normally think of iron as a solid, but if we heat it in a furnace it will melt and become a liquid, and at very high temperatures it will become a gas. We normally think of air as a mixture of gases, but at very low temperatures it becomes a liquid, and at lower temperatures still it becomes a white solid.

        Nothing very permanent occurs when a gas changes into a liquid or a solid. Everyone knows that ice, which has been made by freezing water, can be melted again by being warmed; and that steam can be condensed on a cold surface to become liquid water. In fact it is only because water is such a familiar substance that different name are used for the solid, liquid, and gas. For other substances we have to describe these different states directly. Thus for air we talk about liquid air and solid air. We could also talk about gaseous air, but, since this is the normal thing, we usually just describe it as air.
【註釋】
formula:分子式
to be true of:附合與...，對...成立

三種物理狀態
喬治•波特

        大多數人總是把水說成是無色液體。他們大概都知道，水在十分寒冷的環境中會變成叫做冰的固體，而把水放到爐火上加熱時，它就會變成叫做水蒸氣的氣體。但是人們卻總是說，水是液體。

        我們知道，水是由兩個氫原子和一個氧原子組成的分子，我們用分子式H2O來表示。這對所謂固態的冰和氣態水蒸氣來說，同樣是這樣的。水的三種狀態(即固態、液態和氣態)，在化學性質上彼此沒有差別，都是由分子式為H2O 的分子構成的。其它化學物質也如此，它們大多數都可以以氣體、液體或固體形態存在。我們通常把鐵看成固體，但如果放到熔鐵爐內加熱，它就會熔化成為液體；而當溫度很高時，它又會變成氣體。我們通常將空氣看作氣體的混合物，但在溫度極低時，空氣就變成液體；溫度更低時，它就變成白色固體。

        氣體變成了液體或固體，並不是永久不變的。大家都知道，由水凍結而成的冰，加熱后可以重新融化；水蒸氣可以在冷的物體表面上凝結成液態水。事實上，僅僅由於水是極為人們所熟悉的物質，所以對水的固態、液態和氣態使用了不同的名稱。對於其它物質，我們應該直接描述它們的不同狀態。因此，對於空氣，我們說液態空氣和固態空氣。我們還可以說氣態空氣，但由於這是正常狀態，所以通常只說「空氣」。

【作者簡介】
SIR GEORGE PORTER,喬治•波特爵士生於1910年，1944年任謝菲爾德大學物理化學教授。他曾在利茲大學和劍橋大學學習，擔任過許多科學機構的職務。本文選自他1951年首次出版的《Chemistry for the Modern World》一書。

Plastic Technology

Into the ward were carried men with broken faces, with jaw bones that felt like 「sand under your fingers」. Sepsis and bleeding caused numerous deaths. Many of these men could not utter a word, and lay wrapped in yards and yards of bandage. Some could not sleep. Many could not eat, and feeding was a slow business. Mirrors were absolutely forbidden in the ward. Gillies managed to keep up the spirits of these broken people, telling them he would soon have them looking as good as new, and promising he would give them「new」faces.

         Late in the sixteenth century we have one of the greatest names in the history of plastic work: Gaspare Tagliacozzi, professor at the university of Bologna. He described the arm-flap graft for nose and ear, which meant that the repair was done by cutting an area of skin out of the arm and using it to cover the damaged nose or ear. 「We restore, repair, and make whole those parts of the face which Nature has given, but which Fortune has taken away, not so much that they may delight the eye, but that they may raise up the spirit and help the mind of the sufferer,」 wrote Tagliacozzi.

        During the first World War explosives of a power hardly dreamed of before were being used. The wounds they caused were more serious than surgeons had ever had to face; they created tremendous opportunities, and tremendous problems. As an artist, Gillies saw the plastic surgeon as a sculptor. His materials, instead of being wood or stone, were living skin, bone fat and muscle. He employed them to remake people. The term「reconstructive surgery」,therefore, describes well what he was trying to do.

【註釋】
sepsis敗毒病
broken people:絕望的人們
arm-flap graft for nose or ear:臂皮移到鼻子和耳朵上

整形技術
L. J. 路多維奇

              面部和顎骨損傷的病人被抬入病房，損傷部位摸上去「象沙子一樣粗糙」。膿毒病和出血造成大量的死亡。許多這樣的病人不能說話，纏著長長的繃帶躺著。一些人不能入睡。很多病人吃不下東西，只好一點點喂飯。在病房裡，鏡子是絕對禁止的。吉利斯設法使這些沮喪的人振作精神，告訴他們他會很快使他們好看起來，答應給他們新的面容。

        16世紀末，整形史上最偉大的人物之一，就是波倫亞大學教授加斯佩爾•塔格利亞科齊。他記述了把臂皮移植到鼻子、耳朵上的情況。這就是說，修整工作是在手臂上切下一塊皮，蓋在毀損了的鼻子或耳朵上。塔格利亞科齊寫道：「我們修復、整補並使天生就有的但被命運奪去的面頰上的那些部位完整無缺，與其說是為了悅目，倒不如說是為了能使患者打起精神、舒展心情。」

       第一次世界大戰期間，使用了人們以前夢想不到的烈性炸藥。它造成了外科醫生前所未見的更加嚴重的創傷；它提供了一些非凡的機會，也提出一些非同小可的問題。整形術大師吉利斯把整形外科醫生看作是雕塑家。他用的材料不是木頭和石塊，而是活的皮、骨脂肪和肌肉。他用這些整修人體。「整形外科學」這個術語恰如其分地表述了他在努力做的工作。

【作者簡介】
L.J.LUDOVICI本文選自Great Moments in Medicine一書。作者L. J. 路多維奇曾在牛津大學學習，以後從事出版工作。戰後，他開始寫作，曾寫過青霉素發明者亞歷山大•費萊明和空氣專家A.C. 羅(Roe) 等人的傳記。

About Temperature on Earth

               For the last fifty years, the globe has been warming up. It is true that the average temperature rise is only about two degrees, but that has been enough to start the glaciers receding in many parts of the world.

         A rise of one degree per generation is a large increase. Nature seldom moves as swiftly as this. We may have been helping her. Carbon dioxide(CO2)  in the air is mostly responsible for the 「greenhouse effect」；it is a gas produced by all our countless fires, furnaces and internal combustion engines.

        The end of the short-lived age of fossil fuels is already in sight；soon---in one or two centuries at the most---we will have wasted all the world's resources of oil and coal. This no longer means disaster, for atomic energy has arrived in time to save our civilization from dying through lack of power .We are moving into a brighter and cleaner age, as the smoke of millions of fires and furnaces and automobiles ceases to darken the sky. But for that very reason, it may also be a colder age.

       This suggests that it may be easier to affect the climate---the long pattern of temperature and moisture--- than to control the behaviour of the weather, which is a local and short phenomenon. The climate of Earth is determined to no small extent by the immense quantities of ice locked up at the poles, and that ice remains perpetually frozen, in spite of the twenty-four-hour-long summer days, because the Sun's heat is reflected off the blinding white wastes, and has no chance of being absorbed. If that ice could once be removed, it would never reform on the same scale. The darker, exposed soil would collect and keep so much of the Sun's warmth now lost to us, that the general Earth temperature would be at a higher level.

【註釋】
combustion燃燒
to die through lack of power:由於缺乏能源而滅亡

談談地球上的氣溫
阿瑟•C•克拉克
            在最近的五十年間，地球一直在轉暖。確實，平均氣溫升高僅二度左右，但這已足以引起世界上許多地區冰川的消退。
        每一個世代溫度升高一度就是一個很大的升溫。大自然象這樣急速地發展是罕見的。或許，我們一直在促使大自然的這種進展。空氣中的二氧化碳(CO2) 是造成「溫室效應」的最主要的原因，而二氧化碳是一種由我們無數爐火、熔爐和內燃機產生的氣體。
        短暫的礦物燃料時代結束的日子已經在望了；不久――最多一、兩個世紀內――我們將耗盡世界上所有的石油和煤炭資源。這並不意味著災難，因為原子能已經及時來臨， 把我們的文明從由於缺乏能源而瀕臨的毀滅中拯救出來。當無數爐火、熔爐和汽車的煙霧不再使天空變得暗淡無光時，我們就將進入一個更為光明、清潔的時代。但正是由於這一緣故，將來也可能是一個更加寒冷的時代。
        這就使人聯想到，影響氣候(溫度與濕度的長期形式)可能要比控制天氣的變化(局部的短暫現象)容易一些。地球的氣候在很大程度上是由封存在兩極的大量冰雪來決定的，儘管那裡有長達二十四小時之久的「夏日」，而冰還是永遠地處於封凍狀態，因為太陽的熱輻射被眩目的白色荒原反射出去，沒有被吸收的機會。如果那裡的冰一旦被搬走，冰絕不會再形成同樣的規模。裸露的黑色土壤會把現在太陽傳給我們的大量熱量集存起來，從而使地球的常溫達到更高的水平。

【作者簡介】
ARTHUR C.CLARKE，阿瑟•C•克拉克是寫天文學專題(包括星際旅行題材)的著名作家。他是理學士和英國皇家天文學會會員。他與斯坦利•庫布里克曾合寫了小說及電影劇本1001:Space Odyssey。本文取自他的The Challenge of the Spaceship一書，該書於1950年在英國首次出版。

Comets

            No account of the solar system would be complete without mention   of comets, for these are just as much members of the sun's family as arethe major and minor planets. Quite a large number of comets are discovered every century, but most of them are extremely faint objects, far below the limits of the unaided eye. Comets usually arouse public interest when they are large and bright enough to attract attention and receive mention in the newspapers. But objects of this type are usually few and far  between  especially so far during the present century. You probably saw the two in 1946, and may be old enough to recall seeing the 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet. I have met quite a lot of people who saw Halley's Comet. Their memory wasn't very good when it came to recalling other things, but they remembered the comet.

        If you are fortunate enough to see a comet, don't give it just a casual glance and then vanish indoors. Notice just where it is in relation to the stars and try to plot its path by making nightly observations. At the same time try to judge the brightness of its nucleus (brightest part),and see how far you can trace its tail. Usually the longer you stay in the dark (so allowing the eyes to get adapted to the darkness),the further you should be able to trace the tail. Notice that quite faint stars can be seen through the tail；it must therefore be thinner than the finest cloud. A series of observations like these should show that the comet's tail points away from the sun, and that it usually grows in size and brightness as the comet gets closer to the sun. If it is on its way to the sun, you may even have a chance of seeing it on its return journey.

【註釋】
few and far between:稀少
nucleus(彗)核

彗 星
H.C.金

          敘述太陽系時若不提及彗星，就不是完整的，因為彗星與大大小小的行星一樣，也是太陽家族的成員。每一個世紀都發現相當多的彗星，但大多數彗星都是非常微弱的天體，遠不能為肉眼所見。通常是當彗星又大又亮,足以引起注意並刊登在報紙上時，才引起公眾的興趣。但這類彗星平時極為罕見，尤其本世紀以來更如此。你也許看到了1946年的兩顆彗星，也許你年齡較大，足以回憶起看到1910年哈雷彗星出現時的情景。我認識相當多見過哈雷彗星的人。他們回憶其他往事時，記憶力並不十分好，但他們都記得那顆彗星。

       倘若你有幸看到彗星，不要隨意掃一眼就進到屋裡去。要注意它與許多星星的相對位置，並通過夜間觀測，爭取把它的行跡標繪出來。與此同時，還要設法判斷彗核(最明亮的部分)的亮度，觀察一下彗尾有多遠。通常，你在黑暗中呆的時間越久(這樣使眼睛適應黑暗)追蹤到彗星就越遠。請注意，透過彗尾還可以看到暗淡的星星；因此彗星尾一定比最纖細的雲朵還要薄。這樣一系列的觀察會表明，彗尾總是背離太陽方向。當彗星接近太陽時，它的大小和亮度總是增長的。如果彗星正朝太陽方向運動，你甚至有機會在其返回途中再看到它。

【作者簡介】
H.C.KING, 本文摘自H.C.金(H.C.King) 所著《Tackle Astronomy This Way》(1951)一書。H.C.金在這本書里，清晰、生動有趣地描述天空的景象。他曾任倫敦天文科學館館長。

The Effect of Light Speed

            Raising our eyes from the earth to observe the heavenly objects, we find  a really considerable space of time occupied by light in carrying to us information about those distant bodies. From the moon light takes little more than a second and a quarter in reaching us; so that we obtain sufficiently early information of the condition of our satellite. But light occupies more than eight minutes in reaching us from the sun; a longer or shorter interval in travelling to us from Mercury, Venus, and Mars, according to the position of these planets; from about thirty- five to  fifty minutes in reaching us from Jupiter; about an hour and twenty minutes on the average in speeding across the great gap which separates us from Saturn; while we receive information from Uranus and Neptune only after intervals twice and three times as great as that which light takes to come from the ringed planet, Saturn.

        Thus, if we could at any moment see the whole range of the solar system as distinctly as we see Jupiter or Mars, the scene would not show the real appearance of the solar system at that, or any other definite, instant. The information brought by light about the various members of the solar system belongs to different times. If man had powers of vision which enabled him to watch what is taking place on the different planets of the solar system, it is clear that events of the greatest importance might have happened while yet he remained quite unconscious of their occurrence. Or, to look at it the other way, if an observer on Neptune could see all that is taking place on the earth, he might remain for hours unconscious of an event important enough to affect a whole continent.

【註釋】
heavenly天的,天空的
ringed 有環的;有環紋的
Mercury,Venus,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune:水星，金星，火星,木星,土星，天王星，海王星

光速的影響
理查德•安東尼•普羅克特

            從地球上仰望天體，我們感到光把那些遙遠天體的信息傳送給我們時有一段相當大的時間間隔，光從月球到地球要用略多於 1.25 秒的時間；所以我們能及時地得到關於我們這顆衛星(即月亮)狀況的信息。但是光從太陽到我們這裡需要8分多鐘；從水星、金星和火星到我們這裡需要多長時間則根據這些行星所在的不同位置而定；從木星到我們這裡需要大約35分鐘到50分鐘；光飛越隔離我們和土星的巨大空間平均約需1小時零20分鐘；為使我們收自海王星和冥王星的信息，光在運行中所需要的時間，相當於光從帶環的土星到地球所需要的二、三倍的時間。

       由此，如果我們能在任一時刻看到整個太陽系，如同看到木星和火星那樣清楚，那景色也並不是那一時刻或其他任意一個具體時刻的太陽系的真實情況。光所帶來的有關太陽系各個成員的信息，屬於不同的時刻。如果人的視力能使他看到太陽系各行星上正在發生的情況，那麼很顯然，當他尚未感覺到之時，最重要的事件也許已經發生了。或者從另一方面來看，如果海王星上的觀測者可以看到地球上正在發生的一切事情，而對於足以影響整個大陸的重要事件，他在幾個小時以前卻一直不知道哩!

【作者簡介】
RICHARD A. PROCTORi理查德•安東尼•普羅克特(1726-1777)是英國天文學家、作家，曾在倫敦大學和劍橋大學就讀。理查德•安東尼•普羅克特最偉大的著作是Old and New Astronomy，但生前未完成，而是由阿瑟•蘭西德完成的，於1791年出版。本文選自Other Worlds than Ours一書。

Rubber

           Here is the story of rubber. From the earliest time it was  common knowledge to the Peruvians that when a cut  was made in the outside skin of a rubber tree, a white liquid like milk came out, and that from this a sticky mass of rubber might be made。This rubber is soft and wax-like when warm，so that it is possible to give it any form. The Peruvians made the discovery that it was very good for keeping out the wet. Then in the early part of the eighteen hundreds, the Americans made use of it for the first time. First they made overshoes to keep  their feet dry. Then came a certain Mr. Mackintosh, who made coats of cloth covered with natural rubber. From that day to this we have been coating cloth with rubber as Mr. Mackintosh did, and our raincoats are still named after him.

            But these first rubber overshoes and raincoats were all soft and sticky in summer, and hard and unelastic in the winter when it was cold. In fact, they might almost have been made of wax, only they were a bit stronger. But the rubber we have today is not sticky, but soft and elastic, though very strong--even in the warmest summer and the coldest winter. There would be no automobiles such as we have today without it。Long before the start of history, man made the discovery of how to make skins into good leather. But every attempt to make rubber hard and strong came to nothing. The early overshoes and raincoats were simply not good enough, and their makers went out of business.

         Goodyear was living near some of these poor men and he got to work on this question of making rubber or "gum" as the Americans say, hard and strong. Once started on this work, he was the sort of man who simply had to go on till he had overcome the trouble. First came the discovery that nitric acid (HNO) made the rubber much better, and in a short time he was doing a small business in rubber shoes produced in this way.

【註釋】
Peruvians秘魯的;秘魯人
come to nothing:沒有結果，失敗
nitric氮的;硝石的;含五價氮的

橡 膠
H•斯塔福   哈特菲爾德

           這是一篇關於橡膠的史話。從遠古時起，秘魯人就都知道，切開橡膠樹的外皮，會有一種牛奶那樣的白色液體流出來，用這種白色液體可以製成具有粘性的橡膠塊。這種橡膠一遇熱就軟得象蠟一樣，因而能製成任何形狀。秘魯人還發現橡膠具有良好的防水性能。而美國人是到了十九世紀初才第一次利用橡膠。他們先製作套鞋使腳保持乾燥。後來，一位叫麥金托什的人，用塗有天然橡膠的布料做了一件外套。從那時到現在，我們一直象麥金托什先生那樣在布上塗橡膠。至今，雨衣仍以他的名字來命名。

        但是，最早的套鞋和雨衣在夏季都是又軟又粘，到冬季天冷時，卻又變硬而無彈性。事實上，它們幾乎就象蠟做的一樣，只不過稍微結實一點罷了。而我們今天所用的橡膠製品，即使在嚴冬酷暑也一點不粘、很結實，而且質地柔軟，富有彈性。嚴冬酷暑都一樣。假如沒有橡膠，就不會有象我們今天這樣的汽車。早在有史之前一段時間人們就發現了把獸皮製成優質皮革的方法，但是要把橡膠製品做得既堅硬又結實的一切嘗試都沒有取得任何效果。早期的套鞋和雨衣的質量確實很差。因而，製造商們只得停業。

       固特異當時正住在一些可憐的製造商的附近。他開始研究把美國人稱之為「樹膠」的橡膠變硬變結實的問題。他是這樣一種人，只要一開始工作，就一定堅持下去，直到把困難克服為止。首先，他發現硝酸(HNO)會使橡膠質量大為提高。不久，他就經營起用這種方法生產膠鞋的小企業來了。

【作者簡介】
H•斯塔福   哈特菲爾德  (H.STAFFORD HATFIELD): 哲學博士，物理學會特別會員。它選自哈特菲爾德博士所著《今日發明》(1929年版)一書。該書是根據作者的幾次廣播講話整理而成的。他還著有《發明家與世界》 、《歐洲的科學》等書。

Engine And Plane

             Steam engines were the first to be tried in aero-planes, but they were too heavy to be of any real use. One such machine, made in 1773, consisted of a large number of wings one above the other and was driven by a steam engine. It is said to have risen for a moment off the ground. Another rose, but fell and was damaged. It was not until the petrol engine, which is very light for the power it develops, was fitted to a machine that any real success was obtained.

         On December 16,1902,Orville Wright, an American, flew safely in a heavier-than-air machine for twelve seconds, He and his brother Wilbur had made a lot of experiments and had taken immense trouble to study the art of flying in gliders before they attempted to fly their aeroplane. Orville came down safely after the first short flight, and on the same day the experiment was repeated three times. The longest of these flights covered a distance of 741feet and lasted 49 seconds. The machine which was used had an engine developing only sixteen horse-power but the aeroplane reached a speed of 24 miles an hour. The two brothers continued their experiments after their first success, and in 1907 Wilbur gave some exhibitions of flying in France which astonished all who saw them.

        The Wright brothers laid the foundation of modern flying. Soon others followed in their footsteps. Louis Bleriot, a Frenchman, flew across the English Channel from Calais to Dover in 1909. Prizes were offered for flights from one place to another. Competition increased. The aeroplane improved more and more as its behavior became better understood. More powerful engines were developed. In 1919 sir John Alcovk and Sir Arthur Brown made the first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, and in the same year an aeroplane flew from England to Australia. The age of air travel had arrived.

【註釋】
glider 滑翔機

發動機與飛機
G•C•索恩利

              蒸汽機是人們最先試圖用在飛機上的發動機，但它太重了，實際上不能用。1773年製成了這樣一架飛機，它有許多上下重疊的機翼並由蒸汽機驅動。據說，該機確實飛離地面一會兒，而另一次起飛時就墜毀了。直到飛機裝上能提供大功率的汽油發動機時飛行才取得了真正的成功，因為這種發動機相對其所發出的功率來說是很輕的。

         1902年11月16日，美國人奧維爾•萊特乘坐一架比空氣重的飛機安全地飛行了十二秒鐘。他和他的兄弟威爾伯在試飛之前進行了多次試驗，不辭辛苦地用滑翔機鑽研飛行技術。奧維爾在第一次短暫飛行后，安全降落了，同一天這個試驗重複了三次。其中最長的一次，飛了741英尺遠，持續了49秒鐘。他們所使用的飛機有一台功率只有15馬力的發動機，但其速度達到24英里／時。兄弟二人在第一次試飛成功後繼續試驗，1907年威爾伯在法國作了幾次飛行表演，這些表演使所有的觀眾大為驚異。
         萊特兄弟為現代飛行事業奠定了基礎。不久另外一些人也都跟了上來。1909年，法國人路易斯•布雷里奧從法國加來市飛越英吉利海峽，到達英國的多佛。當時給從一地飛到另一地的人都發獎。競爭加劇了。由於對飛機性能有了更好的了解，飛機得到了不斷的改進。功率更大的發動機研製出來。1919年，約翰•奧爾科爵士和阿瑟•布朗爵士第一次飛越大西洋，同年又有一架飛機從英國飛到澳大利亞。航空旅行的時代來到了。

【作者簡介】
G•C•索恩利,本文選自《動力與發展》(1940年版)一書，

The Origin of Vaccination

          Jenner was very troubled because there were so many diseases for which no cure had been found, and of which many people died. The worst of them all was smallpox, and every year hundreds of people caught the disease. Of those who recovered had their faces and bodies covered with scars.Jenner longed to find a way of saving people from this terrible disease and he thought about it a great deal and tried to find out all he could about it.
        After a time he noticed something very interesting. He found that the girls who were employed to milk cows hardly ever caught smallpox, and he began to wonder why. Many of them caught a disease from the cows called cowpox, which was not serious and from which they recovered quickly. He found that people who had had cowpox seemed to be safe from catching smallpox.

        One day a girl came to see him who had a cowpox sore on her hand. Jenner took some of the cowpox from her hand. He then found a little boy of eight called Jimmy Phipps. He made a small scratch on his arm. Into the scratch he put some of the germs of the cowpox. Jimmy caught cowpox and soon got better, but later when he came near people who had smallpox he did not catch it, though other people die.

        Jenner was very excited at what he had found. He wrote a paper about it and had it printed for other doctors to read. That was how vaccination was discovered. At first people would not believe that what he had written was true. Many of them thought it was nonsense; and when Jenner offered to vaccinate people they were too much  to come forward.Gradually the news spread all over the world and Jenner became a great hero.

【註釋】
Smallpox天花
cowpox牛痘
sore疥瘡,痛的
vaccination種痘，接種

種痘的由來
M•I•波茨

              真納醫生非常苦惱，因為有那麼多的疾病無法治癒致使很多人喪命。在這些疾病中為害最大的是天花。每年都有好幾百人染上這種疾病。其中許多人死亡；就是那些恢復健康的人，臉上身上都留下很多疤痕。真納渴望找到一種拯救人們免於這種可怕疾病的方法。他絞盡腦汁，全力以赴地探求這一切。

        過了一段時間，他注意到一件很有趣的事情。他發現那些被雇來擠牛奶的姑娘們幾乎從未患過天花，於是他開始尋思其原因。她們許多人從牛身上傳染上了牛痘，這種病並不嚴重，恢復的也快。他發現凡患過牛痘的人似乎對於天花具有免疫力。
       一天，一位手上長滿了牛痘瘡的姑娘來看病。真納從她的手上取下一些牛痘菌，然後找來一個八歲的小男孩，叫吉米菲普斯，在他的臂上劃一道傷痕，再把一些牛痘菌放進去。吉米感染了牛痘並且很快就痊癒了。後來，他接觸天花患者卻不被感染，即使有的人都因患天花而死去。

        真納因他的發現而非常興奮。他就此寫了一篇論文，並把它印出來讓其它醫生閱讀。這就是發現接種牛痘的情況。起初人們不相信他寫的是真的，許多人認為這是胡說。當真納提出給人們接種牛痘疫苗時，他們非常害怕而不敢來。這個消息慢慢的傳遍了全世界，真納也就成為了一個偉大的英雄人物。

【作者簡介】
M•I•波茨,選自波茨所寫的《人類文明的締造者》一書(第二冊，1941年出版)。作者在非洲從事教育工作多年。

Extracting Oil

            We cannot, of course, see the oil which is trapped deep down in the ground.

        Men must study the rocks carefully. When they think that the rocks in a certain place may contain oil, a metal tower called a derrick is built. A machine in the tower gradually cuts a narrow hole down into the ground.  As the hole is made, a steel pipe is pushed down to stop the sides from falling in, and to keep out water. At last, if the men have judged correctly, the hole reaches the oil. Usually the oil rushes up the pipe with great force, driven by the pressure of the gas in the top of the layer of rock, and it streams high into the air. If this oil should catch a light, there would be a terrible fire. A kind of lid is fixed to the top of the pipe, and the oil is allowed to flow out gently through taps. After a "well" has been used for a long time, it may be necessary to use a pump to get the oil out.

          Oil, we see, is obtained more easily than coal. Men must dig coal from a mine, but oil rushes up a pipe. Often several wells are made ,each reaching the same supply of oil in the ground. If a well is made near the middle of the oil-field, gas will be obtained. This may blow out of the well with great force if it is not controlled. In parts of America such gas is sent through pipes to distant towns, and used, like coal gas, in houses and factories.

         The oil which comes from a well may be a pale brown, easy-flowing liquid , but more usually it is dark brown, thick and sticky. It is a mixture of many kinds of hydrocarbons. The factories in which the various oils (petrol, kerosene, etc.) are got out of this mixture are often many miles away from the wells; in fact, they may be in another country across the sea. The rock-oil(petroleum)is sent to these places, or to ships at a port, through steel pipes. the pipes may cross hundreds of miles of land, and pumps at various places drive the sticky petroleum along.

【註釋】
derrick井架，鐵架塔
hydrocarbon碳氫化合物                  

開採石油

              我們當然看不到深藏在地下的石油。人們得認真地研究岩石。當認為某處的岩石可能含油時，就在那裡樹立起一個叫做井架的金屬鑽塔。塔中的機器從地面逐漸往下鑽出井孔。打井孔時，要放入一根鋼管，以防孔壁倒塌和地下水流入。最後，如果人們的判斷正確，這井孔就會通到油層。通常，石油由於受岩層頂部的氣壓的壓擠，猛烈地沿管子向上噴出，沖向高空。此時，萬一石油著火，就會引起一場可怕的火災。管子的頂端裝有一種蓋子，迫使石油慢慢從龍頭中流出。一口「井」用了很長時間以後，就可能得用泵來抽取石油。

        我們看到，開採石油要比採煤容易。人們必須從煤礦中挖煤，但油是從管子里噴出的。通常，都是打上好幾口油井，每口井都通到地下同一油源處。如果某一口井打得靠近油田中心，就會得到天然氣。如果不加以控制，天然氣就會猛烈地衝出油井。在美國的一些地區，這種氣體通過管道送往遠處城鎮，象煤氣那樣供家庭和工廠使用。

        油井噴出的原油可能是淡褐色，容易流動的液體，但更常見的是深褐色，又稠又粘。它是多種碳氫化合物的混合體。把這種混合體分解成各種燃油(汽油、煤油等)的工廠，往往離油井有好多英里遠；實際上，有些工廠可能在遠隔重洋的外國。石油通過鋼管送往這些地方，或送到停泊在港口的船上。輸油管可能鋪設好成百上千英里，沿途各地的油泵，驅使粘稠的石油不斷向前流動。

【作者簡介】
W•E•佛朗德: 文學碩士、哲學博士，本文選自佛朗德博士寫的《地球的寶藏》一書(1940年版)。

Bee And Color

           On our table in the garden we put a blue card, and all around this blue  card we put a number of different grey cards.

        These grey cards are of all possible shades of grey and include white and black. On each card a watch-glass is placed.

        The watch-glass on the blue card has some syrup in it; all the others are empty. After a short time bees find the syrup, and they come for it again and again. Then, after some hours, we take away the watch-glass of syrup which was on the blue card and put an empty one in its place.

        Now what do the bees do? They still go straight to the blue card, although there is no syrup there. They do not go to any of the grey cards, in spite of the fact that one of the grey cards is of exactly the same brightness as the blue card. Thus the bees do not mistake any shade of grey for blue. In this way we have proved that they do really see blue as a colour.

        We can find out in just the same  way what other colours bees can see. It turns out that bees can see various colours, but these insects differ from us as regards their colour-sense in two very interesting ways. Suppose we train bees to come to a red card, and, having done so, we put the red card on the table in the garden among the set of different grey cards. This time we find that the bees mistake red for dark grey or black. They cannot distinguish between them. This means that red is not a colour at all for bees; for them it is just dark grey or black.

【註釋】
syrup糖汁

蜜蜂與顏色
H•蒙羅•福克斯
            我們把一張藍色的卡片放在花園中的桌上，再在其四周放上一些深淺不同的灰色卡片。這些灰色卡片具有儘可能不同色度的灰色，包括白色和黑色。每張卡片上都有一塊透明玻璃。那張藍色卡片的透明玻璃里有一些糖汁，其它的都是空的。不一會兒，蜜蜂就找到了糖汁，並一再來采吃糖汁。幾小時后，我們把藍卡片上有糖汁的透明玻璃拿開，在該處放上塊空玻璃。

        那麼蜜蜂又會怎樣呢?儘管沒有糖汁了，它們還是徑直向藍色卡片飛去。它們不飛往任何灰色的卡片上去，雖然其中有一張灰色卡片和那張藍色卡片的色度同樣鮮艷。這樣看來，蜜蜂是不會把任何色度的灰色錯當成藍色的。我們用這種方法證明了蜜蜂的確能認出藍顏色。

        我們用同樣的方法還會發現蜜蜂能辨出其它的顏色。結果證明，蜜蜂能分辨出不同的顏色。但是這種昆蟲的色覺在兩個很有趣的方面與我們的不同。假定我們訓練蜜蜂飛到紅色卡片上去。訓練后，我們把這張紅色卡片放在花園中的桌子上那套深淺不同的灰色卡片中去。這次，我們發現蜜蜂錯認紅色為深灰色或黑色。它們不能區別這幾種顏色。這說明，紅色對蜜蜂來說根本就不是一種新顏色，而只不過是深灰色或黑色罷了。

【作者簡介】
  H•蒙羅•福克斯：去世時是倫敦大學動物學榮譽教授。他曾在布賴頓大學和劍橋大學受過教育。他是國際科學雜誌的編輯，也是皇家學會會員。

Atom

             The idea that everything is made up of very small particles, or atoms, was known to the Greeks over two thousand years ago, but it was only about one hundred and fifty years ago that John Dalton put forward the important ideas which made the atomic theory really useful and greatly hastened the development of modern chemistry. What Dalton said was that, although many thousands of different chemical substances are known, these are made up of only a few different kinds of atom combined together in definite simple ways. We now know that there are altogether only about one hundred different types of atom, and about a third of these make up most of the substances encountered in everyday life. Atoms cannot be destroyed or changed in any way by chemical reactions; all that can happen is that the arrangement of the atoms is changed so as to produce another chemical substance with different properties.

        Atoms are too small to be seen, even with a powerful microscope, but other instruments are able to detect them, to measure their size, and to count them just as easily and as certainly as if we could see them. We therefore know how much each kind of atom weighs and so it is easy to say immediately how many  atoms there are in any piece of material, once we know what it is made of and how much it weighs. Atoms are so small, and their numbers are so great, that it is not easy for the mind to grasp such numbers. It takes about a hundred million atoms laid in a row to make one inch. There are more atoms in a glass of water than there are glasses of water in all the seas of the world. Since atoms can never be destroyed. this means that every glass of water we drink probably contains several atoms which have already been drunk many times by all the great men who have lived before us. With every meal, we consume a few atoms from the feasts of the Roman emperors and from the wine of the Pharaohs.

【註釋】
Pharaoh埃及法老，暴君

原 子
喬治•波特

            在2000多年以前，希臘人就知道一切東西都是由最小的粒子或說是原子組成的。但僅在大約150年前，約翰•道爾頓才提出一些極為重要的概念，這使原子理論成為真正有用的東西，並大大促進了現代化學的發展。道爾頓說：儘管人們知道數千種不同的化學物質，但這些物質僅僅是由少數不同種類的原子以一定的簡單的方式結合在一起而組成的。現在我們知道總共只有大約100種原子，其中約三分之一組成了我們日常生活中所遇到的大部份物質。任何化學反應都不能消滅或改變原子，而只能改變原子的排列以產生另一種具有不同的特性的化學特質。

       原子太小，甚至用高倍顯微鏡也看不見。但是其他儀器能夠象我們用肉眼看到它們那樣容易又有把握地探測到原子，測出其大小和計算其數目。因此，我們知道每種原子有多重，而且一旦我們知道某種材料是什麼組成的、重量是多少就能很容易地立即說出它的原子數。原子這麼小，數量那麼大，所以記住這樣的數字是不容易的。大約需要一億個原子排列成一行才有一英寸長。一杯水中的原子數要比全世界海水所能裝滿的的杯數還要多。因為原子永遠不能被消滅，這就意味著我們喝的每杯水中很可能有一些原子是從古到今所有的偉人已經喝過了許多次的。對每頓飯來說，我們可能吃了古羅馬皇帝盛宴中的和古埃及法老美酒中的一些原子。

【作者簡介】
喬治•波特: 文學碩士、理學博士,英國皇家學會會員,大不列顛皇家學院主任、教授，Fullerian式的化學教授。喬治•波特生於1910年，曾在里茲和劍橋大學攻讀。本文選自他的《現代世界的化學》一書(1951年初版)。

Fighting with The Loss of Water And Soil

           A serious threat to farmers in many parts of the world is erosion. If a large area of land is cleared of trees and bushes and is then badly treated by the farmer, the rain and winds may gradually wash away, or blow away, much of the fertile top-soil. When this happens, crops of corn of grass become weaker and weaker until nothing much will grow at all, If erosion is allowed to continue, it will turn good farm land into a desert.

        The first really bold attempt to do this was started by the Government of the United States of America in 1922. This experiment set a pattern for the world. The district where the experiment was carried out was the area watered by the Tennessee River in the U.S.A. The total area, about the size of England and Scotland combined, contained four million five hundred thousand people. Floods and bad farming over the years had ruined a land that had once been rich, and had made it miserably poor.

        Big dams were built across the Tennessee river and its tributaries. In the rainy season there was plenty of water, and the dams stored it for use during the water which could be used for generating electricity. The Tennessee Valley Authority staff also helped the farmers to fertilize the soil, and to plant wind-breaks which would turn the force of the wind upwards away from the land. They taught the farmers to plough across the slopes of the hills (not upwards and downwards)in order to keep the rain-water in the land; and they tried to change the old methods of farming into modern ways.

        The great success of the Tennessee Valley scheme has led to similar schemes elsewhere. In many places today rivers are dammed to control floods, generate electricity, and store water for the land in the dry season. But there is much more to do.

【註釋】
be clear of:擺脫，免除
tributary:支流
windbreaks:防風林

與水土流失作鬥爭
詹姆斯•赫明

           對於世界上許多地區的農民來說，嚴重的威脅是水土流失。如果把一大片土地的樹木全部砍伐掉，再加之農民耕作不當的話，那麼風吹雨打就會逐漸地把大部分表層的肥沃土壤吹走或衝掉。當這種情況發生時，穀物和草就長得越來越差 ，直至成為不毛之地。如果讓水土流失繼續發展下去，就會使良田變成沙漠。

        1922年，美國政府進行了制止水土流失的第一次大膽的嘗試。這一試驗為全世界樹立了榜樣。進行上述試驗的地區正是美國田納西河所灌溉的地區。其總面積約等於英格蘭和蘇格蘭面積之和。共有四百五十萬人口。好多年來，水災和耕作不當毀壞了一度曾是肥沃的土地，使之變得極其貧瘠。

        在田納西河及其支流上都修建了大型水壩。雨季時，河水充足，水壩就把水儲存起來以備旱季使用。同時，水壩供水發電。田納西流域開發管理局的工作人員還幫助農民給土壤施肥，種植防風林，使風力離開地面向上吹去。他們教農民在山地的斜坡上橫向耕作(不是上下耕作)以使保持土地里的雨水。他們並且努力用現代耕作法取代老的耕作法。

【作者簡介】
詹姆斯•赫明(JAMES HEMMING)：本文摘自《人類抗災鬥爭》一書(1949年，Bridge版本)，這本書有關於世界衛生組織的大量資料，並由首任主席布羅克•奇澤姆博士為該書寫了前言。