英国学生科学读本 第83期:物质与感觉(2)

 　　If you have a money-box, can you find out whether there are any of those pieces of matter which we call coins inside it, without opening the box? 如果你有一个储钱罐, 在不打开它的情况下, 你能知道里面有没有那种被称作硬币的物质吗?

　　Yes; you can do this easily by shaking the box: you will then hear the coins rattle¹, if there are any in it. 能；很简单, 你只需晃动储钱罐：如果里面的确有硬币, 就能够听到它们相互碰撞而发出的声音。

　　The sense of hearing is confined² to the two parts or organs of the body which are called the ears. 听力来自身体上那两个名为耳朵的器官。

　　Here are two white powders which look and feel exactly alike³, and neither of which has any smell. 这里共有两团白色粉末, 它们看起来一模一样而且两者都没有任何味道。

　　How can you find out whether they are both made of the same kind of matter or not? 你如何确定它们是否属于同一种物质?

　　Suppose you put a little of each powder on your tongue, so that you may taste it. 如果你分别取下一点粉末并且放在舌头上, 那么你就可以品尝它们的味道。

　　Now you can tell at once that the one powder is sugar, and that the other is salt. 很快, 你便能够知道, 其中一种是糖, 而另一种则是盐。

　　We possess⁴ the five senses called seeing, feeling, smelling, hearing, and tasting. 我们具备五种感知能力：视觉、触觉、嗅觉、听觉与味觉。

　　By using these five senses we are able to find out a great deal about the stuff⁵ or matter of which this world is made. 通过这些感知能力, 我们就能够很好地了解构成这个世界的各种物质。

　　Anything that affects one or more of our five senses is called matter. 任何一种对我们的感知能力形成影响的东西就被称作物质。

　　Matter is anything that we can see, or feel, or smell, or hear, or taste. 我们看到、感觉到、嗅到、听到或者品尝到的所有东西都是物质。

　　Matter is not all alike. If it were, what a dreary⁶ world this would be! 不同的物质存在不同的特性, 否则的话, 这个世界将是多么的无趣啊！

　　Different pieces of matter have different forms, colours, tastes, and smells. 物质的形状、颜色、味道与气味各不相同。

　　Some kinds of matter are soft, while others are hard; some kinds are heavy, while others are light. 有些物质软, 有些物质硬；有些物质重, 另外一些则很轻。

　　By using our five senses we can distinguish⁷ one kind of matter from another, or tell the differences between them; 凭借这五种感知能力, 我们就能够分辨不同的物质或者说出它们之间的差异；

　　and this knowledge is of great use to us. 而这种知识对我们来说极为有用。

　　We should practise using our senses as much as possible, 我们应该尽可能多地练习自己的感知能力,

　　and we should train not only our hands and our eyes, but also our tongue, and our nose, and our ears, 需要训练双手与双眼, 还要提升舌头、鼻子与耳朵的能力,

　　until all these organs are able to tell us a great deal about the different kinds of matter around us. 直到我们能够利用它们充分感知周围的物质。

1 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

2 confined   

adj. 被限制的,狭窄的,在分娩中的; 动词confine的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The work will not be confined to the Glasgow area. 此项工作不会局限于格拉斯哥地区。
• It is cruel to keep animals in confined spaces. 把动物关在狭小的空间里是残酷的。

3 alike   

adj.同样的，相像的；adv.一样地；同程度地　

参考例句：

• The twins are so alike that I can't tell which is which.这对双胞胎一模一样，我分辨不出谁是谁。
• All stories seemed dreadfully alike,no matter who told them.看来，不管谁讲，故事都是千篇一律的。

4 possess   

vt.持有，占有，使拥有，克制，支配，迷住

参考例句：

• To possess wealth is not always to be happy.拥有财富未必一定幸福。
• Some animals possess the characteristic of man.有些动物具有人类的特征。

5 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

6 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

7 distinguish   

vt.区别，辩明，识别，辨认出；vi.区别，辨别，识别

参考例句：

• It is not easy to distinguish cultured pearls from genuine pearls.辨别真正的珍珠与养殖的珍珠不容易。
• Some people find it difficult to distinguish right from wrong.一些人认为很难辨对与错。