英國(guó)學(xué)生科學(xué)讀本 Lesson 35 蒸汽往上冒(2)

There would soon be an explosion; the kettle would be burst open. It is in this way that boiler explosions are often caused. When there is too much steam in a boiler, and it cannot get out, it presses against the sides of the boiler, until at last the boiler bursts.

很快，就會(huì)發(fā)生爆炸，將水壺炸開(kāi)。鍋爐經(jīng)常發(fā)生爆炸，就是這個(gè)原因。鍋爐里蒸汽太多，又出不來(lái)的時(shí)候，蒸汽就會(huì)緊緊壓在鍋爐壁上，直到最后把鍋爐炸開(kāi)。

To prevent these accidents, every boiler has a safety-valve, or an opening through which the steam can escape when its pressure begins to get too great. It is only when something goes wrong with the safety-valve thatan explosion occurs.

為了避免這種事故，所有的鍋爐都裝著安全閥，這是一個(gè)開(kāi)口，當(dāng)蒸汽的壓力太大的時(shí)候，就能通過(guò)這個(gè)開(kāi)口逃出去。只有在安全閥出問(wèn)題的時(shí)候，才會(huì)發(fā)生爆炸。

Steam requires seventeen hundred times more room than the water from which it is formed. One kettle full of water would make enough steam to fill seventeen hundred kettles.

一份水變成的蒸汽，需要1700份這么多水的空間才能盛下。一把盛滿水的水壺，里面的水變成的蒸汽，可以盛滿1700個(gè)水壺呢!

It is heat that makes steam take up so much more room than water. The heat drives the tiny pieces of which water is made further and further away from each other.

是什么讓蒸汽占的地方，比水多了這么多呢?是熱量。熱量讓水分子之間的距離越來(lái)越遠(yuǎn)。

This power of steam is a very good thing when it is properly used. It is this pressure that does the work in all steam-engines, and that sets their parts in motion.

如果用得合適，蒸汽的力量是一件非常好的事情。所有的蒸汽機(jī)，利用的都是這種力量。它們要靠蒸汽的力量，來(lái)推動(dòng)部件運(yùn)動(dòng)。

The first really good steam-engines were made by James Watt, about a hundred years ago. It was by noticing the steam making the lid of a kettle dance and rattle, that he first began to think of the great power of steam.

最早一批實(shí)用的蒸汽機(jī)，是詹姆斯·瓦特在大約100年前制造的。瓦特當(dāng)初看到了蒸汽推動(dòng)水壺的蓋子跳舞，發(fā)出響聲，才開(kāi)始思考蒸汽的強(qiáng)大力量。
 

英語(yǔ)美文