風(fēng)車發(fā)揮過哪些重要作用？人們?yōu)槭裁撮_始使用風(fēng)車

今天的這段對話，在討論風(fēng)車，

風(fēng)車發(fā)揮過哪些重要作用？人們?yōu)槭裁撮_始使用風(fēng)車

來聽今天的講解:

A: What a great picture,  I'm guessing it's Holland, right?

照片太漂亮了！我猜拍的是荷蘭吧？

B: Yes, of course！ The windmills must have given it away.

是的，當(dāng)然是荷蘭。一定是這些風(fēng)車泄的密。

A: There are lots in Holland and some are very old, but they have been preserved perfectly. I saw them when I was travelling around Europe last summer.

在荷蘭有很多風(fēng)車，有些還很古老，但都被保存得很好。去年夏天我去歐洲旅游時還曾親眼見過風(fēng)車。

B: There are lots of different types, too. This one here is a drainage mill, but there are also corn mills and industrial mills for all kinds of purposes.

風(fēng)車還有很多不同種類：照片上的這種是排水用的，還有一些碾磨谷物的風(fēng)車以及各種用途的工業(yè)生產(chǎn)用風(fēng)車。

A: I just think they brighten up the landscape, especially in a country as flat as Holland, standing tall against the horizon with their sails whirling in the air.

我只是覺得，尤其足在荷蘭這樣一個地勢平坦的國家，風(fēng)車真是為這里的風(fēng)景增色不少：它們高聳往地平線上，翼板在風(fēng)中旋轉(zhuǎn)著.

B: I agree. Did you know Cervantes wrote about Don Quixote's famous attack on the windrnills ?

我也這樣認(rèn)為。塞萬提斯寫過堂吉訶德攻擊風(fēng)車的故事，非常著名，這些你知道嗎？

A: Yes, not just that though. There are many paintings of the East Anglian countryside in England by John Constable, whose family owned mills.

知道，不過還不只這些。還有約翰•康斯特伯爾創(chuàng)作了很多畫都是關(guān)于英格蘭鄉(xiāng)下的東安格利亞風(fēng)景的，他家里就有很多風(fēng)車。

B: The windmill has played a pan in the historic and artistit, as well as economic, development of Westem civilization.

風(fēng)車曾經(jīng)在西方文明發(fā)展過程中以及藝術(shù)和經(jīng)濟(jì)領(lǐng)域都發(fā)揮過重要作用。

A: Holland comes to mind first as the windmill capital of the world, but England's windmills were equally plentiful and important to the economy of the country.

荷蘭首先是以世界風(fēng)車之都而出名的，但英格蘭的風(fēng)車同樣也很多，對國家的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展也很重要。

B: Yes, that's why there are so many' paintings of them. They were frrst used in Europe in the 12th century.

是的，這就是為什么有這么多畫都跟風(fēng)車有關(guān)的原因。風(fēng)午最初是在12世紀(jì)的歐洲使用的。

A: That's certainjy a long time ago. The first one was built in Yorkshire in England, not Holland.

那的確是很久以前的事了。第一個風(fēng)車是在英格蘭的約克郡組建的，而不是在荷蘭。

B: Oh, really? I thought the oldest ones must have been in Holland.  I wonder why people started using them? I mean. I know they were used to grind grain. but why?

哦，是嗎？我以為最古老的風(fēng)車一定是在荷蘭。不知道人們?yōu)槭裁撮_始使用風(fēng)車？我是說風(fēng)車以前是用來碾磨谷物的，但是什么原因呢？

A: I think it was to save on man power. Imagine how tiring it must have been to grind grain by hand, the windmill was definitely an inspired addition to energy sources.

我猜大概是為了節(jié)省人力。想想要是手工碾磨谷物的話該多累啊。所以從節(jié)能、省力的角度看，風(fēng)車的確是一個很有靈感的發(fā)明。

B: In Holland the drainage windmills are the most important, because lots of Holland is actually lower than the sea level.

在荷蘭，排水的風(fēng)車是最重要的，因為那里很多地區(qū)實際海拔都低于海平面。

A: Nowadays the renwning ones are just for tourists, they don'r use them for keeping the canal and sea levels down anymore.

現(xiàn)在遺留下來的風(fēng)車都只是觀光用的，人們不再用風(fēng)車來維持運(yùn)河和海水的水位了。

B: The sea defences have been greatly improved, they don't really need them. I'm glad they kept them though, even if they are just for tourists.

海面的防衛(wèi)設(shè)備也得到了很大的改善，他們不再需要風(fēng)車。不過，我還是很高興看到人們把風(fēng)牟保存下來，即使只是用來觀光也好。