Lesson 81 A Sheet Of Paper
第81课 一张纸
Let us tear a piece of blotting-paper across and look at the torn edges. We see that the paper is made of a great many very fine little threads or fibres. If we pull a cotton thread or a piece of twine to pieces, we shall find that it also is made of fibres.
我们撕开一张吸墨纸, 仔细观察裂缝边缘。我们发现, 这种纸由许多细线或者叫“纤维”组成。扯开一根棉线或者麻绳, 就会看到, 它们同样由纤维构成。
In the twine and the thread the fibres lie side by side, and are spun or twisted together. But in blotting-paper, and in all other kinds of paper, the fibres run in all directions, crossing one another without any arrangement at all.
在麻绳和细线中, 纤维是并排的, 拧在一起或者说相互交织在一起。然而在吸墨纸与其他所有种类的纸张中, 纤维向各个方向发散, 没有任何规律地相互交叉。
Blotting-paper will soak up ink because it is full of tiny spaces or pores, as we call the little holes between the fibres. Writing-paper does not soak up ink as blotting-paper does. Both kinds of paper are made out of fibres in the same way, but the pores in writing-paper are filled up with a very weak glue, which is called size.
吸墨纸能够吸收墨汁, 因为其内部充满了许多微小的缝隙与孔洞, 这些小孔位于纤维之间。书写纸吸收墨汁的本领没有吸墨纸那么大。这两种纸都是通过相同的方法用纤维制成, 不过书写纸内部的孔洞填充上了“胶料”, 这是一种粘性很小的胶水。
Paper used to be made only from cotton and linenrags. It is now made also from wood, from straw, and from several kinds of grass. All these are fibrous materials, and fibres are needed for making all kinds of paper.
以前, 人们只是利用棉布与亚麻布造纸。如今, 木材、稻草以及若干种青草都成为了造纸的原料。因为它们都是纤维性材料, 而纤维是制造各类纸张所必须的。
The best paper is still made from rags. The rags are first sorted into linen and cotton, and into coloured and uncoloured rags. They are then put into machines, where they are beaten and pulled to pieces by iron nails.
不过品质最好的纸张依旧是由布料制成。首先, 人们将麻布与棉布分开, 然后再将染色的与未染色的破布分开。然后这些材料都被放入到机器之中, 在铁钉的敲打下化为粉碎。