評論
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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? Yes; you can do this easily by shaking the box: you will then hear the coins rattle, if there are any in it. The sense of hearing is confined to the two parts or organs of the body which are called the ears.
如果你有一個儲錢罐, 在不打開它的情況下, 你能知道里面有沒有那種被稱作硬幣的物質嗎? 能；很簡單, 你只需晃動儲錢罐：如果里面的確有硬幣, 就能夠聽到它們相互碰撞而發出的聲音。聽力來自身體上那兩個名為耳朵的器官。
Here are two white powders which look and feel exactly alike, and neither of which has any smell. How can you find out whether they are both made of the same kind of matter or not? Suppose you put a little of each powder on your tongue, so that you may taste it. Now you can tell at once that the one powder is sugar, and that the other is salt.
這里共有兩團白色粉末, 它們看起來一模一樣而且兩者都沒有任何味道。你如何確定它們是否屬于同一種物質? 如果你分別取下一點粉末并且放在舌頭上, 那么你就可以品嘗它們的味道。很快, 你便能夠知道, 其中一種是糖, 而另一種則是鹽。
We possess the five senses called seeing, feeling, smelling, hearing, and tasting. By using these five senses we are able to find out a great deal about the stuff or matter of which this world is made. Anything that affects one or more of our five senses is called matter. Matter is anything that we can see, or feel, or smell, or hear, or taste.
我們具備五種感知能力：視覺、觸覺、嗅覺、聽覺與味覺。通過這些感知能力, 我們就能夠很好地了解構成這個世界的各種物質。任何一種對我們的感知能力形成影響的東西就被稱作物質。我們看到、感覺到、嗅到、聽到或者品嘗到的所有東西都是物質。
Matter is not all alike. If it were, what a dreary world this would be! Different pieces of matter have different forms, colours, tastes, and smells. Some kinds of matter are soft, while others are hard; some kinds are heavy, while others are light.
不同的物質存在不同的特性, 否則的話, 這個世界將是多么的無趣啊！物質的形狀、顏色、味道與氣味各不相同。有些物質軟, 有些物質硬；有些物質重, 另外一些則很輕。
By using our five senses we can distinguish one kind of matter from another, or tell the differences between them; and this knowledge is of great use to us. We should practise using our senses as much as possible, and we should train not only our hands and our eyes, but also our tongue, and our nose, and our ears, until all these organs are able to tell us a great deal about the different kinds of matter around us.
憑借這五種感知能力, 我們就能夠分辨不同的物質或者說出它們之間的差異；而這種知識對我們來說極為有用。我們應該盡可能多地練習自己的感知能力, 需要訓練雙手與雙眼, 還要提升舌頭、鼻子與耳朵的能力, 直到我們能夠利用它們充分感知周圍的物質。
