評論
打印
Listen to part of a lecture from a Botany class.
聽一段來自植物學課堂的講座。
Hi, everyone. Good to see you all today.
大家好。很高興見到大家。
Actually, I expected the population to be a lot lower today.
之前，我還以為今天來聽課的人會比上次少很多。
It typically runs between 50 and 60 percent on the day the research paper is due.
一般說來，從研究論文那天開始上課人數的流失率會在50%到60%。
Um, I was hoping to have your exams back today, but, uh, the situation was that I went away for the weekend, and I was supposed to get in yesterday at five,
嗯，我原來有望今天帶來你們的考試結果，但是，嗯，情況是這樣的，我周末外出了，原本應該昨天5 點到，
and I expected to fully complete all the exams by midnight or so, which is the time that I usually go to bed,
那么我就能在午夜左右完成試卷的批改，我平常大概午夜上床睡覺，
but my flight was delayed, and I ended up not getting in until one o’clock in the morning.
但是我的航班延誤了，直到凌晨1 點鐘才到。
Anyway, I’ll do my best to have them finished by the next time we meet.
不管怎么說，我會盡力在下節課前完成。
OK.In the last class, we started talking about useful plant fibers.
在上一節課，我們開始探討有用的植物纖維。
In particular, we talked about cotton fibers, which we said were very useful, not only in the textile industry,
特別是，我們討論了一些棉纖維，我們說過它們很有用，不僅在紡織業來說，
but also in the chemical industry, and in the production of many products, such as plastics, paper, explosives, and so on.
在化工業也是如此，甚至在很多產品中的制作上都很有用，比如塑料、紙、炸藥等等。
Today we’ll continue talking about useful fibers, and we’ll begin with a fiber that’s commonly known as “Manila hemp.”
今天我們繼續討論有用纖維，我們將從大家熟知的“馬尼拉麻”開始。
Now, for some strange reason, many people believe that Manila hemp is a hemp plant. But Manila hemp is not really hemp.
如今，因為某種奇怪的原因，很多人認為馬尼拉麻是一種麻類植物。但是馬尼拉麻并不是麻類植物。
It’s actually a member of the banana family—it even bears little banana-shaped fruits.
它實際上是香蕉科的一種——它甚至結著香蕉形狀的果實。
The “Manila” part of the name makes sense, because Manila hemp is produced chiefly in the Philippine Islands and, of course, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila.
這名字中的“馬尼拉”倒是說得過去，因為馬尼拉麻主要產于菲律賓群島，當然，菲律賓的首都是馬尼拉。
Now, as fibers go, Manila hemp fibers are very long. They can easily be several feet in length and they’re also very strong, very flexible.
現在，說到纖維，馬尼拉麻纖維很長。它們很容易達到幾英尺長，同時很結實，韌性也很好。
They have one more characteristic that’s very important, and that is that they are exceptionally resistant to salt water.
它們還有一個重要的特征，就是它們對咸水有極強的抗性。
And this combination of characteristics—long, strong, flexible, resistant to salt water—makes Manila hemp a great material for ropes,
正是這些長、結實、柔韌、抗咸水特征的組合讓馬尼拉麻成為絕好的繩索材料，
especially for ropes that are gonna be used on ocean-going ships.
特別是用在遠洋船只上的繩索。
