中学生百科英语2.docx
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中学生百科英语2.docx
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中学生百科英语2
中学生百科英语2:
Thoughts&Notions
01TheZipper
02ThePostageStamp
03PencilsandPens
04TheUmbrella
05TheMetricSystem
06ThaiBoxing
07SumoWrestling
08TarahumaraFootRaces
09OlympicSports
10Greatathletes
11ThePufferFish
12FoodsfromAroundtheWorld
13Chocolate
14TheBlueRevolution
15Twenty-OneDaysWithoutFood
16TheMarieCeleste
17TheRoanokeSettlement
18TheEasterIslandStatues
19TheTunguskaFireball
20MysteryoftheMonarchs
21TheHistoryofMoney
22MassMarketing
23Inflation
24DoingBusinessAroundtheWorld
25CreditCards
1TheZipper
Thezipperisawonderfulinvention.Howdidpeopleeverlivewithoutzippers?
Theyareverycommon,soweforgetthattheyarewonderful.Theyareverystrong,buttheyopenandcloseveryeasily.Theycomeinmanycolorsandsizes.
Inthe1890s,peopleintheUnitedStatesworehighshoeswithalongrowofbuttons.Clothesoftenhadrowsofbuttons,too.Peoplewishedthatclotheswereeasiertoputonandtakeoff.
WhitcombL.Judson,anengineerfromtheUnitedStates,inventedthezipperin1893.However,hiszippersdidn'tstayclosedverywell.Thiswasembarrassing,andpeopledidn'tbuymanyofthem.ThenDr.GideonSundbackfromSwedensolvedthisproblem.Hiszipperstayedclosed.
Azipperhasthreeparts:
1.Therearedozensofmetalorplastichooks(calledteeth)intworows.2.Thesehooksarefastenedtotwostripsofcloth.Theclothstripsareflexible.Theybendeasily.3.Afastenerslidesalongandjoinsthehookstogether.
Whenitslidestheotherway,ittakesthehooksapart.
Dr.Sundbackputthehooksonstripsofcloth.Theclothholdsallthehooksinplace.Theydon'tcomeapartveryeasily.Thissolvedtheproblemofthefirstzippers.
(212words)
2ThePostageStamp
Beforetheinventionofthepostagestamp,itwasdifficulttosendalettertoanothercountry.Thesenderpaidforthelettertotravelinhisorherowncountry.
Thenthepersonintheothercountrypaidfortherestofthetrip.Ifalettercrossedseveralcountries,theproblemwasworse.
RowlandHill,aBritishteacher,hadtheideaofapostagestampwithglueontheback.TheBritishpostofficemadethefirststampsin1840.TheywerethePennyBlackandtheTwopenceBlue.Apersonboughtastampandputitonaletter.Thepostofficedeliveredtheletter.Whenpeoplereceivedletters,theydidn'thavetopayanything.Thepostagewasprepaid.
PostagestampsbecamepopularinGreatBritainimmediately.Othercountriesstartedmakingtheirownpostagestampsveryquickly.
Therewerestillproblemswithinternationalmail.Somecountriesdidnotwanttoacceptletterswithstampsfromothercountries.Finally,in1874,aGermanorganizedtheUniversalPostalUnion(UPU).EachcountryintheUPUagreedtoacceptletterswithprepaidpostagefromtheothermembers.Today,theofficesoftheUPUareinSwitzerland.Almosteverycountryintheworldisamemberofthisorganization.Ittakescareofanyinternationalmailproblems.
Today,postofficesineverycountrysellbeautifulstamps.Collectingstampsisoneofthemostpopularhobbiesintheworld,andeverystampcollectorknowsaboutthePennyBlackandtheTwopenceBlue.
(250words)
3PencilsandPens
Nooneknowswhoinventedpencilsorwhenithappened.ASwissdescribedapencilinabookin1565.Hesaiditwasapieceofwoodwithleadinsideit.(Leadisaveryheavy,soft,darkgraymetal.)Pencilsweren'tpopular,andpeoplecontinuedtowritewithpens.Theyusedbirdfeathersaspens.
Then,in1795,someonestartedmakingpencilsfromgraphite,andtheybecameverypopular.Graphiteislikecoal.(Coalisblack,andweburnitforheatandenergy.)Today,peoplemakepencilsinthesameway.Theygrindthegraphite,makeitintotheshapeofastick,andbakeit.Thentheyputitinsideapieceofwood.Onepencilcanwrite50,000Englishwordsormakealine55kilometerslong.
Peoplewrotewithfeatherpensandthenusedpenswithmetalpoints.Theyhadtodipthepointintoinkaftereveryfewletters.Next,someoneinventedafountainpenthatcouldholdinkinsideit.Afountainpencanwriteseveralpagesbeforeyouhavetofillitagain.
TwoHungarianbrothers,LadislaoandGeorgBiro,inventedtheballpointpen.
TheyleftHungaryandstartedmakingballpointpensinEnglandin1943,duringWorldWarII.Englishpilotslikedthepens.Theycouldn'twritewithfountainpensinairplanesbecausetheinkleakedout.Later,aFrenchcompanycalledBicboughttheBiros'company.
Somepeoplecallballpointpens"Bics."Australianscallthem"biros."Whateverwecallthem,weusethemeveryday.
(256words)
4TheUmbrella
Theumbrellaisaveryordinaryobject.Itkeepstherainandthesunoffpeople.
Mostumbrellasfoldup,soitiseasytocarrythem.
However,theumbrellahasnotalwaysbeenanordinaryobject.Inthepast,itwasasignofroyaltyorimportance.SomeAfricantribesstilluseumbrellasinthisway.
Someonecarriesanumbrellaandwalksbehindthekingorimportantperson.
Umbrellasareveryold.TheChinesehadthemmorethan3,000yearsago.Fromthere,umbrellastraveledtoIndia,Persia,andEgypt.InGreeceandRome,menwouldn'tusethem.Theybelievedumbrellaswereonlyforwomen.
WhentheSpanishexplorerswenttoMexico,theysawtheAzteckingsusingumbrellas.EnglishexplorerssawNativeAmericanprincescarryingumbrellasontheeastcoastofNorthAmerica.Itseemsthatpeopleindifferentpartsoftheworldinventedumbrellasatdifferenttimes.
EnglandwasprobablythefirstcountryinEuropewhereordinarypeopleusedumbrellasagainsttherain.Englandhasarainyclimate,andumbrellasareveryusefulthere.
Everybodyusesumbrellastoday.Thenexttimeyoucarryone,rememberthatforcenturiesonlygreatmenandwomenusedthem.Perhapsyouarereallyakingorqueen,aprincessorprince.
(210words)
5TheMetricSystem
Peopleallovertheworldusegrams,kilograms(kilos),meters,andliters.Theseareallwaystomeasurethings.Theyareallpartofthemetricsystem.
DuringtheFrenchRevolution(1789-1799)againsttheking,therevolutionarygovernmentstartedthemetricsystem.Beforethat,everypartofFrancehadadifferentsystemformeasuringthings.Also,clothmakersmeasuredclothwithonesystem.Jewelersusedanothersystem.Carpentersusedanother.Othercountriesuseddifferentsystems.Therevolutionarygovernmentwantedonescientificsystemofmeasurement.Theyaskedagroupofscientistsandmathematicianstoinventasystem.
Themathematiciansandscientistsdecidedtousethenumbersten,hundred,andthousandfortheirsystem.
Next,theyhadtodecideona"natural"length.Theychoseoneten-millionth(1/10,000,000)ofthedistancefromtheequatortotheNorthPole.Theycalledthisdistancethemeter.Thentheychosethegramforweighingthings.Acubiccentimeterofwaterweighs1gram.
Mathematiciansandscientistsworkedfor20yearsuntiltheyfinallyhadacompletemeasuringsystem.Thebiggestproblemwasmeasuringthemeter.
Themetricsystemwasawonderfulgifttotheworld.Thereareonlyafewcountriesthatdon'tuseit.TheUnitedStatesisone.Themetricsystemistrulyaninternationalsystem.
(214words)
6ThaiBoxing
Boxingispopularinmanycountries.Twofighterswearboxingglovesontheirhands.Theboxershiteachotheruntiloneisknockedoutoruntilthefinalbellrings.
Eachpartofthefightisthreeminuteslong.Itiscalledaround.
Thaiboxingisdifferent.
Theboxingmatchbeginswithmusic.ThenthetwofighterskneelandpraytoGod.Next,theydoaslowdancethatcopiesthemovementsofThaiboxing.Duringthisdance,eachfightertriestoshowtheotherthatheisbest.
Thenthefightbegins.InThaiboxing,thefighterscankickwiththeirfeetandhiteachotherwiththeirelbowsandknees.Ofcourse,theyhitwiththeirhands,too.
Eachroundisthreeminuteslong.Thentheboxershaveatwo-minuterest.Mostboxerscanfightonlyfiveroundsbecausethiskindoffightingisverydifficult.
Thaiboxingbeganover500yearsago.Ifasoldierlosthisweaponsinabattle,heneededtofightwithjusthisbody.Thesoldierslearnedhowtouseallthepartsoftheirbodies.In1560,theBurmesearmycapturedNaresuen,theKingofThailand,inawar.KingNaresuenwasaverygoodboxer.HewonhisfreedomfromBurmabydefeatingallthebestBurmesefighters.WhenhereturnedtoThailand,hispeoplewereveryproudofhim.Thaiboxingbecameapopularsport.
(237words)
7SumoWrestling
SumowrestlingisanationalsportinJapan.Everyyeartherearesixtournaments,andmillionsofJapanesewatchthemontelevision.Atournamentisaseriesofmatches.
SumoisalmostasoldasthenationofJapanitself.Storiessaythattherewassumowrestlingover2,000yearsago.Therearewrittenrecordsofnationalsumotournamentsinthe8thcentury.
Inmanysports,athletesarethinandcanmoveveryquickly.However,sumowrestlersweighfrom100to160kilos(kilograms).Onefamouswrestlerweighed195kilos.Sumowrestlersdonotmovequickly,andsumowrestlingisaveryslowsport.
Sumowrestlersstarttrainingwhentheyareboys.Theyexercisetomaketheirbodiesstrong.Theyalsoeatalot.
Theywrestleinaroundringwithasandfloor.Awrestlerlosesthematchifheleavesthering.Heisalsotheloserifanypartofhisbodyexcepthisfeettouchesthefloor.Eachwrestlertriestopushtheotherdownonthefloororoutofthering.
Sometimesonewrestlerjuststepsasidewhentheotherwrestlerrushestowardhim.
Then,thewrestlerwhoisrushingfallsdownormovesoutofthering.
Sumoisnotverypopularinothercountries,buttheJapanesethinkthatitisav
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