October 5

Sky Lanterns (十)


孔明燈與天燈 Sky Lanterns

農曆一月十五日是元宵節。近年來,元宵節這一天晚上,除了提燈籠,放天燈也成為一種流行的慶祝活動。

天燈也叫做孔明燈,據說是諸葛亮發明的,古時候因為交通不方便、聯絡不容易,所以在打仗的時候,為了能快速傳遞訊息,聰明的諸葛亮就發明了這個工具。現在天燈成為祈福許願的工具,有些人為親戚朋友祈福,會在天燈上寫著「身體健康」、「平安喜樂」;有些人為自己許願,會寫上「學業進步」、「心想事成」,希望這些願望能實現。現在在台灣大家看到的天燈是用竹子和紙做的。

放天燈是利用熱空氣上升的原理,只要點燃天燈裡面的油紙,過了一會兒,等天燈充滿了熱空氣,就會慢慢地飛到天上去。每年元宵節晚上,在台灣平溪舉行的天燈活動很熱鬧。大家一起把手上的天燈放開,幾百個天燈緩緩地上升,非常壯觀!每一個天燈都帶著人們對未來的期望。

Category: Let's learn Chinese | Comments Off on Sky Lanterns (十)
October 4

Resources, Refuse, and Reuse (十)


目前人人都有垃圾分類與資源回收的概念,我們把垃圾回收以後,應該怎麼利用這些資源呢?
Many people have the concept of sorting items into trash, or recyclable material. What do we use with recycled materials?
紙、塑膠、玻璃、金屬四大類的資源垃圾,經過特別處理以後,都可以製造出可利用的物品。比如我們把廢紙回收做成再生紙,再生紙可以用來印報紙、雜誌、筆記本,或做成紙杯、衛生紙,這些都是我們生活中常接觸的物品。
Paper, plastic, glass, and metals go through a treatment process to create products for use.  Examples include recycled paper for newspapers, magazines, notebooks, or paper cups, and toilet papers.  These items are often used in our daily lives.
有些塑膠垃圾幾乎無法分解,成為萬年垃圾。為了我們的地球,聰明的科學家研究出把寶特瓶做成衣服、毛毯的方法。玻璃瓶、玻璃罐壓碎處理以後,可以作為鋪馬路的材料。各種金屬物品經過處理也可以再製造出很多有用的東西,減少空氣汙染和垃圾量.
Some plastic waste cannot be broken down into something useful, but becomes garbage that is not able to be decomposed.  Scientists have developed ways to turn this garbage into textiles such as clothing and blankets.  Glass bottles and glass jars can be crushed, and used as pavement material.  Metal items can also undergo treatment to be reused for other purposes, to reduce the amount of air pollution and waste.
近年來,全球暖化的問題越來越嚴重,地球的溫度不斷地上升。資源垃圾再利用不但可以減少資源的浪費,也對環保有很大的貢獻。雖然科學家研究出很多資源再利用的方法,可是更重要的是,我們都應該從自己的日常生活做起,人人努力做好環保。
Global warming has become more severe, with temperatures increasing.  Reusing waste can help protect the environment.  Although scientists have developed methods for reusing waste, we also need to look to how we generate waste in our daily lives, and what we can reuse.

Category: Let's learn Chinese | Comments Off on Resources, Refuse, and Reuse (十)