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都市风景中学生百科英语2

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2021-01-22 06:56
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2021年1月22日发(作者:袋食蚁兽)

中学生百科英语
2:Thoughts& Notions

01 The Zipper
02 The Postage Stamp
03 Pencils and Pens
04 The Umbrella
05 The Metric System
06 Thai Boxing
07 Sumo Wrestling
08Tarahumara Foot Races
09 Olympic Sports
10 Greatathletes
11 The Puffer Fish
12 Foods from Around the World
13 Chocolate
14 The Blue Revolution
15 Twenty-One Days Without Food
16 The Marie Celeste
17 The Roanoke Settlement
18 The Easter Island Statues
19 The Tunguska Fireball
20Mystery of the Monarchs
21 The History of Money
22 Mass Marketing
23 Inflation
24 Doing Business Around the World


25 Credit Cards


1 The Zipper
The
zipper
is
a
wonderful
invention.
How
did
people
ever
live
without zippers?
They are very common, so we forget that they are wonderful. They
are very strong,but they open and close very easily. They come in many
colors and sizes.
In
the
1890s,
people
in
the
United
States
wore
high
shoes
with
a
long
row
of
buttons.
Clothes
often
had
rows
of
buttons,
too.
People
wished that clothes were easier to put on and take off.
Whitcomb L. Judson, an engineer from the United States, invented
the zipper in 1893. However, his zippers didn't stay closed very well. This
was
embarrassing,
and
people
didn't
buy
many
of
them.
Then
Dr.
Gideon Sundback from Sweden solved this problem. His zipper stayed
closed.
A
zipper
has
three
parts:
re
dozens
of
metal
or
plastic
hooks
(called
teeth)
in
two
rows. 2.
These
hooks
are
fastened
to
two
strips
of
cloth.
The
cloth
strips
are
flexible.
They
bend
easily.
3.
A
fastener slides along and joins the hooks together.
When it slides the other way, it takes the hooks apart.
Dr. Sundback put the hooks on strips of cloth. The cloth holds all
the hooks in place. They don't come apart very easily. This solved the
problem of the first zippers.
(212 words)


2 The Postage Stamp
Before the invention of the postage stamp, it was difficult to send
a letter to another country. The sender paid for the letter to travel in
his or her own country.
Then the person in the other country paid for the rest of the trip.
If a letter crossed several countries, the problem was worse.
Rowland
Hill,
a
British
teacher,
had
the
idea
of
a
postage
stamp
with glue on the back. The British post office made the first stamps in
1840.
They
were
the
Penny
Black
and
the
Twopence
Blue.
A
person
bought
a
stamp
and
put
it
on
a
letter.
The
post
office
delivered
the
letter. When people received letters, they didn't have to pay anything.
The postage was prepaid.
Postage
stamps
became
popular
in
Great
Britain
immediately.
Other countries started making their own postage stamps very quickly.
There
were
still
problems
with
international
mail.
Some
countries
did
not
want
to
accept
letters
with
stamps
from
other
countries.
Finally,
in
1874,
a
German
organized
the
Universal
Postal
Union
(UPU).
Each country in the UPU agreed to accept letters with prepaid postage
from
the
other
members.
Today,
the
offices
of
the
UPU
are
in
Switzerland.
Almost
every
country
in
the
world
is
a
member
of
this
organization. It takes care of any international mail problems.
Today,
post
offices
in
every
country
sell
beautiful
stamps.
Collecting stamps is one of the most popular hobbies in the world, and
every stamp collector knows about the Penny Black and the Twopence
Blue.
(250 words)


3 Pencils and Pens
No one knows who invented pencils or when it happened. A Swiss
described a pencil in a book in 1565. He said it was a piece of wood with
lead
inside
it.
(Lead
is
a
very
heavy,
soft,
dark
gray
metal.)
Pencils
weren't
popular,
and
people
continued
to
write
with
pens.
They
used
bird feathers as pens.
Then, in 1795, someone started making pencils from graphite, and
they
became
very popular.
Graphite
is
like
coal.
(Coal
is
black,
and
we
burn
it
for
heat
and
energy.)
Today,
people
make
pencils
in
the
same
way.
They
grind
the
graphite,
make
it
into
the
shape
of
a
stick,
and
bake
it.
Then
they
put
it
inside
a
piece
of
wood.
One
pencil
can
write
50,000 English words or make a line 55 kilometers long.
People
wrote
with
feather
pens
and
then
used
pens
with
metal
points. They had to dip the point into ink after every few letters. Next,
someone
invented
a
fountain
pen
that
could
hold
ink
inside
it.
A
fountain pen can write several pages before you have to fill it again.
Two
Hungarian
brothers,
Ladislao
and
Georg
Biro,
invented
the
ballpoint pen.
They left Hungary and started making ballpoint pens in England in
1943,
during
World
War
II.
English
pilots
liked
the
pens.
They
couldn't
write with fountain pens in airplanes because the ink leaked out. Later,
a French company called Bic bought the Biros' company.
Some
people
call
ballpoint
pens

Australians
call
them

(256 words)


4 The Umbrella
The
umbrella
is
a
very
ordinary
object.
It
keeps
the
rain
and
the
sun off people.
Most umbrellas fold up, so it is easy to carry them.
However, the umbrella has not always been an ordinary object. In
the
past,
it
was
a
sign
of
royalty
or
importance.
Some
African
tribes
still use umbrellas in this way.
Someone
carries
an
umbrella
and
walks
behind
the
king
or
important person.
Umbrellas
are
very
old.
The
Chinese
had
them
more
than
3,000
years ago. From there, umbrellas traveled to India, Persia, and Egypt. In
Greece
and
Rome,
men
wouldn't
use
them.
They
believed
umbrellas
were only for women.
When
the
Spanish
explorers
went
to
Mexico,
they
saw
the
Aztec
kings
using
umbrellas.
English
explorers
saw
Native
American
princes
carrying umbrellas on the east coast of North America. It seems that
people in different parts of the world invented umbrellas at different
times.
England was probably the first country in Europe where ordinary
people
used
umbrellas
against
the
rain.
England
has
a
rainy
climate,
and umbrellas are very useful there.
Everybody
uses
umbrellas
today.
The
next
time
you
carry
one,
remember
that
for
centuries
only
great
men
and
women
used
them.
Perhaps you are really a king or queen, a princess or prince.
(210 words)


5 The Metric System
People all over the world use grams, kilograms (kilos), meters, and
liters.
These
are
all
ways
to
measure
things.
They
are
all
part
of
the
metric system.
During
the
French
Revolution
(1789-1799)
against
the
king,
the
revolutionary
government
started
the
metric
system.
Before
that,
every part of France had a different system for measuring things. Also,
cloth makers measured cloth with one system. Jewelers used another
system.
Carpenters
used
another.
Other
countries
used
different
systems.
The
revolutionary
government
wanted
one
scientific
system
of measurement. They asked a group of scientists and mathematicians
to invent a system.
The
mathematicians
and
scientists
decided
to
use
the
numbers
ten, hundred, and thousand for their system.
Next,
they
had
to
decide
on
a

length.
They
chose
one
ten-millionth
(1/
10,000,000)
of
the
distance
from
the
equator
to
the
North Pole. They called this distance the meter. Then they chose the
gram for weighing things. A cubic centimeter of water weighs 1 gram.
Mathematicians
and
scientists
worked
for
20
years
until
they
finally
had
a
complete
measuring
system.
The
biggest
problem
was
measuring the meter.
The
metric
system
was
a
wonderful
gift
to
the
world.
There
are
only
a
few
countries
that
don't
use
it.
The
United
States
is
one.
The
metric system is truly an international system.
(214 words)


6 Thai Boxing
Boxing
is
popular
in
many
countries.
Two
fighters
wear
boxing
gloves
on
their
hands.
The
boxers
hit
each
other
until one
is
knocked
out or until the final bell rings.
Each part of the fight is three minutes long. It is called a round.
Thai boxing is different.
The boxing match begins with music. Then the two fighters kneel
and
pray
to
God.
Next,
they
do
a
slow
dance
that
copies
the
movements
of
Thai
boxing.
During
this
dance,
each
fighter
tries
to
show the other that he is best.
Then
the
fight
begins.
In
Thai
boxing,
the
fighters
can
kick
with
their
feet
and
hit
each
other
with
their
elbows
and
knees.
Of
course,
they hit with their hands, too.
Each
round
is
three
minutes
long.
Then
the
boxers
have
a
two-
minute rest. Most boxers can fight only five rounds because this kind of
fighting is very difficult.
Thai boxing began over 500 years ago. If a soldier lost his weapons
in a battle, he needed to fight with just his body. The soldiers learned
how
to
use
all
the
parts
of
their
bodies.
In
1560,
the
Burmese
army
captured Naresuen, the King of Thailand, in a war. King Naresuen was a
very good boxer. He won his freedom from Burma by defeating all the
best Burmese fighters. When he returned to Thailand, his people were
very proud of him. Thai boxing became a popular sport.
(237 words)


7 Sumo Wrestling
Sumo wrestling is a national sport in Japan. Every year there are
six tournaments,and millions of Japanese watch them on television. A
tournament is a series of matches.
Sumo
is
almost
as
old
as
the
nation
of
Japan
itself.
Stories
say
that there was sumo wrestling over 2,000 years ago. There are written
records of national sumo tournaments in the 8th century.
In
many
sports,
athletes
are
thin
and
can
move
very
quickly.
However,
sumo
wrestlers
weigh
from
100
to
160
kilos
(kilograms).
One
famous wrestler weighed 195kilos. Sumo wrestlers do not move quickly,
and sumo wrestling is a very slow sport.
Sumo
wrestlers
start
training
when
they
are
boys.
They
exercise
to make their bodies strong. They also eat a lot.
They wrestle in a round ring with a sand floor. A wrestler loses the
match if he leaves the ring. He is also the loser if any part of his body
except his feet touches the floor. Each wrestler tries to push the other
down on the floor or out of the ring.
Sometimes one wrestler just steps aside when the other wrestler
rushes toward him.
Then, the wrestler who is rushing falls down or moves out of the
ring.
Sumo is not very popular in other countries, but the Japanese think
that it is a very exciting sport.
(223 words)


8Tarahumara Foot Races
The Tarahumara live in the mountains in the state of Chihuahua in
northern
Mexico.
This
is
an
area
of
high
mountains
and
deep
tropical
valleys. It sometimes snows in the mountains in winter. There are not
many roads.
The Tarahumara walk wherever they need to go. They carry heavy
baskets
on
their
backs.
Perhaps
this
is
why
the
Tarahumara
can
run
many kilometers without getting tired. They are excellent runners, and
they like to organize races.
When
the
men
race,they
kick
a
wooden
ball
ahead
of
them
while
they run. Before they start racing, they plan where and how long they
will
run.
They
might
run
just
a
few
minutes,
or
they
might
run
for
several
hours.
Sometimes
they
run
in
teams,
and
sometimes
each
person runs as an individual.
The women's races are similar except that the women do not kick
a ball. They throw a wooden hoop in front of them with a stick. A hoop
is a ring, or a circle.
The Tarahumara play other games and sports. However, they are
famous because they can run so fast and so far.
(185 words)


9 Olympic Sports
The first modern Olympic Games took place in Athens, Greece, in
the year 1896.
Athletes
from
only
13
countries
participated
in
the
Games
that
year. They competed in 43 different events in just 9 sports (track and
field,
swimming,
cycling,
fencing,gymnastics,
shooting,
tennis,
weight
lifting,
and
wrestling).
In
2004,
the
summer
Olympic
Games
took
place
once
again
in
Athens,
Greece.
This
time
athletes
from
202
countries
competed in 300 events in 28 sports.
Only five sports have been in every Olympic Games. They are track
and
field,swimming,
fencing,
cycling,
and
gymnastics.
Other
sports
come and go in the Olympic Games. For example, tennis was an Olympic
sport from 1896 until 1924.
Then
it
disappeared
from
the
Olympics
until
1988.
Baseball,
badminton,
and
taekwondo
are
more
recent
additions
to
the
Olympic
Games.
It
is
the
job
of
the
International
Olympic
Committee
(IOC)
to
add
and remove sports from the Olympic Games. A sport has to be popular
in
at
least
50
countries
on
three
continents
before
it
can
be
added.
However,
the
IOC
doesn't
want
to
add
more
sports
to
the
Olympic
Games without
eliminating
others.
The
IOC
is
afraid
that
there will be
too many sports in the Olympics.
Artistic events were also a part of the Olympic Games from 1912 to
1948.
There
were
contests
in
architecture,
music,
literature,
and
painting. Today some people think that artistic events and games such
as chess should be part of the Olympics.
However, many people oppose this idea.
The Olympic Games today are very different from the first modern
Olympic
Games
in
1896.
These
differences
reflect
the
changing
definition and popularity of sports.
(273 words)


10 Great Athletes
You might think that Olympic athletes are the healthiest people in
the world. It's true that many are. However, it's also true that quite a
few Olympic athletes had to overcome illnesses early in their lives.
One excellent example is Wilma Rudolph. She competed in track-
and-field
events
in
the
1960
Olympics.
She
didn't
win
just
one
gold
medal.
She
won
three.
At
the
time,
people
called
her

fastest
woman
in
the
world.
a
young
child,
Wilma
Rudolph
could
not
participate in sports. She had a series of serious illnesses, and then, at
the
age
of
4,
she
got
polio.
She
lost
the
use
of
her
left
leg,
and
the
doctors said she would never walk again.
The people in Rudolph's family did everything they could to help her
walk again.
Wilma
and
her
mother
frequently
traveled
100
miles
to
get
treatments for her leg. Her brothers and sisters took turns giving her
leg
a
daily
massage.
Four
times
a
day,
they
helped
her
do
special
exercises
for
her
leg.
Amazingly,
by
the
time
Rudolph
was
9years
old,
she was able to walk again. Before long, she started playing basketball
and running. In high school, she was a track star, and then she went to
the Olympics.
Wilma Rudolph retired from her career as a runner when she was
22 years old.
She then became a teacher and track coach. Her story encouraged
many people to work hard and to overcome difficulties.
(244 words)


11The Puffer Fish
Most people avoid eating dangerous foods. They don't want to get
sick. However,there is one food that can be deadly, yet some people eat
it on purpose. It's called the puffer fish.
This kind of fish, called fugu in Japanese, lives in the Pacific Ocean.
Some people die every year from eating fugu. In fact, the Emperor of
Japan
is
not
allowed
to
touch
it. Why?
Well,
the
insides
of
the
puffer
fish are very poisonous. They contain a poison 275 times more powerful
than the deadly poison cyanide.
Usually nothing bad happens when fugu is on a restaurant's menu.
Customers feel great after the meal. That's because chefs are trained
to
remove
the
insides
of
the
puffer
fish
before
they
give
it
to
customers. If they miss even a small amount, the fish is not safe to eat.
Puffer fish is very expensive. A plate of fugu costs more than $$200
in some restaurants in Tokyo. Besides being dangerous to eat, the fish
is very ugly, with spines all over its body. Also, it can puff, or blow, itself
up to double its normal size.
Why do the Japanese risk so much for such an ugly and dangerous
fish? Well, some people like taking risks. And fugu tastes wonderful.
(211 words)


12 Foods from Around the World
Foods
that
are
well
known
to
you
may
not
be
familiar
to
people
from other countries. Tourists and other travelers almost always get
to try some unfamiliar is part of the fun of traveling.
Here
are four people's experiences with foreign food.
Shao Wong is a student in France. He comes from China.
had cheese or even milk before I came to France. Cattle are rare in my
part of China, so there are no dairy products. I drank some milk when I
first arrived in France. I hated it ! I tried cheese, too, but I didn't like it. I
love ice cream, though, and that's made from milk.
Birgit is from Sweden. She traveled to Australia on vacation.
in
a
restaurant
that
specialized
in
fish,
and
I
heard
some
other
customers
order
flake.
So
I
ordered
some,
too,
and
it
was
delicious.
Later,
I
found
out
that
flake
is
an
Australian
term
for
shark.
Now,
whenever
I
see
a
new
food,
I
try
it
on
purpose.
You
know
why?
I
remember how much I enjoyed flake.
Chandra is a dentist in Texas. She is from India.
new foods because they might contain beef. I'm a Hindu, and my religion
forbids
me
to
eat
meat
from
the
cow.
That's
why
I
can't
eat
hamburgers or spaghetti with meatballs.
Nathan is from the United States. He taught for a year in China.

appearance at all. The eggs were green inside, but my friends said the
color was normal. The Chinese put chemicals on fresh eggs. Then they
bury
them
in
the
earth
for
three
months.
So
the
eggs
weren't
really
very old. Even so, I didn't want to touch them.
Life in a new country can be scary, but it also can be fun. Would
you eat a 100-year-old egg? Would you order shark in a restaurant?
(328 words)


13 Chocolate
We
think
of
chocolate
as
something
sweet.
However,
a
long
time
ago,
people
thought
of
chocolate
as
something
very
bitter.
For
us,
chocolate is a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can
be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack.
Sometimes
it's
an
ingredient
in
the
main
course
of
a
meal.
Mexicans
make
a
hot
chocolate
sauce
called
mole
and
pour
it
over
chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices like chili peppers.
Chocolate
is
a
product
of
the
tropical
cacao
tree.
Cacao
beans
taste so bitter that even monkeys say
chocolate
comes
from
a
Mayan
word.
The
Mayas
were
an
ancient
people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some of
the Mayas used cacao beans for money, while others ground them to
make a bitter drink.
When
the
Spaniards
came
to
Mexico
in
the
16th
century,
they
started drinking cacao, too. Because the drink was strong and bitter,
they thought it was a medicine.
When
the
Spaniards
took
the
drink
back
to
Europe,
people
discovered
that
sugar
removed
the
bitter
taste
of
cacao.
Wealthy
Spaniards
heated
the
sweet
drink
and
thought
that
it
was
good
for
their health.
In the 19th century, an English company made the first solid block
of sweetened chocolate. Now people could both drink and eat chocolate.
Later, a Swiss company mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked
the taste of milk chocolate even better.
Besides
the
chocolate
candy
bar,
one
of
the
most
popular
American
snacks
is
the
chocolate-chip
cookie.
Favorite
desserts
are
chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge
sauce.
(280 words)


14 The Blue Revolution
The
population
of
the
world
is
increasing
rapidly.
By
2020,
there
could
be
7.5billion
people
on
earth.
Will
there
be
enough
food
for
all
these
people,
or
will
we
have
a
food
shortage?
Some
scientists
think
fish
farming
could
solve
this
r,
other
scientists
worry
that fish farming could cause serious environmental problems.
Fish
farming
is
not
a
new
thing.
There
were
fish
farms
in
China
3,000 years , about one-third of the fish we eat comes from
fish farms.
Most
fish
farms
raise
plant-eating
fish.
Popular
kinds
of
plant-
eating fish are carp,tilapia, and catfish. Unfortunately, many fish farms
are starting to raise meat-eating fish. A popular type of meat-eating
fish
is
salmon.
These
meat-eating
fish
live
on
processed
food
made
from
wild
fish.
However,
it
takes
up
to
5
tons
of
wild
fish
to
produce
just
1
ton
of
farm-raised
salmon.
The
supply
of
wild
fish
is
already
decreasing.
Eventually,
many
types
of
wild
fish
could
become
extinct.
What will we do then?
Critics of fish farming also say that farm-raised fish is unhealthy
for say the fish contains dangerous chemicals. They also
criticize fish farming because it pollutes the water. Another criticism is
that farm-raised fish can spread diseases to wild fish.
Some people say that the farming methods being used now won't
produce enough fish anyway. Instead of putting fish farms in lakes or
near the coast, they say that the fish farms should be moved far out
into the ocean. Several countries are already experimenting with deep-
ocean farms. In the future, fish farms might be large cages that move
across the ocean.
Like
most
things,
there
is
both
a
good
and
a
bad
side
to
fish
farming. Fish farming may help to feed millions of people. At the same
time, however, fish farming may damage the environment.
(307 words)



15 Twenty-One Days Without Food
Why would someone decide to stop eating? We know that the body
needs
food
in
order
to
function
well.
However,
many
people
fast
at
some time during their is this?
Some
people
fast
for
political
reasons.
In
the
early
20th
century,
women
in
England
and
the
United
States
weren't
allowed
to
vote.
In
protest,
many
women
went
on
fasts.
They
hoped
that
fasting
would
bring
attention
to this
injustice.
Mohandas
Gandhi,
the
famous
Indian
leader,
fasted
17
times
during
his
life.
For
Gandhi,
fasting
was
a
powerful
political
tool.
In
1943,
he
fasted
to
bring
attention
to
his
country's
need
for
independence.
For
21
days,
he
went
without
food.
Another famous faster was Cesar Chavez. In the 1960s, he fasted for
three
weeks.
Why?
His
goal
was
to
bring
attention
to
the
terrible
working conditions of farm workers in the United States.
Fasting
is
also
a
spiritual
practice
in
many
religions.
Every
year
during the month of Ramadan, which is a religious holiday, Muslims fast
from sunrise to sunset. Many Hindus fast on special occasions, as do
some Christians and Buddhists.
Of
course,
not
everyone
fasts
for
political
or
religious
reasons.
Some people occasionally fast just because it makes them feel better.
The
American
writer
Mark
Twain
thought
fasting
was
the
best
medicine for common illnesses. Whenever he had a cold or a fever, he
stopped
eating
completely.
He
said
that
this
always
made
his
cold
or
fever
go
away.
Another
American
writer,
Upton
Sinclair,
discovered
fasting after years of overeating, indigestion, and headaches. His first
fast
lasted
for
12

this
time,
his
headaches
and
stomachaches
went
away.
Sinclair
said
that
fasting
also
made
him
more alert and energetic.
Choosing to go without food can be very dangerous. However, that
doesn't
stop
people
from
fasting
for
political,
religious,
or
health
reasons.
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