李明娟

What comes to mind when you think of technology1？ Many kids might picture flying cars or space shuttles2. Others might think of todays smart devices. Its easy to think technology only includes advanced electronic devices.

當(dāng)你想到技術(shù)時(shí)會(huì)想到什么？許多孩子可能會(huì)想象飛行汽車(chē)或航天飛機(jī)。其他人可能會(huì)想到當(dāng)今的智能設(shè)備，很容易認(rèn)為技術(shù)僅包括高級(jí)電子設(shè)備。

But technology is much more than that. It includes any object created to solve a problem. Many simple tools are examples of technology. Did you know that the wheel is technology？ How about pencils？ Scissors？ Even paper is an example of technology！

但是技術(shù)遠(yuǎn)不止于此，它包括為解決問(wèn)題而發(fā)明出的任何對(duì)象。許多簡(jiǎn)單的工具就是技術(shù)的實(shí)例。你知道輪子是技術(shù)嗎？鉛筆呢？剪刀？甚至紙張也是技術(shù)的典范！

Wait. What problem did paper solve？ Well， human beings were writing for thousands of years before paper existed. Early writers used many materials. Many of these made writing difficult. Some people carved3 words on clay or stone tablets. Others wrote on silk， which was very costly. Many people also used papyrus4， which was made from the stems of the papyrus plant.

等等，紙張解決了什么問(wèn)題呢？好吧，人類(lèi)在紙張出現(xiàn)之前已經(jīng)寫(xiě)作了數(shù)千年。早期作家使用過(guò)許多材料。其中許多材料使寫(xiě)作變得困難，有人在粘土或石碑上刻字，其他人則在非常昂貴的絲綢上書(shū)寫(xiě)。許多人還使用紙莎草紙，它是由紙莎草植物的莖制成的。

In China， ancient people wrote on bamboo. They used long bamboo strips. Then， they tied the strips together to make books. This process was very long. It made heavy books that were difficult to carry.

在中國(guó)，古人在竹子上面寫(xiě)字。他們使用的是長(zhǎng)竹條，把它們綁在一起，做成書(shū)。這個(gè)過(guò)程很長(zhǎng)，做出來(lái)的書(shū)很笨重，難以攜帶。

This was a problem. In 105 CE， a man named Cai Lun came up with a solution. He was a Chinese court official who often used bamboo for writing and reading. He knew how inconvenient5 it was and set out to find a better way. Cai had the idea to mix tree bark， hemp6， fishing net， and cloth. The result was a lighter material that was easy to write on. Cai Lun had invented paper.

這是一個(gè)難題。公元105年，一個(gè)名叫蔡倫的人提出了解決辦法。他是一名宦官，經(jīng)常用竹子寫(xiě)作和閱讀。他知道這有多么不便，于是就著手尋找更好的方式。他的想法是混合樹(shù)皮、麻、漁網(wǎng)和布，結(jié)果做出了一種較輕的材料，易于書(shū)寫(xiě)。蔡倫發(fā)明了紙。

Cai Lun brought his invention to the Chinese emperor. Cai and his apprentice， Zuo Bo， improved his paper-making process. Soon， the use of paper spread throughout China.

蔡倫將他的發(fā)明獻(xiàn)給了中國(guó)皇帝。蔡和他的徒弟左波改善了他的造紙過(guò)程。不久，紙張的使用遍及中國(guó)。

At last， paper also spread7 to central Asia and the Middle East in the 7th Century. Later， it made it to Europe， though its unclear how. Middle Eastern traders may have brought it there. Another theory is that Marco Polo brought paper from China.

最終，紙張也傳到了7世紀(jì)的中亞和中東，后來(lái)傳到了歐洲，雖然還不清楚是如何到達(dá)的，可能是中東商人帶到那里的。另一個(gè)觀(guān)點(diǎn)是馬可·波羅從中國(guó)帶來(lái)了紙。

Paper has changed a lot since 105 CE. Today， paper is made almost entirely8 from trees. It comes in many forms and colors， and it serves a number of purposes.

自公元105年以來(lái)，紙張發(fā)生了很大變化。如今，紙張幾乎完全由樹(shù)木制成。它有多種形式和顏色，可用于多種用途。

Can you imagine a world without paper？ What would you write on at school？ There would be far fewer books， and almost certainly no newspapers. What would people draw and color on？ Paper is one technology that certainly improved many parts of life！

你能想象一個(gè)沒(méi)有紙的世界嗎？你在學(xué)校用什么來(lái)書(shū)寫(xiě)？書(shū)籍也會(huì)少得多，幾乎可以肯定的是沒(méi)有報(bào)紙。人們會(huì)在什么上面繪畫(huà)和著色呢？造紙當(dāng)然是一項(xiàng)可以改善生活許多方面的技術(shù)！