英國學生科學讀本 Lesson 51 一塊煤(2)

In the layers of clay and sandstone between the seams of coal we often find the remains of plants very well preserved indeed. In the coal itself it is very hard to tell one plant from another, for they have all been crushed together.

在煤層之間的粘土層和砂巖層里面，我們經(jīng)常會找到保存得十分完好的植物遺骸?？墒牵诿簩永锩?，就很難把一棵棵植物分開，因為植物全都壓碎了，混在一起了。

To get coal, men called miners, or colliers, dig deep holes straight down into the earth, until they reach the seams of coal. These deep holes are called pit shafts.

有一些叫做“礦工”的人，在地上挖出深洞，深洞筆直地向下延伸，一直挖到煤層。這些深洞就叫“礦井”。

From the bottom of the shaft the miners cut low passages through the seams, and dig out the coal. These passages often extend for miles. In some coal mines seams of coal are worked which are three thousand feet below the surface of the ground.

礦工們從礦井底部，在煤層里開鑿出巷道，把煤挖出來。這些巷道經(jīng)常會有好幾英里長。在一些煤礦里，礦工開采的煤層，足有地表之下3000英尺深。

Some day you will, I hope, go down a coal mine. You will have to get into a big cage or box, which is fastened to a strong wire rope, and is lowered down the pit shaft by means of a steam-engine.

我希望將來你也能下到煤礦里看一看。你必須坐在大籠子，或者大箱子里面，箱子拴在一條牢固的鋼絲繩上，用蒸汽機放到礦井里面。

You then will walk along the low passages cut in the coal seam, and you will see men with pick-axes breaking down and cutting out great blocks of the coal.

然后你就可以沿著煤層中開鑿的巷道走一走，會看見人們拿著鎬頭，把大塊的煤砍下來，挖出來。

These lumps of coal are put into little wagons or trucks, which are pulled by ponies to the bottom of the pit shaft. Then the trucks are put into the cage, and hoisted up the shaft by the steam-engine. Last of all, the railway brings the coal to the town where you live.

這些大塊煤，放進小小的礦車里面，然后用小馬，把礦車拉到礦井底部，把礦車放進籠子，再用蒸汽機沿著礦井升上去。最后，用鐵路運輸，把煤送到你居住的城市。

英語美文