All About Kites

All About Kites. Written by Elizabeth Austin. Illustrated by Maria Voris.

《风筝的一切》。作者：伊丽莎白·奥斯汀。插画：玛丽亚·沃里斯。

Introduction. A kite is one of the oldest toys, and it's very simple to make. Kites come in many sizes, shapes, and colors. Did you know that kites can be both toys and tools?

简介： 风筝是最古老的玩具之一，制作起来非常简单。 风筝有很多种尺寸、形状和颜色。 你知道吗，风筝既可以是玩具，也可以是工具哦？

History of Kites Kites were named after the kite bird. The kite bird has wide wings and easily floats high in the sky. No one knows who made the first kite, but one famous Chinese story about a kite was written over 2 ,000 years ago. The story is about a man who used a kite to attack a fort. He couldn't find a way to get inside the fort, so he tied himself to a huge kite. He flew over the wall of the fort and scared the soldiers.

风筝的历史 风筝得名于鸢鸟。 鸢鸟的翅膀很宽，能轻轻松松在高空翱翔。 没人知道是谁造出了第一只风筝， 但有一个和风筝有关的著名中国故事是两千多年前写下的。 故事讲的是一个男子用风筝攻打堡垒。 他找不到进入堡垒的办法， 于是把自己绑在了一只巨大的风筝上。 他飞过堡垒的城墙，把士兵们都吓坏了。

The inventor Ben Franklin had the idea that lightning was made of electricity. He wanted to prove his idea. One day when it was stormy, he tied a metal key to a kite string. Then he flew the kite up into the storm clouds. Lightning from the storm hit his kite. The electricity ran down the wet string to the metal key. When he reached for the key, he got a surprise. The electricity jumped from the key and gave him a shock. Do not try this yourself. It's not safe to do. When Ben Franklin tried to do it again, he was hurt badly.

发明家本·富兰克林认为闪电是由电构成的。 他想证明自己的想法。 有一天下暴雨，他把一把金属钥匙绑在了风筝线上。 接着他把风筝放到了暴风云里。 暴雨中的闪电击中了他的风筝， 电流顺着淋湿的风筝线传到了金属钥匙上。 他伸手去碰钥匙的时候，吓了一大跳。 电流从钥匙上跳出来，电了他一下。 小朋友们可千万别尝试哦，这很危险，不能这么做。 不能这么做。本·富兰克林后来再尝试做这个实验的时候，伤得非常重。

Many uses for kites. Some people have used kites for fishing. They put a fish hook and bait on the long kite tail. The kite tail dragged in the water. When a fish saw it, it bit the bait and was caught on the hook. Then the kite was pulled in.

风筝的用途很多哦。 有些人会用风筝钓鱼。 他们把鱼钩和鱼饵系在长长的风筝尾巴上。 风筝的尾巴会拖在水里。 鱼看到之后就会咬鱼饵，然后就被鱼钩勾住啦。 接着人们把风筝拉回来就可以了。

Weather kites carried scientific gauges into the sky. The gauges measured how fast the wind was blowing and how cool the air was.

气象风筝会把科学测量仪带到天上。 测量仪会测量风速有多快，还有气温有多低。