Fireworks

Fireworks, written by Elizabeth Austin.

《烟花》，伊丽莎白·奥斯汀 著

Introduction The celebration began on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean. Then, as the earth turned, midnight arrived in Sydney, Australia. Rings of fire exploded over the city's famous opera house. Firecrackers popped in Hong Kong. Skyrockets flew over Bombay, the Egyptian pyramids, and Moscow. The Eiffel Tower shot bright sparks from its top like foam from a champagne bottle. Mexico City and Chicago were lit red, gold, and green. All around the world, fireworks welcomed the year 2000.

介绍 庆祝活动从太平洋上的一座小岛开始了 接着，随着地球转动，午夜降临到了澳大利亚悉尼 火环在这座城市著名的歌剧院上空炸开 中国香港的爆竹噼啪炸响 礼花窜过孟买、埃及金字塔和莫斯科的上空 埃菲尔铁塔塔顶迸出明亮火花，就像香槟瓶喷出的泡沫 墨西哥城和芝加哥被红、金、绿三色点亮 全世界的烟花都在迎接2000年的到来

Fireworks combine science and art to create some of the most beautiful displays ever seen. The making and launching of fireworks is called pyrotechnics. In most cases, this dangerous craft is still performed by hand. Families pass down secret fireworks making skills and formulas from generation to generation.

烟花融合科学与艺术，打造出世间绝美的景致 制作和燃放烟花的手艺叫做烟火制造术 大多数情况下，这项危险的手艺至今仍由手工完成 家族会把制作烟花的秘传手艺和配方一代代传承下去

History of fireworks. No one is sure when fireworks first shot into the sky, but we do know that it happened in China over 1 ,000 years ago. Legend says that a Chinese cook accidentally created gunpowder by mixing ingredients in his kitchen.

烟花的历史 没人确定烟花第一次升空是在何时，但我们知道，一千多年前它就出现在中国了 传说有一位中国厨师在厨房混合食材时，意外造出了火药

The Chinese packed this explosive black powder into bamboo or paper tubes. The powder shot fire out of the tubes, much like Roman candles do today. Someone discovered that if a wooden carving was placed on top of the gunpowder, the carving would shoot into the sky. One carving of a dragon even had gunpowder in its mouth. The dragon seemed to spray fire as it flew.

中国人把这种易爆的黑色火药装进竹筒或纸筒里 火药会从筒里喷出火焰，和现在的罗马蜡烛烟花十分相似 有人发现，如果在火药上方放一块木雕，木雕就会被射上天空 有一条龙形木雕，甚至在嘴里装了火药 这条龙飞起来的时候，就好像在喷火一样

The secret of gunpowder passed to Arabs and then onto Europe, but it was mostly used in weapons to fire cannons and guns. Often, armies shot their cannons to celebrate a victory. Different countries began mixing certain chemicals with the gunpowder to create brighter flashes, louder bangs, and color. The Italians soon became famous for their

火药的秘密先传到阿拉伯，之后又传到欧洲，但那时它大多用在武器里，供大炮和枪炮发射弹药 军队常常会开炮庆祝胜利 各国开始把特定化学物质混入火药，以此得到更亮的闪光、更响的爆炸声和不同的颜色 意大利人很快就因他们的