who Invented Paper?谁发明了纸？

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.

当你想到技术时会想到什么？许多孩子可能会想象飞行汽车或航天飞机。其他人可能会想到当今的智能设备，很容易认为技术仅包括高级电子设备。

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！

但是技术远不止于此，它包括为解决问题而发明出的任何对象。许多简单的工具就是技术的实例。你知道轮子是技术吗？铅笔呢？剪刀？甚至纸张也是技术的典范！

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，纸张解决了什么问题呢？好吧，人类在纸张出现之前已经写作了数千年。早期作家使用过许多材料。其中许多材料使写作变得困难，有人在粘土或石碑上刻字，其他人则在非常昂贵的丝绸上书写。许多人还使用纸莎草纸，它是由纸莎草植物的茎制成的。

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.

在中国，古人在竹子上面写字。他们使用的是长竹条，把它们绑在一起，做成书。这个过程很长，做出来的书很笨重，难以携带。

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.

这是一个难题。公元105年，一个名叫蔡伦的人提出了解决办法。他是一名宦官，经常用竹子写作和阅读。他知道这有多么不便，于是就着手寻找更好的方式。他的想法是混合树皮、麻、渔网和布，结果做出了一种较轻的材料，易于书写。蔡伦发明了纸。

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.

蔡倫将他的发明献给了中国皇帝。蔡和他的徒弟左波改善了他的造纸过程。不久，纸张的使用遍及中国。

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.

最终，纸张也传到了7世纪的中亚和中东，后来传到了欧洲，虽然还不清楚是如何到达的，可能是中东商人带到那里的。另一个观点是马可·波罗从中国带来了纸。

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年以来，纸张发生了很大变化。如今，纸张几乎完全由树木制成。它有多种形式和颜色，可用于多种用途。

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！

你能想象一个没有纸的世界吗？你在学校用什么来书写？书籍也会少得多，几乎可以肯定的是没有报纸。人们会在什么上面绘画和着色呢？造纸当然是一项可以改善生活许多方面的技术！