劍橋雅思11Test1Passage2閱讀原文翻譯The Falkirk Wheel

劍橋雅思11Test1Passage2閱讀原文翻譯The Falkirk Wheel，今天中國教育在線就來為大家分析這個問題。

The Falkirk Wheel

法爾柯克水輪

劍橋雅思11 Test1 Passage2閱讀原文翻譯

第1段

The Falkirk Wheel in Scotland is the world’s first and only rotating boat lift.Opened in 2002,it is central to the ambitious￡84.5m Millennium Link project to restore navigability across Scotland by reconnecting the historic waterways of the Forth&Clyde and Union Canals.

蘇格蘭的法爾柯克水輪是世界上第一個也是唯一的旋轉(zhuǎn)式船用升降機。它于2002年開放，是雄心勃勃的、耗資8450萬英鎊的Millennium Link項目的核心。該項目通過重新連接Forth＆Clyde和聯(lián)合運河的歷史航道來恢復整個蘇格蘭的航行能力。

第2段

The major challenge of the project lay in the fact that the Forth&Clyde Canal is situated 35 metres below the level of the Union Canal.Historically,the two canals had been joined near the town of Falkirk by a sequence of 11 locks–enclosed sections of canal in which the water level could be raised or lowered–that stepped down across a distance of 1.5 km.This had been dismantled in 1933,thereby breaking the link.When the project was launched in 1994,the British Waterways authority were keen to create a dramatic twenty-first-century landmark which would not only be a fitting commemoration of the Millennium,but also a lasting symbol of the economic regeneration of the region.

該項目的主要挑戰(zhàn)在于，F(xiàn)orth＆Clyde運河位于聯(lián)合運河水平面以下35米。從歷史上看，這兩個運河是在法爾柯克鎮(zhèn)附近通過11道閘門在1.5公里的長度里逐漸下降從而連接在一起的-封閉的運河段文章來自 雅思可以升高或降低水位。這些裝置在1933年被拆除，從而切斷了運河之間的聯(lián)系。當該項目于1994年啟動時，英國水道局渴望創(chuàng)建一個引人注目的二十一世紀地標。這不僅是對新千年的恰當紀念，而且是該地區(qū)經(jīng)濟復興的持久象征。

第3段

Numerous ideas were submitted for the project,including concepts ranging from rolling eggs to tilting tanks,from giant see-saws to overhead monorails.The eventual winner was a plan for the huge rotating steel boat lift which was to become The Falkirk Wheel.The unique shape of the structure is claimed to have been inspired by various sources,both manmade and natural,most notably a Celtic double-headed axe,but also the vast turning propeller of a ship,the ribcage of a whale or the spine of a fish.

人們?yōu)樵擁椖刻岢隽嗽S多想法，包括從滾動裝置到傾斜的水箱，從巨型蹺蹺板到高架單軌鐵路等概念。最終的勝利者是巨大的旋轉(zhuǎn)鋼制船舶升降機計劃，也就是之后的法爾科克水輪。據(jù)稱，這種結(jié)構(gòu)的獨特形狀是受到各種因素的啟發(fā)，人為和自然的都有，最著名的是凱爾特人的雙頭斧，船上巨大的旋轉(zhuǎn)螺旋槳，鯨魚的胸膛或是魚類的脊柱。

第4段

The various parts of The Falkirk Wheel were all constructed and assembled,like one giant toy building set,at Butterley Engineering’s Steelworks in Derbyshire,some 400 km from Falkirk.A team there carefully assembled the 1,200 tonnes of steel,painstakingly fitting the pieces together to an accuracy of just 10 mm to ensure a perfect final fit.This article is from Laokaoya website.In the summer of 2001,the structure was then dismantled and transported on 35 lorries to Falkirk,before all being bolted back together again on the ground,and finally lifted into position in five large sections by crane.The Wheel would need to withstand immense and constantly changing stresses as it rotated,so to make the structure more robust,the steel sections were bolted rather than welded together.Over 45,000 bolt holes were matched with their bolts,and each bolt was hand-tightened.

法爾柯克水輪的各個部分都在德比郡布特利工程公司的鋼鐵廠（距福爾柯克約400公里）中建造和組裝，就像一組巨大的玩具一樣。那里的團隊精心組裝了1200噸鋼鐵部件，竭盡全力地以僅為10毫米的精確度將零件裝配在一起，以保證最終的完美組合。2001年夏天，該設備被拆除，并用35輛卡車運輸?shù)椒柨驴?，然后全部重新固定在地面上，最后用起重機將五大部分吊裝到位。水輪在旋轉(zhuǎn)時需要承受巨大且不斷變化的應力，因此為了使結(jié)構(gòu)更加牢固，鋼制部分采用螺栓連接而不是焊接在一起。超過45,000個螺栓孔與它們的螺栓匹配，并且每個螺栓都是手動擰緊的。

第5段

The Wheel consists of two sets of opposing axe-shaped arms,attached about 25 metres apart to a fixed central spine.Two diametrically opposed water-filled‘gondolas’,each with a capacity of 360,000 litres,are fitted between the ends of the arms.These gondolas always weigh the same,whether or not they are carrying boats.This is because,according to Archimedes’principle of displacement,floating objects displace their own weight in water.So when a boat enters a gondola,the amount of water leaving the gondola weighs exactly the same as the boat.This keeps the Wheel balanced and so,despite its enormous mass,it rotates through 180°in five and a half minutes while using very little power.It takes just 1.5 kilowatt-hours(5.4 M J)of energy to rotate the Wheel–roughly the same as boiling eight small domestic kettles of water.

水輪由兩組相對的斧形懸臂組成。它們以約25米的距離連接到固定的中心支柱上。兩個截然相反的充滿水的“貢多拉”，分別裝在懸臂的末端，容量為360,000升。無論貢多拉是否載著船，它們的重量始終相同。這是因為，根據(jù)阿基米德的位移原理，漂浮物體會在水中排除自身的重量。因此，當船只進入貢多拉時，離開貢多拉的水的重量與船只的重量完全相同。這樣可以使水輪保持平衡，因此盡管水輪質(zhì)量巨大，但它能用非常少的能量在五分半鐘內(nèi)旋轉(zhuǎn)180°。旋轉(zhuǎn)水輪僅需1.5千瓦時（5.4 MJ）的能量-大約與煮沸八個家用小水壺所需要的能量相同。

第6段

Boats needing to be lifted up enter the canal basin at the level of the Forth&Clyde Canal and then enter the lower gondola of the Wheel.Two hydraulic steel gates are raised,so as to seal the gondola off from the water in the canal basin.The water between the gates is then pumped out.A hydraulic clamp,which prevents the arms of the Wheel moving while the gondola is docked,is removed,allowing the Wheel to turn.In the central machine room an array of ten hydraulic motors then begins to rotate the central axle.The axle connects to the outer arms of the Wheel,which begin to rotate at a speed of 1/8 of a revolution per minute.As the wheel rotates,the gondolas are kept in the upright position by a simple gearing system.Two eight-metre-wide cogs orbit a fixed inner cog of the same width,connected by two smaller cogs travelling in the opposite direction to the outer cogs–so ensuring that the gondolas always remain level.When the gondola reaches the top,the boat passes straight onto the aqueduct situated 24 metres above the canal basin.

需要升起的船只以Forth&Clyde運河的高度進入運河港池，然后進入水輪的下部吊艙。兩個水力鋼閘門被抬起，從而將調(diào)倉封閉于運河港池之中。然后閘門之間的水會被泵出。防止吊艙?？繒r水輪懸臂移動的液壓夾板會被移走，讓水輪得以旋轉(zhuǎn)。在中央機房中，由十個液壓馬達組成的陣列開始旋轉(zhuǎn)中心軸。中心軸連接到水輪的外臂，外臂開始以每分鐘1/8轉(zhuǎn)的速度旋轉(zhuǎn)。隨著水輪的轉(zhuǎn)動，吊艙通過簡單的齒輪系統(tǒng)保持在垂直位置。兩個八米寬的齒輪繞著相同寬度的固定內(nèi)嵌齒輪旋轉(zhuǎn)，它們由兩個轉(zhuǎn)動方向與外部齒輪相反的小齒輪連接，從而確保吊艙始終保持水平。當?shù)跖摰竭_頂部時，船只直接穿過位于運河港池上方24米處的溝渠。

第7段

The remaining 11 metres of lift needed to reach the Union Canal is achieved by means of a pair of locks.The Wheel could not be constructed to elevate boats over the full 35-metre difference between the two canals,owing to the presence of the historically important Antonine Wall,which was built by the Romans in the second century AD.Boats travel under this wall via a tunnel,then through the locks,and finally on to the Union Canal.

到達聯(lián)合運河所需的剩余11米距離是通過一對水閘來實現(xiàn)的。由于在歷史上十分重要的安東尼墻的存在（該墻是羅馬人在公元二世紀建造的），人們無法在兩條運河之間搭建水輪以升起船只跨越35米的高度。船只通過隧道在這堵墻下面行駛，然后穿過船閘，最后到達聯(lián)合運河。

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