IELTS Listening Part 4: A Lecture on the History of Glass

Part Four. You will hear a lecture about the history of glass.

第四部分。你将听到一场关于玻璃历史的讲座。

You have some time to look at questions thirty-one to forty.

你有一些时间阅读第三十一至第四十题。

Now listen carefully and answer questions thirty-one to forty.

现在请仔细听，并回答第三十一至第四十题。

Good afternoon, everyone. Today's topic is something you use every day.

大家下午好。今天的主题是你们每天都会用到的东西。

Have you ever wondered where glass actually comes from?

你们有没有想过，玻璃到底是从哪儿来的？

Well, let's start at the very beginning.

好，我们从最开始讲起。

Glass is made mainly from sand, heated to very high temperatures.

玻璃主要是用沙子在极高的温度下烧制而成的。

Believe it or not, people made glass four thousand years ago!

信不信由你，人类早在四千年前就会制造玻璃了！

The earliest glass objects were tiny beads, not windows.

最早的玻璃制品是小小的珠子，而不是窗户。

Let's turn to the Romans, because they changed everything!

接下来说说罗马人，因为是他们改变了一切！

Around two thousand years ago, they started blowing glass through a tube.

大约两千年前，他们开始用一根管子吹制玻璃。

Suddenly, cups and bottles were cheap enough for ordinary families.

一下子，杯子和瓶子便宜到普通家庭也买得起了。

Now, what's interesting is what happened later, in Venice.

有意思的是后来在威尼斯发生的事。

In twelve ninety-one, the city moved all its glassmakers,

1291年，这座城市把所有玻璃工匠

to a small island called Murano.

迁到了一个名叫穆拉诺的小岛上。

Officially, it was to protect the city from fires.

官方说法是为了防止城里发生火灾。

But the glassmakers weren't allowed to leave the island!

可是玻璃工匠们却不准离开这座岛！

Let's move on to Britain, where glass caused a strange problem.

我们再来看英国，玻璃在那里引发了一个奇怪的问题。

From sixteen ninety-six, people actually paid a tax on windows!

从1696年起，人们居然要为窗户交税！

Sadly, many families bricked up their windows to save money.

可惜的是，许多家庭为了省钱，把窗户用砖砌死了。

The tax was finally removed in eighteen fifty-one.

这项税直到1851年才终于被取消。

And that same year, London built the amazing Crystal Palace!

就在同一年，伦敦建起了令人惊叹的水晶宫！

Now, let's jump ahead to the twentieth century.

现在，我们直接跳到二十世纪。

In the nineteen fifties, a new method made flat glass much cheaper.

二十世纪五十年代，一种新工艺让平板玻璃便宜了很多。

That's why modern buildings can have whole walls of glass.

这就是为什么现代建筑能有整面的玻璃墙。

And today, thin glass fibres carry the internet under the oceans!

而如今，细细的玻璃纤维在海底传输着互联网！

To sum up, what makes glass so special today?

总结一下，玻璃在今天为什么这么特别？

Glass can be recycled again and again, without losing quality.

玻璃可以反复回收利用，而且品质不会下降。

Next week, we'll look at how glass recycling actually works.

下周我们来看看玻璃回收到底是怎么进行的。

Thanks for listening, everyone. Enjoy your afternoon!

谢谢大家的聆听。祝大家下午愉快！

That is the end of Part Four.

第四部分到此结束。