我們的祖先是如何消暑的?

楊璐

In the hot summer， it is hard to live if we dont have air-conditioning2. Now， most families have air-conditioning， but air-conditioning has only been used in our times. What did our ancestors do to drive the heat3 away in the hot summer？ Was their life just bad all summer long？

在炎熱的夏天，如果我們沒有空調(diào)，日子會很難過?，F(xiàn)在很多家庭都有空調(diào)，但是只有在我們這個時代才有空調(diào)用。那我們的祖先在炎熱的夏天是怎么趕走酷熱的呢？整個夏天他們的生活都很糟糕嗎？

They could stay cool in many different ways！Here are some things our ancestors did to keep the heat away.

他們可以通過各種不同的方式消暑！下面是我們的祖先為趕走炎熱而做的一些事情。

1. They lived underground4.

1. 他們住在地下。

Do you know where our ancestors houses were？ Yes， they lived in caves5 which were underground. Building underground caves kept the house cool both in the summer and winter. This is one of the ancestors oldest way for driving away the heat. Many people in early times built underground homes as well. In some places in the world， cities were built underground.

你知道我們祖先的房子建在哪里嗎？是的，他們住在地下的洞穴里。建造的地下洞穴在冬夏都很涼爽。這是祖先們消除酷暑最古老的方法之一。許多早期的人類也在地下建造房屋。在世界上的有些地方，整個城市都建在地下。

2. They used thick6 stones7 to build homes.

2. 他們用厚石頭造房子。

Thick stones are harder to heat， so they are able to keep cool air in home. Many homes were built out of thick stones in the 1700s and 1800s to combat8 the heat， as these thick stones were known to be cool.

厚石頭更難加熱，所以它們能保持屋子里面的空氣涼爽。在18世紀和19世紀，許多房屋都是用厚石頭來建造以抵御炎熱，因為這些厚石頭以涼快著稱。

3. They planted9 trees around the house.

3. 他們在房屋周圍種樹。

When we walk outside in summer， we will walk on the road with trees on both sides10. Our ancestors also knew that. Planting trees was the easiest way to combat the summer heat. All our ancestors had to do was to plant big trees around the home to stop the summer sun before it could warm the home. These trees also cooled down the wind before they entered11 the houses.

當我們在夏天外出行走時，會選擇兩邊都有樹的那條路。我們的祖先也知道這一點，種樹是抵御夏季炎熱最簡單的方法。我們的祖先所要做的就是在房子周圍種上大樹，好阻止太陽曬熱房子。這些樹還能在風進入房屋前降低其溫度。

4. They built homes with high ceilings12.

4. 他們建造的房子天花板很高。

When we enter a building with a very high ceiling in the summer， we will feel cool. Because of that， old people liked building homes and buildings with high ceilings. In the summer time， high ceilings can keep the heat staying in the high air， so that the warm air would stay away from the people.

夏天，當我們進入一個屋頂很高的建筑時，會感到?jīng)鏊?。正因為如此，以前的人們喜歡建造有高天花板的房子和建筑物。在夏季，高高的天花板可以讓熱量停留在高處，讓熱空氣遠離人們。

5. They slept on the porch13.

5. 他們睡在門廊上。

Old people in hot places liked building houses with front porch. On hot nights， the porch would be a great place to rest14 in the evening and sleep. This also was a way of making friends in their neighborhoods. They could just rest on their porches or visit your neighborhoods and relax there.

以前住在炎熱地區(qū)的人們喜歡有前廊的房子。在炎熱的夜晚，這里是傍晚休息和睡覺的好地方。這也成為了他們跟鄰居交朋友的一種方式。他們可以在前廊上休息，或者去鄰居的門廊那兒放松一下。

Our ancestors were quite smart in keeping themselves cool in the summer when there wasnt air-conditioning. Feeling hot in the summer time is something we dont have to experience15. Because of the use of heating and cooling services16， we can keep our home at any temperature17 we want all year around.

我們的祖先很聰明，能在沒有空調(diào)的夏天里保持涼爽。而我們在夏季根本不需要經(jīng)歷這種酷熱。由于使用冷暖設備的服務，我們可以讓家里全年保持我們想要的任何溫度。

（英語原文摘自：randallsheating.com）

【Notes】

1. ancestor ?n. 祖先

2. air-conditioning ?n. 空調(diào)

3. heat ?n. 高溫

4. underground ?adv. 在地下 adj. 位于地下的

5. cave ?n. 山洞，洞穴

6. thick ?adj. 厚的

7. stone ?n. 石頭

8. combat ?v. 與……戰(zhàn)斗

9. plant ?v. 種植

10. side ?n. 側面

11. enter ?v. 進入

12. ceiling ?n. 天花板

13. porch ?n. 門廊

14. rest ?n. 休息，睡眠v. 休息

15. experience ?v. 經(jīng)歷

16. service ?n. 服務

17. temperature ?n. 溫度