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Listen to part of a lecture from a Botany class.
听一段来自植物学课堂的讲座。
Hi, everyone. Good to see you all today.
大家好。很高兴见到大家。
Actually, I expected the population to be a lot lower today.
之前，我还以为今天来听课的人会比上次少很多。
It typically runs between 50 and 60 percent on the day the research paper is due.
一般说来，从研究论文那天开始上课人数的流失率会在50%到60%。
Um, I was hoping to have your exams back today, but, uh, the situation was that I went away for the weekend, and I was supposed to get in yesterday at five,
嗯，我原来有望今天带来你们的考试结果，但是，嗯，情况是这样的，我周末外出了，原本应该昨天5 点到，
and I expected to fully complete all the exams by midnight or so, which is the time that I usually go to bed,
那么我就能在午夜左右完成试卷的批改，我平常大概午夜上床睡觉，
but my flight was delayed, and I ended up not getting in until one o’clock in the morning.
但是我的航班延误了，直到凌晨1 点钟才到。
Anyway, I’ll do my best to have them finished by the next time we meet.
不管怎么说，我会尽力在下节课前完成。
OK.In the last class, we started talking about useful plant fibers.
在上一节课，我们开始探讨有用的植物纤维。
In particular, we talked about cotton fibers, which we said were very useful, not only in the textile industry,
特别是，我们讨论了一些棉纤维，我们说过它们很有用，不仅在纺织业来说，
but also in the chemical industry, and in the production of many products, such as plastics, paper, explosives, and so on.
在化工业也是如此，甚至在很多产品中的制作上都很有用，比如塑料、纸、炸药等等。
Today we’ll continue talking about useful fibers, and we’ll begin with a fiber that’s commonly known as “Manila hemp.”
今天我们继续讨论有用纤维，我们将从大家熟知的“马尼拉麻”开始。
Now, for some strange reason, many people believe that Manila hemp is a hemp plant. But Manila hemp is not really hemp.
如今，因为某种奇怪的原因，很多人认为马尼拉麻是一种麻类植物。但是马尼拉麻并不是麻类植物。
It’s actually a member of the banana family—it even bears little banana-shaped fruits.
它实际上是香蕉科的一种——它甚至结着香蕉形状的果实。
The “Manila” part of the name makes sense, because Manila hemp is produced chiefly in the Philippine Islands and, of course, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila.
这名字中的“马尼拉”倒是说得过去，因为马尼拉麻主要产于菲律宾群岛，当然，菲律宾的首都是马尼拉。
Now, as fibers go, Manila hemp fibers are very long. They can easily be several feet in length and they’re also very strong, very flexible.
现在，说到纤维，马尼拉麻纤维很长。它们很容易达到几英尺长，同时很结实，韧性也很好。
They have one more characteristic that’s very important, and that is that they are exceptionally resistant to salt water.
它们还有一个重要的特征，就是它们对咸水有极强的抗性。
And this combination of characteristics—long, strong, flexible, resistant to salt water—makes Manila hemp a great material for ropes,
正是这些长、结实、柔韧、抗咸水特征的组合让马尼拉麻成为绝好的绳索材料，
especially for ropes that are gonna be used on ocean-going ships.
特别是用在远洋船只上的绳索。
