評論
打印
Okay, Squeaks, here's your next question.
好了，吱吱，這是你的下一個問題。
This next type of weather can be a little loud and scary.
這種天氣可能會有一點吵鬧和可怕。
It happens mostly during rainstorms and is caused by the same kind of static electricity that builds up when you rub your socks on carpet.
它主要發生在暴風雨期間，是由你在地毯上摩擦襪子時積累的靜電引起的。
Can you name the weather, Squeaks?
你能說出這個天氣的名字嗎，吱吱？
Here's one more hint. Listen!
這里還有一個提示。聽!
That's right!
沒錯!
Thunder and lightning！You're doing great！
雷聲和閃電！你做得很好！
Now let's take a quick break for a few words about thunder and lightning.
現在讓我們快速休息一下，觀看關于雷電的講解。
Squeaks, where are you?
吱吱，你在哪里？
Squeaks, where are you?
吱吱，你在哪里？
Squeaks?
吱吱？
Oh, there you are, Squeaks.
哦，你在這里，吱吱。
Oh, it's okay, Squeaks.
哦，沒關系的，吱吱。
Thunderstorms can get kind of loud and maybe even a little scary sometimes.
雷雨有時會變得很大，有時甚至有點嚇人。
But you know what?
但是你知道嗎？
Sometimes things that are frightening are a little less scary when we understand what causes them.
有時候，當我們了解了是什么導致了可怕的事情時，它們就不那么可怕了。
And we can learn what causes things by asking questions.
我們可以通過提問來了解事情的起因。
That's why we're so glad that we heard from our friend four-year-old Eleanor who asked why do lightning and thunder happen.
這就是為什么我們很高興收到我們四歲的朋友埃莉諾的來信，她問為什么會發生閃電和雷鳴。
I'm sure Squeaks would like to know.
我肯定吱吱會想知道的。
Experts called meteorologists study the science of weather including lightning and thunder.
被稱為氣象學家的專家研究包括閃電和雷電在內的天氣科學。
We can use what they've learned to explain what causes these bright flashes of light and the big booms that follow.
我們可以用他們學到的東西來解釋是什么導致了這些明亮的閃光和隨之而來的轟鳴聲。
And you may not know it but the science of what causes lightning can happen right in your own home.
你可能不知道，但是關于閃電的科學可以發生在你自己的家里。
Have you ever walked across a fuzzy carpet and then when you reach for a door knob gotten a little shock?
你有沒有走過一塊毛茸茸的地毯，然后當你伸手去拿門把手時，感到觸電了？
If so, then you've been part of making a mini lightning bolt.
如果是這樣，那么你就是制造迷你閃電的一部分。
That shock that you felt was caused by the buildup of what's known as a static electrical charge.
你感覺到的電擊是由所謂的靜電積累引起的。
A static electrical charge is just a little bit of electricity that stays in one place for a little while.
靜電是在一個地方停留一小段時間的一小部分電荷。
Static electricity can build up any time two things rub together.
當兩件東西摩擦在一起時，靜電隨時都會積聚。
When you walk across the carpet your body picks up tiny bits of charge.
當你走在地毯上時，你的身體會吸收一些微小的電荷。
Then when you reach for that doorknob these charges jump into the metal doorknob and zap lightning is caused by the same thing only on a much bigger scale.
然后，當你伸手去拿門把手時，這些電荷跳入金屬門把手，閃電是由同樣的東西引起的，只是規模要大得多。
The kinds of clouds we see in thunderstorms have tiny bits of ice in them.
我們在雷雨中看到的云層中有少量的冰。
And these little bits of ice bump into each other.
這些小冰塊相互碰撞。
They cause an electrical charge to build up inside the cloud.
它們會導致電荷在云層內積聚。
And as this charge keeps building up it gets stronger.
隨著這種電荷的不斷積累，它變得更加強。
But there are two kinds of electrical charge we call them positive and negative.
但是有兩種電荷，我們稱之為正電荷和負電荷。
Charges that are different from one another will attract or pull toward one another a lot like magnets.
彼此不同的電荷會像磁鐵一樣相互吸引。
But in our case the charge in the cloud is negative.
但在我們的例子中，云中的電荷是負的。
The negative charge in the cloud makes some spots on the ground get a positive charge.
云中的負電荷使地面上的一些斑點帶上正電荷。
And when the charge is in the cloud and the charges on the ground are just right a bolt of lightning jumps between the cloud and the earth.
當電荷在云中，而地面上的電荷恰到好處時，一道閃電就會在云和地球之間跳躍。
And meteorologists have discovered that there are different kinds of lightning too.
氣象學家發現，閃電也有不同的種類。
Some lightning goes from one part of a cloud to another.
有些閃電從云的一部分傳到另一部分。
Some jumps from cloud to cloud and some goes between the sky and the ground but it's all caused by a moving electrical charge.
有些在云層之間跳躍，有些在天空和地面之間跳躍，但這都是由運動的電荷引起的。
And all lightning is hot really hot.
所有的閃電溫度都很高。
And that heat is what causes thunder.
而這種高溫正是引發雷鳴的原因。
Thunder starts with the fact that air is made of tiny particles.
雷聲始于這樣一個事實：空氣是由微小的顆粒組成的。
When these little particles get heated up they start to move around more quickly.
當這些小顆粒被加熱時，它們開始移動得更快。
So when the hot lightning bolt suddenly moves through the air, its heat makes the air particles around it all excited.
因此，當熱閃電突然在空氣中移動時，它的熱量會使周圍的空氣顆粒都興奮起來。
All those particles of suddenly hot air start to move around quickly.
所有這些突然變熱的空氣粒子都開始快速移動。
They push hard against the cooler air around them.
他們用力推擠周圍涼爽的空氣。
That air then flies away really fast from where the lightning was with a lot of energy.
然后，空氣從閃電所在的地方飛得非?？?，能量很大。
Our ears hear this movement of the air particles as a loud bang or crackle.
我們的耳朵聽到這種空氣微粒的運動，就像一聲巨響或爆裂聲。
That's thunder.
那是雷聲。
So now you know lightning happens when an electrical charge builds up inside of cloud and moves to an opposite charge.
所以現在你知道了，當電荷在云中積聚并移動到相反的電荷時，閃電就會發生。
And thunder happens when the heat from lightning causes the particles that make up air to push away from the lightning bolt.
當閃電產生的熱量導致構成空氣的粒子遠離閃電時，就會發生雷電。
And remember, when you're not sure about something ask questions, it just might make you feel better.
記住，當你對某件事不確定的時候，問問題可能會讓你感覺更好。
