James Watt And The Teakettle

　　A  little  Scotch  boy  was  sitting  in  his  grandmother's  kit-  chen.  He  waswatching the red flames in the wide open fire- place and quietly wonderingabout the causes of things. In- deed, he was always wondering and alwayswanting  to  know.
"Grandma,"  he  presently  asked,  "what  makes  the  fire  burn  ?"This was not the first time he had puzzled his grand- mother with questionsthat she could not answer. So she went on with her preparations for supperand  paid  no  heed  to  his  query¹.
Above the fire an old-fashioned teakettle was hanging. The water withinit was beginning to bubble. A thin cloud of steam was rising from the spout².
Soon  the  lid  began  to  rattle³  and  shake.  The  hot  vapor  puffed  out  at  afurious rate(2). Yet when the lad peeped under the lid he could see nothing.
"Grandma,  what  is  in  the  teakettle  ?"  he  asked.
"Water,  my  child--nothing  but  water(3).""But  I  know  there  is  something  else.  There  is  some-  thing  in  there  thatlifts  the  lid  and  makes  it  rattle."The grandmother laughed. "Oh, that is only steam," she said. "You can seeit  coming  out  of  the  spout  and  puffing  up  under  the  lid.""But you said there was nothing but water in the kettle. How did the steamget  under  the  lid  ?""Why(4), my dear, it comes out of the hot water. The hot water makes it."The  grandmother  was  beginning  to  feel  puzzled.
The lad lifted the lid and peeped inside again. He could see nothing butthe bubbling water. The steam was not visible until after it was  fairlyout  of  the  kettle.
"How  queer  !"  he  said.  "The  steam  must  be  very  strong  to  lift  the  heavyiron  lid.  Grandma,  how  much  water  did  you  put  into  the  kettle?""About  a  quart(5),  Jamie(6).""Well, if the steam from so little water is so strong, why would not thesteam  from  a  great  deal  of  water  be  a  great  deal  stronger?  Why  couldn'tit be made to lift a much greater weight ? Why couldn't it be made to turnwheels  ?"The  grandmother  made  no  reply.  These  questions  of  Jamie's  were  morepuzzling  than  profitable,(7)  she  thought.  She  went  about(8)  her  worksilently,  and  Jamie  sat  still  in  his  place  and  studied  the  teakettle.

1 query   

n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑

参考例句：

• I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily.我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
• They raised a query on his sincerity.他们对他是否真诚提出质疑。

2 spout   

v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱

参考例句：

• Implication in folk wealth creativity and undertaking vigor spout.蕴藏于民间的财富创造力和创业活力喷涌而出。
• This acts as a spout to drain off water during a rainstorm.在暴风雨季，这东西被用作喷管来排水。

3 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。