第64课 红色金属——铜

　　There is only one metal which is red in colour. Its name is copper. On the shores of Lake Superior in North America, lumps of pure copper are found in the rocks; but in Cornwall , and in Australia, and in many other places, we find copper as an ore.

　　世界上只有一种红色金属，它的名字就叫做铜。在北美苏必利尔湖岸边的岩石中，人们可以看到成块的纯铜。然而，无论是在康沃尔、澳大利亚还是其他众多地区，铜都以矿石的形式存在。

　　An ore is a metal united with one or two other substances. Copper ore looks like a stone of a black, or a green, or a red colour. Looking at a lump of the ore, no one would think that there was any copper in it.

　　某种金属与其他一种或两种物质结合在一起便形成了矿石。铜矿石看起来就是一块黑色、绿色或红色的石头。无论是谁，看到一块铜矿石的话都不会想到其中有铜。

　　The other substances which are combined with the copper to form the stony-looking ore are sulphur, iron, and oxygen. These substances are got rid of by first roasting the ore in a furnace, and then smelting or melting it in a much hotter furnace. This is repeated three times, until at last the pure copper is left by itself.

　　与铜结合并形成矿石的其他物质包括硫、铁、氧。去除这些物质的方法是：首先将矿石在熔炉中进行加热，然后再将其放入到温度更高的熔炉之中进行融化。这样的流程需要重复三次，直到最后剩下纯铜。

　　The smelting of copper ore is chiefly carried on in the town of Swansea, in South Wales, to which port ships bring copper ore from all parts of the world.

　　铜矿的炼化主要在威尔士南部的斯旺西进行，来自世界各地的铜矿用轮船送到这个港口。