Tue, Apr 11, 2006 page13

• Bagpipes 風笛

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  The name of this instrument is easy to remember. It's a bag and it has pipes sticking out of it: bagpipes!

  To play the bagpipes, first you blow air into the bag. Then you put the bag under your arm and squeeze. As the air comes out of the pipes, it makes music. As you play, you keep blowing air into the bag so that it doesn't run out of air. Once you have filled the bag with air, it is hard to stop the bagpipes from making sound, so bagpipe music usually doesn't have any pauses.

  When most people think of bagpipes, they think of Scotland, but people play bagpipes all over the world. In fact, bagpipes were invented in the Middle East a long time ago. (Marc Langer, staff writer)

  

  Two boys play the bagpipes in the US. 兩名男孩在美國演奏風笛。 (照片：歐新社)

  PHOTO: EPA

  這個樂器的名字很容易記。它是一個有管子伸出去的袋子，所以叫「風笛」。

  演奏風笛，首先得將空氣吹入袋子，再將袋子置於手臂下擠壓，空氣自管子溢出時便會有音樂產生。演奏時須持續將空氣吹入袋中，以防袋中空氣用完。一旦袋子充滿空氣，風笛便會不斷發出聲響，所以風笛音樂通常沒有停頓。

  人們想到風笛就會想到蘇格蘭，其實世界各地的人都會演奏風笛，而風笛很久以前其實是中東人發明的。 （翻譯：鄭湘儀）

  For your information

  Today's words 今日單字

  1. squeeze v.t. 擠壓 (ji3 ya1) 例：Amanda squeezed the orange in her hand to get the juice out of it. （艾曼達用手擠壓柳丁，擠出果汁。） 2. pause n. 停頓 (ting2 dun4) 例：At the party, there was a pause in the music when somebody changed the CDs. （有人在派對上更換唱盤，音樂停了一下。） 3. invent v.t. 發明 (fa1 ming2) 例：Ever since the TV was invented, people have been reading fewer and fewer books. （自從發明了電視，人們就愈來愈少看書。）

  For your information

  Quick Quiz
  複習測驗

  1. It is hard to keep the bagpipes from ... a. filling up with air. b. making a sound. c. running out of air. 2. Where were bagpipes invented? a. Scotland. b. The Middle East. c. France.
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