Bamboo is one of the world's most useful plants. For thousands of years bamboo has been used in many different ways -- from food to medicine to clothing and, in small ways, as a building material.
竹子是全球用途最广的植物之一。几千年以来，竹子在很多方面得到了应用，从食物到医学再到服装。而在小的方面，竹子被用作建筑材料。
However, bamboo is not often used as a building material in the developed world. It is not made according to officially set measurements, or standards. It simply grows in the ground. A professor at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania is trying to change that.
然而，在发达国家竹子不常被用作建筑材料。因为它不是按照官方设置标准制造出来的，而是从地里长出来的。匹兹堡大学的一位教授正试图改变这种状况。
The professor and his students are testing the strength of bamboo. They are testing its radial load, or how much pressure or weight it can take before breaking.
这名教授及其学生正在检测竹子的强度。他们正在检测其径向载荷，也就是它可以承受多大压力或重量。
That pressure was too much.
这种压力太大了。
Kent Harries is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Harries says that testing methods for bamboo need to be the same for all. They need to be standardized.
肯特·哈里斯（Kent Harries）是美国匹兹堡大学的一名教授。哈里斯说，对竹子的检测方法必须标准化。
Building codes everywhere require strict standardization of tests for all materials, such as timber or concrete. But tests for bamboo have not been standardized.
世界各地的建筑规范要求对所有材料实行严格的检测标准，比如木材和水泥。但是对竹子的检测尚未标准化。
Standardizing test methods for bamboo will help to bring the plant into common use, or the mainstream. It will also give engineers and builders around the world a dependable standard – or as Harries says, a testing method they can hang their hat on.
使竹子的检测方法标准化将有助于把这种植物带入日常使用或主流社会。它还能给世界各地的工程师和建筑师一个可靠的标准，也就是哈里森所说的，一种可以让他们深信不疑的检测方法。
"If we standardize it, if we provide essentially documentation, test methods which the engineers can hang their hat on, we bring the material into the mainstream."
哈里斯说：“如果我们可以将其标准化，如果我们可以向工程师提供他们深信不疑的基本文件和检测方法，我们就能把竹子带入主流社会。”
Why is bamboo a great building material?
为什么说竹子是一种优秀的建筑材料？
Harries sees bamboo as a great building material.
哈里森认为竹子是一种优秀的建筑材料。
First, it is strong. The strength of at least three species of bamboo is similar to steel. Besides its strength, Harries says that bamboo has other features that make it a great building material. He says it is resilient, meaning it keeps its shape and strength even under pressure.
首先竹子非常坚固。至少有三种竹子的强度和钢铁类似。哈里森表示，除了竹子的强度，它还具备使其成为优秀建筑材料的其它特点。他说，竹子富有韧性，这意味着即使在压力下它也能保持其形状和强度。
"It's a remarkably strong material, remarkably resilient. It's optimized to be very tall. Obviously bamboo material, something like this, might grow 20 meters and it supports its own weight, and, of course, it also supports huge wind loads ..."
哈里斯教授说：“竹子是一种非常坚固的材料，非常富有韧性，它能够长到很高。很显然竹子材料，就像这根，可以长到20米并且可以支撑自身的重量，当然，它也可以承受大风。”
Bamboo also grows quickly. Bamboo that is suitable for construction needs much less resources than wood.
竹子生长很快。适合建筑需要的竹子比木材需要更少的资源。
The harvest cycle of bamboo is about 3 years. Softwoods such as cedar, pine and spruce have a harvest cycle of about 10 years. And hardwoods that come from flowering plants such as oak, maple and walnut need more than 30 years.
竹子的成竹期为3年左右。而杉树、松树和云杉之类的软木的成熟周期为10年左右。而源自橡木、枫木、胡桃木等鲜花植物的硬木需要30年以上。
Harries says bamboo poles could be joined together into columns for building floors and roofs. In many countries they are already used for wall panel structures.
哈里森表示，竹子可以一排排拼接起来用于建造地板和屋顶。在很多国家，竹子已经被用作墙板结构。
Bamboo might have a bad reputation
竹子可能名声不佳
Bamboo is widely used as food for panda bears. It is also used for furniture or man-made building products such as flooring and window covers, or blinds.
竹子被广泛用作大熊猫的食物。它还被用于家具，或是地板、窗沿、百叶窗等人造的建筑产品。
However, for building, bamboo is not used much outside its native growing area. This is mostly because of its round shape. But there are other reasons too.
然而，在建筑方面，竹子在产地以外应用不多。这主要是因为它是圆形的，当然还有其它原因。
Bamboo, it seems, has an image problem. People think – or have the mentality – that bamboo is a low quality building material.
竹子似乎存在形象问题。人们认为竹子是一种低质量的建筑材料，或是具备这样的心态。
"It is viewed in much of the world as well, bamboo is for poor people, and so there's that mentality that we're trying to get over."
哈里斯说，“在世界上很多地方，竹子被视为穷人用的。我们正在试图改变这种心态。”
I'm Anne Ball.
我是安妮·波尔。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)