【翻译原文】
中国古代四大发明(the Four Great Inventions)—造纸术、火药、印刷术、指南针对全世界产生了巨大而深远的影响。纸张的发明大大促进了文明的传播与发展。火药的发明非常偶然，炼丹师(alchemist)在制作长生不老药(elixir)的时候偶然制成了火药。唐代末期，火药被用于战争，13世纪时传到了全世界。在唐代印刷术的基础上，北宋毕昇发明了活字印刷术(movable-type printing),开启了印刷史上的伟大革命。中国古人利用天然磁石制成了第一台可以辨别方向的指南针，大大增强了船只的远航能力。
【参考译文】
Papermaking, gunpowder, printing and compass are the Four Great Inventions of ancient China that have exerted a great and far-reaching impact on the entire world. The invention of paper greatly contributed to the spread and development of civilization. The birth of gunpowder was quite accidental. It was invented inadvertently by alchemists while attempting to make an elixir. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, gunpowder was used in military affairs, and was spread to all over the world in the 13th century. On the basis of printing in the Tang Dynasty, BiSheng in the Northern Song Dynasty invented the movable-type printing, which lauched a great revolution in the history of printing.Natural magnets were made into the first direction-finding compass by ancient Chinese people, which greatly improved a ship's ability to navigate over long distances.
