【翻译原文】
印刷术发明之前，想出版新书的学者必须一字一字地抄写。北宋时期，经过多年的实验，毕昇发明了活字印刷术(movable-type printing)。他把汉字刻在一小块泥胚(pieces of clay)上，加热汉字直到其变成硬的活字。印书时，人们按顺序将活字摆在一起，印出印迹。印刷完后，他们把字分开，以后重复使用。这种方法既经济又省时。中国的活字印刷术首先向东传至朝鲜和日本，之后向西传至波斯(Persia)和埃及，最后传遍全球。活字印刷术的发明大大促进了世界各国的文化交流。
【参考译文】
Before printing was invented, a scholar had to copycharacters one by one if he wanted to publish a newbook.During the Northern Song Dynasty, Bi Shenginvented the movable-type printing after many yearsof experimentation.He engraved the characters onsmall pieces of clay, and heated them until they became hard movable characters. When printinga book, people placed the moveable characters in order into a whole block and then ran off aprint.After printing, they took the block apart and reused the characters later. This method wasboth economical and time-saving. China's movable-type printing first spread eastward intoKorea and Japan, then westward into Persia and Egypt, and at last, around the world. Theinvention of movable-type printing greatly promoted the cultural exchanges among countriesall over the world.
