外國人最想和你聊的名人話題：愛迪生

　About Edison　關(guān)于愛迪生

     Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
     Edison is the third most prolific inventor in history, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He is credited with numerous inventions that contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. These included a stock ticker, a mechanical vote recorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures. His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison originated the concept and implementation of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses, and factories-a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His first power station was on Manhattan Island, New York.
     愛迪生是舉世聞名的美國電學(xué)家、科學(xué)家和發(fā)明家，被譽為"世界發(fā)明大王"。愛迪生同時也是一位偉大的企業(yè)家，1879年，愛迪生創(chuàng)辦"愛迪生電力照明公司"，1880年，白熾燈上市銷售，1890年，愛迪生已經(jīng)將其各種業(yè)務(wù)組建成為愛迪生通用電器公司。1891年，愛迪生的細燈絲、高真空白熾燈泡獲得專利。1892年，湯姆·休斯頓公司與愛迪生電力照明公司合并成立了通用電氣公司，開始了通用電氣在電器領(lǐng)域長達一個世紀的統(tǒng)治地位。愛迪生同時被譽為"光明之父""現(xiàn)實中的普羅米修斯""發(fā)明大王"，他擁有白熾燈、留聲機、碳粒電話筒、電影放映機等一千多項發(fā)明專利權(quán)。

     Listen to the story about Edison.
     聽一聽關(guān)于愛迪生的故事。
     Thomas Edison was a man of few words.
     托馬斯·愛迪生是個沉默寡言的人。
     Edison contributed much to the progress of man.
     愛迪生對人類的進步做出了巨大的貢獻。
     Edison had a great aptitude for inventing things.
     愛迪生具有發(fā)明創(chuàng)造的卓越才能。
     You know something about Edison, don't you?
     你知道有關(guān)托馬斯·愛迪生的事嗎？
     This discovery was patented as the "Edison effect".
     這個發(fā)現(xiàn)以"愛迪生效應(yīng)"獲得發(fā)明專利。
     Thomas Edison was a great scientist and an inventor.
     托馬斯·愛迪生是一個偉大的科學(xué)家和發(fā)明家。
     Edison invented any number of things during his life.
     愛迪生一生中發(fā)明了許多東西。
     Young Edison had a strong aspiration to be an inventor.
     年幼的愛迪生就渴望成為一名發(fā)明家。
     The young man is very clever; he may be another Edison.
     這個年輕人很聰明，他可能成為又一個愛迪生。
     But mostly Edison was stymied about how to meter electricity.
     困擾愛迪生的主要是如何計量電流的問題。
     Name some of Thomas Edison's contributions to science.
     請列舉一些托馬斯·愛迪生對科學(xué)的貢獻。
     I'm alone in Thomas Edison's office in West Orange, New Jersey.
     我獨自站在新澤西州西奧蘭治市托馬斯·愛迪生的辦公室里。
     Few people knew that Edison worked very hard for every invention.
     只有少數(shù)的人知道愛迪生為每個發(fā)明付出了多大努力。
     When he told this to Edison's mother, she took her son out of school.
     當他把這些告訴給愛迪生的媽媽后，她把兒子從學(xué)校領(lǐng)走了。
     If it weren't for Edison, we'd all be watching TV by candle light.
     如果沒有愛迪生的話，我們就只能點著蠟燭看電視了。
     Great men have often risen from poverty-Lincoln and Edison, for example.
     大人物常常出身貧寒，例如林肯和愛迪生。
     It all began in 1877 when Thomas Edison made the first recording of a human voice.
     一切始于1877年，這一年托馬斯·愛迪生第一次錄下了人的聲音。
     Thomas Edison was awarded more patents on inventions than any other American.
     托馬斯·愛迪生擁有的發(fā)明專利比其他任何一個美國人都多。
     The incandescent lamp we use in daily life was invented by Edison.
     我們?nèi)粘Ｉ钪杏玫陌谉霟羰菒鄣仙l(fā)明的。
     Thomas Edison said he liked people who had ideas.
     托馬斯·愛迪生說過他喜歡有思想的人。
     So much of what we take for granted in our daily lives is traceable back to Edison and his genius.
     在我們的日常生活中我們已經(jīng)習(xí)以為常的許多東西，都可以追溯到愛迪生和他的天才。
     You're listening to one of Edison's first phonographs playing The Whistler and His Dog.
     你現(xiàn)在聽到的是愛迪生第一批唱機之一播送的樂曲，曲名是《吹口哨的人和他的狗》。
     There is no one on the planet who does that better than Steve Jobs, really the Thomas Edison of our time.
     世上沒有比史蒂夫·喬布斯做得更好了，他是我們這個時代的托馬斯·愛迪生。
     So at the peak of his career Edison diverted his attention away from designing electrical devices to focus on the electrical delivery network itself.
     所以愛迪生在事業(yè)的頂峰時期，轉(zhuǎn)移了對設(shè)計電子設(shè)備的注意力，開始關(guān)注電力輸送網(wǎng)絡(luò)本身。
     In 2001 Gorlov won the Edison patent award for his invention.
     2001年，佐羅夫因這個發(fā)明而獲得了愛迪生專利獎。

     Mike: What's going on?
     麥克：發(fā)生什么事了？
     Daisy: The incandescent lamp is broken.
     黛西：白熾燈壞了。
     Mike: I can't see anything.
     麥克：我什么都看不到了。
     Daisy: Let's light the candles; I'll buy a new one tomorrow.
     黛西：我們把蠟燭點起來，我明天去買個新的。
     Mike: I'm really thankful for Edison now.
     麥克：我現(xiàn)在非常感激愛迪生。
     Daisy: Yes, it's him that gives us light.
     黛西：是的，是他給我們帶來了光亮。
     Mike: The incandescent lamp seems very simple.
     麥克：這個白熾燈看起來很簡單。
     Daisy: But he has failed hundreds of times in the course of inventing it.黛西：但他發(fā)明它的過程中失敗的上百次。
     Mike: I know, he is very patient.
     麥克：我知道，他非常有耐心。
     Daisy: Failure is the mother of success.
     黛西：失敗是成功之母。
     Mike: But I always fail in my exam.
     麥克：但我總是在考試中失敗。
     Daisy: That only means you do not study hard.
     黛西：那只能說你學(xué)習(xí)不努力。
     Mike: In my case, failure is not mother of success.
     麥克：像我這種情況，失敗并不是成功之母。