TV Remote Control Inventor Dies

 　　The inventor whose device enabled people to watch TV without ever having to get up to change the channel has died.

　　Eugene Polley, who developed the first wireless¹ television remote control, was 96-years-old when he died Sunday in Chicago.

　　Polley was an engineer with Zenith Electronics in 1955 when he built a hand-held box that pointed² a beam of light at the television set. The box let viewers change channels and turn the set on and off, alleviating³ the need to get up to walk to the TV.

　　Over the years, the remote control has gone from a novel luxury to what many people consider a necessity.

　　During his 47-year career as an engineer, Polley earned 18 U.S. patents. His other innovations include push-button car radios and the video disc - the forerunner⁴ of today's DVDs.

1 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 alleviating   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• If it's alleviating pain,who knows what else it's doing? 如果它减轻了疼痛，天知道还影响什么？
• Measuring poverty is not the same as alleviating it, of course. 当然，衡量贫困和减轻贫困是截然不同的。

4 forerunner   

n.前身，先驱（者），预兆，祖先

参考例句：

• She is a forerunner of the modern women's movement.她是现代妇女运动的先驱。
• Penicillin was the forerunner of modern antibiotics.青霉素是现代抗生素的先导。