Who Was Thomas Alva Edison 爱迪生

One day the Edisons couldn’t find six-year-old Al, as his family called him. They were visiting Al’s older sister and her husband on their farm. It was just outside of Milan, Ohio. The year was 1853.

Suddenly Al’s uncle had an idea. He ran out to the barn¹ and there he found Al sitting on a pile of straw². He was trying to hatch³ a goose egg. He had seen a hen sitting on her eggs when some baby chicks came out. Al wanted to make a baby goose come out of the egg.

The Edisons weren’t surprised. They had three other children, but their youngest, Al, was the most curious. He would be that way all of his long life.

The world was very different when Thomas Alva Edison was a child—no electric light to see by, no recorded music to listen to, no movies to watch. It was Edison who made all of these possible and much more, changing our lives forever. Edison firmly believed in inventions, ones that could make everyday life easier and more comfortable. That is exactly what he accomplished⁴.

Thomas Alva Edison was, perhaps, the greatest inventor of his time.
 

1 barn   

n.谷仓，饲料仓，牲口棚

参考例句：

• That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
• The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。

2 straw   

n.稻草，麦杆，吸管；adj.用稻草做的，用来作稻草的，麦杆色的，无价值的，象稻草人的，非正式民意测验所发现的

参考例句：

• The old peasant is twisting pieces of straw into a rope.这位老农民正把稻草搓成绳子。
• May I have a straw for my drink?给我一根喝饮料的吸管好吗？

3 hatch   

n.孵化，舱口；vt.孵，孵出，策划；vi. 孵化

参考例句：

• No one knows how the new plan will hatch out.谁也不知道这新方案将怎样制订出来。
• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。