美国小学英语教材6:第219课 电灯的五十周年纪念(8)

During the strain¹ of searching for the right burner or filament² for the electric lamp, he never showed impatience³.

在为电灯寻找合适灯丝的压力中，他从未表现出急躁。

The first lamp that he made had a cotton thread for a filament, and it could burn for only forty-five hours.

他制造的第一盏灯中是一根细丝状的棉线，只能燃烧四十五小时。

A filament had to be discovered that would be still glowing⁴ at the end of six hundred hours.

他必须发现一种灯丝，在使用六百小时后仍可以发光。

The search began, and it led to all parts of the earth.

搜寻开始了，并延伸到了地球的各个角落。

Men went to the jungles of Ceylon, to India, and throughout the valley of the Amazon River in search of different kinds of bamboo.

人们前往锡兰的丛林、印度以及整个亚马逊河山谷，寻找各种竹子。

Over six thousand kinds of material were tested in thirteen months. One hundred thousand dollars were spent.

在13个月中测试了六千多种材料，花费了十万美元。

Hope, despair⁵, and disappointment followed one upon another, until finally one kind of bamboo was found that would burn for a long, long time.

希望、绝望和失望接踵而至，直到最后发现一种可以亮很长时间的竹子。

An old copy of a Chicago newspaper, dated December 31, 1879, printed the following two telegrams

1879年12月31日的一份芝加哥旧报纸刊登了下面两份电报，

which tell the story of the interest the world took in the experiments Edison was making for a filament that would last:

讲述了全世界对爱迪生寻找持久灯丝所做实验感兴趣的故事：

December 30, 11 a. m., 1879 To Prof. Thomas A. Edison Menlo Park, N. J.

1879年12月30日上午11点，致爱迪生教授，新泽西门洛帕克。

How long have your first lighted carbon horse-shoe electric lamps given continuous⁶ light? Editor, Tribune

您最先点亮的碳化马蹄电灯亮了多长时间？论坛报编辑。

Dec. 30, 4 p. m., 1879 To Editor Chicago Tribune Chicago, 111.One week today and still burning. Edison

1879年12月30日下午4点，致《芝加哥论坛报》的编辑，到今天已经亮了一周，而且仍然亮着。爱迪生。

There are 168 hours in a week; so men knew that the electric lamp had come to stay.

一周有168个小时，所以人们知道，电灯已经可以持续亮着了。

No matter what the cost was, a lamp that would burn this long was worth producing.无论成本是多少，一盏可以亮这么长时间的灯都值得生产。

1 strain   

n.紧张，拉紧，血统；v.劳累，拉紧，过份使用

参考例句：

• Strain the fat off before you serve the soup.在上汤前把里面的油滤掉。
• He had a muscular strain.他肌肉过劳。

2 filament   

n.细丝；长丝；灯丝

参考例句：

• The source of electrons in an electron microscope is a heated filament.电子显微镜中的电子源，是一加热的灯丝。
• The lack of air in the bulb prevents the filament from burning up.灯泡内缺乏空气就使灯丝不致烧掉。

3 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

4 glowing   

adj.白热的，通红的

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness. 她满脸幸福。
• Their new musical opened to glowing reviews. 他们的新音乐剧受到热烈好评。

5 despair   

vi.灰心丧气，感到沮丧绝望；n.绝望，沮丧

参考例句：

• If you are in the depths of despair,you will be extremely unhappy.如果你彻底地失望，你会十分不开心。
• Don't despair;things will get better soon.不必绝望，事情不久就会好起来。

6 continuous   

adj.继续的，连续的，持续的，延伸的

参考例句：

• She finally got in after 10 years'continuous effort.坚持不懈地努力了十年后，她终于当选了。
• We must be continuous to study.我们必须不断学习。