新奇事件簿 13岁发明盲文打印机

A 13-year-old American has made a cheap machine that can help blind people read. People who cannot see canread by using Braille – a system of small bumps that people touch to read the letters. Machines that makethese small bumps into words, sentences and paragraphs are very expensive. They are called Braille embossers and usually cost at least $2,000. The American teenager, Shubham Banerjee, made a new Braille embosser from a Lego kit¹ that lets people create robots. It costs just $350. Banerjee has called his new device theBraigo – a combination of the words Braille and Lego. It works by translating electronic text into Braille and then printing it using a computer or mobile device.

一名13岁的美国人创造出了一种能够帮助盲人阅读的廉价机器。盲人可以通过盲文来阅读，这一系统有许多小突起，盲人可以通过触摸来识别文字。这一机器将这些小突起变成了文字、句子、段落，这一机器价格昂贵。人们把它叫作盲文打印机，最便宜的也在2000美金，Shubham Banerjee是盲文打印机的制造者，他运用的是人们用来制作机器人的乐高玩具。它的价格只有350美金。Banerjee把他的发明叫作“Braigo”，这是盲文和乐高的结合。它的制作方式就是将电子文本转换成盲文，之后用电脑或是移动设备将其打印出来。

Banerjee designed his Braigo last year for a school science fair. Since then, he has caught the interest of Silicon² Valley in the USA. The technology giant Intel invested in Banerjee's machine last November, but they did not say how much money they put in. Banerjee also got $35,000 from his father to help him start the project. His father works as a computer engineer at Intel. He spoke³ about why he gave so much money to his son, saying: "We as parents started to get involved more, thinking that he's on to something and this innovation process has to continue." Banerjee told the AP news agency that: "My end goal would probably behaving most of the blind people...using my Braille printer."

去年在学校的科技展览中，Banerjee设计出了Braigo。自此以后，他受到了美国硅谷的兴趣。科技巨头因特网在去年对Banerjee的机器进行了投资，但是并没有透露具体数额。Banerjee的爸爸提供了他35,000美金，帮助他开始这一计划。他的爸爸是因特网的一名电脑工程师。他说出了为儿子投资的原因，他说：“我们作为父母会更多地参与其中，我们会认为他在做什么大事情，他的发明之路还将继续。”Banerjee对美联社说：“我最终的目标就是让大多数盲人使用我的盲文打印机。”

1 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。