英语导读1000句[38]:Inventions

Section 38
Inventions

They say that the world’s first great invention was the wheel.
Perhaps we could argue that the discovery of fire was equally¹ as important.
Of course we don’t know who invented those.
But we do know about modern inventions.
Alexander Graham Bell, Marconi and Faraday are all associated² with inventions brought about as a result of electricity.
A Scotsman called Logie Baird is said to have invented the television.
And that has greatly changed our lives.
What other inventions have changed our lives in a big way?
Most of them probably.
China is famous for its early inventions of printing, the compass, gun powder etc.
Modern inventions will probably change our lives as much as older ones.
The computer has already started to modify³ the way that we live.
Communication seems to be the most dramatically⁴ effected by modern inventions.
The fax machine, mobile⁵ phones and Internet are bringing new changes almost daily.
Soon everyone will have a mobile phone that has easy access to the Internet.
Then we can expect to see pictures of the people we are talking to on the phone.
Television, telephone and computer will all be built into one small handheld machine.
And today these changes are happening faster than at any other time in our history.

1 equally   

adv.平等地；公平地

参考例句：

• Divide the cake into quarters and share it equally.把蛋糕分成四份，大家平均享用。
• The blue sky belongs equally to us all.蓝天为人所共有。

2 associated   

adj.联合的

参考例句：

• the risks associated with taking drugs 与吸毒有关的危险
• I don't want to be associated with your scheme; I'm contracting out. 我不想参与你们的计划，我要退出。

3 modify   

vt.修改；缓和；修饰，限制

参考例句：

• You'd better modify your tone.你最好说得婉转一点。
• Established practices are difficult to modify.既定的惯例是很难更改的。

4 dramatically   

ad.显著地

参考例句：

• His quality of life has improved dramatically since the operation. 手术后他的生活质量大大改善了。
• Our way of life has changed dramatically over the last ten years. 在过去10年里我们的生活方式发生了巨大的变化。

5 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。