美国有线新闻 CNN 2016-8-05（在线收听）

Earlier this month, the group of about 15 people reportedly got stuck in an elevator in Chicago's Willis Tower. In a separate incident, some USC football players who exceeded in elevator's weight limit got stuck in California.

What the two groups had in common besides the elevators are the safety measures that helped them all get out OK. They can thank a man named Otis.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drop a working stiff from the 19th century and modern day New York, what's the first thing he might notice?

Height. It's in the last century, cities across the world have gotten taller, much, much taller.

At the start of the 20th century, you'd be hard-pressed to find a building that was more than six stories high. Who wants to hop up a flight of stairs longer than that?

But then, the modern elevator arrived. And builders raced towards the heavens, constructing massive office skyscrapers containing millions of square feet.

Sure, the basic idea was nothing new. Primitive elevators have been around since 236 B.C., but they relied on manpower, lots of it.

By the mid-19th century, elevators were deriving their power from water and steam. But the ropes that they relied on weren't so reliable. And that's where Otis comes in. He developed a safety break that kept the elevator from freefalling of the rope broke.

It was an innovation that transformed business. Not only could people be shuttled up and down, but so could heavy freight. Now, companies could consolidate all of their operations and office furniture in a single building, and that improve accountability, communication and efficiency.

Employees could shuttle from one department to another with a push of a button and a short vertical ride.

Industries likewise didn't have to compete for geographically important locations. In the 1860s, New York City's financial district was so overcrowded, they considered moving it uptown. But then the elevator came along and allowed Wall Street o grow up. Today, there are an estimated 900,000 elevators in America alone, making 18 billion trips a year, and occasionally giving me vertigo.

本月初，有15人被困在芝加哥威利斯大厦的电梯里。另外，几名南加州大学橄榄球球员因超过电梯限重被困在加利福尼亚州的一个电梯里。

这两起事件的共同点除了都是电梯事故以外，还有帮助他们安全脱困的安全措施。他们要感谢一个叫奥的斯的人。

CNN记者蕾切尔·克莱恩：从19世纪到现在的纽约，他最先注意到的是什么？

高度。从上个世纪开始，世界各个城市建造的建筑越来越高。

在20世纪开始时，很难找到一座超过6层高的大楼。谁会想爬比6层楼还高的楼层呢？

但是之后，现代电梯被发明出来。建筑商开始向天堂推进，建造出数百万平方英尺的大型摩天办公大楼。

当然，基本想法并无新意。原始电梯在公元前236年左右发明，但是这种电梯要依靠人力来运行。

在19世纪中期左右，电梯以水力和蒸汽作为动力在19世纪中期左右，电梯的动。但是电梯要依靠的绳子却并不是那么可靠。这时，奥的斯参与了进来。他发明了一种安全的制动装置，能避免电梯因为绳子断裂而掉落。

这一发明改变了这个行业。不仅人们能乘坐电梯上下楼，同时电梯还能运载重物。现在，各公司可以把他们所有的业务和办公家具整合在一栋大楼里，这样就能加强问责、沟通和效率。

员工可以通过按下按钮和短途垂直行程，从一个部门移动到另一个部门。

同一行业不用为地理上的重要位置进行竞争。19世纪60年代时，纽约市金融区曾经拥挤不堪，他们考虑把金融区搬去市郊。而随后电梯的发明使华尔街逐渐发展起来。现在，仅美国就有约90万座电梯，每年运行180亿次，偶尔会让我头晕目眩。