Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison. Written by Joanne C. Wachter. Focus Question. What traits describe Thomas Edison, and how did they affect his actions?

托马斯·爱迪生。 作者：乔安妮·C·瓦赫特。 探究问题。 托马斯·爱迪生有哪些特质，这些特质如何影响了他的行为？

A Curious Boy Thomas Edison loved to question things. He loved to learn how things worked. He also loved to make things work better. Many people think of him as one of the greatest inventors of all time.

好奇的男孩 托马斯·爱迪生总喜欢追问事物的原因。 他总想要弄清楚万物运行的原理。 他还喜欢改良现有事物，让它们更好用。 很多人都认为他是有史以来最伟大的发明家之一。

Young Al Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847. Al, as he was called, did not do well in school. He wanted to question and explore. At that time, school was mostly about remembering facts. Al's mom took him out of school and taught him at home. She taught him to love to read.

小艾尔 托马斯·阿尔瓦·爱迪生出生于1847年2月11日。 大家都叫他艾尔，他在学校的成绩并不好。 他热爱提问和探索新鲜事物。 那时候的学校，教学内容基本就是死记硬背知识点。 艾尔的妈妈把他接出学校，亲自在家教导他。 她教会了艾尔热爱阅读。

Al sold food and newspapers on trains when he was 12 years old. He used the money he earned to buy books and materials for experiments. He set up a lab in a train car. Also around this time, Al lost most of his hearing. When he was fifteen, Al saved a boy's life. The boy was about to be run over by a boxcar when Al grabbed him. The child's father offered to teach Al how to be a telegraph operator. As Al grew older, he traveled around as a telegraph operator. He continued to be interested in science.

艾尔12岁的时候，在火车上卖食品和报纸。 他用赚来的钱买实验需要的书籍和材料。 他在一节火车车厢里搭建了自己的实验室。 差不多也是在这个时候，艾尔几乎丧失了听力。 艾尔15岁那年，救了一个小男孩的命。 当时男孩马上就要被棚车撞到，艾尔一把拉开了他。 男孩的父亲提出教艾尔成为电报员，以此答谢他。 艾尔长大后，一边做电报员一边四处游历。 他一直对科学保持着浓厚的兴趣。

Edison the inventor Edison wanted to invent things full time. He invented ways to make the telegraph better. He earned his first patent for an electric vote counter in 1869. The invention did not do well. Edison continued to invent. He said he would not give up, no matter what happened.

发明家爱迪生 爱迪生想要全身心投入发明创造。 他发明了改良电报技术的方法。 1869年，他拿到了人生第一项专利：电子计票器。 这项发明推广得并不顺利。 爱迪生始终没有停下发明的脚步。 他说，不管发生什么，他都不会放弃。

a new lab. Edison began building and selling some of his inventions. In 1876, he built a lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was the first research lab in the world built to make money. Many people called it the invention factory. Edison and his workers were there many hours each day.

新实验室。 爱迪生开始制作并出售自己的部分发明。 1876年，他在新泽西州门洛帕克建起了一座实验室。 这是世界上第一座以盈利为目的建造的研究实验室。 很多人把它叫做“发明工厂”。 爱迪生和他的助手每天都在这里工作很长时间。