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 思考问题 哪些品质可以形容托马斯·爱迪生，这些品质又对他的行为产生了什么影响？

a curious boy. From an early age, Thomas Edison loved to question things. He spent his whole life learning why and how things worked. Once he knew how things worked, he tried to figure out how to make them work better. Thomas Edison invented or improved over a thousand things, some of which we use every day. Many people think of him as one of the greatest American inventors of all time.

是个充满好奇心的男孩。 从很小的时候开始，托马斯·爱迪生就喜欢追问各种问题。 他一辈子都在钻研事物运作的原理与方式。 弄清楚事物的运作方式后，他还会想办法让它们变得更好用。 托马斯·爱迪生发明或改进了一千多件东西，其中不少我们现在每天都在使用。 很多人都认为他是美国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 as a boy, did not do well in school. In those days, students memorized facts. They didn't explore and their own questions, which is what Al loved to do. Al's mother took her son out of school and taught him at home. She taught him to love to read. His father gave Al 10 cents for every

小艾尔。 托马斯·阿尔瓦·爱迪生出生于1847年2月11日。 小时候大家都叫他艾尔，他在学校的成绩并不好。 那时候，学校只要求学生死记硬背知识点。 学生们不会探索自己的问题，可这偏偏是艾尔热爱做的事。 艾尔的妈妈把儿子接出学校，在家里亲自教他。 她教会了艾尔热爱阅读。 他的父亲会给艾尔十美分，每……

Al started to work on the railroad when he was 12 years old. He sold food and newspapers. Al used the money he earned to buy books and science supplies. He set up a lab in a baggage car until an accidental fire ended his experiments. Also around this time, Al lost most of his hearing. As an adult, he would say someone grabbed him by the ears and pulled him onto a train. When he was 15, Al saved a young boy's life. The boy was about to be run over by a boxcar when Al grabbed him. The child's thankful father offered to teach Al how to be a telegraph operator. As Al grew older, he traveled around the country as a telegraph operator. He wanted to be called Tom and continued to be interested in science. He spent much of the money he earned on books and supplies.

艾尔十二岁的时候就开始在铁路上工作了。 他售卖零食和报纸。 艾尔把赚来的钱用来买书和科学实验器材。 他在行李车厢里搭建了实验室，直到一场意外火灾终止了他在这里的实验。 差不多也是在这个时期，艾尔几乎失去了全部听力。 成年后，他回忆说当年是有人拽着他的耳朵把他拉上火车的。 艾尔十五岁的时候，救了一个小男孩的性命。 眼看小男孩就要被棚车撞到，艾尔一把冲过去拉住了他。 小男孩满怀感激的父亲主动提出，教艾尔怎么成为一名电报员。 艾尔长大后，以电报员的身份走遍了全国各地。 他希望大家叫他汤姆，并且依然对科学充满兴趣。 他把大部分收入都花在了买书和实验器材上。

Edison the inventor after a few years Edison decided to become a full -time inventor Some of his early inventions were improvements on the telegraph for example He found a way to send two messages and receive two messages at the same time Earlier telegraphs could only send or receive one. Edison received 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 几年后，爱迪生决定成为全职发明家，他早期不少发明都是对电报的改进 他找到了同时收发两条信息的方法，早期的电报一次只能收发一条信息。 1869年，爱迪生的电子计票器拿到了他人生中的第一项专利。 这项发明的市场反响并不好。 爱迪生没有停下发明的脚步。 他说无论发生什么，他都不会放弃。

A New Lab Edison found partners and began to build and sell some of his inventions. In 1876, he built a lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was the first for -profit research lab in the world. People called it the Invention Factory. There, Edison worked for many hours each day, and many of his workers stayed with him just as long.

新实验室 爱迪生找到了合作伙伴，开始制造售卖自己的部分发明。 1876年，他在新泽西州门洛帕克建起了一座实验室。 这是世界上第一家营利性研究实验室。 人们把它叫做“发明工厂”。 在这里，爱迪生每天都工作很长时间，他的很多员工也陪着他一起长时间工作。