美国小学英语教材6:第219课 电灯的五十周年纪念(8)

（单词翻译）

During the strain¹ of searching for the right burner or filament² for the electric lamp, he never showed impatience³.

在为电灯寻找合适灯丝的压力中，他从未表现出急躁。

The first lamp that he made had a cotton thread for a filament, and it could burn for only forty-five hours.

他制造的第一盏灯中是一根细丝状的棉线，只能燃烧四十五小时。

A filament had to be discovered that would be still glowing⁴ at the end of six hundred hours.

他必须发现一种灯丝，在使用六百小时后仍可以发光。

The search began, and it led to all parts of the earth.

搜寻开始了，并延伸到了地球的各个角落。

Men went to the jungles of Ceylon, to India, and throughout the valley of the Amazon River in search of different kinds of bamboo.

人们前往锡兰的丛林、印度以及整个亚马逊河山谷，寻找各种竹子。

Over six thousand kinds of material were tested in thirteen months. One hundred thousand dollars were spent.

在13个月中测试了六千多种材料，花费了十万美元。

Hope, despair⁵, and disappointment followed one upon another, until finally one kind of bamboo was found that would burn for a long, long time.

希望、绝望和失望接踵而至，直到最后发现一种可以亮很长时间的竹子。

An old copy of a Chicago newspaper, dated December 31, 1879, printed the following two telegrams

1879年12月31日的一份芝加哥旧报纸刊登了下面两份电报，

which tell the story of the interest the world took in the experiments Edison was making for a filament that would last:

讲述了全世界对爱迪生寻找持久灯丝所做实验感兴趣的故事：

December 30, 11 a. m., 1879 To Prof. Thomas A. Edison Menlo Park, N. J.

1879年12月30日上午11点，致爱迪生教授，新泽西门洛帕克。

How long have your first lighted carbon horse-shoe electric lamps given continuous⁶ light? Editor, Tribune

您最先点亮的碳化马蹄电灯亮了多长时间？论坛报编辑。

Dec. 30, 4 p. m., 1879 To Editor Chicago Tribune Chicago, 111.One week today and still burning. Edison

1879年12月30日下午4点，致《芝加哥论坛报》的编辑，到今天已经亮了一周，而且仍然亮着。爱迪生。

There are 168 hours in a week; so men knew that the electric lamp had come to stay.

一周有168个小时，所以人们知道，电灯已经可以持续亮着了。

No matter what the cost was, a lamp that would burn this long was worth producing.无论成本是多少，一盏可以亮这么长时间的灯都值得生产。