美国学生历史 第93期:1800年的美国(4)

 　　234. Whitney's Cotton Gin, 1793. 234．伊利o惠特尼的轧棉机（1793年）

　　Eli Whitney was a Connecticut schoolmaster. 伊利o惠特尼是康涅狄格州的一名教师，

　　He went to Georgia to teach General Greene's children. 他去佐治亚州给格林将军的孩子上课。

　　He was very ingenious, and one day Mrs. Greene suggested to him that he might make a machine which would separate the cotton fiber¹ from the cotton seed. 伊利o惠特尼非常有独创性。一天格林夫人建议他制造一个可以将棉花纤维与棉籽分离开来的机器，

　　Whitney set to work and soon made an engine or gin, as he called it, that would do this. 惠特尼开始研制，很快他就做出了一个机器，或者用他的话说，他做出了一个轧棉机。这个机器可以完成将棉纤维与棉籽脱离开来的工作。

　　The first machine was a rude affair. 第一台机器非常粗糙，

　　But even with it one slave could clean one hundred pounds of cotton in a day. 即便如此，一个奴隶也可以用它在一天时间加工一百磅棉花。

　　Mrs. Greene's neighbors promptly² broke into Whitney's shop and stole his machine. 格林夫人的邻居迅速闯进惠特尼的工作间，并偷走了这台机器。

　　Whitney's cotton gin made the growing of cotton profitable and so fastened slavery on the South. 惠特尼的轧棉机给棉花种植带来利益，并因此加固了南方的奴隶制。

　　With the exception of the steam locomotive and the reaper³, no invention has so tremendously influenced the history of the United States. 除了蒸汽机和收割机，没有什么发明如轧棉机这样深深地影响了美国的历史。

　　235. Colonial Manufactures. 235．殖民地时期的制造业

　　Before the Revolutionary War there were very few mills or factories in the colonies. 在革命战争之前，在各个殖民地几乎没有作坊或者工厂，

　　There was no money to put into such undertakings⁴ and no operatives to work the mills if they had been built. 没有钱投资到这些行业，而且，即使有这些行业也没有相应的社团组织来经营它。

　　The only colonial manufactures that amounted to much were the making of nails and shoes. 殖民地的制造业充其量就是制造钉子和鞋子，

　　These articles could be made at home on the farms, in the winter, when no work could be done out of doors. 冬天户外没有活干的时候可以在农场的家里做这些东西。

1 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

2 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

3 reaper   

n.收割者，收割机

参考例句：

• The painting is organized about a young reaper enjoying his noonday rest.这幅画的画面设计成一个年轻的割禾人在午间休息。
• A rabbit got caught in the blades of the reaper.一只兔子被卷到收割机的刀刃中去了。

4 undertakings   

企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务

参考例句：

• The principle of diligence and frugality applies to all undertakings. 勤俭节约的原则适用于一切事业。
• Such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations. 此举要求军事上战役中所需要的准确布置和预见。