美国学生历史 第146期:民主党与辉格党(6)

 　　Moreover, the key at the farther end of the line could be so arranged as to make an impression on a piece of paper that was slowly drawn¹ under it by clockwork. 而且，在这根导线更远一端的键可用于在一张纸上留下压痕，这个压痕是通过钟表装置慢慢留在纸上。

　　Now if the man at one end of the line held his key down for only an instant, this impression would look like a dot. 如果一个人在导线的一段按一下他的键，这个压痕就像一个点；

　　If he held it down longer, it would look like a short dash. 如果他按下的时间更长一点，压痕看起来就像一个短虚线。

　　Morse combined these dots and dashes into an alphabet. 摩尔斯将这些点和短虚线合并成一份字母表。

　　For instance, one dash meant the letter "t," and so on. 例如，一个短虚线的意思是字母"t"等等。

　　For a time people only laughed at Morse. 有一段时间人们只是嘲笑摩尔斯，

　　But at length Congress gave him enough money to build a line from Baltimore to Washington. 但是，国会最终给他足够的钱让他在华盛顿和巴尔的摩之间拉起一条电报线路，

　　It was opened in 1844, and proved to be a success from the beginning. 这条线于1844年开通，自开通就被证明是一个成功之举。

　　Other lines were soon built, and the Morse system, greatly improved, is still in use. 很快又有几条线路开通。经过大量改进的摩尔斯系统至今还在使用。

　　The telegraph made it possible to operate long lines of railroad, as all the trains could be managed from one office so that they would not run into one another. 电报使得长途火车的开通成为可能，因为所有的铁路都将通过电报归于一处领导，这将避免两辆火车撞在一起。

　　It also made it possible to communicate with people afar off and get an answer in an hour or so. 也使得与远处的人联系并在一个小时左右收到回答成为可能。

　　For both these reasons the telegraph was very important and with the railroads did much to unite the people of the different portions of the country. 由于这些原因，电报非常重要，它和铁路一起为将美国各地的人统一在一起做出了巨大贡献。

　　322. The McCormick Reaper². 322．麦考密克收割机

　　Every great staple³ depends for its production on some particular tool. 每一种重要作物的产量都依赖于特定的工具，

　　For instance, cotton was of slight importance until the invention of the cotton gin made it possible cheaply to separate the seed from the fiber⁴. 例如，在轧棉机使得将棉籽与棉纤维有可能轻易分离开来之前，棉花没有多大重要性；

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 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。

3 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

4 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。