西部落：古灵精怪小发明

American ingenuity¹ begets² some whacky inventions

...the approaches, a book that would surely make America's founders³, Founding Fathers proud, maybe laugh a little bit too.The author of Gadget⁴ Nation explains why the freedom to go after your dreams can lead to some pretty whacky inventions.

Hi,I'm Steve Greenberg and I am the author of Gadget Nation.It's a book all about offbeat⁵ gadgets⁶ and the inventors behind them.It's kind of a fun look at a, kind of a strange,bizarre slice of Americana.So many the products that we use everyday are,are, go back to some individual inventors,sure a lot of them come from corporate⁷ inventors,and that's a different story.

But things like "WiteOut",the paper clip,the bobby pin,all those things are individual inventors.America is really about coming up with an idea,a little ingenuity,hard work,being an entrepreneur and making something wonderful out of it.

It was back in 2004, this particular night.I got up to went to get a drink of water and when I came back to get in the bed,I turned and ran into the end bedpost on our bed and glided⁸ back down the bed that night. I thought, why don't I just, you know,invent some bedroom slippers⁹ that have headlights on. Got up the next morning and that's how I got started.

I would hit the snooze button on the alarm clock every day for a couple hours and never be able to get myself out of bed on time.The first thing that came in, that came into my mind was to create an alarm clock that would actually run away from you.And then the idea is that you actually have to get out of bed,to look for it. And in that process, you wake up.

Some of them like my book profiles are kind of, you know, silly, they're not gonna save lives necessarily,but they do represent things that people want.

I need to come up with a solution to an everyday problem which is bird poop.Because I enjoy having the birds out the cage with me,and Mark got tired of seeing the poop on my back and all over the floor.We knew that the solution that we thought we've come up with for our own birds,was actually gonna have a much more mass appeal,than we originally thought.

And if you come up with a talking toilet paper roll. To risk your 401(k) or your kid's college fund over a product like this, I guess it takes guts¹⁰ and they really are about America,they really are the spirit of America.

offbeat:different from the usual; odd

401(k): The 401(k) plan is a type of employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement¹¹ plan under section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 401(k)) in the United States, and some other countries.

这本书会使美国的创建者，美国的开国元勋们感到自豪，或许会让他们忍俊不禁。Gadget Nation这本书的作者解释了为什么追求梦想的权利可能会导致一些怪诞的发明。

大家好，我是Steve Greenberg，Gadget Nation这本书的作者。这本书全部都是关于一些离奇的小机件和他们的发明人。这看上去很有趣，有点像美国文物比较怪异的一部分。这么多我们日常生活中都在使用的东西都是由个人发明的，当然有些是由公司的几个人合作发明的，那就另当别论了。

但是像涂改液，回形针，大头针这些东西都是由个人发明的。美国人经常从一个小点子，一点点创造力，再加上努力的工作，就能成为大的企业家，做出一番大事业。

这要追溯到2004年那个特别的夜晚。我起床去喝水，当我回到床上的时候，不小心撞到了床柱上又倒在床下了。我想，我为什么不发明一种卧室专用的带前灯的拖鞋呢。于是第二天早上起床之后我就开始实践这个想法了。

每次闹钟响的时候我都会懒洋洋的将按钮关掉，从来都没有准时起床过。我首先想到的是，为什么不发明一种可以跑开的闹钟，你必须起床来找到闹钟。在这个过程中，你就清醒过来了。

有一些发明，比如我的书的概要，看上去有点愚蠢，他们不会拯救生命，但是它们确实代表了人们想要的东西。

我需要想个办法来解决日常生活中鸟粪的问题。因为我喜欢把鸟从笼子里放出来，Mark讨厌看到我背上和地板上到处都是鸟粪。我们想出的办法是，大家应该集体呼吁，而不是像我们原来想到那样。

如果你想到一个会说话的厕纸卷，你可以冒险利用一下你的401(k)或者为孩子准备的大学基金。这是需要勇气的，这是真正的美国精神。

1 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

2 begets   

v.为…之生父( beget的第三人称单数 )；产生，引起

参考例句：

• It begets at least seven standard type offspring from such matings. 这类交配中生下至少七个标准型后代。 来自辞典例句
• Violence begets violence until the innocent perish with the guilty. 暴力招致暴力直到这因罪行而无缘无故的毁灭。 来自电影对白

3 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

4 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

5 offbeat   

adj.不平常的，离奇的

参考例句：

• She adores old,offbeat antiques.她非常喜欢那些稀奇古怪的老古董。
• His style is offbeat but highly creative.他的风格很不寻常但非常有创造力。

6 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

10 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。