读者文摘:改变历史的意外时刻(1)

A melted candy bar helps create the microwave oven.

一款融化的糖果促进了微波炉的发明。

Percy Spencer was so fascinated by the sinking of the Titanic¹ that he became a scientist.

珀西·斯宾瑟对泰坦尼克号的沉没非常着迷，以至于他成为了一名科学家。

He joined the Navy, trained as a radio electrician, and ultimately became a civilian² expert on radar³ during World War II,

他加入了海军，受训成为无线电电工，并最终在二战期间成为一名民用雷达专家，

earning the Distinguished⁴ Public Service Award for his work.

凭他的工作赢得杰出公共服务奖。

But he did it all without ever having graduated from high school.

而他这一切都是在高中没有毕业的情况下完成的。

After the war, Spencer worked for Raytheon Manufacturing, a defense⁵ contractor⁶.

战后，斯宾塞为雷声制造公司工作，这是一家国防承包商。

As he was walking near the radar equipment one day, he absent-mindedly stuck his hand in his shirt pocket—and found a gooey mess.

一天，当他走到雷达设备附近时，他心不在焉地把手伸进衬衫口袋，发现了一团黏糊糊的东西。

Spencer often carried a Mr. Peanut candy bar to feed the squirrels at lunch.

斯宾瑟经常带一个花生糖果在午餐时喂松鼠。

He knew enough about radar to suspect that its heat-producing magnetron waves could be the culprit, but he wasn’t sure.

他对雷达有足够的了解，怀疑它产生热量的磁控管波可能是罪魁祸首，但他不确定。

So he placed a bag of popcorn⁷ kernels⁸ in front of the machine— and they popped.

于是他把一袋玉米粒放在机器前，结果玉米粒就爆了出来。

Then came a raw egg, which dutifully exploded all over a skeptical⁹ colleague’s face.

然后又拿来一个生鸡蛋，它尽职地炸了一个持怀疑态度的同事一脸。

Spencer fine-tuned his discovery with Raytheon and marketed it to airlines, railways, restaurants,

斯宾瑟和雷声公司对他的发现进行了微调，并将其作为“雷达炉”推广到航空公司、铁路、餐馆、

and cruise liners as “the Radarange”—or, as it’s known now, the microwave oven.

客轮公司-它就是我们现在所说的微波炉。

Fortunately, microwaves have come a long way since 1947,

幸运的是，微波炉自1947年以来走了很长的一段路，

when they stood nearly six feet tall, weighed 750 pounds, and cost $3,000. That’s roughly $35,000 today.

那时它们高近6英尺，重750磅，价值3000美元。那差不多相当于今天的35000美元。

A coconut¹⁰ saves JFK’s life. August 2, 1943, began as a cloudy, moonless night in the South Pacific for 26-year-old Navy lieutenant¹¹ John F. Kennedy.

一个椰子救了肯尼迪的命。1943年8月2日，26岁的海军中尉约翰·F·肯尼迪在南太平洋开始了一个多云、没有月亮的夜晚。

As Kennedy and his crew patrolled the Solomon Islands from their boat, PT-109, a Japanese destroyer pierced through the fog and sliced the smaller ship in half.

当肯尼迪和他的船员们乘坐PT-109号船在所罗门群岛巡逻时，一艘日本驱逐舰穿过雾气，把他们的小船劈成了两半。

An enormous fireball filled the sky, and two men aboard PT-109 were killed.

一个巨大的火球充满了天空，PT-109号船上两个人身亡。

As Kennedy and ten other survivors¹² huddled¹³ around the wreck¹⁴, they realized they had no choice but to swim to a nearby island.

肯尼迪和其他十个幸存者挤在沉船周围，他们发现别无选择，只能游到附近的一个岛上。

Kennedy, a former member of the Harvard swim team, personally towed one of his wounded comrades with his teeth

肯尼迪曾是哈佛游泳队的一名成员，他用牙齿拖着一名受伤的战友，

for five hours through shark- and crocodile-infested waters to Plum Pudding Island, where they ate coconuts¹⁵ to survive.

游了5个小时穿过鲨鱼和鳄鱼出没的水域，来到葡萄干布丁岛，在那里他们靠吃椰子生存。

After several days, the men flagged down two Solomon Islands natives passing in a canoe, who agreed to take a message to the Allied¹⁶ forces.

几天后，这些人挥手示意两名乘船经过的所罗门群岛的土著，他们同意给盟军捎口信。

The dispatch was carved into a coconut shell: “NAURO ISL ... COMMANDER ... NATIVE KNOWS POS’IT ... HE CAN PILOT ... 11 ALIVE ... NEED SMALL BOAT ... KENNEDY.”

急件被刻到了椰子壳上：“诺鲁岛...长官...本地人知道在哪里...他可以领航...有11个人还活着...需要小船...肯尼迪。”

The islanders delivered the coconut, and the men were soon rescued.

岛民们把椰子送了出去，这些人很快就获救了。

Years later, Judge Ernest W. Gibson Jr., a colonel in the South Pacific during the war, surprised the newly elected President Kennedy with a gift.

几年后，法官小欧内斯特·W·吉布森送给新当选的肯尼迪总统一份礼物，令他大吃一惊。吉布森战时在南太平洋任上校。

It was the coconut he had carved his message into. Kennedy had it encased in plastic and used it as a paperweight throughout his presidency¹⁷.

礼物就是他当时刻字的椰子。肯尼迪把它用塑料包裹起来，并在他的总统任期内把它用作镇纸。

Today, it is on permanent display at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.

如今，它在波士顿的约翰·肯尼迪图书馆永久展出。

1 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

4 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

7 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

8 kernels   

谷粒( kernel的名词复数 )； 仁； 核； 要点

参考例句：

• These stones contain kernels. 这些核中有仁。
• Resolving kernels and standard errors can also be computed for each block. 还可以计算每个块体的分辨核和标准误差。

9 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

10 coconut   

n.椰子

参考例句：

• The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
• The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。

11 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

12 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

13 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

14 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

15 coconuts   

n.椰子( coconut的名词复数 )；椰肉，椰果

参考例句：

• We found a bountiful supply of coconuts on the island. 我们发现岛上有充足的椰子供应。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Coconuts provide "meat", drink, oil, soap and fiber for fishing line. 椰子提供“肉类”，饮料、油脂、肥皂和做钓（鱼）丝的纤维。 来自百科语句

16 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

17 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。