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  PRODUCTS OF THE CENTURY(1)
二十世纪最伟大的产品（1）

 

 
显示原图☆Legos(1958)
　The plastic Lego block was introduced in 1949, and since then slightly more than 203 billon have been made. It seems safe to assume that at least ten billion are under sofa cushions, three billion are inside vacuum cleaners, and right now a barefoot parent has just stepped on one. Legos got their start as Automatic Binding Bricks, invented by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a master carpenter in Billund, Denmark. The first ones looked much like today's, with a key difference: The stud-and -coupling system that allows kids to snap the bricks together wasn't introduced until 1958. There are now 2,000 different Lego elements, and Lego theme parks in the U.S., Britain, and Denmark.
　　Lego塑料积木1949年问世。从那时起到现在已经生产了超过2，030亿块塑料积木。我们可以肯定地说，至少有100亿块用在沙发垫下，30亿块用在真空吸尘器里，还有许多当作地板砖使用。Legos的前身是自动粘砖，由丹麦比尔兰德的木工巨匠欧里·科克·科里斯田森发明。第一批Lego积木和今天的很像，但是有一个重要差别：那个允许孩子们把砖块粘在一起的粘接系统是直到1958年才开始使用的。当今有2，000个不同的Lego部门和Lego主题乐园，他们分布在美国，英国及丹麦。
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☆Paper clip (1900)
　 　Oh, sure, the technological revolution of the past 20 years has wrought some amazing changes in the workplace. Now, instead of spending half an hour typing a letter, it is possible to waste half an hour cursing a broken printer. But when it comes to epic changes in office life, consider the lowly paper clip. Before Norwegian Johan Vaaler devised a bent metal clip in 1990, papers were secured by straight pins, which had the predictable effect of gouging their recipients. Vaaler, alas, didn't realize the import of what he had done and sold his patent to a stationer. Gem Manufacturing of Britain soon introduced its own version, a design still widely used today.
　　噢，没错，过去20多年的技术革命使工作间发生了惊人的变化。现在，我们可能是用半小时的时间去诅咒一台出毛病的打印机，而不是用半小时来打一个字。但是说到办公室划时代的变革，不得不提到小小的曲别针。在挪威人约安·瓦勒于1990年发明这种弯曲的金属小夹子之前，文件是用明显会划伤接收者的直针固定在一起的。遗憾的是，瓦勒没有认识到他此项发明的重大意义，而是把专利权售给一位文具商。英国宝石制造公司很快设计出自己的版本，这个版本直到今天仍广为应用。

 

 

 

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☆DC-3 (1936)
　　To answer the obvious question: Yes, there was a DC-1 and a DC-2. Donald Douglas built the DC-1 in 1933 to fill an order from TWA, which wanted a passenger plane similar to the recently launched Boeing 247. Douglas introduced the slightly improved DC-2 a year later, but it was the DC-3 that revolutionized air travel. Built for American Airlines, it flew across the country in record time---17 hours and 30 minutes, six hours faster than the DC-2. The decreased flight time led to a 500% rise in air travel between 1936 and the start of World War II. Dougalas' planes were then drafted into service to ferry troops and armaments around Europe. The company eventually produced more than 10,000 military and commercial versions of the DC-3.
　　我们知道这个问题的答案：是的，曾经有过DC-1和DC-2。1933年，多纳达·道格拉斯制造了DC-1来满足TWA的定单，这是一架与最近出产的波音247相似的客机。一年后，道格拉斯制造出稍加改进的DC-2。但是，是DC-3给航空旅行带来翻天覆地的变化。这架为美国航空公司制造的DC-3以17小时30分钟的破记录时间飞越美国，比DC-2快6个小时。从1936年到二战开始，由于飞行时间的缩短，航空旅行增加了500%。随后，道格拉斯的飞机被用来运输军队和武器到欧洲。公司最终生产了10，000多架DC-3军用和商用飞机。

 

 

 

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☆Vacuum cleaner (1907)
　　Remember that scene from 20,000 Leagues under the Sea in which the Nautilus is menaced by a giant squid? The first vacuum cleaners worked something like that. They were mounted on wagons outside of houses, and rubber hoses snaked inside to suction dirt from carpets, draperies, and davenports. Homeowners, not surprisingly, found this inconvenient, creating a demand for the product invented in 1907 by James Murray Spangler: the smaller, less intimidating in-home vacuum cleaner. After trying to sell his invention on his own, Spangler joined with William Hoover, and Hoover Co. was born. An enduring mystery: why the upright vacuum cleaner is known as the Hoover rather than the Spangler.
　　记不记得《海底20，000个团队》中纳提拉斯被一只巨大的鱿鱼威胁的情景？第一批真空吸尘器工作起来就有点儿像这个样子。他们被安装在室外的马车上，橡胶管盘旋其中吸取地毯上、窗帘上、以及沙发上的灰尘。不难想象，家庭主妇们觉得很不方便，从而引起了1907年詹穆士·马瑞·斯潘格勒的发明。他设计的室内真空吸尘器小的多，也不那么令人生畏的。斯潘格勒本想自己销售这个产品，但后来加入了威廉·呼尔并组建了呼尔公司。这就是为什么人们一直迷惑不解：直立的真空吸尘器不是以斯潘格勒而是以呼尔的名字命名的。