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　　Thomas Edison: America’s Great Inventor

　　Thomas Edison’s major inventions were designed and built in the last years of the eighteen hundreds. However, most of them had their greatest effect in the twentieth century. His inventions made possible the progress of technology.

　　It is extremely difficult to find anyone living today who has not been affected in some way by Thomas Edison. Most people on Earth have seen some kind of motion picture or heard some kind of sound recording. And almost everyone has at least seen an electric light.

　　These are only three of the many devices Thomas Edison invented or helped to improve. People living in this century have had easier and more enjoyable lives because of his inventions.

　　Thomas Edison did not enjoy talking to reporters. He thought it was a waste of time. However, he did talk to a reporter in nineteen seventeen. He was seventy years old at the time and still working on new devices and inventions.

　　The reporter asked Mister Edison which of his many inventions he enjoyed the most. He answered quickly, the phonograph. He said the phonograph was really the most interesting. He also said it took longer to develop a machine to reproduce sound than any other of his inventions.

　　Thomas Edison told the reporter that he had listened to many thousands of recordings. He especially liked music by Brahms, Verdi and Beethoven. He also liked popular music.

　　Many of the reco4rdings that Thomas Edison listened to in nineteen seventeen can still be enjoyed today. His invention makes it possible for people around the world to enjoy the same recorded sound.

　　In nineteen thirteen, a popular magazine at the time called Thomas Edison the most useful man in America. In nineteen twenty-eight, he received a special medal of honor from the Congress of the United States.

　　Thomas Edison died on January sixth, nineteen thirty-one. In the months before his death he was still working very hard. He had asked the government for legal protection for his last invention. It was patent number one thousand ninety-three.

　　2.托马斯.爱迪生:伟大的美国发明家

　　托马斯.爱迪生的主要发明成果是在十九世纪的最后几年里构思并创造出来的.然而,这些发明创造所产生的最为强烈的影响则是在二十世纪.他的发明成果使科技进步成为了可能.

　　要想在当今世界找出没有在某种程度上受过托马斯.爱迪生影响的人实在是太困难了.世界上大多数人要么看过某个电影,要么听过某个录音.几乎所有人至少曾见电灯.

　　上述发明创造仅仅是托马斯.爱迪生亲自发明或帮助改善的众多发明创造中的三种.正是因为有他的发明,在本世纪的人们才能过上更加方便,快乐的生活.

　　托马斯.爱迪生不喜欢和记者交谈,他认为这是一种时间上的浪费.不过,1917年他的的确确和一位记者作过交谈.当时他已经七十岁了仍然致力于新的发明创造.

　　记者问爱迪生先生最喜欢自己众多发明创造中的哪一项.他迅速地回答:留声机.他说留声机的确是最有意思的.他还说,比起自己的其他发明,研制复制声音的机器化了更多的时间.

　　托马斯.爱迪生告诉记者他听过成千上万张唱片.他尤其喜欢勃拉姆斯.威尔地贝多芬的音乐.他也喜欢流行音乐.

　　托马斯.爱迪生1917年听过的音乐唱片中,有很多在今天仍然可以听到,他的发明创造使全世界的人能够享受被记录下来的相同的音乐.

　　1913年,当地的一份颇受欢迎的杂志称托马斯.爱迪生为美国最有用的人.1928年他收到了美国国会授予的一枚特别荣誉奖章.

　　托马斯.爱迪生于1931年1月6日去世.在去世之前的几个月里他仍然不辞辛劳地工作着.那时,他已为自己的最后一项发明向政府申请了法律保护,这是他的第1093项专利.