尼古拉·特斯拉：工業革命的領航人

2022-12-15 13:50:14山東孫啟祿

瘋狂英語·新讀寫 2022年12期

山東孫啟祿

主題語境：人物篇幅：321詞關鍵詞：wizard,power,wireless

1Nikola Tesla holds his hat in his hand.He points his walking stick towards Niagara Falls and signals bystanders to turn their gaze to the future.This bronze Tesla—a statue on the Canadian side—stands at the top of an induction motor,the type of engine that drove the first hydroelectric power plant.

2We owe much of our modern electrified life to the lab experiments of the Serbian-American engineer born in1856in what's now Croatia.His designs advanced alternating current at the start of the electric age and allowed companies to send current over vast distances,powering American homes across the country.He developed the Tesla coil—a highvoltage transformer（高壓變壓器）—and techniques to send power wirelessly.Cellphone makers(and others)are just now using the potential of this idea.

3Tesla is perhaps best known for his extraordinary genius.He once proposed a system of towers that he believed could pull energy from the environment and send signals and electricity around the world,wirelessly.But his theories were unsound,and the project was never completed.He also claimed he had invented a“death ray”.

4In recent years,Tesla's mystery has begun to make his inventions seem less important.San Diego Comic-Con International attendees dress in Tesla costumes.The world's most famous electric car bears his name.The American Physical Society even has a Tesla comic book where,as in real life,he faces off against Thomas Edison.

5While he was really a genius,much of his reputation was of his own making.Tesla claimed to have accidentally caused an earthquake in New York City using a small steampowered electric generator he'd invented—Myth Busters showed the falseness of that idea.And Tesla didn't actually discover alternating current,as everyone thought.It was around for decades.But his theories,inventions and patents made Tesla a household name,rare for scientists a century ago.And even today,his legacy still turns the lights on.

Reading Check

1.Why does the author mention Tesla's statue in the first paragraph?

A.To identify his nationality.

B.To attract readers to visit the place.

C.To introduce the topic.

D.To show water can produce electricity.

2.What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?

A.People's evaluation of Tesla.

B.Some of Tesla's contributions.

C.Techniques to send power without wire.

D.Development of the high-voltage transformer.

3.What can we infer about Nikola Tesla and Edison from the fourth paragraph?

A.They didn't get on well.

B.They were good friends.

C.They helped each other.

D.They liked comic books.

4.What does the underlined word“It”most probably refer to in the last paragraph?

A.The idea.

B.The earthquake.

C.Electric generator.

D.Alternating current.

?語篇解碼

本文是一篇記敘文。尼古拉·特斯拉出生于1856年7月10日，是一位世界知名的發明家、物理學家、機械工程師和電氣工程師。19世紀末20世紀初，他在電力學和磁學方面做出了杰出貢獻。

?語言學習

Ⅰ.語料薈萃

Ⅱ.語句分析

1.We owe much of our modern electrified life to the lab experiments of the Serbian-American engineer born in 1856 in what's now Croatia.我們把現代電氣化生活在很大程度上歸功于1856年出生在現在的克羅地亞的塞爾維亞裔美國工程師的實驗室實驗。

【點石成金】We owe much of our modern electrified life to...Serbian-American engineer是句子的主干，born in 1856是過去分詞短語作定語，what引導的句子作介詞in的賓語。

2.While he was really a genius,much of his reputation was of his own making.雖然他的確是個天才，但他獲得的大部分聲譽都是由他自己創造的。

【點石成金】本句是一個復合句，much of his reputation was of his own making是主句，While在句中的意思是“雖然”，引導讓步狀語從句。