There are many people who say Thomas Edison single-handedly invented the twentieth century. Although there are those who may disagree， one thing cannot be denied： Edison was a genius， and his inventions greatly affected the development of modern society.

有许多人认为是爱迪生一手创造了20世纪。虽然不少人可能有不同的看法，但有一件事无法否认：爱迪生是个天才，他的发明深刻地影响了现代社会的发展。

Born in 1847 in Ohio， Thomas Edison attended school for only three months. After his teacher claimed that he could not learn， Edison’s mother decided to teach him at home. There he was allowed to explore the subjects that most interested him. By age ten， Edison had built a science laboratory in the basement of his family’s home and had become an avid experimenter.

1847年，愛迪生出生于俄亥俄州。他仅仅上了三个月的学。在爱迪生的老师声称他有学习障碍之后，他的母亲决定在家教他。在家里，爱迪生可以随心所欲地探索最使他感兴趣的事物。十岁那年，爱迪生在家里的地下室建了一间科学实验室。从此，爱迪生就成了一位孜孜不倦的实验者。

Thomas Edison’s first invention was the automatic telegraph repeater. He was already an expert on the telegraph before he came up with a gadget that sent telegraph signals between unmanned stations. Thanks to Edison， people were then able to send several telegraph messages simultaneously.

电报自动转发器是爱迪生的第一个发明。他发明的这种装置，用于在无人看管的两站之间传输电报信号。在此项发明前，爱迪生就已经是位电报专家了。幸亏有爱迪生，我们才能在同一时间传送好几封电报讯息。

In his late twenties， Edison built an “invention factory” where he and his business partners could dedicate all their time to inventing. After improving upon the telephone， Edison created the phonograph， his favorite and most lucrative invention. Although Edison did not actually invent the light bulb， he did create an electric lighting system which led to its widespread use.

近三十岁时，爱迪生盖了一座“发明工厂”，可让他和他的同事专心致力于发明工作。在改进了电话功能后，爱迪生又发明了留声机，这是他最喜爱而且最能赚钱的一项发明。虽然爱迪生实际上并没有发明灯泡，但他的确发明了电力照明系统，这促进了灯泡的广泛使用。

A tireless achiever， Edison established the first central electric power station in 1882， enabling New York to be the first city in the world to have electric lights. This was the beginning of the modern world in which electricity became a way of life. Thomas Edison died at the age of eighty-four in 1931.

1882年，这位孜孜不倦的实践家建成了第一座中央电站，使纽约市成为世界上第一个有电力照明设备的城市。这就是现代世界的开始，用电成为人们的一种生活方式。爱迪生于1931年去世，享年八十四岁。

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