The Versatile Lead Pencil
萬(wàn)能的鉛筆
1. The lead pencil is one of the most used pieces of merchandise in the world. It is the simplest, most convenient and least expensive of all writing instruments.
1、鉛筆是這個(gè)世界上使用的最多的商品之一。在所有的書寫工具中，它最簡(jiǎn)單，最方便，最便宜。
2. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the lead pencil is that it is not lead at all. And it is not a pencil. The "lead" is actually graphite from the Greek word "to write." The word "pencil" is from Latin. The first pencils were fine or stiff brushes of hair.
2、可能關(guān)于鉛筆最讓人吃驚的事情是它根本就不是鉛做的，而英語(yǔ)PENCIL也不是筆的意思。所謂的鉛實(shí)際上是石墨，英語(yǔ)的“LEAD”源自希臘語(yǔ)的“寫”。英語(yǔ)中的“PENCIL”源自拉丁語(yǔ)，是指用毛制作的細(xì)致的硬刷子。
3. American pencil makers turn out their product by the millions. Probably there is no more useful article in the world. As one wise person remarked: “Everything begins with a pencil. Whether it's a pin or a battleship, it is first rendered with a pencil."
3、美國(guó)的鉛筆制造商生產(chǎn)了數(shù)以百萬(wàn)計(jì)的鉛筆。在這個(gè)世界上可能沒(méi)有比鉛筆更有用的東西了。因?yàn)橐粋�(gè)智者曾經(jīng)這樣評(píng)述“一切都開始于一支鉛筆，無(wú)論它是一個(gè)別針還是一艘戰(zhàn)艦，它的第一個(gè)表述都來(lái)自一支鉛筆。”
4. There is a pencil for every purpose. In fact, the industry now supplies 370 different types and styles in more than 70 different colors and in 18 degrees of hardness.
4、一支鉛筆可以用于不同的書寫目的。事實(shí)上，工業(yè)界現(xiàn)在提供著370種不同種類不同風(fēng)格、超過(guò)70種不同顏色、18種不同硬度的鉛筆。
5. Some write clearly on slippery surfaces, such as glass and plastic. Surgeons use a special pencil for outlining the operation area on the patient's skin, and packing-plants use another type to write identification on sides of beef. There is even a special electric pencil used for tests checked by electronic machines.
5、某些鉛筆可以在光滑的表面諸如玻璃、塑料上清晰書寫。外科醫(yī)生使用一種特殊的鉛筆在病人的皮膚上勾勒出手術(shù)區(qū)域。包裝廠使用另外一種類型的鉛筆在牛肉的側(cè)面寫上識(shí)別號(hào)碼。甚至有一種用來(lái)協(xié)助電子儀器進(jìn)行測(cè)試的特殊的電子筆。
6. There are many novelty pencils. Some have the Ten Commandments, calendars or the multiplication table on them. Some are in the shape of umbrellas, canes, baseball bats and traffic signals. One may be 12 feet long, while others are only 1/2 inch.
6、還有許多新穎的鉛筆。有的上面有（基督教的教條的）十誡、日歷或者乘法表。有的鉛筆被做成雨傘、手杖、棒球、甚至交通信號(hào)燈的樣子。有的可能長(zhǎng)達(dá)12英尺，而另有一些只有半英寸長(zhǎng)。
7. One recent novelty is a pencil with paper in it. A small roll of paper fits in the center of the pencil and is drawn out through a slit in the side. It's just the thing for those who are always looking for a scrap of paper.
7、最近的一種新奇鉛筆，里面有一卷紙。小小的一卷紙恰好放在鉛筆的中央部分，紙可以通過(guò)在鉛筆邊的縫抽出來(lái)。它適用于那些總是需要小紙片的人。
8. A popular idea is that a check, will, or other legal paper written in pencil is not legal. This is not true. Any legal document which does not specify otherwise can be legally signed in pencil.
8、一般認(rèn)為用鉛筆簽署的支票或其它法律性文件是不合法的。事實(shí)并不是這樣。任何法律文件只要沒(méi)有明確指出，都可以用鉛筆簽署。
9. By one means or another, man has been writing for thousands of years. The Greeks and Romans used metallic lead for drawing faint lines. But it was not until around 1400 A.D. that graphite, the main part of the modern pencil, first appeared. And for a long time it was used without any covering.
9、無(wú)論怎樣，人類數(shù)千年來(lái)一直在書寫。古希臘和古羅馬人使用金屬鉛來(lái)畫暗淡的線。但是直到公元1400年，現(xiàn)代鉛筆的主要部分石墨才被發(fā)現(xiàn)，并且在相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間，都是用沒(méi)有木頭外套的石墨直接書寫。
10. About a century and a half later, in 1564, a high wind blew over a heavy oak tree near Cumberland, England. The earth revealed a slab of black rock which was actually a huge deposit of almost pure graphite. Shepherds used it to brand their sheep. George II controlled the graphite by declaring it a crime to ship it out of the country.
10、大約一個(gè)半世紀(jì)之后，也就是1546年，在英國(guó)坎伯蘭郡附近，一場(chǎng)大風(fēng)吹倒了一棵大橡樹，一層厚厚的黑色巖石在地表顯露出來(lái)，這實(shí)際上是一塊巨大的幾乎純凈的石墨礦藏。當(dāng)?shù)氐哪裂蛉擞盟o自己的羊打標(biāo)記。喬治二世為了控制石墨開采，宣告用船運(yùn)石墨出國(guó)是一種犯罪。
11. This graphite could be used in its natural state for writing. Seeing the find as a rich prize, merchants cut it into sticks. They sold it for writing purposes. By present-day standards, however, it was far from satisfactory for writing. For one thing, the graphite's hardness could not be changed.
11、這種石墨可以在自然狀態(tài)下用來(lái)書寫。這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)被看作財(cái)富的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，商人們把石墨切割成棒狀，當(dāng)成書寫工具來(lái)賣。然而，按照今天的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，它還遠(yuǎn)未達(dá)到書寫的要求。比如說(shuō)當(dāng)時(shí)石墨的硬度是不能改變的。
12. Grinding low grades of graphite to remove impurities, pencil makers elsewhere found difficulties. Their problem was to bind the black powder together again so it would be hard enough to serve as a writing instrument.
12、對(duì)于各地的鉛筆制造者來(lái)說(shuō)，碾磨碎低品質(zhì)的石墨以去掉里面的雜質(zhì)，是十分困難的。它們的難題是如何重新組合這些黑色的粉末，使它成為有足夠硬度的書寫工具。
13. Napoleon Bonaparte had a finger in the development of the modern pencil industry. Cut off from English pencils. He was stuck with his own impure French graphite. Never one to accept second best, Napoleon hired Nicholas Conte to solve the problem.
13、波拿巴·拿破侖影響了現(xiàn)代鉛筆工業(yè)的發(fā)展。由于來(lái)自英國(guó)的鉛筆供應(yīng)被切斷，他被限制只能使用他的不純凈的法國(guó)石墨上。他從不接受次好，于是拿破侖雇傭了尼古拉斯·康特來(lái)解決這個(gè)問(wèn)題。
14. Conte found the answer in 1795.By mixing refined graphite powder with clay, then heating it, he produced a firm hard lead. German researchers later perfected the method. The lead pencil was launched on its way to general use.
14、1795年，康特找到了問(wèn)題的答案。把經(jīng)過(guò)精煉的石墨粉末混合以泥土，然后進(jìn)行加熱燒結(jié)，他生產(chǎn)出了牢固而堅(jiān)硬的“鉛”。德國(guó)的研究員其后又完善了這一方法。鉛筆向著通用性發(fā)展。
15. William Monroe, the Concord, Massachusetts, cabinet-maker, made the first pencils in the United States. The War of 1812 halted imports of pencils. Monroe developed machinery to make wooden slats. Each one was grooved to half the thickness of a pencil lead. Two slats were glued together with the lead between. The method is still being used today.
15、威廉·門羅，馬賽諸塞州康科德城的一個(gè)櫥柜制造者，在美國(guó)生產(chǎn)了第一批鉛筆。1812年的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中斷了鉛筆的進(jìn)口。門羅設(shè)計(jì)了一套機(jī)器用來(lái)制作木條。每一根木條中開了一條只有鉛筆直徑一半寬的槽，兩個(gè)木條用膠粘合在一起，鉛筆芯置于兩個(gè)木條中間。這種方法一直沿用到今天。
16.Monroe's first American-made lead pencils-about 30 of them-were sold to a Boston hardware dealer in July,1812.But it was not until many years later that American pencils began to sell as well as European brands.
16、1812年7月，門羅的第一批大約30支鉛筆賣給了波士頓市的雜貨店中間商。但是直到很多年以后，美國(guó)制造的鉛筆才開始和歐洲品牌賣的一樣好。
17. Today the nation's 15-odd pencil manufactures produce about a-billion-and -a-half wooden pencils a year. This amounts to about nine apiece for each man, woman, and child in the country. At manufacturers wholesale prices this business amounted to $35 million in 1957—not including mechanical pencils. About nine wooden lead pencils are sold here for every one of all other varieties of writing tools.
17、今天，這個(gè)國(guó)家的15個(gè)鉛筆制造廠，每年生產(chǎn)出大約15億支木制鉛筆。這個(gè)數(shù)量差不多使這個(gè)國(guó)家里的每個(gè)人平均擁有9支鉛筆，包括男人、女人、和孩子。在1957年，按照商品生產(chǎn)商的批發(fā)價(jià)格計(jì)算，鉛筆銷售總額達(dá)到了三千五百萬(wàn)美元，其中還不包括機(jī)械自動(dòng)鉛筆。差不多每一支其它種類的書寫工具售出，就有9支木制鉛筆被售出。
18. The modern 7-inch long pencil can draw a line 35 miles in length; it can write an average of 45,000 words, and it can take an average of 17 sharpening. For some strange reason, about 75 percent of all pencil sold for general use are finished in yellow. A carpenter's pencil is usually finished in bright red. The color makes the pencil easy to find in wood shavings.
18、一支7英寸長(zhǎng)的現(xiàn)代鉛筆可以畫出35英里長(zhǎng)的線，它平均可以寫出45000個(gè)單詞，并且平均能夠進(jìn)行17次的削尖。由于某些奇怪的原因，被賣出的鉛筆差不多百分之七十五是黃色的。而木匠用鉛筆則通常是明亮的紅色。這種顏色使得鉛筆很容易在木屑中被發(fā)現(xiàn)。
19. Judging by the ever-increasing demand for them, it appears that the lead pencil is here to stay. At least as long as business and industry, educational institutions and the U.S. Government continue. For they are its three largest consumers.
19、從對(duì)鉛筆需求不斷增長(zhǎng)的情況判斷，看來(lái)鉛筆還會(huì)繼續(xù)存在，至少只要工商業(yè)、教育機(jī)構(gòu)、美國(guó)政府繼續(xù)存在，對(duì)于鉛筆業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)它們是三個(gè)最大的客戶。
