英语短文精读【17】圆珠笔的故事 The Man Behind the Ballpoint Pen

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【开篇小问】

圆珠笔ballpoint pen又被称作：
a. ball
b. point pen
c. biro
d. biro pen

答案：c.

圆珠笔的故事

圆珠笔(ballpoint pen)经常被许多人称作biro，这是为什么呢？今天我们就来了解圆珠笔的故事。

Not many people have given their names to the English language. Among those who have is Laszlo Josef Biro. He was the maker of the first “Biro”, a name still used around the world for his most successful invention（发明）, the ballpoint pen.

人名能成为英文词汇的人并不多，而Laszlo Josef Biro就是其中之一。他发明了第一支biro，现在世界上还有人用这个名称来称呼他这项最成功的发明——圆珠笔。

Biro patented（申请专利） his first pen in 1938. It had a tiny ball bearing in the tip which picked up ink as it turned against the paper. During the Second World War, Biro went to Argentina（阿根廷） where he had some success selling his product.

第二次世界大战期间， Biro在阿根廷贩卖这项商品取得了一定成就。

However, he never took a patent in the United States. Partly because of this, American companies such as Bic, Parker, and Papermate have dominated（支配、统治） the writing market ever since the ballpoint pen became popular in the 1950s.

然而他始终无法在美国取得专利权。部分是由于这个原因，一些如Bic、Parker和Papermate等美国公司在二十世纪五十年代圆珠笔开始流行时，就一直占据着文具市场。

【世博读书笔记】

1．tiny意为“极小的、细小的”，注意它和small, little的区别。

small指外形相对较小，但还能清楚看得见的，如：
I put the present in a small box.
我把礼物放在一个小盒子里。
而tiny则可能肉眼看不太清楚，如：
Fleas are tiny insects.
跳蚤是很小的昆虫。
little则含有更多情感，表示“小巧的”，如：
The little dog followed the boy everywhere.
那条小狗到处都跟着那男孩。

2．ever since意思是“从那时到现在”，如：
She left school three years ago and has worked as a nurse ever since.
她三年前毕业,从那时起便一直当护士。

【世博句型留言板】

give one’s name to
以自己的名字命名

Mrs. Evergreen gave her name to her product, Evergreen Tea.
Evergreen太太以自己的名字命名她的产品——Evergreen茶。

I gave my name to the woman I love, but she remained my wife for the rest of my life without taking it.
我想让我爱的女人用我的姓氏，但她成了我的终身伴侣，却始终没用我的名字。

练习：
1．她用自己的名字称呼宠物。
2．他用自己名字命名他的软件。

练习答案：
1．She gave her name to the pet.
2．He gave his name to the software he product.