原文赏析

Andrew Carnegie is on the brink of losing everything.
安德鲁·卡内基被逼到了失去一切的边缘
Without the railroads, he's lost his market for steel.
没了铁路业 他就失去了钢材的市场
And he blames his bitter rival, John D. Rockefeller.
他将这些都归咎于死对头 约翰·D·洛克菲勒
Desperate for a new market,Carnegie notices a trend he can capitalize on.
为了寻找新市场卡内基注意到了一个他可以利用的趋势
Unemployed Americans, by the thousands are flooding cities like New York and Chicago, in search of work.
美国成千上万的失业者都涌入到纽约和芝加哥这样的城市试图寻找工作

And to accommodate the population surge,buildings are being constructed as fast as possible.
为了容纳人口猛增城镇建设的速度变得尤其之快
Carnegie brilliantly begins to see that the future is not in rails but in structural steel,in girders, in beams,to build skyscrapers.
卡内基很聪明地看到钢在未来 更重要的用途不再是铁路 而是建筑 用于支架 用于横梁 来建造摩天大楼
And again, he's ahead of the curve.
他再次走在了时代的前列
The world's first skyscraper is built in Chicago.Its thin brick walls hang on a thick frame manufactured from Carnegie's steel.
世界第一座摩天大楼建于芝加哥 它是粗框架挂上薄砖墙 框架用的正是卡内基所生产的钢材
In the next few years,over 100,000 new building are erected in Chicago alone.
在接下来的几年间 仅仅是在芝加哥 就建起了超过十万座的新建筑
Until steel began to become a major product,much of what we see about America could not have happened.
在钢材成为重要产品之前我们所看到的很多美国现象都不会发生
America grew up vertically on steel.
美国的垂直生长依赖于钢材
Modern America is being built using Carnegie's Steel.
现代美国就是用卡内基的钢材建立起来的

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洛克菲勒、范德比尔特、卡内基、阿斯托、福特和摩根，他们的名字几乎是美国梦的近义词，也代表着美国梦的历史。他们转变了他们所接触的每个行业：石油、铁路、钢铁、船运、汽车，还有金融。他们的付出改变了一个国家。出身贫寒，他们却多次涉足总统选举，设立经济政策，影响他们那个年代——内战到大萧条时期。他们，被称为造就美国的人。

重点讲解

1.the brink (of sth) (…的)边缘；(…的)初始状态
on the brink of collapse/war/death/disaster 濒于崩溃/战争/死亡/灾难
例句：He's pulled the company back from the brink (= he has saved it from disaster).
他使公司起死回生。

2.desperate (for sth)/(to do sth) 非常需要；极想；渴望
例句：He was so desperate for a job he would have done anything.
他当时太想找份工作了,什么事都愿意干。

3.flood in/into/out of sth 大量涌入；蜂拥而出
例句：Telephone calls came flooding in from all over the country.
全国各地的电话像潮水般打来。

4.in search of 找
例句：She went into the kitchen in search of (= looking for) a drink.
她进了厨房,想找点喝的。

5.as quickly, much, soon, etc. as possible 尽量快(或多、早等)
例句：We will get your order to you as soon as possible.
我们将会把您的订货尽早送达。

6.be erected 建立；建造
例句：The church was erected in 1582.
此教堂建于 1582 年。