原文赏析

Edison's workers labor day and night,digging a network of ditches over fifteen miles long.
爱迪生的工人夜以继日地工作 挖出超过15英里的坑网
They lay over one hundred thousand feet of thick copper wire,connecting Edison's power station to hundreds of homes and businesses throughout New York.
埋入超过十万英尺的粗铜线 让爱迪生的发电站同纽约数百个家庭和商用建筑相连
Edison's power grid becomes the model for how electricity is transmitted in the United States.
爱迪生的电网成为了之后美国电力传输的典范
He had never worked so long and so hard at any invention to make it functional as he did with electricity.
他只对电付出过这么多心血 他从未为了让其它发明实际产生功用而这样做过
With Edison's power station up and running,a new era dawns.
随着爱迪生的发电厂建成并投入使用 新纪元开启了
The city lights up for the first time ever.
整个城市第一次被点亮起来
And soon, Edison's power grid covers half of Manhattan.
很快 爱迪生的电网就布满了半个曼哈顿
Electric streetlights line avenues,and homes throughout New York are buzzing with electricity.
电灯排在街道两侧 纽约的无数家庭 也都闪耀着电光
Edison had a big think approach which said that,We can build giant distribution centers and make it so that electricity is cheap enough for the masses.What a brilliant idea.
爱迪生的想法非常伟大 他认为我们可以建立巨大的配送中心 让电的价格得以降低 并进入寻常百姓家 多么卓越的见解
J.P. Morgan and Thomas Edison stand to make a fortune.
J·P·摩根和托马斯·爱迪生为创造财富做好了准备
But their success is bad news for the most powerful man in the country.
但他们的成功对国内最有权势的人无疑是坏消息
Until now, John Rockefeller has been virtually unchallenged while providing light to homes from coast to coast.
直到当时 约翰·洛克菲勒还在为全国的家庭提供灯光 他还未受到真正的挑战
视频资料
视频资料
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

讲解：

labour all day
干苦力活干了一天
We laboured all day in the fields.
我们在田地里辛勤劳动了一整天。

dig (for sth)
掘(地)；凿(洞)；挖(土):
They are digging for coal / gold / Roman remains.
他们正在挖煤；采掘黄金；掘地探寻古罗马遗迹。

connect sth (to sth)
使…连接；接通:
First connect the printer to the computer.
首先把打印机与计算机接通。

be functional
实用的
Bathrooms don't have to be purely functional.
浴室不必完全只为了实用。

Sth had dawned.
开始:
A new technological age had dawned.
新技术时代已经开始。

approach (to sth)
(待人接物或思考问题的)方式,方法,态度:
The school has decided to adopt a different approach to discipline.
学校决定采取另外一种方式解决纪律问题。