(单词翻译:单击)
A BACKWARD LOOK
往期回顾
The story of how men have planned and worked to find ways of traveling and sending messages swiftly and safely is a long one.
人们如何计划并努力寻找方式迅速安全地传递信息是一个漫长的故事。
It began centuries ago when the swiftest runner of the tribe was chosen to carry a message;
这个故事起源于几个世纪前，当时人们选出部落中跑得最快的人传递信息。
when some daring person made the first boat by sitting astride a log and using a branch for a paddle;
有一些胆大的人坐在原木上，用树枝作桨，造出了第一艘船；
when some savage inventor found that he could take a round, flat piece of wood, bore a hole in the middle,
还有个部落中的族人突发奇想拿一块平的圆木，在中间钻个洞，
put a stick through the hole for an axle, and thus make a wheel which would move things much more easily.
再在轴孔中插一根木棍，这样就造出了一个能更容易移动物体的轮子。
The driver of the slow-moving wagon train has given way to the engineer at the throttle of his iron horse
缓慢行驶的马车队车夫已经被操控火车头油门的工程师
and the air pilot in the cockpit of his plane.
和飞机驾驶舱里的驾驶员所取代。
Where Indians waved blanket signals from hill tops and sent puffs of smoke signals into the air, telegraph wires now sing in the wind,
过去印第安人站在山顶挥动毯子、向空中发射烟雾来传递信号，而现在电报线在风中鸣叫，
and the radio sends its swift, unseen message.
无线电则能迅速地传送无形的信息。
What you have read in this part of your book has given you just a few little pictures from the great story
您在本书该部分所读到的内容，只向您展示出人们学会
of how men have learned to travel and send messages swiftly and safely.
迅速安全地传递信息的精彩故事的一个掠影。
You have seen that daring men are needed for this work, men who, like Jonathan Adams and Humphrey Reynolds,
正如您所看到的，这项工作需要像乔纳森·亚当斯和汉弗莱·雷诺兹这样的勇士，
have dared to risk failure and being made fun of; men who have dared to try out these new ways, often at the risk of their lives.
他们冒着失败的风险，不怕被人取笑；他们敢于尝试各种新方法，而在尝试这些新方法时他们往往都冒着生命危险。
Alert, clear-headed men are needed, because speed often means danger, and important decisions must be made in the flash of an eye.
完成这项工作的人还要机警、保持清醒的头脑，因为快速往往意味着危险，而重要的决定必须在瞬间之内敲定。
