一样东西被发明两次短文★★★★★
点任意英文单词可看释义，弹层里可以「＋ 生词本」把它加入复习。
Most people think the telephone was invented by one man in one room. The story is true but not completely.
大多数人以为电话是一个人在一个房间里发明的。这件事是真的，但不全对。
A year before him another man showed a similar device to a few people, and then died before he could put his name on paper.
在他前一年，另一个人把一台很像的东西给几个人看过，然后他还没把名字写到纸上就死了。
So the credit went to the man who was faster with papers, not to the man who was first.
所以功劳落在那个更快办好文件的人身上，不是落在最早做出来的人身上。
This happens more than we like to say. Two people can look at the same problem in two towns, with the same parts on their desks.
这种事比我们愿意说的多。两个人可以在两个镇上想同一件难事，桌上的零件还是一样的。
An idea arrives twice because the pieces needed to build it have only just become cheap enough to buy.
一个主意会来两次，因为造成它所需的那些件，刚好到了一年便宜到谁都能买的时节。
That is why one new machine brings a crowd of claims, and why the question of who was first is rarely settled.
所以一台新机器常常带来一堆人来认领，而谁最早这个问题很少有结果。
Now when I hear one name given for a great invention, I ask who else was close, and who could pay for the papers.
现在听到一样大发明只报一个名字，我会先问还有谁差一点，谁有钱去办那些文件。