30 The origin of Refrigerators
By the mid-nineteenth century, the term “icebox” had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States. The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns1, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers2 in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War( 1861-1865),as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880,half of the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursor3 of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.
Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The commonsense4 notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early efforts to economize5 ice included wrapping up the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation6 and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.
But as early as 1803, and ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium7 price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.
冰箱的由來
直到19世紀(jì)中期，"冰箱"這個(gè)名詞才進(jìn)入了美國(guó)語言，但冰僅僅只是開始影響美國(guó)普通市民的飲食。冰的買賣隨著城市的發(fā)展而發(fā)展。
冰被用在旅館、酒館、醫(yī)院以及被一些有眼光的城市商人用于肉、魚和黃油的保鮮。內(nèi)戰(zhàn)(1861-1865)之后，冰被用于冷藏貨車，同時(shí)也進(jìn)入了民用。
甚至在1880年前，半數(shù)在紐約、費(fèi)城和巴爾的摩銷售的冰，三分之一
在波士頓和芝加哥銷售的冰進(jìn)入家庭使用，因?yàn)橐环N新的家庭設(shè)備，冰箱，即現(xiàn)代冰箱的前身，被發(fā)明了。制造一臺(tái)有效率的冰箱不像我們想象的那么簡(jiǎn)單。
19世紀(jì)早期，關(guān)于對(duì)冷藏科學(xué)至關(guān)重要的熱物理知識(shí)是很淺陋的。認(rèn)為的冰箱應(yīng)該防止冰的融化這樣一個(gè)
普遍的觀點(diǎn)顯然是錯(cuò)誤的，因?yàn)檎潜娜诨鹆酥评渥饔谩Ｔ缙跒楣?jié)省冰的努力，包括用毯子把冰包起來，使得冰不能發(fā)揮它的作用。直到近19
世紀(jì)末，發(fā)明家們才成功地找到有效率的冰箱所需要的精確的隔熱和循環(huán)的精確平衡。但早在1803年，一位有發(fā)明天才的
馬里蘭農(nóng)場(chǎng)主，托馬斯?莫爾，找到了正確方法。他擁有一個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)，離華盛頓約20英里，那里的喬治鎮(zhèn)村莊是集市中心。
當(dāng)他用自己設(shè)計(jì)的冰箱運(yùn)送黃油去市場(chǎng)時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)顧客們會(huì)走過裝在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者桶里那些迅速融化的黃油而給他比市價(jià)更高的價(jià)格買他仍然新鮮堅(jiān)硬，整
齊地切成一磅一塊的黃油。莫爾說他的冰箱的一個(gè)好處是使得農(nóng)民們不必在夜里上路去市場(chǎng)以保持他們產(chǎn)品的低溫。
1 taverns
n.小旅館，客棧，酒館( tavern的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )
參考例句：
They ain't only two taverns. We can find out quick." 這兒只有兩家客棧，會(huì)弄明白的?！?來自英漢文學(xué) - 湯姆歷險(xiǎn)
Maybe ALL the Temperance Taverns have got a ha'nted room, hey, Huck?" 也許所有的禁酒客棧都有個(gè)鬧鬼的房間，喂，哈克，你說是不是？” 來自英漢文學(xué) - 湯姆歷險(xiǎn)
2 dealers
n.商人( dealer的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；販毒者；毒品販子；發(fā)牌者
參考例句：
There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速競(jìng)相喊價(jià)。
The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐敗，與那伙毒品販子內(nèi)外勾結(jié)。
3 precursor
n.先驅(qū)者；前輩；前任；預(yù)兆；先兆
參考例句：
Error is often the precursor of what is correct.錯(cuò)誤常常是正確的先導(dǎo)。
He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他說該筆交易不應(yīng)該被看作是合并的前兆。
4 commonsense
adj.有常識(shí)的；明白事理的；注重實(shí)際的
參考例句：
It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.這種天氣帶把傘是很自然的。
These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.這些結(jié)果只不過是按常理分析得出的事實(shí)。
5 economize
v.節(jié)約，節(jié)省
參考例句：
We're going to have to economize from now on. 從現(xiàn)在開始，我們不得不節(jié)約開支。
We have to economize on water during the dry season. 我們?cè)诤导静坏貌还?jié)約用水。
6 insulation
n.隔離；絕緣；隔熱
參考例句：
Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.請(qǐng)檢查一下我屋子里電線的絕緣情況。
It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保證兩個(gè)電觸頭之間有良好的絕緣總是很困難的。
7 premium
n.加付款；贈(zèng)品；adj.高級(jí)的；售價(jià)高的
參考例句：
You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快遞你得付額外費(fèi)用。
Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水庫(kù)被污染之后，清水便因稀而貴了。
By the mid-nineteenth century, the term “icebox” had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States. The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns1, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers2 in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War( 1861-1865),as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880,half of the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursor3 of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.
Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The commonsense4 notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early efforts to economize5 ice included wrapping up the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation6 and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.
But as early as 1803, and ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium7 price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.
冰箱的由來
直到19世紀(jì)中期，"冰箱"這個(gè)名詞才進(jìn)入了美國(guó)語言，但冰僅僅只是開始影響美國(guó)普通市民的飲食。冰的買賣隨著城市的發(fā)展而發(fā)展。
冰被用在旅館、酒館、醫(yī)院以及被一些有眼光的城市商人用于肉、魚和黃油的保鮮。內(nèi)戰(zhàn)(1861-1865)之后，冰被用于冷藏貨車，同時(shí)也進(jìn)入了民用。
甚至在1880年前，半數(shù)在紐約、費(fèi)城和巴爾的摩銷售的冰，三分之一
在波士頓和芝加哥銷售的冰進(jìn)入家庭使用，因?yàn)橐环N新的家庭設(shè)備，冰箱，即現(xiàn)代冰箱的前身，被發(fā)明了。制造一臺(tái)有效率的冰箱不像我們想象的那么簡(jiǎn)單。
19世紀(jì)早期，關(guān)于對(duì)冷藏科學(xué)至關(guān)重要的熱物理知識(shí)是很淺陋的。認(rèn)為的冰箱應(yīng)該防止冰的融化這樣一個(gè)
普遍的觀點(diǎn)顯然是錯(cuò)誤的，因?yàn)檎潜娜诨鹆酥评渥饔谩Ｔ缙跒楣?jié)省冰的努力，包括用毯子把冰包起來，使得冰不能發(fā)揮它的作用。直到近19
世紀(jì)末，發(fā)明家們才成功地找到有效率的冰箱所需要的精確的隔熱和循環(huán)的精確平衡。但早在1803年，一位有發(fā)明天才的
馬里蘭農(nóng)場(chǎng)主，托馬斯?莫爾，找到了正確方法。他擁有一個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)，離華盛頓約20英里，那里的喬治鎮(zhèn)村莊是集市中心。
當(dāng)他用自己設(shè)計(jì)的冰箱運(yùn)送黃油去市場(chǎng)時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)顧客們會(huì)走過裝在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者桶里那些迅速融化的黃油而給他比市價(jià)更高的價(jià)格買他仍然新鮮堅(jiān)硬，整
齊地切成一磅一塊的黃油。莫爾說他的冰箱的一個(gè)好處是使得農(nóng)民們不必在夜里上路去市場(chǎng)以保持他們產(chǎn)品的低溫。
1 taverns
n.小旅館，客棧，酒館( tavern的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )
參考例句：
They ain't only two taverns. We can find out quick." 這兒只有兩家客棧，會(huì)弄明白的?！?來自英漢文學(xué) - 湯姆歷險(xiǎn)
Maybe ALL the Temperance Taverns have got a ha'nted room, hey, Huck?" 也許所有的禁酒客棧都有個(gè)鬧鬼的房間，喂，哈克，你說是不是？” 來自英漢文學(xué) - 湯姆歷險(xiǎn)
2 dealers
n.商人( dealer的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )；販毒者；毒品販子；發(fā)牌者
參考例句：
There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速競(jìng)相喊價(jià)。
The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐敗，與那伙毒品販子內(nèi)外勾結(jié)。
3 precursor
n.先驅(qū)者；前輩；前任；預(yù)兆；先兆
參考例句：
Error is often the precursor of what is correct.錯(cuò)誤常常是正確的先導(dǎo)。
He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他說該筆交易不應(yīng)該被看作是合并的前兆。
4 commonsense
adj.有常識(shí)的；明白事理的；注重實(shí)際的
參考例句：
It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.這種天氣帶把傘是很自然的。
These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.這些結(jié)果只不過是按常理分析得出的事實(shí)。
5 economize
v.節(jié)約，節(jié)省
參考例句：
We're going to have to economize from now on. 從現(xiàn)在開始，我們不得不節(jié)約開支。
We have to economize on water during the dry season. 我們?cè)诤导静坏貌还?jié)約用水。
6 insulation
n.隔離；絕緣；隔熱
參考例句：
Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.請(qǐng)檢查一下我屋子里電線的絕緣情況。
It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保證兩個(gè)電觸頭之間有良好的絕緣總是很困難的。
7 premium
n.加付款；贈(zèng)品；adj.高級(jí)的；售價(jià)高的
參考例句：
You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快遞你得付額外費(fèi)用。
Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水庫(kù)被污染之后，清水便因稀而貴了。