The Story of the Water Closet 抽水马桶的前世今生.docVIP

The Story of the Water Closet 抽水马桶的前世今生 　　在科技发达的今天，抽水马桶早已司空见惯。然而，抽水马桶并非自古有之，最初的马桶也不是如今这般模样。那么，是谁发明了第一个马桶？马桶又经历过哪些蜕变呢？让我们跟随本文一起了解抽水马桶漫长而艰难的“进化”过程吧。 　　Here is a bold1） statement. The water closet （WC） has been described as one of the most important inventions of the last 1000 years. The London Times said this in its Millennium Edition. It compared the invention of the toilet with， among others， the development of the Gutenberg printing press2） in 1400s， the atomic bomb， and the moon landing of 1969. 　　Heres another bold statement. The Independent said that the WC is one of the most successful designs ever. It doesnt only improve lives； it saves them. 　　... 　　And finally， there is one more bold statement. It has done more to improve the health of the people of the world than any pills or potions3）. The origin of this statement is due entirely to the author of this piece. It is true that the toilet is an important invention. But in the whole history of mankind the toilet is relatively recent， and as we shall see we had to wait for the great entrepreneurs of the Victorian times for it to be developed into what we know and love today. 　　有这样一种大胆的说法：有人认为抽水马桶是“过去一千年中最重要的发明之一”。《伦敦时报》在其千禧年专版不仅给出了如上评论，还将马桶这项发明和其他一些成就相提并论，诸如15世纪的古登堡印刷机、原子弹以及1969年的人类登月。 　　还有另外一种大胆的说法：《独立报》宣称“抽水马桶是有史以来最成功的设计之一。它不仅改善了我们的生活，而且还拯救了我们的生命”。 　　…… 　　最后，还有一种更为大胆的说法：“对于改善世界人民的健康状况来说，抽水马桶的作用大过任何药品或药剂。”这种说法完全出自本文作者之口。诚然，抽水马桶是很重要的一项发明，但在人类整个历史长河中，这项发明相对较新，从后文中我们也可以看到，我们一直等到了维多利亚时代，才有伟大的创业家们将抽水马桶改进成了我们今天熟悉又喜爱的样子。 　　Primitive Sanitation4） 　　Early primitives knew the rules and learned them the hard way. They knew that they must keep their sewage5） away from their cooking. They knew that they had to keep their kitchen upstream and their toilet downstream. If they reversed this layout there would be terrible consequences. Death would follow. Typhoid6）， cholera7）， and dysentery8） were just a few of the terrible diseases which thrive on9） poor sanitation. It is this fundamental principle that we work with