节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-02-13
难易度:High
关键字:innovative, utilize, clasp, underestimate, rotary engine
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And I'm Nathanael.
And we're glad you could join us for day three of our lesson about Margaret E.
Knight.
She is known as the queen of paper bags for her most notable invention - the
paper bag with the flat bottom, or the flat-bottomed paper bag.
Well, we have learned a lot about Margaret over the last couple of days.
What's another thing that she has invented?
Nathanael, what's something else that Margaret invented?
Well, the first thing that we discussed that she developed was a safety feature
for machines in the textile mill that she worked in.
She went to make sure people were safe.
All right.
This is a safety feature that some industries, some factories still use today
with their machines.
Um, Carolyn, did things always go smoothly for Margaret Knight?
They did not.
She had some trouble with one of her inventions that we're going to talk about.
Someone else tried to patent her idea before she did, so she did face some
troubles.
That's right.
Someone else tried to steal her idea and claim it as his own.
Well, we're going to continue learning more about this case.
Let's do that right now.
Margaret E. Knight.
Knight insisted that the patent should be hers and ended up taking Annan to
court.
During the case, Annan argued that a woman would not be able to invent such a
complex and innovative machine.
But Knight provided evidence proving that the device rightfully belonged to her
and received the patent in 1871.
Knight then founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company, a business that would utilize
her new machines.
But invention remained her primary work, and Knight didn't limit her ideas to a
single industry.
(Music).
Well, yesterday we found out that this man Charles Annan had seen a prototype of
Knight's invention and tried to patent it as his own.
So that brings us to today's case.
At the beginning: Knight insisted that the patent should be hers and ended up
taking Annan to court.
What does this mean, Nathanael, when you take someone to court?
Well, it does not mean that Margaret literally took him by the hand into a
courtroom,
but it did mean that she had a problem and wanted to have it solved in the
courtroom.
So he was... she was making him answer to this problem.
All right, that's right.
She took him to court.
And you can see this phrase here: to take someone to court.
If you take someone to court, that means there's a problem, someone did
something against you.
Or maybe they're taking you to court; you did something against them.
And you want to have the right thing happen.
You want to have everything happen in a court of law so that everybody knows you
were right or you were wrong, or they were right or they were wrong.
You take someone to court.
Carolyn, have you ever taken anyone to court?
I have not taken anyone to court.
But it is important to be careful that if something happens, you don't want to
go to court because it can be a very expensive process.
It can be an expensive process.
It can be a messy process.
Lots of... it's just something you want to try to avoid.
Don't take someone to court unless you really, really have to.
Of course, some things do need to be taken to court.
If you want to have good or real justice take place, you take someone to court.
Well, she took Annan to court.
It says she ended up doing this.
That means she was thinking about it, and then she ended up taking him to court.
Well, Nathanael, how does our article continue?
Article continues by saying: During the case, Annan argued that a woman would
not be able to invent such a complex and innovative machine.
Wow! That sounds like quite a statement from a guy.
I mean, today, I can't imagine anybody trying to say that.
Would they get away with it, Carolyn?
No. Today they would not get away with it because women are capable of having
these complex and innovative ideas.
And we see this key word here: innovative.
Now what is innovative, Gabe?
Well, if you are innovative, that means you are creative, you think of new
things, new ideas.
Maybe you want to create something new like an invention.
You are innovative.
Um, Nathanael, how else can you use that word "innovative"?
Well, I was just thinking that it's important to have innovative people in the
world so that we can progress and develop.
If people aren't thinking of new ways to do things, we might just get stuck
where we are.
That's right.
But I think that over history, people have always been inventing new things.
There's... there have always been innovative people in every generation, which
is why the world is where we are now.
People come up with innovative ideas, innovative designs, all these different
things.
Well, we continue.
But Knight provided evidence proving that the device rightfully belonged to her
and received the patent in 1871.
Well, way to go, Margaret E. Knight!
She proved something rightfully belonged to her.
There's this word there in that sentence: rightfully.
If something rightfully belongs to you, what does that mean, Carolyn?
Well, it means that you have a right to it, so.
This is supposed to be yours, not someone else's.
You have a right to it because you invented it.
That's right. So something can be rightfully yours.
Maybe you talk about land.
Who does this land belong to?
Well, it could... rightfully belong to a group of people.
It's rightfully theirs.
I want it, but it rightfully belongs to you.
How else could you use that word, Nathanael?
Well, from this story, I was thinking that Margaret E. Knight rightfully
challenged Charles Annan for credit of the paper bag-making machine.
I think so too.
I think it's good that she did challenge him on this.
Um, of course she didn't have to.
But she was smart, and she took him up... she took him to court.
She challenged him on this, and it was her right to do that.
Well, we continue on that Knight then founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company, a
business that would utilize her new machines.
Utilize.
This is one of our Word Bank words.
It really just means to put something into use, to utilize something.
So what kinds of things can you utilize, Carolyn?
Well, you can utilize your personal talents.
So if you are very good at something, if you're very smart or skilled in a
certain area, you should utilize those talents and make the most of them.
I was going to say the same thing.
Utilize your skills.
Utilize your talents to the best of your ability.
What other things can you utilize?
Well, I think that many different industries or businesses could have utilized
some of Margaret E. Knight's ideas.
It seemed like she had a lot of ideas, and they could've applied to many
different areas.
I think so too.
I think a lot of industries now, factories, different places utilize her ideas
still.
But we see: But invention remained her primary work, and Knight didn't limit her
ideas to a single industry.
So we're talking about the Eastern Paper Bag Company.
She's most famous for inventing this flat-bottomed paper bag.
And she did not just stick to that single industry, did she?
No. She continued to expand her ideas to other areas.
And now I think would be a great time to go see Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.