VOA慢速英语: 技术车间让高科技的梦想变为现实

TechShop Puts High-Tech Dreams Within Reach
科技商店让高科技成为现实
Maurice Mountain is a retired lawyer in Washington, D.C. He developed a prototype for a device he calls the Presto Emergency Boat Ladder. His invention is a small folding ladder that attaches to the side of a boat to help people who fall into the water. Mr. Mountain plans to mass-produce his boat ladder.
莫里斯·蒙特是华盛顿特区一名退休的律师。他研发了一款叫做船梯的紧急救助装置。他的发明是一款小型折叠梯，这个梯子绑在船的一边，方便掉入水中的人爬上来。蒙特计划大规模地生产这种船梯。
He created his invention at a workshop called TechShop. Members of TechShop use high-tech equipment to develop and produce ideas they have for inventions. Mr. Mountain says TechShop permits people to turn their dreams into reality.
他在一家科技商店的工作间发明研究。技术商店的成员使用高科技把他们的理念和观点转化成发明。蒙特表示技术商店能让人们把他们的理想转化成现实。
"I think it encourages innovation. I think people who probably have had ideas rolling around in the back of their minds for years but have never had the opportunity to actually put them into production or even experiment with them would find this place wonderful."
“这有助于创新，我想多年来，人们也许在脑海中思考着很多想法，但是没有机会将这些想法投入生产或者用这个神奇的地方来做实验。”
Isabella Musachio manages a TechShop in Arlington, Virginia. She says the shop has many different kinds of equipment.
伊莎贝拉· 马什可管理者弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿的科技商店。她说商店里有很多各种各样的装备。
"TechShop is a do-it-yourself maker space and fabrication studio. So when you come in we have all these different areas of the shop, and we have a metal shop, wood shop, plastic slab, lasers, 3D printers, electronics, textiles. I mean, we have so many different areas and we have all this equipment that is available to anybody above the age of 12 and up."
“在科技商店，给你空间自己动手去做，有制作工作室。因此，当你走进来的时候，可以看到各种不同的车间，我们有金属车间、木工车间、塑料板、激光、3D打印机、电子设备和纺织品。我们有很多车间，这些设备适合12岁以上各个年龄阶段的人。”
Membership costs for TechShop start at just over $100 per month. Members are able to use costly machines including 3D modeling tools and laser cutters. Isabella Musachio says TechShop helps its members build their dreams.
科技商店刚开始时的会员费是每月100多美元，会员可以使用这些昂贵的设备，包括3D模型工具和激光切割机。伊莎贝拉· 马什可认为科技商店帮助其会员重建他们的梦想。
"Our motto is ‘build your dreams here' because you can really come in with just an idea, and then with the help of TechShop make that leap from an idea to building your project or your prototype or even your business."
“我们的格言是‘在这里实现你们的梦想’，你可以带着想法过来，然后借助科技商店的帮助，将你的思想变成你的项目或者初具形态的模型或者变成你的生意。”
The business application and credit card reader Square was developed at a TechShop facility in San Francisco. Now, Square is used to charge about $8.8 billion in business transactions every year.
业务应用和信用卡读卡器（credit card reader Square）就是在圣弗朗西斯哥的科技商店研发出来的。现在Square的移动读卡器每年实现业务的转账有88亿美元。
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke at the TechShop workshop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2014. He said that innovation is the first step to the future. He added that TechShop is giving people the tools they need to turn their ideas into reality.
2014年，美国总统奥巴马在宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡的科技商店车间讲话，他表示创新是引领未来的第一步，科技商店给人们提供把想法转变成现实的工具。
"Because of advances in technology, the opportunity is now to make the tools that are needed for production and prototypes are now democratized. They are in the hands of anybody who's got a good idea."
“科技方面取得的进步，能够充分利用这些工具来进行生产创造的需求越来越民主。只要你有好想法，任何人都可以使用这些条件。”
Jim Newton is the founder of TechShop. He first introduced the idea for the technology workshops at an arts and sciences event called Maker Faire in San Mateo, California in 2006. His idea attracted hundreds of members during that event. Now, there are eight TechShop locations in the U.S. In all, there are more than 6,000 members.
吉姆·牛顿是科技商店的创始人，2006年，在加利福尼亚州的圣马特奥，他首先把技术工作车间的理念引入艺术和科学，并称之为创意嘉年华大会。那时，他的理念吸引了成千上百个成员。现在在美国有八家科技商店，总共有6000多名成员。
Jim Newton has plans for two more TechShop locations in the cities of St. Louis and Los Angeles.
吉姆·牛顿计划在圣路易斯和洛杉矶两个城市再规划开设两个科技商店。
I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·伊凡斯。
Enming Liu and Adrianna Zhang reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans wrote it for Learning English. Mario Ritter edited it.
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Words in this Story
attract – v. to cause someone to like or be interested in something
facility – n. something such as a building or large piece of equipment that is built for a specific purpose
innovation – n. a new idea, device, or method
prototype – n. an original or first model of something from which other forms are copied or developed
What would you create at a TechShop facility? Write to us in the comments section.