http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/international/20130809/35209432/WhereWouldWeBewithoutThem?

Where Would We Be without Them?

鉛筆啊鉛筆，沒了你該怎麼辦?

They have always been around. We rarely stop to consider what life would be like without them. Very few people care where pencils came from because they are such a basic part of our lives. Even though computers are being used more in schools, pencils are still around in our homes, schools, libraries, and more. Taking a look into the pencil’s history is a deep search. However, like all good mysteries, there are a lot of interesting things to learn along the way.

Pencils were first produced in huge quantities in Nuremberg, Germany in 1662. The industrial age made pencils available to everyone and changed the way lives were lived.

中譯

它們總是隨處可見。我們很少會停下來去思考，要是生活中沒了它們會是怎樣的光景。極少人會在乎鉛筆的由來，因為它們在我們生活中是如此基本的角色。即便電腦在校園中已更為普及，在我們的家中、學校、圖書館，以及其他更多地方依然看得到鉛筆的蹤影。縱觀鉛筆的歷史是一趟深刻的探索。然而，如同其他好玩的謎團一樣，這個(探索)過程中有不少有趣的事情可學。

鉛筆於1662年在德國紐倫堡大量生產。工業時代的到來使得鉛筆隨處可得、人手一支，同時也改變了大家以往的生活方式。

生活必備字詞：

1. computers are being used more in schools.

be+ p.p   被動式

be+ being+ p.p   現在進行被動式（強調目前的狀態）

has/have +been +p.p  現在完成被動式（強調已經完成的狀態）

2. mystery [ˋmɪstərɪ]　 n. 神祕的事物; 難以理解的事物; 謎[C]

His death has remained a mystery. （他的死仍是個謎。）

3. along the way 一路走來；在整個過程中；這段時間

4. make + 受詞 + 名詞／形容詞   「使……成為……」

The industrial age made pencils available to everyone.

（工業時代的到來使得鉛筆隨處可得、人手一支。）