今天的主角是托福聽(tīng)力TPO32 Lecture4里的女主人公Harriet Morrison Irwin哈里特·莫里森·歐文。她就是我們所說(shuō)的六邊形房子的締造者，一位值得稱(chēng)頌的偉大女性。六邊形的房，你可能沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)，但是六邊形的帳篷可能更好想象吧。

　　接下來(lái)，我們就先來(lái)看看有著這樣腦洞的女人，她背后不一樣的故事吧。

　　不幸，卻又萬(wàn)幸的她

　　Harriet Abigail Morrison was born in Charlotte in 1828. `She is the third child of her family, and one of the ten children who survived into adulthood. 哈里特生于1828年，在家中十個(gè)兄弟姐妹中排行老三，卻是家里唯一一個(gè)活到成年的孩子  。

　　Harriet was frail in her early years, so spent much of her time poring over books and writing down stories. 小時(shí)候的哈里特因?yàn)閲?yán)重體虛，所以大量的時(shí)光就在家讀書(shū)和寫(xiě)作。

　　When it was time to attend college, she studied literature, religion, history, some math, painting, music, and lots of embroidery.But no curriculum was available to satisfy her interest in advanced mathematics and engineering. 直到上大學(xué)，她學(xué)習(xí)了文學(xué)、宗教、歷史、藝術(shù)和刺繡等多種學(xué)科，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)始終滿(mǎn)足不了她對(duì)高等數(shù)學(xué)和工程學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)的渴求。

　　In 1849, she married a wealth and educated man. Even as an adult, Harriet continued to suffer from diseases, but gave birth to 9 children. 盡管依然長(zhǎng)年受到疾病的侵?jǐn)_，婚姻幸福的哈里特堅(jiān)強(qiáng)地生下了九個(gè)孩子！可謂美滿(mǎn)家庭里幸福的妻子和母親了。

　　學(xué)習(xí)不止，事業(yè)不休

　　In 1869, after watching the construction of many new buildings in Charlotte, she renewed her earlier interest in engineering and architecture. Heavily influenced by her years of illness, Irwin wanted to design a home that was both practical and economical for the invalid housekeeper. 1869年，哈里特看到家鄉(xiāng)的許多新式建筑后，重燃了她自己對(duì)工程和建筑的激情。正因?yàn)橄霝樽约猴柺芗膊〉耐纯喽嗄辏�哈里特想為�?lèi)似她這樣的家庭主婦們?cè)O(shè)計(jì)出一種既實(shí)用又經(jīng)濟(jì)的家。

　　She studied John Ruskin’s popular architectural books: Buildings should have plenty of access to the outdoors. Nature contributed to people’s mental power and good health. 她潛心學(xué)習(xí)和研究著名作家和藝術(shù)家約翰·羅斯金的建筑類(lèi)書(shū)籍，受到了很大啟發(fā)。羅斯金提到：建筑應(yīng)該與戶(hù)外充分交融，自然能給予人們強(qiáng)大的精神動(dòng)力和健康的身體。于是，由哈里特設(shè)計(jì)的六邊形房屋誕生了。

　　On August 24, 1869, Harriet Morrison Irwin, with no formal training in architecture, received U.S. Patent for a design for hexagonal, or six-sided houses. 1869年，哈里特·莫里森·歐文，一位沒(méi)有接受過(guò)任何正式的建筑學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)的女性，憑借其設(shè)計(jì)的六邊形房屋，獲得了美國(guó)專(zhuān)利獎(jiǎng)。

　　六邊房，牛在哪

　　我想大家都住慣了我們四面墻的屋子，不太能理解六邊形對(duì)于房子的意義。做慣了家庭主婦的哈里特，自有她的設(shè)計(jì)理由：

　　采光更好，通風(fēng)更暢，空間利用率更高，角落的衛(wèi)生更好打掃，冬天暖氣的效果更好更節(jié)能……這一切，可能對(duì)于我們的母親們來(lái)說(shuō)，會(huì)更容易理解吧。