今天的主角是托福听力TPO32 Lecture4里的女主人公Harriet Morrison Irwin哈里特·莫里森·欧文。她就是我们所说的六边形房子的，一位值得称颂的伟大女性。六边形的房，你可能没见过，但是六边形的帐篷可能更好想象吧。

　　接下来，我们就先来看看有着这样脑洞的女人，她背后不一样的故事吧。

　　不幸，却又万幸的她

　　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，在家中十个兄弟姐妹中排行老三，却是家里一个活到成年的孩子。

　　Harriet was frail in her early years, so spent much of her time poring over books and writing down stories. 小时候的哈里特因为严重体虚，所以大量的时光就在家读书和写作。

　　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. 直到上大学，她学习了文学、宗教、历史、艺术和刺绣等多种学科，却发现始终满足不了她对高等数学和工程学学习的渴求。

　　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. 尽管依然长年受到疾病的侵扰，婚姻幸福的哈里特坚强地生下了九个孩子！可谓美满家庭里幸福的妻子和母亲了。

　　学习不止，事业不休

　　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，哈里特看到家乡的许多新式建筑后，重燃了她自己对工程和建筑的激情。正因为想为自己饱受疾病的痛苦多年，哈里特想为类似她这样的家庭主妇们设计出一种既实用又经济的家。

　　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. 她潜心学习和研究作家和艺术家约翰·罗斯金的建筑类书籍，受到了很大启发。罗斯金提到：建筑应该与户外充分交融，自然能给予人们强大的精神动力和健康的身体。于是，由哈里特设计的六边形房屋诞生了。

　　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·欧文，一位没有接受过任何正式的建筑学学习的女性，凭借其设计的六边形房屋，获得了美国专利奖。

　　六边房，牛在哪

　　我想大家都住惯了我们四面墙的屋子，不太能理解六边形对于房子的意义。做惯了家庭主妇的哈里特，自有她的设计理由：

　　采光更好，通风更畅，空间利用率更高，角落的卫生更好打扫，冬天暖气的效果更好更节能……这一切，可能对于我们的母亲们来说，会更容易理解吧。

　　托福听力看似无聊且令人烦躁，那就把那一篇篇你做过的可恶的讲座当成故事会来看吧！换个角度来看它，也许它会渐渐变可爱呢？

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