Hi everyone, in this session I’ll be presenting my research about the social history of Britain during the Industrial Revolution.

大家好。我将在这个环节给大家呈现关于工业革命时期英国的社会历史的研究。

I particularly looked at how ordinary lives were affected by changes that happened at that time.

我特别关注了那一时期的变革对普通人的影响。

This was a time that saw the beginning of a new phenomenon: consumerism - where buying and selling goods became a major part of ordinary people’s lives.

工业革命时期见证了消费主义这种新现象的开端。消费主义是指购买和销售商品成为普通人生活的主要组成部分。

In fact, it was in the 19th century that the quantity and quality of people’s possessions was used as an indication of the wealth of the country.

事实上，在19世纪，居民所有物的数量和品质成为国家财富的指标。

Before this, the vast majority of people had very few possessions, but all that was changed by the Industrial Revolution.

在此之前，大部分人只有很少的财产，但是这一切都在工业革命时期发生了改变。

This was the era from the mid-18th to the late 19th century, when improvements in how goods were made as well as in technology triggered massive social changes that transformed life for just about everybody in several key areas.

从18世纪中到19世纪末这段时期，产品制作工艺的提升、技术的进步促使很多领域发生了巨大社会变革，在几个关键领域改变了几乎每个人的生活。

First let’s look at manufacturing.

首先，我们来聊聊制造业。

When it comes to manufacturing, we tend to think of the Industrial Revolution in images of steam engines and coal.

一提到制造业，人们倾向于将工业革命与蒸汽机和煤炭联想起来。

And it’s true that the Industrial Revolution couldn’t have taken place at all if it weren’t for these new sources of power.

如果不是这些新的能源，工业革命不会发生。这是事实。

They marked an important shift away from the traditional watermills and windmills that had dominated before this.

新的能源标志着巨大转变。在此之前，风车和水磨是主导动力。

The most advanced industry for much of the 19th century was textiles.

在19世纪大部分时间里最先进的工业是纺织业。

This meant that fashionable fabrics, and lace and ribbons were made available to everyone.

这意味着任何人能都用时尚的材料、蕾丝和丝带。

Before the Industrial Revolution, most people made goods to sell in small workshops, often in their own homes.

在工业革命之前，大多数人都是在小作坊里，通常是在自己家里制造商品出售的。

But enormous new machines were now being created that could produce the goods faster and on a larger scale, and these required a lot more space.

但是当时，巨大的新机器正在被创造出来，它们能够更快、更大规模地生产商品，而这需要更多的空间。

So large factories were built, replacing the workshops, and forcing workers to travel to work.

于是人们建造了大工厂，取代了小作坊，迫使工人们去上班。

In fact, large numbers of people migrated from villages into towns as a result.

事实上，大量的人因此从村庄迁移到城镇。

As well as manufacturing, there were new technologies in transport, contributing to the growth of consumerism.

除了制造业，运输业也出现了新技术，促进了消费主义的发展。

The horse-drawn stagecoaches and carts of the 18th century, which carried very few people and goods, and travelled slowly along poorly surfaced roads, were gradually replaced by the numerous canals that were constructed.

在18世纪时，驿站马车和马拉货车的运输能力很差，在粗糙的路面上行进速度很慢。这种交通方式逐渐被修建的众多运河取代。

These were particularly important for the transportation of goods.

运河对货物运输特别重要。

The canals gradually fell out of use, though, as railways were developed, becoming the main way of moving goods and people from one end of the country to the other.

因为铁路发展起来了，运河交通逐渐衰落。铁路跨越国土，从国家的一端跑到另一端，成为运输旅客和货物的主要方式。

And the goods they moved weren’t just coal, iron, clothes, and so on - significantly, they included newspapers, which meant that thousands of people were not only more knowledgeable about what was going on in the country, but could also read about what was available in the shops.

运输的货物不仅仅是煤、铁、衣服等商品，更重要的是，报纸也在运输物品之列，这意味着成千上万的人不仅可以增加对这个国家的情况的了解，还可以阅读商店里商品的相关信息。

And that encouraged them to buy more.

这促进了销售。

So faster forms of transport resulted in distribution becoming far more efficient - goods could now be sold all over the country, instead of just in the local market.

因此，更快的运输方式促使配送效率大大提高——不仅仅是在当地市场，还可以在全国各地销售商品。

The third main area that saw changes that contributed to consumerism was retailing.

导致消费主义的第三个主要领域是零售业。

The number and quality of shops grew rapidly, and in particular, small shops suffered as customers flocked to the growing number of department stores - a form of retailing that was new in the 19th century.

商店的数量和品质迅速增加，小商店的情况更加糟糕，因为成群结队的顾客跑去百货商场购物。这是19世纪新出现的一种零售形式。

The entrepreneurs who opened these found new ways to stock them with goods, and to attract customers: for instance, improved lighting inside greatly increased the visibility of the goods for sale.

百货商店的老板们找到了新的方法来储存货物，招揽顾客。比如，增加室内照明来让售卖的商品变得更加显眼。

Another development that made goods more visible from outside resulted from the use of plate glass, which made it possible for windows to be much larger than previously.

另一个让商品从外面看起来更显眼的方式是使用平板玻璃。这使得窗户比以前大得多。

New ways of promoting goods were introduced, too.

新的促销方式也被引入。

Previously, the focus had been on informing potential customers about the availability of goods; now there was an explosion in advertising trying to persuade people to go shopping.

以前，人们关注的焦点是向潜在客户告知商品的供应情况。现如今激增的广告试图说服顾客购买商品。

Flanders claims that one of the great effects of the Industrial Revolution was that it created choice.

弗兰德斯声称，工业革命的一个重大影响是它创造了选择。

All sorts of things that had previously been luxuries - from sugar to cutlery - became conveniences, and before long they’d turned into necessities: life without sugar or cutlery was unimaginable.

所有以前是奢侈品的东西——从糖到餐具——变得更加易得。而且它们很快就变成了必需品，没有糖和餐具的生活是难以想象的。

Rather like mobile phones these days!

就像现在的手机。