Later in life, Benjamin Franklin participated in the Constitutional Convention (or the meetings to write the country's most important legal document, the Constitution).
在后来的生活中,本杰明·富兰克林参加了制宪会议(或起草该国最重要的法律文件——宪法的会议)。
At 79 years old, he was the oldest member there.
时年79岁,他是会议上最年长的成员。
Benjamin Franklin loved books.
本杰明·富兰克林热爱书籍。
He wrote a popular book called Poor Richard's Almanac.
他写了一本名为《穷理查年鉴》的畅销书。
This book was printed every year and had many different kinds of information, including the weather, a calendar, poems, and more.
这本书每年都印刷,它里面有各种各样的信息,包括天气、日历、诗歌等等。
Benjamin Franklin made a lot of money by printing Poor Richard's Almanac and many other books.
印刷《穷理查年鉴》和很多其他书籍让本杰明·富兰克林赚了不少钱。
At that time, books were very expensive and very few people could buy books.
在那时,书籍非常昂贵,很少有人能买得起。
So Benjamin Franklin had the idea to create a free library, or a building that would have many books that people could read without having to buy the books.
因此,本杰明·富兰克林萌生了创建免费图书馆的想法,或是建造一栋人们不用买就能阅读大量书籍的建筑物。
America's first library opened in 1731 and soon they became very popular all over the country.
美国首座图书馆于1731年开放,它们很快就在全国各地盛行。
Benjamin Franklin is also very well-known for his inventions (or tools and machines that are created for the first time).
本杰明·富兰克林还以其发明(或首次创造出来的工具和机器)而闻名。
For example, he created bifocals (or glasses that has two types of glass in them: one that helps people see things that are close, and one that helps people see things that are far away).
例如,他发明了双焦镜(或有两种玻璃的眼镜:一种可以帮助人们看到近处的事物,另一种可以帮助人们看到远处的事物)。
He also did many experiments (or scientific tests) on electricity.
他还做了很多关于电的实验(或科学试验)。