发源于英国而后波及欧美主要国家的第一次工业革命具有划时代的历史意义，对英国本国乃至人类社会的演进产生了空前深刻、巨大的影响。它为新生的资本主义制度奠定了坚实的物质基础，促使欧美诸国先后实现工业化，由农业国变成工业国;它也为英国提供了历史机遇，利用工业化先发优势，确立了“世界工厂”的地位;工业革命同时也给人类带来了进步和幸福，使人类面临新的矛盾和挑战。

正是因为工业革命的重要性，托福考试非常青睐它--工业革命的发展特点、历史甚至与之相关的蒸汽机、能源问题都是在阅读和听力中经常出现的话题。

TPO26中就曾出现蒸汽机以及蒸汽机改良相关的细节描述：

In the late 1700s James Watt designed an efficient and commercially viable steam engine that was soon applied to a variety of

industrial uses as it became cheaper to use....A rotary(转动的，旋转的)engine attached to the steam engine enabled shafts (转动轴)to be turned and machines to be driven, resulting in mills using steam power to spin and weave cotton.

同一篇中，谈到工业革命中钢铁行业的发展，也具体到很多细节：

The availability of steam power and the demands for new machines facilitated the transformation of the iron industry. Charcoal(木炭),made from wood and

thus in limited supply, was replaced with coal-derived coke(焦炭)(substance left after coal is heated)

as steam-driven bellows(风箱)came into use for producing of raw iron. Impurities were burnt away with the use of coke, producing a high-quality refined iron(精铁).Reduced cost was

also instrumental in developing steam-powered rolling mills capable

of producing finished iron(高纯度的铁)of various shapes and sizes.

这里帮大家整理一下工业革命主要产业及背景大家要记得记笔记哦。

纺织产业(textile industry)：

纺织机的演化：飞梭(Flying shuttle)→杼箱→珍妮纺纱机(Spinning Jenny)→骡机(Spinning Mule)→水力织布机→蒸汽动力驱动运输行业革新：

1776年煤矿(colliery)中使用铁轨;

1814年运煤的蒸汽机车问世;1825年世界上第一条铁路;

1844年，英国铁路长达2235英里;

钢铁行业革新：

1709年，焦炭(coke)取代木炭(charcoal)炼铁;

1750年，坩埚炼钢工艺(steelmaking process)，欧洲历史上钢首次被熔化冶炼(smelt)。