Thomas Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light. Without him, the world might still be in the dark. However, the electric light was not his only invention. He also invented the motion picture camera and 1200 other things. About every two weeks he created something new.
Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He attended school for only three months. His mother taught him at home, but Thomas was mostly self-educated. He started experimenting at a young age.
When he was 12 years old, he got his first job. He became a newsboy on a train. He did experiments on the train in his spare time. Unluckily, his first work experience did not end well. They fired him when he accidentally set fire to the floor of the train. Then Edison worked for five years as a telegraph operator, but he continued to spend much of his time in experimenting his first patent(专利权) in 1868 for a vote recorder run by electricity.
Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other, but he thought of his deafness as a blessing in many ways. It kept conversations short, so that he could have more time for work. He always worked 16 out of every 24hours. Sometimes his wife had to remind him to sleep and eat.
Thomas Edison died at the age of 84. He left a great many inventions that greatly improved the quality of life all over the world.
1.How often did Edison make a new invention?
A. About every fourteen days B. About every seven days
C. About once a week D. About twice a week
2.The underlined word “fired” in the passage means “__________”
A.Gave somebody a job B. Set fire to somebody
C. Let somebody down D. Forced somebody to leave his job
3.Edison considered his deafness as______.
A. something bad B. a gift from god C. a kind of ability D. a disadvantage
4.which of the following sentence is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Edison had only 8 hours rest each day after his deafness
B. Edison got his education mostly by self-teaching
C. Edison had his first job in 1869
D. Edison’s inventions greatly improved the quality of people’s life
5.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The function of the electric light B. Edison and his experiments
C. The importance of inventions D. The whole life of Edison.
Friends play an important role in our life. Most people hope that their friends will always be there. They _____ friendship to last forever. ____, even the best friendship can end.
As time goes by, many friendships end because of a(n) ______ in personality or way of life. The friendship slowly loses importance and finally_______.
Tommy wrote, “I didn’t even know the friendship was over until I caught myself thinking of Alan as a former friend.”
Peter explained. “We _____ seeing each other less and less. The friendship was just over.”
Sometimes friendships______ suddenly from a disagreement or move to another place.
Alice said, “The end of our friendship was a gradual thing. I moved from one side of the city to the other. Since then we _____ made a phone call. We met less and less. At last our friendship ended.”
Jack said, “ When I moved to Seattle after college, our friendship died. Both of us were always____ with new jobs, so we didn’t keep _____ touch with each other. Our friendship was so dead that I didn’t call him_____ I went home.”
Yet the biggest problem to a friendship is change. Lillian Rubin in her book Just Friends say, “Generally it’s______ that friends will accept each other if they both remain what they were when they met, or change in similar directions. If they change or grow in different ways, the friendship most likely______ lost.”
No matter why, when, or how friendships end, there is always_____ pain of loss. When nothing can be____ to keep the friendship, it is important to forget the pain. Then move on_____ new friendships.
May new friendships bring you pleasure and happiness!
1.A. hope B. expect C. decide D. prefer
2.A. Unfortunately B. Luckily C. Then D. So
3.A. interest B. experience C. change D. Suggestion
4.A. forgets B. disappears C. appears D. improves
5.A. finished B. practiced C. continued D. started
6.A. break down B. break away C. break off D. break in
7.A. often B. seldom C. always D. never
8.A. struggling B. satisfying C. pleased D. fed
9.A. at B. by C. on D. in
10.A. even if B. while C. before D. since
11.A. strange B. true C. false D. impossible
12.A. will be B. is C. will D. to be
13.A. little B. some C. any D. no
14.A. thought B. checked C. carried D. done
15.A. to ask for B. forming C. to build D. beginning
---Would you mind not_____ noise? Alice is sleeping.
–---Sorry, I didn’t know. I________ she was awake.
A. make, think B. making, thought C. making, think D. make, thought
Father won’t allow me to play outside_______ I wash up the dishes.
A. if not B. if C. unless D. because
---Can you come on Monday or Tuesday, Scott?
---I’m afraid_____ possible. I’ll be on business on those two days.
A. either B. neither C. every D. each
---How many girls are there in your class?
---______ them_____ over twenty.
A. A number of, are B. The number of, are
C. A number of, is D. The number of, is