Question

Do you know some great inventors and their inventions?

What factors (因素) are needed for their success?

Well, good timing for a start. You can have a great idea which the public simply doesn’t want … yet. The Italian Giovanni Caselli invented the first fax（传真）machine in the 1860s. Although the quality is excellent, his invention quickly died a commercial(商业的) death. It was not until the 1980s that the fax became very common in every office… too late for Giovanni Caselli.

Money also helps. The Frenchman Denis Papin (1647-1712) had the idea for a steam engine （蒸汽机）almost a hundred years before the better-remembered Scotsman James Watt was even born… but he never had enough money to build one.

You also need to be patient (it took scientists nearly eighty years to develop a light bulb which actually worked)… but not too patient. In the 1870s, Elisha Gray, a professional inventor from Chicago, developed plans for a telephone. Gray saw it as no more than “a beautiful toy”. However, when he finally sent details of his invention to the Patent Office(专利局) in February，1876, it was too late. Almost the same invention had arrived two hours earlier and the young man who sent it , Alexander Graham Bell, will always be remembered as the inventor of the telephone.

Of course what you really need is a great idea—but if you haven’t got one, a walk in the country and a careful look at nature can help. The Swiss scientist, George de Mestral, had the idea for Velcro(魔术贴) when he found his clothes covered in sticky seed pods after a walk in the country. During a similar walk in the French countryside some 250 years earlier, Rene Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur had the idea that paper could be made from wood when he found an abandoned wasps’ nest(蜂巢).

You also need good commercial sense. Willy Higinbotham was a scientist doing nuclear (核能的)research in the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, USA. In 1958 the public were invited to an exhibition in the Laboratory to see their work, but both parents and children were more interested in a tiny 120cm screen with a white dot which could be hit back and forth over a “net” using a button and a knob. Soon hundreds of people were ignoring the other exhibits to play the first ever computer game—made from a simple laboratory instrument called an “oscilloscope”. Higinbotham, however, never made money from his invention: he thought people were only interested in the game because the other exhibits were so boring!

1.How many factors do inventors need?

A. 3.    B. 4.    C. 5.    D. 6.

2.The word “ignoring” in last paragraph probably mean?

A. having no idea of    B. making no sense to

C. getting no chance of    D. paying no attention to

3.What can you learn from the passage?

A. Giovanni Caselli invented the first fax machine in the 1980s.

B. Denis Papin afforded to build a steam engine a hundred years ago.

C. Elisha Gray missed the chance to be the inventor of the telephone.

D. George de Mestral got the idea from a walk in a French countryside.

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A. How to be a successful inventor.

B. How to get a great idea from nature.

C. How to have good commercial sense.

D. How to make money from inventions.

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.C

4.A

【解析】短文通过列举历史上一些发明家的实例，来诠释了发明家获取成功的几个因素，要有好时机；要有资金的帮助；要有耐心；需要有大胆的想法，需要良好的商业意识。

1.细节理解题。短文共列举了5条发明家成功的因素：要有好时机；要有资金的帮助；要有耐心；需要有大胆的想法，需要良好的商业意识。故答案为C。

2.词义猜测题。A. having no idea of不知道；B. making no sense to毫无意义；C. getting no chance of没有机会；D. paying no attention to不关注。根据短文最后的句子“Higinbotham, however, never made money from his invention: he thought people were only interested in the game because the other exhibits were so boring!” Higinbotham认为人们只对游戏感兴趣，因为其他的展品太无聊了！可以判断前面的句子的意思是“很快成百上千的人无视其他的展览来玩第一款电脑游戏。”故答案为D。

3.细节理解题。根据短文中的句子However, when he finally sent details of his invention to the Patent Office(专利局) in February，1876, it was too late. Almost the same invention had arrived two hours earlier and the young man who sent it, Alexander Graham Bell, will always be remembered as the inventor of the telephone. 然而，当Elisha Gray把他的发明专利送达时，几乎同样的发明早在两个小时前就送到了，送它的年轻人亚历山大·格拉汉姆·贝尔将永远作为电话的发明者而被人们记住，说明Elisha Gray错过了成为电话发明者的机会。故答案为C。

4.主旨大意题。短文通过列举历史上一些发明家的实例，来诠释了发明家获取成功的几个因素，

故答案为A。

点睛：主旨大意题是阅读理解中常见的一个题型，这类题主要是测试学生对一篇文章或一段文字的深层理解程度及在速读中准确把握文章主旨大意的能力。一般针对某一语段或某一语篇的主题标题或目的设题。这类题通常围绕一个中心思想展开，一些文章一开头便展示出文章的中心思想，第一段常常是内容的梗概，同时又表达了中心思想，也有一些文章的中心思想贯穿全文，并没有用一句话明确表达出来，这就要求学生学会归纳概括。每个段落往往也由一个主题句或几个陈述句构成，它们在句中的位置不同，有时在开头，首先点明本段大意，有时在结尾，总结本段大意。