Question

    James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, is now the wealthiest person in Briton after his company posted a record profit for 2018. But how did he make his fortune?

My father died when I was nine, and I remember doing the household chores to help my mother. I hated changing the vacuum cleaner bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up.

Thirty years later, in 1979, I was doing chores at home alongside my wife. One day the vacuum cleaner was screaming away, and I had to empty the bag because I could not find a replacement for it. With this lifelong hatred of the way the machine worked, I decided to make a bagless vacuum cleaner.

Easier said than done, of course. I didn’t realize that I would spent the next 15 years perfecting my design, a process that resulted in 5,127 different prototypes (设计原型). By the time I made my 15th prototype, my third child was born. By 2,627, my wife and I were really counting our pennies. By 3,727, my wife was giving art lessons for some extra cash, and we were getting further and further into debt. These were tough times, but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.

I just had a passion for the vacuum cleaner as a product, but I never thought of going into a business with it. In the early 1980s, I started trying to get licensing agreements (许可协议) for my technology. The reality was very different, however. The major vacuum makers had built a business model based on the profits from bags and filters (过滤器). No one would license my idea, not because it was a bad one, but because it was bad for business.

That gave me the courage to keep going, but soon after, the companies that I had talked with started making machines like mine. I had to fight legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic to protect the patents (专利) on my vacuum cleaner. However, I was still in financial difficulties until 1993, when my bank manager personally persuaded Lloyds Bank to lend me $1 million. Then I was able to go into production. Within two years, the Dyson vacuum cleaner became a best-seller in Britain.

Today, I still view risk and the potential for failure as part of the process. Nothing beats the excitement of invention. Go out and brainstorm your ideas. You are not limited by any rules — in fact, the stranger and riskier your idea, the better.

1.Which of the following provided inspiration for Dyson’s invention?

A.The death of his father B.The scream of his wife

C.The hatred of homework chores D.The trouble the cleaner bag brings

2.Why was Dyson’s vacuum cleaner not accepted at first?

A.Because the vacuum makers profited from bags and filters.

B.Because Dyson’s vacuum cleaner still needed to be improved.

C.Because the major vacuum makers had updated their products.

D.Because Dyson’s vacuum cleaner didn’t get licensing agreements.

3.Dyson’s machine got into production _____________.

A.before the legal battles B.after becoming famous

C.upon applying for the patent D.in spite of financial difficulties

4.The author’s real purpose of writing the passage is to _______.

A.emphasize the necessity of brainstorming our ideas

B.explain the development of the vacuum cleaner

C.introduce Dyson and his vacuum cleaner

D.urge people to accept risks and failure

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。文章主要通过讲述戴森发明无袋真空吸尘器的经历。

1.

细节理解题。根据文章第二段最后一句“I hated changing the vacuum cleaner bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up.”及第三段最后一句“With this lifelong hatred of the way the machine worked, I decided to make a bagless vacuum cleaner.” 可知，戴森讨厌换真空吸尘器的过滤袋，讨厌把吸尘器吸不进去的东西捡起来。他对这台机器的工作方式一直很反感，于是决定做一台无袋真空吸尘器。由此可知，真空吸尘器的过滤袋造成的麻烦启发了戴森研制一种无袋真空吸尘器。故选D项。

2.

细节理解题。根据第五段最后两句“The major vacuum makers had built a business model based on the profits from bags and filters (过滤器). No one would license my idea, not because it was a bad one, but because it was bad for business.”可知，戴森发明的无袋真空吸尘器一开始不被接受，是因为主要的吸尘器制造商建立了一种基于过滤袋和过滤器利润的商业模式，即真空吸尘器的过滤袋和过滤器能够给商家带来盈利，而戴森发明的无袋真空吸尘器会使商家失去原有的能够带来盈利的部分。故选A项。

3.

细节理解题。根据第六段“However, I was still in financial difficulties until 1993, when my bank manager personally persuaded Lloyds Bank to lend me $1 million. Then I was able to go into production.”可知，直到 1993年，戴森的银行经理亲自说服劳埃德银行借给他100万美元，他才摆脱了财务困境，然后开始批量生产。所以尽管财政困难，戴森的机器还是投入生产了。故选D项。

4.

推理判断题。文章第一段“James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, is now the wealthiest person in Briton after his company posted a record profit for 2018. But how did he make his fortune?”无袋吸尘器的发明者詹姆斯·戴森的公司公布了2018年创纪录的利润，他现在是英国最富有的人。但是他是怎么发财的呢?，总领全文，接下来的内容介绍了戴森如何得到启示，并历经重重困难和失败后最终获得成功，所以本文的主要目的是介绍戴森和他发明的无袋真空吸尘器。故选C项。