A
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 1,200 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 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 24 hours.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.
21.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.
答案:A
解析:由文章第一段最后一句“Abouteverytwoweekshecreatedsomethingnew.”可看出他每两周就有一项新的发明,故答案为A项。
22.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
答案:D
解析:由文中的句子“Unluckily,hisfirstworkexperiencedidnotendwell.”以及“ThenEdisonworkedforfiveyearsasatelegraphoperator”可推测出该词义为“解雇”,故选D项。
23.Edison considered his deafness as .
A.something bad
B.a gift
C.a kind of ability
D.a disadvantage
答案:B
解析:由文章中的句子“buthethoughtofhisdeafnessasablessinginmanyways”可知选B项。
24.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.
答案:D
解析:本文通篇介绍了爱迪生的一生,介绍了他的生平、教育以及干过的工作、发明的东西等等,因此答案选D项。
