The biggest secret about inventing is that anybody can do it! Perhaps this sounds crazy, but it’s true. Maybe you have the wrong idea about inventing, so read on to discover the truth.
Wrong idea No.1： An invention has to be something completely new.
Well, inventing means creating something “new”, but the idea could come from something that already exists*. The Wright Brothers, for example, got the idea for building a “flying machine” from watching birds.
Wrong idea No.2： Inventors are born, not made.
There are a lot of factors* that make invention possible. Take Mozart, for example. He was born with an endowment for musical composition. But other factors were also important for his creativity. His father was a music teacher, and Mozart practiced for hours every day, from the time he was four years old. Thomas Edison said that being an inventor was “99% hard work and 1% inspiration”!
Very successful creators don’t give up when they get something wrong. As one inventor said, “A failure is the right answer to the wrong question.”
Wrong idea No.3： Inventors are always old people.
Don’t believe that you can’t invent something when you are young. Here are two examples of young inventors： Louis Braille went blind when he was a child. When he was fifteen, he invented a system of reading and writing for blind people that is still used in most countries today.
As a young man, George Nissen was watching some artists performing in a show. He watched how they fell into the safety net and then jumped back up again. This gave him an idea, and he invented the trampoline*.
got the idea for building a “flying machine” from watching birds.
| A．Mozart | B．George Nissen |
| C．Louis Braille | D．The Wright Brothers |
The underlined word “endowment” probably means “ ”.
| A．态度 | B．品质 | C．天赋 | D．能量 |
According to the passage, which of the following is right?
A. Anybody can do inventing.
B. Inventors are born, not made.
B. Inventors are always old people.
D. An invention has to be something completely new.
The best title for the passage would be _______.
| A．How to perform in a show | B．Be a composer |
| C．How to help blind people | D．Be an inventor |
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C）中，选出最佳选项。
Last Sunday, we asked some young people what exercise they did, and here are their answers.
Jack: I’m afraid I am very lazy．The only sport I do is to play football once a month and do some swimming, but only in summer．Every day, I am busy in studying.
Ted: About once a week, I go running．I run about 5 kilometers．In winter, I go skiing(滑雪) when I have time．But every morning, I just do some easy exercise.
David: I often do some sports at school or outside school．My mum makes me go swimming because I am kind of unhealthy．I began to do gymnastics(体操) 6 years ago．Costing over 600 pounds a year is very expensive for me．And I began to swim 8 years ago．Now I want to stop them because I have much homework．But I am afraid that I will be fat if I stop all the sports.Ted does the following exercise but ___________.
A．swimming.
B．some running.
C．skiing.Jack swims ____________.
A．every month
B．in summer
C．twice a dayDavid exercises____________.
A．at school
B．in a gym
C．inside and outside schoolIf people stop exercise, maybe they will____________.
A．eat more
B．not often feel well
C．get fatWhat is the main idea about the article?
A．Homework is more important than exercise．
B．It is a survey(调查) about students’ exercise.
C．Some of the students don’t like to exercise.
阅读理解（共3小题）
阅读下面短文，根据短文内容判断句子的正误。正确的涂 “A”，错误的涂 “B”。
Tom was three years old．He liked to watch TV with his parents after supper, but his parents never let him stay long．Mother would say, “It’s eight o’clock now．It’s time for you to go to bed, Tom.”
“But why don’t you go to bed, too?” Tom always asked.
“We are adults (大人),” mother would say, “And adults go to bed late.”
One evening Tom asked his mother for an apple.
“But it’s too late,” his mother didn’t want to give him anything to eat at bedtime．“The apples are already asleep(入睡).”
“But not all of them, Mom.” Tom said, “The baby apples are perhaps asleep, but their parents are surely awake(醒着).”( )Tom liked to watch TV with his parents after supper.
( )Tom’s mother always goes to bed together with Tom.
( )Tom’s mom didn’t want to give him anything to eat at bedtime.
( )Tom thought the baby apples were still awake like their parents.
( )From the story we know Tom was a smart boy.
A man made a nice talking machine（机器）．It could weigh people’s weight ．The man wanted to try the machine before he could make a lot of machines．
He put the machine into the waiting room of a station．There were always lots of people in and out．
The first one who used the machine was an Indian woman．She stood on the machine, the machine thought for a few seconds to decide which language to speak．“Good morning, Madam．” it said in Indian．“Your weight is 72 kilograms．That’s three kilograms more ．If you eat more fruit and vegetables, you will be soon all right ．Please have a nice day．”
The second one to use the machine was a Chinese girl ．She stood on the machine and waited to hear her weight．“Good morning, Miss．” the machine said in Chinese．“Your weight is 45 kilograms．It’s all right for your age．Keep eating what you eat every day ．Please have a nice day．”
The third one to use the machine was a very fat American woman．She thought for a long time to stand on the machine．The machine spoke quickly in English, “Good morning ．Will one of you get off?”The machine in this passage could _______ ．
| A．make people laugh |
| B．tell people what they should eat |
| C．speak all kinds of languages |
| D．weigh and talk to people |
The man put his first machine _______ ．
| A．in the station |
| B．in a train |
| C．in the doctor’s waiting room |
| D．in the women’s room |
The machine told the Indian woman _______ ．
| A．she was a little heavier |
| B．she was a little lighter |
| C．it couldn’t speak Indian |
| D．to eat what she wanted to eat |
How was the American woman?
| A．She was healthy． |
| B．She was too heavy |
| C．She liked thinking． |
| D．The machine didn’t like her． |
We can not live a modern life without travelling．The fastest way of, travelling is by air．With a plane one can travel in one day to places which it takes a month or more to get to a hundred years ago．
Travelling by train is slower than by plane, but one can see the country while he is travelling through．Modern trains have comfortable seats and dining-cars．They make even the longest journey enjoyable．
Some people prefer to travel by sea when possible, There are large luxury liners(客轮) or river boats．They are not as fast as trains or planes, but travelling by sea is a' very pleasant way to spend a holiday．
Many people like to travel: by car．They can make their own timetable．They can travel hundreds of miles a day, just as their wish．They can stop wherever they want to see something interesting or to enjoy a good meal at a good restaurant, or to spend the night at a hotel．That is why people choose travelling by car for pleasant trips, while they usually take trains or planes for business．According to the passage, the fastest way of travelling is_______________．
| A．by car |
| B．by train |
| C．by sea |
| D．by plane |
If we travel by car, we can_______．
| A．enjoy the longest journey |
| B．travel only fifty miles a day |
| C．travel to a very far place in a few minutes |
| D．make our own timetable |
When people travel on business, they usually take_______________．
| A．a train or a plane |
| B．a car or a train |
| C．a plane or a car |
| D．a boat or a train |
If possible, people like travelling by sea because_______．
| A．it is as fast as trains and planes |
| B．it can stop wherever they like |
| C．it is very cheap |
| D．it is a pleasant way to spend a holiday |
We know that many animals do not stay in one place．Birds, fish and other animals move from one place to another at a certain time．They move for different reasons: most of them move to find food more easily, but others move to get away from places that are too crowded．
When cold weather comes, many birds move to warmer places to find food．Some fishes give birth in warm water and move to cold water to feed．The most famous migration (迁移) is probably the migration of fish, which is called “salmon”．This fish is born in fresh water but it travels many miles to salt water．There it spends its life．When it is old, it returns to its birthplace in fresh water．Then it gives birth and dies．In northern Europe, there is a kind of mouse．They leave their mountain homes when they become too crowded．They move down to the low land．Sometimes they move all the way to the seaside, and many of them are killed when they fall into the sea．
Recently (近来), scientists have studied the migration of a kind of lobster (龙虾)．Every year, when the season of the bad weather arrives, the lobsters get into a long line and start to walk across the floor of the ocean．Nobody knows why they do this, and nobody knows where they go．So, sometimes we know why humans and animals move from one place to another, but at other times we don’t．Maybe living things just like to travel．Most animals move from one place to another at a certain time to _______．
| A．give birth |
| B．find food more easily |
| C．enjoy warmer weather |
| D．find beautiful places |
The fish called “salmon” spends a long time in ______．
| A．fresh water |
| B．rivers |
| C．salt water |
| D．its birthplace |
The mice in northern Europe move when _______．
| A．they give birth |
| B．they haven’t enough food |
| C．the weather is bad |
| D．the place gets too crowded |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Animals move to find food more easily． |
| B．The migration of the fish called “salmon” is the most famous migration． |
| C．Sometimes we know why and how living things move from one place to a nother, but sometimes we don’t． |
| D．Living things move from one place to another because they like to travel． |