阅读理解。
Have you dreamed of building your own machine? Do you wish you could invent something new? Here we look at a few British inventions of recent times.
Adaptive glasses
Do you wear glasses? If so, can you imagine life without them? In 1985, Joshua Silver, a professor at Oxford University, asked himself, "Can I invent a pair of glasses that could be changed
by the wearer?" He designed two plastic lenses (透镜) that are filled with a special liquid. Using
syringes (注射器) you change the liquid between the lenses until you can see clearly. The glasses are
not beautiful but they are easy to use and cheap to make.
The wind-up radio
When you switch your TV on tonight, think about all those people without electricity. Thinking about
this, Trevor Baylis came up with the idea of designing a radio that could be powered by hand. In common with Joshua Silver he wanted his invention to be cheap and easy to use. He wanted even the poorest
people in developing countries, who don't have electricity and cannot afford batteries, to use it. The radio
has a generator(发电机)which is powered by turning a handle. In 1996 it won the BBC Design Award for Best Product and Best Design.
The Dyson vacuum(真空) cleaner
In many homes around the world you can see a cleaner that looks like a spaceship. This is the Dyson
vacuum cleaner which uses something called "cyclonic separation" to separate the dirt. You do not need
a bag for your cleaner and it does not get blocked so it is very practical. The idea came to Sir James
Dyson after he kept having problems with his vacuum cleaner. He decided he could design a better one
and in 1993 he opened his own factory. The Dyson is now one of the best-selling cleaners in the UK and Dyson is believed to have earned over a billion pounds.
The Zapata flyboard
Have you ever dreamed of zooming through the water and leaping in the air like a dolphin? Now you
can, thanks to a flyboard, built by water sports enthusiast Frank Zapata. With it you can dive back in the
water and out again. It's possible to jump to incredible heights out of the water-over 30 feet. The basic
flyboard model comes in at ￡4,200.
So keep dreaming and inventing. One day you might get it right.
1. Which might be the best title for the passage?
A. Greatest Inventions
B. Scientists' Stories
C. Magic Glasses
D. Beautiful Minds
2. What can we learn about adaptive glasses?
A. They are very expensive.
B. The inventor is a student
C. The glasses are fragile.
D. They don't look very nice.
3. Which invention won an award?
A. Adaptive glasses.
B. The wind-up radio.
C. They Dyson vacuum cleaner
D. The Zapata flyboard.
4. The Dyson vacuum cleaner was invented with the purpose of .
A. helping people use cleaners easily
B. making Dyson a rich businessman
C. keeping the house cleaner than before
D. taking the place of human cleaners
