Can you remember the day when you spoke your first words? If you can, you are unusual. Try to think what the first few months of your life were like. I’m sure you just spent most of your time eating, sleeping and crying. As you grew older, you were awake more of the time. It took your parents more to play with you and talk to you. You watched and listened. You began to know that people make some sounds to go with some things.

Then you began to cry to make sounds you heard. And step by step you were able to make the right sound for one thing.

On that day you came to understand the secret of the language. The secret is that a certain sound means a certain thing. One sound might be as good as another. But it is not as good as a word unless everyone agrees on its meaning. Only when a group of people use the same set of sounds of things, they can understand each other, so these people have a language.

After you found the secret of language, you learned words. Some of the words meant things, such as books, chairs and shops. Some of the words meant actions such as go and swim. And other words described things such as good or dirty. Soon you learned to put words together to express one’s idea, such as“I want to go out and play with my friends.”This is language. By the way of language people can communicate. So we say languages mean communication.

1.________ can remember the day when we spoke our first words.

A. Few of us B. No one C. Most people D. Someone

2.When you were a little baby, you ________.

A. made sounds to let people know that you wanted to eat

B. spent most of your time eating, playing and sleeping

C. could not hear any sounds around you

D. spent most of your time playing with your parents

3.The secret of language is that ________.

A. one sound might be as good as another B. a certain sound is for a certain thing

C. people can understand each other D. there is a special sound for each other

4.You could learn words ________.

A. before you knew what language was B. when you were a baby

C. if you knew what language was D. after you knew what language was

5.The use of language is ________.

A. to get everything one wants from another

B. to say what one wants to know

C. to make oneself understood by others

D. to share ideas,opinions,news,etc. with one another

Trevor Graham Baylis was born on 13 May 1937 in Kilburn, London. He is best known for inventing the wind?up radio(the clockwork radio).

Trevor was an excellent swimmer. At the age of 15, he swam for Great Britain. Later, he served in the army for four years beginning in 1957. After leaving the army, he joined a company called Purley Pools, which was famous for building the world's first free?standing swimming pool. Later, Trevor left the company and started his own swimming pool company. At the same time, his love of swimming led him to work as a stuntman(特技演员) for television programmes. However, he met many stuntmen who were no longer able to work because of injury. Trevor_decided_to_invent_some_products_for_the_disabled. At his house, there was a special workshop where he invented things.

In the early 1990s, he saw a television programme about the spread of AIDS in Africa. He learned that in many areas in Africa the only means of communication was radio. However, batteries and electricity were too expensive and too difficult to get there. Trevor_wanted_to_help_those_people. At first, Trevor invented a wind?up radio which could play for 14 minutes with a two?minute wind. However, nobody was interested in his invention. Luckily, his invention was featured on the television programme Tomorrow's World. Two businessmen showed a great interest in it. With the money they invested,_Trevor developed his invention and founded a company called Freeplay Energy. In June 1996, the Freeplay radio was awarded the BBC Design Award for Best Product and Best Design.

1.Trevor joined the army at the age of ________.

A. 15 B. 20

C. 24 D. 25

2.Trevor started his own swimming pool company ________.

A. before he swam for Great Britain

B. before he joined Purley Pools

C. after he left Purley Pools

D. after he worked as a stuntman

3.From the underlined sentences, we can learn that Trevor was ________.

A. helpful B. rude

C. humorous D. silly

4.What does the underlined word “invested” mean in Chinese?

A. 投资 B. 抢劫

C. 拍卖 D. 储蓄

5.This passage is mainly about ________.

A. a great invention

B. a great swimmer and inventor

C. the history of the wind?up radio

D. an important television programme

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