Did you ever wonder how some of your favorite foods, products or toys came about? Believe it or not, they may have been an accident, or a failure of some other intention. Below, we found three mistakes we’re thankful for turned out to be what they are.

1. Most historians hold that the Chinese invented fireworks in the 9th century when they

discovered how to make gunpowder. Story has it that a Chinese cook accidentally mixed together what were then considered common kitchen items and noticed they burnt. When put tightly in a bamboo tube and lit, it blew up.

2. In May of 1886, a law led John Pemberton, a pharmacist（药剂师）, to rewrite the formula(配方) for "Pemberton’s French Wine Coca,” his popular headache treatment. Containing sugar instead of wine as a sweetener, the outcome became something for Coke, which was later mixed with carbonated water. His bookkeeper suggested the name Coca-Cola because he thought the two C’s would look good together, which is how what we call Coca-Cola, a world –wide drink came into being.

3. During World War II, scientists at the University of Birmingham invented the magnetron—an important heat-producing part of the microwave oven(微波炉). While working for Raytheon Corporation after the war, the American engineer Percy Spencer was testing the magnetron when a chocolate bar in his pocket melted. He went on to test other foods including popcorn kernels, and found it to be a much more efficient way to cook. In 1947 Raytheon came out with the first restaurant microwave oven, which was six feet tall and weighed 750 lbs.   

The right time order of the three inventions, according to the passage, should be_________.

A. fireworks, the microwave and Coca-Cola

B. fireworks ,Coca-Cola and the microwave

C. Coca-Cola , fireworks and the microwave

D. the microwave, Coca-Cola and fireworks

Percy Spencer found the microwave efficient in cooking when he was _______.

A. looking for a way to melt his chocolate

B. trying to know how a magnetron could cook

C. working to know how the magnetron works

D. asked to invent a restaurant microwave oven

What can we learn from the above invention stories? 

A. Experiments make great inventors of our time.     

B. Nothing is impossible if one tries each day.

C. Inventors come out of hard work at any time.

D. A small incident may lead to a great invention.

What’s the best title for the passage?

A. What great inventions they are!               B. Inventions from Three Countries.

C. Stories of Accidental Inventions.          D. The Human Inventions of time.

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s?  The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s．Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent than women．Right? Wrong．Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size．Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain．The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”．While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes．

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women．This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time．When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time．

There are other important differences between two sexes．As white matter is the key to spatial tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things．“A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher．That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for direction and women often need to!

The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿）are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one．A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others．These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills．It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research．

If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t．“The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it．”says a biologist．

Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph? ________．

A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s

B．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain．

C．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter．

D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter．

What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs? ________．

A．Men do better dealing with one job at a time．

B.Women prefer doing many things at a time． 

C．Women do not need to tell directions．

D．Men have weaker spatial abilities．

Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph? _  A.More women take up jobs requiring speech skills

B.Young boys may be stronger than young girls．

C．Women may have stronger feelings than men．

D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills．

What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage? ________．

A．Defensive．  B．Objective．  C．Persuasive． D．Supportive．

   Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent(聪明的) than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of  “grey matter” and

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.

   There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial(空间的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!

   The differences begin when fetuses(胎儿) are about mine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children ad young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier (障碍物) before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors(祖先) ,among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.

   If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.

Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

   A. Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s

   B. Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.

   C. Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.

   D. Both sexes have the same amount of white matter.

What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

   A. Women prefer doing many things at a time.

   B. Men do better dealing with one job at a time.   

   C. Women do not need to tell directions.

   D. Men have weaker spatial abilities.

Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

   A. Young boys may be stronger than young girls.

   B. More women take up jobs requiring speech skills

   C. Women may have stronger feelings than men.

   D. Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.

What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A. Defensive.    B. Persuasive.    C. Supportive.   D. Objective.

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s．Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent（聪明的） than women．Right? Wrong．Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size．Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain．The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”．While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes．

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women．This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time．When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time．

There are other important differences between two sexes．As white matter is the key to spatial（空间的） tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things．“A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher．That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions…and women often need to!

The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿） are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one．A boy would try to climb a barrier （障碍物） before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others．These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills．It may all go back to our ancestors（祖先）, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research．

If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t．“The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it．” says a biologist．

The passage mainly tells us ________．

A．the difference between men’s and women’s brains

B．the changes in brain throughout our lives

C．that men are better at spatial tasks

D．that brain differences are related to our ancestors

Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s

B．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter．

C．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain．

D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter．

What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

A．Women prefer doing many things at a time．

B．Men do better dealing with one job at a time．

C．Women do not need to tell directions．

D．Men have weaker spatial abilities．

Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls．

B．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills

C．Women may have stronger feelings than men．

D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills．

What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A．Defensive．         B．Persuasive．    C．Supportive．   D．Objective．

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s．Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent（聪明的） than women．Right? Wrong．Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size．Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain．The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”．While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes．

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women．This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time．When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time．

There are other important differences between two sexes．As white matter is the key to spatial（空间的） tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things．“A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher．That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions…and women often need to!

The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿） are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one．A boy would try to climb a barrier （障碍物） before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others．These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills．It may all go back to our ancestors（祖先）, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research．

If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t．“The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it．” says a biologist．

56．The passage mainly tells us ________．

       A．the difference between men’s and women’s brains    

       B．the changes in brain throughout our lives

       C．that men are better at spatial tasks                 

       D．that brain differences are related to our ancestors

57．Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

      A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s             

       B．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter．

       C．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain．         

       D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter．

58．What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

      A．Women prefer doing many things at a time．         

       B．Men do better dealing with one job at a time．

       C．Women do not need to tell directions．             

       D．Men have weaker spatial abilities．

59．Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

     A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls．     

       B．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills

       C．Women may have stronger feelings than men．    

       D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills．

60．What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A．Defensive．         B．Persuasive．   C．Supportive．         D．Objective．