A person has to be sixteen to drive, seventeen to see certain movies, and eighteen to vote. People can get terrific discounts on all sorts of stuff-provided they’re over sixty-five. Everywhere we look there are age limits that define what people can and can’t do. But creativity has no boundaries, no limitations. Anyone can invent. And they do. Inventors are popping up at the youngest ages.
Sitting in the car waiting for her mom to return from shopping, Becky decided she might as well try to finish her math homework. But it was growing dark and getting hard to see the paper.
“I didn’t have a flashlight, and I didn’t want to open the car door because then the whole car would light up.” recalled Becky. “So I thought it would be neat to have my paper light up somehow, and that’s when the idea came to me.”
It isn’t every day that a ten-year-old invents a product eagerly sought by several businesses, but that’s exactly what Becky Schroeder did when she created a tool that enabled people to write in the dark. Her invention? The Glo-sheet.
That night Becky went home, trying to imagine different ways of making her paper glow in the dark. She remembered all sorts of glow-in-the-dark toys-like balls and Frisbees-and wondered how they were made. She was determined to find a solution. So they very next day, Beck’s dad took her on an outing to the hardware store. They returned with a pail (桶) of phosphorescent paint. She took the paint and stacks of paper into the darkest room in the house-the bathroom. There, she experimented.
“I’d turn on the light, turn it off, turn it on,” said Becky. “My parents remember me running out the room saying ‘It works, it works! I’m writing in the dark!’ ”
She used an acrylic board and coated it with a specific amount of phosphorescent paint. She took a complicated idea and made it work rather simply. When the coated clipboard is exposed to light, it glows. The glowing board then illuminates or lights up the paper that has been placed on top. Two years after her initial inspiration, in 1974, Becky became the youngest female ever to receive a U.S. patent.
She didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet. She didn’t need to. The New York Times wrote an article about an incredible invention-patented by a twelve-year-old, and the inquiries and orders streamed in.

1. 1.

   From Paragraph 1 , we can draw a conclusion that _________.

   1. A.
      it is illegal for one to drive under sixteen
   2. B.
      people enjoy privileges when over sixty-five
   3. C.
      one is never too old or too young to invent
   4. D.
      people hate the limitations that define our behavior
2. 2.

   What caused Becky to invent Glo-sheet?

   1. A.
      She was trying to do homework when it got dark.
   2. B.
      She was having trouble with math problems.
   3. C.
      She was trying to earn some money.
   4. D.
      She was working on a school project.
3. 3.

   What is the meaning of the underlined words “phosphorescent paint” in paragraph 5?

   1. A.
      paint that acts as a glue                         
   2. B.
      paint that covers a mark
   3. C.
      paint that becomes hard                        
   4. D.
      paint that glows in the dark
4. 4.

   What does it mean that Beck “didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet” according to paragraph 8?

   1. A.
      She kept the original one for her own use.
   2. B.
      Other people came to her for the Glo-sheet.
   3. C.
      Becky’s father tried to sell the Glo-sheet.
   4. D.
      She gave away patent to the government.
5. 5.

   With which statement would Becky most likely agree?

   1. A.
      Experience is needed to be a good inventor.
   2. B.
      Only by inventing things can you know what people need.
   3. C.
      Always try to sell patent rights to large companies.
   4. D.
      You never know what you can do unless you try.

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in City and landing on my head. Now I am thirty two. I can slightly remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is .It would be wonderful to see again , but a calamity (灾难)can do strange things to people .It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn’t been blind . I believe in life now.I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply , otherwise. I don’t mean that would prefer to go without my eyes . I simply mean that Atlantic the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left .

Life, I believe, asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality. The more readily a person is able to make these adjustments, the more meaningful his own private world becomes. The adjustment is never easy. I was totally confused and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me--a potential to live, you might call it--which I didn't see, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.

The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate（错综复杂的） pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the simplest things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was making fun of me and I was hurt. "I can't use this." I said. "Take it with you," he urged me, "and roll it around." The words stuck in my head. "Roll it around! "By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.

All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good trying for something that I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.

1.We can learn from the beginning of the passage that _______

A. the author lost his sight because of a car crash.

B. the author wouldn't love life if the disaster didn't happen.

C. the disaster made the author appreciate what he had.

D. the disaster strengthened the author's desire to see.

2.What's the most difficult thing for the author?

A. How to adjust himself to reality.

B. Building up assurance that he can find his place in life.

C. Learning to manage his life alone.

D. How to invent a successful variation of baseball.

3.According to the context, “a chair rocker on the front porch” in paragraph 3 means that the author __________

A. would sit in a rocking chair and enjoy his life.

B. would be unable to move and stay in a rocking chair.

C. would lose his will to struggle against difficulties.

D. would sit in a chair and stay at home.

4.According to the passage, the baseball and encouragement offered by the man _____

A. hurt the author's feeling.

B. gave the author a deep impression.

C. directly led to the invention of ground ball.

D. inspired the author.

5.What is the best title for the passage?

A. A Miserable Life

B. Struggle Against Difficulties

C. A Disaster Makes a Strong Person

D. An Unforgettable Experience

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in Atlantic City and landing on my head. Now I am thirty two. I can slightly remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a calamity(灾难) can do strange things to people. It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn't been blind. I believe in life now. I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply, otherwise. I don't mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.

Life, I believe, asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality. The more readily a person is able to make these adjustments, the more meaningful his own private world becomes. The adjustment is never easy. I was totally confused and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me--a potential to live, you might call it--which I didn't see, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.

The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed (崩溃) and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance（确信） that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate（错综复杂的） pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the simplest things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was making fun of me and I was hurt. "I can't use this." I said. "Take it with you," he urged me, "and roll it around." The words stuck in my head. "Roll it around! "By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.

All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good to try for something I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.

1.We can learn from the beginning of the passage that _______

2.What's the most difficult thing for the author?

3.According to the context, "a chair rocker on the front porch" in paragraph 3 means that the author __________

4.According to the passage, the baseball and encouragement offered by the man _____

5.What is the best title for the passage?

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in Atlantic City and landing on my head. Now I am thirty two. I can slightly remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a calamity(灾难) can do strange things to people. It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn't been blind. I believe in life now. I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply, otherwise. I don't mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.
Life, I believe, asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality. The more readily a person is able to make these adjustments, the more meaningful his own private world becomes. The adjustment is never easy. I was totally confused and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me--a potential to live, you might call it--which I didn't see, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.
The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed (崩溃) and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance（确信） that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate（错综复杂的） pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the simplest things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was making fun of me and I was hurt. "I can't use this." I said. "Take it with you," he urged me, "and roll it around." The words stuck in my head. "Roll it around! "By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.
All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good to try for something I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.

1. 1.

   We can learn from the beginning of the passage that _______

   1. A.
      the author lost his sight because of a car crash.
   2. B.
      the author wouldn't love life if the disaster didn't happen.
   3. C.
      the disaster made the author appreciate what he had.
   4. D.
      the disaster strengthened the author's desire to see.
2. 2.

   What's the most difficult thing for the author?

   1. A.
      How to adjust himself to reality.
   2. B.
      Building up assurance that he can find his place in life.
   3. C.
      Learning to manage his life alone.
   4. D.
      How to invent a successful variation of baseball.
3. 3.

   According to the context, "a chair rocker on the front porch" in paragraph 3 means that the author __________

   1. A.
      would sit in a rocking chair and enjoy his life.
   2. B.
      would be unable to move and stay in a rocking chair.
   3. C.
      would lose his will to struggle against difficulties.
   4. D.
      would sit in a chair and stay at home.
4. 4.

   According to the passage, the baseball and encouragement offered by the man _____

   1. A.
      hurt the author's feeling.
   2. B.
      gave the author a deep impression.
   3. C.
      directly led to the invention of ground ball.
   4. D.
      inspired the author.
5. 5.

   What is the best title for the passage?

   1. A.
      A Miserable Life
   2. B.
      Struggle Against Difficulties
   3. C.
      A Disaster Makes a Strong Person
   4. D.
      An Unforgetable Experience

A person has to be sixteen to drive, seventeen to see certain movies, and eighteen to vote. People can get terrific discounts on all sorts of stuff－provided they’re over sixty-five. Everywhere we look there are age limits that define what people can and can’t do. But creativity has no boundaries, no limitations. Anyone can invent. And they do. Inventors are popping up at the youngest ages.

Sitting in the car waiting for her mom to return from shopping, Becky decided she might as well try to finish her math homework. But it was growing dark and getting hard to see the paper.

“I didn’t have a flashlight, and I didn’t want to open the car door because then the whole car would light up.” recalled Becky. “So I thought it would be neat to have my paper light up somehow, and that’s when the idea came to me.”

It isn’t every day that a ten-year-old invents a product eagerly sought by several businesses, but that’s exactly what Becky Schroeder did when she created a tool that enabled people to write in the dark. Her invention? The Glo-sheet.

That night Becky went home, trying to imagine different ways of making her paper glow in the dark. She remembered all sorts of glow-in-the-dark toys－like balls and Frisbees－and wondered how they were made. She was determined to find a solution. So they very next day, Beck’s dad took her on an outing to the hardware store. They returned with a pail (桶) of phosphorescent paint. She took the paint and stacks of paper into the darkest room in the house－the bathroom. There, she experimented.

“I’d turn on the light, turn it off, turn it on,” said Becky. “My parents remember me running out the room saying ‘It works, it works! I’m writing in the dark!’ ”

She used an acrylic board and coated it with a specific amount of phosphorescent paint. She took a complicated idea and made it work rather simply. When the coated clipboard is exposed to light, it glows. The glowing board then illuminates or lights up the paper that has been placed on top. Two years after her initial inspiration, in 1974, Becky became the youngest female ever to receive a U.S. patent.

She didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet. She didn’t need to. The New York Times wrote an article about an incredible invention－patented by a twelve-year-old, and the inquiries and orders streamed in.

1. From Paragraph 1 , we can draw a conclusion that _________.

A. it is illegal for one to drive under sixteen

B. people enjoy privileges when over sixty-five

C. one is never too old or too young to invent

D. people hate the limitations that define our behavior

2. What caused Becky to invent Glo-sheet?

A. She was trying to do homework when it got dark.

B. She was having trouble with math problems.

C. She was trying to earn some money.

D. She was working on a school project.

3. What is the meaning of the underlined words “phosphorescent paint” in paragraph 5?

A. paint that acts as a glue　　　　　　 B. paint that covers a mark

C. paint that becomes hard　　　　　　 D. paint that glows in the dark

4. What does it mean that Beck “didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet” according to paragraph 8?

A. She kept the original one for her own use.

B. Other people came to her for the Glo-sheet.

C. Becky’s father tried to sell the Glo-sheet.

D. She gave away patent to the government.

5. With which statement would Becky most likely agree?

A. Experience is needed to be a good inventor.

B. Only by inventing things can you know what people need.

C. Always try to sell patent rights to large companies.

D. You never know what you can do unless you try.