Last week I was watching the evening news on television. The news was about a prize for some scientific discovery. I forgot what it was. The announcer, his name was Ralph Story, said something that caught my attention. “All great discoveries,” he said, “are made by people between the ages of twenty-four and thirty.” Being a little over thirty myself I wanted to disagree with him. Nobody wants to think that he is past the age of making any discovery. The next day I happened to be in the public library and spent several hours looking up the ages of famous people and their discoveries. Ralph was right.

　　First I looked at some of the scientific discoveries. One of the earliest discoveries, the famous experiment that proved that bodies of different weights fall at the same speed, was made by Galileo when he was twenty-six. Madame Curie started her research that led to a Nobel Prize when she was twenty-eight. Einstein was twenty-six when he published his world-changing theory of relativity. Well, enough of that. Yet I wondered if those “best years” were true in other fields.

　　Then how about the field of politics? Surely it took the wisdom of age to make a good leader. Perhaps it does, but look when these people started their careers. Winston Churchill was elected to the House of Commons at the age of twenty-six. Abraham Lincoln gave up the life of a country lawyer and was elected to the government at what age? Twenty-six!

　　But why don't best years come after thirty? After thirty, I guess, most people do not want to take risks or try new ways. Then I thought of people like Shakespeare and Picasso. The former was writing wonderful works at the ripe age of fifty, while the latter was still trying new ways of painting when he was ninety! Perhaps there is still hope for me.

(1) What did the writer do to prove Ralph was wrong?

[　　]

A．He compared scientific discoveries by young people.

B．He went to the bookstore to buy a lot of books.

C．He searched for useful information in books.

D．He looked at some discoveries by old people.

(2) After his research, the writer ________.

[　　]

A．believed what Ralph said and became uneasy

B．argued more forcefully with the TV announcer

C．was sure that he was right to disagree with Ralph

D．doubted more strongly about Ralph's words

(3) How did the writer most probably feel in the end?

[　　]

(4) What can we draw from the passage?

[　　]

A．Some old people have also made scientific discoveries.

B．People can not make useful discoveries when old.

C．People at twenty-five or thirty are creative.

D．People can be creative at all ages but young people are better.

　　Last week I was watching the evening news on television. The news was about a prize for some scientific discovery. I forgot what it was. The announcer, his name was Ralph Story, said something that caught my attention. “All great discoveries,” he said, “are made by people between the ages of twenty-four and thirty.” Being a little over thirty myself I wanted to disagree with him. Nobody wants to think that he is past the age of making any discovery. The next day I happened to be in the public library and spent several hours looking up the ages of famous people and their discoveries. Ralph was right.

　　First I looked at some of the scientific discoveries. One of the earliest discoveries, the famous experiment that proved that bodies of different weights fall at the same speed, was made by Galileo when he was twenty-six. Madame Curie started her research that led to a Nobel Prize when she was twenty-eight. Einstein was twenty-six when he published his world-changing theory of relativity. Well, enough of that. Yet I wondered if those “best years” were true in other fields.

　　Then how about the field of politics? Surely it took the wisdom of age to make a good leader. Perhaps it does, but look when these people started their careers. Winston Churchill was elected to the House of Commons at the age of twenty-six. Abraham Lincoln gave up the life of a country lawyer and was elected to the government at what age? Twenty-six!

　　But why don't best years come after thirty? After thirty, I guess, most people do not want to take risks or try new ways. Then I thought of people like Shakespeare and Picasso. The former was writing wonderful works at the ripe age of fifty, while the latter was still trying new ways of painting when he was ninety! Perhaps there is still hope for me.

(1) What did the writer do to prove Ralph was wrong?

[　　]

A．He compared scientific discoveries by young people.

B．He went to the bookstore to buy a lot of books.

C．He searched for useful information in books.

D．He looked at some discoveries by old people.

(2) After his research, the writer ________.

[　　]

A．believed what Ralph said and became uneasy

B．argued more forcefully with the TV announcer

C．was sure that he was right to disagree with Ralph

D．doubted more strongly about Ralph's words

(3) How did the writer most probably feel in the end?

[　　]

(4) What can we draw from the passage?

[　　]

A．Some old people have also made scientific discoveries.

B．People can not make useful discoveries when old.

C．People at twenty-five or thirty are creative.

D．People can be creative at all ages but young people are better.

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17,1706 in Boston，America. In his life he built a successful printing and publishing business in Philadelphia；he conducted scientific studies of electricity and made several important discoveries；he was a diplomat (外交官) and statesman；he helped establish Pennsylvania’s first university and America’s first city hospital；he also organized the country’s first subscription library (收费图书馆)．
Franklin was also unequaled in America as an inventor until Thomas Edison. Ben had poor eyesight  and needed glasses to read. He got tired of always taking them off and putting them back on，so he decided to figure out a way to make his glasses let him see both near and far. He had two pairs of glasses cut in half and put half of them together. Today，we call them bifocals (双光眼镜)．Another invention of his，an iron stove，allowed people to warm their homes.
He loved to learn about new things. He also thought it was important to make life better with the things that he invented. Electricity was one of the things he experimented with when he retired from his business. Ben discovered that lightning (闪电) and electricity were the same thing. The lightning rod was an important invention that we still use today to protect buildings and ships from lightning damage.
Franklin preferred to have his inventions used freely for the comfort and convenience of everyone. Thomas Jefferson，the third president of America，called Benjamin Franklin “the greatest man of the age and country in which he lived”．To Benjamin Franklin there was no greater purpose in life than to “live usefully”．

1. 1.

   Benjamin Franklin was NOT a________

   1. A.
      diplomat
   2. B.
      scientist
   3. C.
      businessman
   4. D.
      president
2. 2.

   The underlined word “unequaled” in Paragraph 2 means________

   1. A.
      better than any other
   2. B.
      worse than any other
   3. C.
      the same as others
   4. D.
      confident as others
3. 3.

   Which of the following is NOT Benjamin’s invention?

   1. A.
      Bifocals
   2. B.
      The iron stove
   3. C.
      Printing
   4. D.
      The lightning rod
4. 4.

   What was Benjamin Franklin’s purpose in life?

   1. A.
      To live comfortably every day
   2. B.
      To be useful to others
   3. C.
      To be a famous person in the world
   4. D.
      To earn a lot by inventing things

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17,1706 in Boston，America. In his life he built a successful printing and publishing business in Philadelphia；he conducted scientific studies of electricity and made several important discoveries；he was a diplomat (外交官) and statesman；he helped establish Pennsylvania’s first university and America’s first city hospital；he also organized the country’s first subscription library (收费图书馆)．

Franklin was also unequaled in America as an inventor until Thomas Edison. Ben had poor eyesight  and needed glasses to read. He got tired of always taking them off and putting them back on，so he decided to figure out a way to make his glasses let him see both near and far. He had two pairs of glasses cut in half and put half of them together. Today，we call them bifocals (双光眼镜)．Another invention of his，an iron stove，allowed people to warm their homes.

He loved to learn about new things. He also thought it was important to make life better with the things that he invented. Electricity was one of the things he experimented with when he retired from his business. Ben discovered that lightning (闪电) and electricity were the same thing. The lightning rod was an important invention that we still use today to protect buildings and ships from lightning damage.

Franklin preferred to have his inventions used freely for the comfort and convenience of everyone. Thomas Jefferson，the third president of America，called Benjamin Franklin “the greatest man of the age and country in which he lived”．To Benjamin Franklin there was no greater purpose in life than to “live usefully”．

1.Benjamin Franklin was NOT a________.

A．diplomat                              B．scientist

C．businessman                           D．president

2.The underlined word “unequaled” in Paragraph 2 means________.

A．better than any other                    B．worse than any other

C．the same as others                      D．confident as others

3.Which of the following is NOT Benjamin’s invention?

A．Bifocals.                              B．The iron stove.

C．Printing.                              D．The lightning rod.

4.What was Benjamin Franklin’s purpose in life?

A．To live comfortably every day.

B．To be useful to others.

C．To be a famous person in the world.

D．To earn a lot by inventing things.

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17,1706 in Boston，America. In his life he built a successful printing and publishing business in Philadelphia；he conducted scientific studies of electricity and made several important discoveries；he was a diplomat (外交官) and statesman；he helped establish Pennsylvania’s first university and America’s first city hospital；he also organized the country’s first subscription library (收费图书馆)．
Franklin was also unequaled in America as an inventor until Thomas Edison. Ben had poor eyesight  and needed glasses to read. He got tired of always taking them off and putting them back on，so he decided to figure out a way to make his glasses let him see both near and far. He had two pairs of glasses cut in half and put half of them together. Today，we call them bifocals (双光眼镜)．Another invention of his，an iron stove，allowed people to warm their homes.
He loved to learn about new things. He also thought it was important to make life better with the things that he invented. Electricity was one of the things he experimented with when he retired from his business. Ben discovered that lightning (闪电) and electricity were the same thing. The lightning rod was an important invention that we still use today to protect buildings and ships from lightning damage.
Franklin preferred to have his inventions used freely for the comfort and convenience of everyone. Thomas Jefferson，the third president of America，called Benjamin Franklin “the greatest man of the age and country in which he lived”．To Benjamin Franklin there was no greater purpose in life than to “live usefully”．
【小题1】Benjamin Franklin was NOT a________.