There are some very good inventions which, for one reason or another, don’t become popular. These inventions should be better known, even though I think that some of them are crazy. Let’s have a look at some of these inventions and see if you agree that they should be more successful.
The Australians had a great idea to stop people from drinking and driving. The idea was that if a driver wanted to start the car, she or he would have to blow into a bag first. If there was too much alcohol(酒精) in their breath, the car wouldn’t start. It sounded like a great idea to me, but people said that they might need to drive the car in an emergency even if they had drunk too much alcohol. Another idea I liked was an invention by a scientist who thought his children watched too much TV. He linked the TV to an exercise bike so that the electricity to power the TV was generated(产出) by the bike. If the children wanted to watch a lot of TV, they had to pedal(踩踏板) very hard. I found another invention on the Internet which was intended (倾向于) to encourage good habits. Believe it or not, this invention was an ashtray(烟灰缸) which spoke to you when you lit a cigarette! The “voice” of the ashtray was activated (启动) by the heat from the cigarette and reminded you how dangerous it is to smoke.
One of the strangest inventions I have come across is a bicycle which can cross rivers! The idea was that when you came to a river, you could inflate a huge plastic ball all around the bike. You would then get into the ball which would float on the river while you pedaled the bike inside the ball! Why not use a bridge instead? A friend of mine at school once bought a strange pair of football shoes. On the bottom of the shoes there was a rotating pad of studs (转动钉垫). The idea was that you would change direction more quickly if the studs rotated with you. The problem was that every time you stopped you changed direction whether you wanted to or not! I think he wore those shoes twice! One thing I would like is a baseball cap with a built-in radio so you can listen to sport all day with your hands free. While we are on the subject of sport, the Americans invented a kind of robot for sports fans. If you were watching your team on TV on your own, you could press a button and the robot would do “high fives” with you! Fantastic! I wonder if you have any good ideas for inventions like these.
小题1:What’s the writer’s attitude towards the inventions mentioned in Paragraph 2?

A．The writer regrets he knew nothing about the inventions.

B．The writer doubts if the inventions will be popular soon.

C．The writer thinks people will benefit from the inventions.

D．The writer finds these inventions are the strangest of all.

小题2:What can we know from the passage?

A．The father used his invention to stop children watching too much TV.

B．It was very bad for the drivers to blow into a bag before their driving.

C．The bike crossing rivers was considered one of the best inventions.

D．The invention of new shoes would make players run much faster.

小题3:The underlined word “inflate” in the third paragraph means __________.

A．check out	B．blow up
C．look into	D．turn over

小题4:What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Popular Inventions Today.

B．Technology and Invention.

C．The History of Invention.

D．Inventions with a Difference.

One night, I wondered what it would be like if I only asked questions. I decided that no matter what anyone said to me the next day, I would reply only with   36 .
I loved to read about scientists and their discoveries, and I knew that scientists always started their research with a question. I hoped that I could become a scientist. Maybe by asking questions, I could train my mind to be   37 .
I survived the morning easily. “Is there any egg?” I answered when my mother asked what I wanted for breakfast. “Is this seat taken?” I asked when my friend Mike asked where he was going to   38  on the bus.
In the classroom, Mr. Black spoke slowly and clearly while I listened carefully. The problem had been part of my homework the night before. I wrote the answer on the board, “Could the answer be 361?”
Mr. Black smiled and nodded. I thought,“How did I   39  to get through that?” I almost laughed because asking questions really was starting to become a   40 .
I thought I had made it safely through the whole day,   41  what I had come to consider my experiment blew up at the dinner table when my dad asked me about my day. “What do I always do?” I replied.
My parents looked at each other. My father   42  again. “Well, I hope you went to school,” he said.
“Uhhh … why would you think otherwise?” I asked. My parents exchanged another   43   
and were becoming annoyed.
“Do you think questions are a good way to train your mind to be active?” I asked.
“It   44  the question,” said my father. “Some questions are asked for   45  information. Those are good mind-training questions. Sometimes, people use questions to get the other person to say something. Sometimes people ask questions to get someone to agree with them. Those questions don’t really achieve anything.”
“I guess my experiment didn’t work,” I said, and I told my father about my   46 .
“I think it worked   47 !” my father said. “You made a discovery, didn’t you? What matters is that you have put your idea into practice.”                              

小题1:	A．actions B．answers C．gestures D．questions

小题2:	A．deep B．free C．quick D．strong

小题3:	A．get B．sit C．come D．take

小题4:	A．fail B．have C．want D．manage

小题5:	A．habit B．step C．goal D．rule

小题6:	A．or B．so C．but D．and

小题7:	A．tried B．asked C．guessed D．ordered

小题8:	A．look B．word C．mind D．topic

小题9:	A．refers to B．belongs to C．puts on D．depends on

小题10:

A．sending B．finding C．sharing D．keeping

小题11:

A．test B．idea C．plan D．wonder

小题12:

A．slowly B．safely C．perfectly D．properly