1UnitUnit 3 3 InventorsInventors andand inventionsinventions 单元加餐练.阅读理解A ALooking back on my childhood, I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental arithmetic.Before World War we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal (清澈的) clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects. I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other peoples observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious (意识清醒的) mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle, because it all seems to fit together. This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and several books, in which some might be honored with the title of scientific research. But curiosity, a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist. One of the outstanding and essential qualities required is selfdiscipline, a quality I lack. A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds.篇章导读：本文是一篇夹叙夹议文。作者通过回忆自己的童年经历认为博物学家是天生的，不是后天造就的。作者在文章最后总结，仅拥有一颗好奇心、一双敏锐的眼睛以及对世间动植物的热爱并不能成就一位科学家，因为一个科学家最突出、最基本的特点是应具备自我约束能力。1The first paragraph tells us that the author _ .Alost his hearing when he was a childBdidnt like his brothers and sistersCwas interested in flowers and insects in his childhoodDwas born to a naturalists family答案：C 推理判断题。第一段第一句中的“. convinced that naturalists are born and not made”表明作者认为博物学家是天生的，不是后天造就的。由关键信息“my brothers and sisters soon abandoned . flowers and insects”可知，他的姐妹兄弟对于花、虫等不感兴趣，但作者不像他们(Unlike them)，由此推知作者在童2年时对花草是感兴趣的。故选 C 项。2According to the author, a born naturalist should first of all be _ .Afull of ambition BselfdisciplinedCfull of enthusiasm Dknowledgeable答案：C 推理判断题。从第三段第一、二句“I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations.”可知，作者认为一个博物学家首先应具备的是对自然界的热爱之情，故选 C 项。3The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he_ .Ajust reads about other peoples observations and discoveriesBlacks some of the qualities required of scientistsChas a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmeticDcomes up with solutions in most natural ways答案：B 细节理解题。根据最后一段第一句，并结合第二句“One of the outstanding and essential qualities required is selfdiscipline, a quality I lack.”可知，作者认为自己不是科学家，因为一个科学家的基本素质就是有自律能力，但作者恰恰缺乏这一点。故选 B 项。4The author couldnt remember his relatives clearly because_ .Ahe didnt live very long with themBhe was too young when he lived with themCthe family was extremely largeDhe was fully occupied with observing nature答案：D 推理判断题。第二段作者回忆了在农场度过的日子，对于那里的狗、鸟等动物作者至今仍历历在目，但对那里的亲戚、房子、玩具已记不清了，可见他从小就专注于观察自然界中的一切，其他事情他几乎很少关注。故选 D 项。B BEarly one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run around the needle without any problems.Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into a rage and ordered his 3soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practised sewing machine.Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mi