2021年高考英语阅读理解真题词汇练 03

高考真题阅读练词汇03 来源 词数 建议用时 江苏卷 348 7' 1 We know the famous ones-the Thomas Edisons and the Alexander Graham Bells-but what about the less famous inventors? What about the people who invented the traffic light and the windshield wiper(雨刮器）？Shouldn't we know who they are? 2 Joan McLean thinks so. In fact, McLean, a professor of physics at Mountain University in Range, feels so strongly about this matter that she's developed a course on the topic. In addition to learning "who” invented “what”, however, McLean also likes her students to learn the answers to the “why” and “how” questions. According to McLean, “When students learn the answers to these questions, they are better prepared to recognize opportunities for inventing and more motivated to give inventing a try.” 3Her students agree. One young man with a patent for an unbreakable umbrella is walking proof of Mclean's statement. “If I had not heard the story of the windshield wiper's invention,” said Tommy Lee, a senior physics major, “I never would have dreamed of turning my bad experience during a rainstorm into something so constructive. ”Lee is currently negotiating to sell his patent to an umbrella producer. 4 So, just what is the story behind the windshield wiper? Well, Mary Anderson came up with the idea in 1902atter a visit to New York City. The day was cold and stormy, but Anderson still wanted to see the sights, so she jumped aboard a streetcar. Noticing that the driver was struggling to see through the snow covering the windshield, she found herself wondering why there couldn't be a built-in device for cleaning the window. Sill wondering about this when she returned home to Birmingham, Alabama, Anderson started drafting out solutions. One of her ideas, a lever(操作杆)on the inside of a vehicle that would control an arm on the outside, became the first windshield wiper. 5 Today we benefit from countless inventions and innovations. It's hard to imagine driving without Garrett A. Morgan's traffic light. It'