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Passage 1
A Great Inventor
Source:
http://www.englishdaily626.com/high_school_english_ess
ays.php?135
It is surprising what a man can achieve with imagination
and hard work put together. Yet how few of us achieve it. It
is futile to say that some are too poor and others too rich to
put in the required amount of effort and the necessary
amount of concentration. There is an inexplicable
something in the makings of a genius. That is why he is a
genius! Thomas Alwa Edison, the great American inventor
with more than one thousand patents to his credit, was one
such man. Not at all bright in the ordinary sense of the
word, hard of hearing and frequently absent from school,
he was earning eight to ten dollars per day at the age of
twelve and was the owner of several newspapers and
vegetable shops. This was the result of initiative and hard
work and not of necessity for his parents were fairly well-
to-do and could give him a reasonable amount of pocket
money. Born on 11 February 1847 in Ohio, he moved with
his parents to Port Huron in 1854 where his father became
a dealer in grain and cattle feed. His father Samuel Edison
came from a line of long living, hard-working people of
Dutch origin and his mother was of an American Quaker
family. He perhaps inherited his shrewdness, and his ability
to assess people from his mother and the capacity of hard
work from his father. Thomas Edison started earning
money right from the age of nine and from then onwards he
never looked back.
Edison's first invention came at the age of sixteen, when he
invented a gadget for the automatic transmission of an
hourly signal; this he followed up with an automatic vote
recorder for recording of votes in the congress. When the
politicians laughed at the idea, he realized that an invention
should not only be useful but should also be in demand.
Later he was to learn that the price of an invention should
be measured not according to the effort and labor put in but
according to its value to the purchaser. This he learnt when
he went to finalize the deal with Marshall Lefferts, the
President of the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company for a
stock-ticker, which he had invented. He went determined to
ask for $3,000 but felt too timid to do so. Timidity paid him
dividends for Marshall Lefferts offered him $40,000 with
which Edison was able to start a factory.
Edison was not content with merely making money. It was
only of secondary importance for it helped him continue his
research and experiments. He was responsible for at least
fifty different inventions connected with telegraphy. He
also invented the quadruplex communication system by
which four messages could he sent simultaneously. He also
invented what is now known as a stencil, and paraffined
paper for wrapping toffees. Edison used his imaginative
faculties to the full. Amongst his major inventions is the
phonograph or what is commonly known as the
gramophone. He first used it to record telegraphic messages
but as the paper made a musical noise while rotting. The
idea occurred to him that it could also be used for recording
music and the human voice. Having very little taste for
music he was quite surprised when demands poured in
from the Germans for records of classical music. He
himself visualized it mainly as a business and educational
aid.
Amongst other notable inventions were his inventions
related to the world of electricity. He invented the carbon
filament electric lamp and erected the first central electric
power station in New York. Though he made no direct
contribution to communication, he patented a system of
wireless communication by electrostatic induction. Edison
also devised the first cinema camera and made the first
commercial motion pictures.
As a person, he was naive and simple but once exposed to
the tricks of the commercial world he was quick to develop
a business acumen and play his part in the world of
business. He was a shrewd judge of character and was also
very lucky in having talented young men to work for him
who later became inventors in their own right. Henry Ford
was among the talented amen who worked for him.
Edison's first marriage took place in 1871, which was
perhaps a romantic marriage. But his wife died in 1889 and
Edison remarried, this time a good eighteen years his
junior. His life acquired a different tone after that but he
lacked the finer delicacies of parental life. Absorbed as he
was in his work, he died in 1931 at the age of 84.
1. Which statement best completes the conclusion of the
passage? His life is an example of what can be
achieved by people __________.
A. who may not be brilliant in the conventional
sense of the word
B. who may have fallen to trap of some wicked
people
C. who are not talented but hard working
D. who may have physical and learning disabilities
2. According to the passage, which of the following
happened first?
A. Thomas Edison invented the gadget for automatic
transmission of an hourly signal
B. Thomas Edison owned newspapers and vegetable
shops
C. Thomas Edison invented the gramophone
D. Thomas Edison’s family moved to Port Huron
3. Which of the following did Thomas Edison not
invent?
A. Communication device
B. Cinema camera
C. Stencil
D. Automatic vote recorder
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4. Which of the following conforms to the principle that

Thomas Edison believes in pricing his inventions?

A. The total labor and material cost to produce a

certain product is 100 USD. Assuming a mark-up
of 5%, its selling price should be 105 USD.
B. The total labor and material cost to produce a
certain product is 100 USD. A buyer is willing to
pay 105 USD for the product. Its selling price
should be 105 USD.
C. The total labor and material cost to produce a
certain product is 100 USD. Another seller sells
the product for 105 USD. Its selling price should
be 105 USD.
D. The total labor and material cost to produce a
certain product is 100 USD. The prevailing
market price of the product is 105 USD. Its
selling price should be 105 USD.

5. What is the general tone of the passage?

A. Technical
B. Dogmatic
C. Introspective
D. Informative

6. The word “inexplicable” as used in the passage means

_____.

A. Inevitable
B. Reasonable
C. Perplexing
D. Natural