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?
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.”
Her 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.
So, just what is the story behind the windshield wiper? Well, Mary Anderson came up with the idea in 1902 after 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. Still 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.
Today we benefit from countless inventions and innovations. It’ s hard to imagine driving without Garrett A. Morgan’ s traffic light. It’ s equally impossible to picture a world without Katherine J. Blodgett’ s innovation that makes glass invisible. Can you picture life without clear windows and eyeglasses?
【小题1】By mentioning “traffic light”and “windshield wiper”， the author indicates that countless inventions are .A．beneficial, because their inventors are famousB．beneficial, though their inventors are less famousC．not useful, because their inventors are less famousD．not useful, though their inventors are famous【小题2】Professor Joan McLean’ s course aims to .A．add colour and variety to students’ campus lifeB．inform students of the windshield wiper’ s inventionC．carry out the requirements by Mountain UniversityD．prepare students to try their own inventions【小题3】 Tommy Lee’ s invention of the unbreakable umbrella was .A．not eventually accepted by the umbrella producerB．inspired by the story behind the windshield wiperC．due to his dream of being caught in a rainstormD．not related to Professor Joan McLean’ s lectures【小题4】Which of the following can best serve as the title of this passage?A．How to Help Students to Sell Their Inventions to Producers?B．How to Design a Built-in Device for Cleaning the Window?C．Shouldn’ t We Know Who Invented the Windshield Wiper?D．Shouldn’ t We Develop Invention Courses in Universities?B
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(答案→)B
解析：【要点综述】我们了解著名人物及发明，如爱迪生的电灯和留声机，贝尔的电话等，但是又有多少人知道红绿灯和雨刮器的发明者呢？
【小题1】细节理解题。根据文章第一段提到的“…the less famous inventors…the traffic light and the windshield wiper？”可知选项B正确。
【小题1】信息理解题。根据文章第二段最后一句“…students learn the answers to these questions, they are better prepared to recognize opportunities for inventing and more motivated to give inventing a try.”可知教授的目的，所以选择D项。
【小题1】细节理解题。根据文章第三段“If I had not heard the story of the windshield wiper’ s invention…I never would have dreamed of turning my bad experience during a rainstorm into something so constructive.”可知Tommy Lee的发明是在雨刮器故事的启迪下成功的，所以选择B项。
【小题1】标题归纳题。纵观全文，特别是第一段指明了文章的主题，即我们应该了解雨刮器和红绿灯背后的发明者的故事，故选C项。