Haveyoudreamedofbuildingyourownmachine?Doyouwishyoucouldinventsomethingnew?HerewelookatafewBritishinventionsofrecenttimes.

　　Adaptiveglasses

　　Doyouwearglasses?Ifso,canyouimaginelifewithoutthem?In1985,JoshuaSilver,aprofessoratOxfordUniversity,askedhimself,“CanIinventapairofglassesthatcouldbechangedbythewearer?”Hedesignedtwoplasticlenses(透镜)thatarefilledwithaspecialliquid.Usingsyringes(注射器)youchangetheliquidbetweenthelensesuntilyoucanseeclearly.Theglassesarenotbeautifulbuttheyareeasytouseandcheaptomake.

　　Thewind­upradio

　　WhenyouswitchyourTVontonight,thinkaboutallthosepeoplewithoutelectricity.Thinkingaboutthis,TrevorBayliscameupwiththeideaofdesigningaradiothatcouldbepoweredbyhand.IncommonwithJoshuaSilverhewantedhisinventiontobecheapandeasytouse.Hewantedeventhepoorestpeopleindevelopingcountries,whodon'thaveelectricityandcannotaffordbatteries,touseit.Theradiohasagenerator(发电机)whichispoweredbyturningahandle.In1996itwontheBBCDesignAwardforBestProductandBestDesign.

　　TheDysonvacuum(真空)cleaner

　　Inmanyhomesaroundtheworldyoucanseeacleanerthatlookslikeaspaceship.ThisistheDysonvacuumcleanerwhichusessomethingcalled“cyclonic,separation”toseparatethedirt.Youdonotneedabagforyourcleaneranditdoesnotgetblockedsoitisverypractical.TheideacametoSirJamesDysonafterhekepthavingproblemswithhisvacuumcleaner.Hedecidedhecoulddesignabetteroneandin1993heopenedhisownfactory.TheDysonisnowoneofthebestsellingcleanersintheUKandDysonisbelievedtohaveearnedoverabillionpounds.

　　TheZapataFlyboard

　　Haveyoueverdreamedofzoomingthroughthewaterandleapingintheairlikeadolphin?Nowyoucanthankstoaflyboard,builtbywatersportsenthusiastFrankZapata.Withityoucandivebackinthewaterandoutagain.It'spossibletojumptoincredibleheightsoutofthewater—over30feet.Thebasicflyboardmodelcomesinat￡4,200.

　　Sokeepdreamingandinventing.Onedayyoumightgetitright.

　　16．Whichmightbethebesttitleforthepassage?

　　A．GreatestInventionsB．Scientists'Stories

　　C．MagicGlassesD．BeautifulMinds

　　17．Whatcanwelearnaboutadaptiveglasses?

　　A．Theyareveryexpensive.

　　B．Theinventorisastudent.

　　C．Theglassesarefragile.

　　D．Theydon'tlookverynice.

　　18．Whichinventionwonanaward?

　　A．Adaptiveglasses.

　　B．Thewind­upradio.

　　C．TheDysonvacuumcleaner.

　　D．TheZapataFlyboard.

　　19．TheDysonvacuumcleanerwasinventedwiththepurposeof________．

　　A．helpingpeopleusecleanersmoreeasily

　　B．makingDysonarichbusinessman

　　C．keepingthehousecleanerthanbefore

　　D．takingtheplaceofhumancleaners