Прочитай текст и выполни задания 12–18. В каждом задании запиши в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному варианту ответа.

People often say Edison was a genius. He answered, "Genius is hard work, stick-to-it-iveness, and common sense."

Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. In 1854, when he was seven, the family moved to Michigan, where Edison spent the rest of his childhood. "Al," as he was called as a boy, went to school only a short time. He did so poorly that his mother, a former teacher, taught her son at home. Al grew to love reading, a habit he kept for the rest of his life. He also liked to conduct experiments in the basement.

Al not only played hard, but also worked hard. At the age of 12, he sold fruit, snacks and newspapers on a train as a "news butcher." He even printed his own newspaper, the Grand Trunk Herald, on a moving train. At 15, Al roamed the country as a "tramp telegrapher." Using a kind of alphabet called Morse Code, he sent and received messages over the telegraph. Even though he was already losing his hearing, he could still hear the clicks of the telegraph. In the next seven years, he moved over a dozen times, often working all night, taking messages for trains and even for the Union Army during the Civil War. In his spare time, he took things apart to see how they worked. Finally, he decided to invent things himself.

After the failure of his first invention, the electric vote recorder, Edison moved to New York City. There, he improved the way the stock ticker worked. This was his big break. By 1870, his company was manufacturing his stock ticker in Newark, New Jersey. He also improved the telegraph, making it send up to four messages at once.

Wanting a quieter spot to do more inventing, Edison moved from Newark to Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876. There, he built his most famous laboratory. He was not alone in Menlo Park. Edison hired "muckers" to help him out. These "muckers" came from all over the world to make their fortune in America. They often stayed up all night working with the "chief mucker," Edison himself. He is sometimes called the "Wizard of Menlo Park" because he created two of his three greatest works there.

Starting in 1878, Edison and the muckers worked on one of his greatest achievements. The electric light system was more than just the "light bulb." Edison also designed a system of power plants that make the electrical power and the wiring that brings it to people's homes. Imagine all the things you "plug in." What would your life be like without them?

In 1885, one year after his first wife died, Edison met a 20-year-old woman named Mina Miller. Edison taught her Morse Code. Even when others were around, the couple could "talk" to each other secretly. One day he tapped a question into her hand: would she marry him? She tapped back the word "yes." Mina Edison wanted a home in the country, so Edison bought Glenmont, a 29-room home with 13 1/2 acres of land in West Orange, New Jersey.

In 1887, Edison built a laboratory in West Orange that was ten times larger than the one in Menlo Park. In fact, it was one of the largest laboratories in the world, almost as famous as Edison himself. Well into the night, laboratory buildings glowed with electric light while the Wizard and his "muckers" turned Edison's dreams into inventions.

Edison also worked on X-rays, storage batteries, and the first talking doll. At West Orange, he also worked on one of his greatest ideas: motion pictures, or "movies." The inventions made here changed the way we live even today. He worked here until his death on October 18, 1931, at the age of 84.

By that time, everyone had heard of the "Wizard" and looked up to him. The whole world called him a genius. But he knew that having a good idea was not enough. It takes hard work to make dreams into reality. That is why Edison liked to say, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."

12. Why did Thomas Edison not go to school?

1)   His mother was a teacher and wanted to teach him herself.

2)   He was far behind in his studies.

3)   Edison didn't read enough at school, so he asked to study at home.

4)   He didn't want to study at all.

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13. Which of the following sentences is FALSE?

1)   Edison worked long hours in his youth.

2)   Edison couldn't hear well while working as a tramp telegrapher.

3)   Edison improved the telegraph when he worked as a tramp telegrapher.

4)   Edison liked to understand how mechanisms worked.

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14. What was the event after which Thomas Edison became famous?

1)   He invented the electric vote recorder.

2)   He moved to New York City.

3)   He improved the telegraph, making it send 4 messages at once.

4)   He made the stock ticker work better.

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15. Who were the "muckers"?

1)   People who wanted to get rich.

2)   People who invented something and then got hired by Edison.

3)   People who dreamed of working with Edison.

4)   Teenagers who wanted to succeed in engineering.

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16. Why did Thomas Edison move to New Jersey?

1)   He wanted to build the largest laboratory and there was a good place in New Jersey.

2)   His second wife wanted to live near nature.

3)   He was offered a good job in New Jersey.

4)   He dreamed of living in New Jersey all his life, so he finally fulfilled a dream.

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17. The word "glowed" ("laboratory buildings glowed with electric light...") in the 8th paragraph is synonymous to…

1)   glittered.

2)   burnt.

3)   flashed.

4)   shone.

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18. Thomas Edison believed that…

1)   hard work was an essential part of becoming a genius.

2)   inspiration was highly important when inventing something.

3)   only clever people achieved success.

4)   if you really wanted to, all your dreams would come true.

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