Bài tập đọc hiểu (Có đáp án) (Đề 2)

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A large number of inventions require years of arduous research and development before they are perfected. For instance, Thomas Edison had to make more than 1,000 attempts to invent the incandescent light bulb before he finally succeeded. History is replete with numerous other examples of people trying, yet failing to make inventions before they eventually succeeded. Yet some inventions have come about not through hard work but simply by accident.

In most cases, when someone unintentionally invented something, the inventor was attempting to create something else. For example, in the 1930s, chemist Roy Plunkett was attempting to make a new substance that could be used to refrigerate items. He mixed some chemicals together. Then, he put them into a pressurized container and cooled the mixture. By the time his experiment was complete, he had a new invention. It was not a new substance that could be used for refrigeration though. Instead, he had invented Teflon, which is today most commonly used to make nonstick pots and pans. Similarly, decades earlier, John Pemberton was a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia. He was attempting to create a tonic that people could use whenever they had headaches. While he was not successful in that endeavor, he managed to invent Coca - Cola, the world - famous carbonated soft drink.

Scientists have also made crucial discoveries by accident when they were conducting experiments. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, an antibiotic, in this manner. He discovered some mold growing in a dish with some bacteria. He noticed that the bacteria seemed to be avoiding the mold. When he investigated further, he determined some of the many useful properties of penicillin, which has saved millions of lives over the past few decades. Likewise, in 1946, scientist Percy Spencer was conducting an experiment with microwaves. He had a candy bar in his pocket, and he noticed that it suddenly melted. He investigated and learned the reason why that had happened. Soon afterward, he built a device that could utilize microwaves to heat food: the microwave oven.

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In 1752, Benjamin Franklin made his textbook experiment with a brass key and a silk kite that he flew in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning and electricity are the same thing. In 1920, a kite-flying championship for families and individuals was held in London. These two seemingly unrelated events underscore the fact that kites can be flown for both pleasure and scientific purposes. For example, in the 1800s weather bureaus flew kites to record temperature and humidity at certain altitudes. On one occasion, ten kites were strung together and flown at a height of four miles to lift men and carry cameras aloft.

The kite’s ability to fly depends on its construction and the way that its line is attached. The familiar diamond - shaped kite flies when its covered face is aligned against the wind flow. The line attached to the nose of the kite pulls it into the wind, thus creating the necessary angle for the lift force. If the kite’s construction and the angle of the air stream are correct, the kite will encounter greater pressure against its face and lower pressure against its back. The difference in the pressure creates a lift that causes the kite to rise until it hangs level from its bridle. Its angle against the wind should be sufficiently large or small to create maximum lift to overcome both drag and gravity. The towing point to which the line is attached is important because it sets the kite’s angle relative to the air flow. Although the kite must be headed up and into the wind with a velocity of 8 to 20 miles per hour, it can maintain its position through a tail, a rudder, a keel, vents, or tassels.

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The official residence of the president of the United States is the White House, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, D.C. The Commissioners of the District of Columbia held a meeting in 1792 and decided to hold a contest for the best design for the Presidential House. James Hoban, an architect born in Ireland, was the winner. His bid for the construction of the mansion asked for $200,000, but the final cost of the building came to twice that amount. The work on the project began during the same year, and the grounds of approximately one and a half miles west of the Capitol Hill were chosen by Major Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, who was in charge of city planning. However, the construction continued for several more years, and George Washington had stepped down as president before the building was habitable. When John Adams, the second president of the United States and his wife Abigail moved in 1800, only six rooms had been completed.

The grey sandstone walls of the house were painted white during construction, and the color of the paint gave the building its name. The building was burned on August 24, 1814, and James Hoban reconstructed the house for President James Monroe and his family, who moved there in 1817. The north portico was added to the building in 1829, water pipes were installed in 1833, gas lighting in 1848, and electricity in 1891. In 1948, inspectors announced that the building was so dilapidated that it was beyond repair and suggested that it was cheaper to construct a new one than repair the existing dwelling. However, the national sentiment was to keep the original form intact, and Congress appropriated $5.4 million dollars for repairs. In 1961, Jacqueline Kennedy launched a program to redecorate the rooms and appointed a Fine Arts Committee to make choices of furnishing and colors.

The house of the president accords its residents a great deal of space. The living quarters contain 107 rooms, 40 corridors, and 19 baths. The White House contains a doctor’s suite, a dentist’s office, a large solarium, a broadcasting room, and a two-floor basement for storage and service rooms. The office in which the president works is not located in the White House, but in a separate building called the West Wing. The White House stands on 16 acres of parklike land and overlooks a broad lawn, flower gardens, and wood groves.

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There is a wide range of organisms by their population whose lives mostly depend on how they hunt or are hunted. And most living organisms have some way of protecting themselves from natural predators. Some mammals, like the platypus, carry internal toxins to transmit to predators via biting or other means, and some plants protect themselves by being poisonous. The African crested rat was originally thought to be poisonous because predators that tried to eat it often became paralyzed. But scientists have recently learned that's not actually the case.

The crested rat chews on the poisonous bark of a certain tree, and then smears the chewed-up substance onto its fur, where a strip of special quill-like hairs soaks up the poisonous mixture. Though similar to a porcupine's, the quills do differ: whereas the porcupine defends itself by poking predators, the African rat uses its quill-like hairs to deliver poison to them. When a predator comes after it, instead of running away, the rat stays put and parts its hair to reveal the strip of fur on its back where the poison is being stored. That raised strip is the first thing that receives a bite, and the poison inside disables the predator. These hair tubes are unusual. In fact, scientists do not know of another animal that uses plant poison in this way.

Scientists are puzzled that the rat doesn't appear to be affected by the poison. Because it affects

heartbeat regulation, understanding how the rat can keep its heart rate regulated effectively while using the poison could help scientists develop new medicines for people with heart trouble. And they hope that those suffering from heart diseases will benefit from this.

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The end of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century were marked by the development of an international Art Nouveau style, characterized by sinuous lines, floral and vegetable motifs, and soft evanescent coloration. The Art Nouveau style was an eclectic one, bringing together elements of Japanese art, motifs of ancient cultures, and natural forms. The glass objects of this style were elegant in outline, although often deliberately distorted, with pale or iridescent surfaces. A favored device of the style was to imitate the iridescent surface seen on ancient glass that had been buried. Much of the Art Nouveau glass produced during the years of its greatest popularity had been generically termed “art glass.” Art glass was intended for decorative purposes and relied for its effect on carefully chosen color combinations and innovative techniques.

France produced a number of outstanding exponents of the Art Nouveau style; among the most celebrated was Emile Galle (1846-1904). In the United States, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1843-1933) was the most noted exponent of this style, producing a great variety of glass forms and surfaces, which were widely copied in their time and are highly prized today. Tiffany was a brilliant designer, successfully combining ancient Egyptian, Japanese, and Persian motifs.

The Art Nouveau style was a major force in the decorative arts from 1895 until 1915, although its influence continued throughout the mid-1920’s.It was eventually to be overtaken by a new school of thought known as Functionalism that had been present since the turn of the century. At first restricted to a small avant-garde group of architects and designers, Functionalism emerged as the dominant influence upon designers after the First World War. The basic tenet of the movement-that function should determine form-was not a new concept. Soon a distinct aesthetic code evolved: from should be simple, surfaces plain, and any ornament should be based on geometric relationships. This new design concept, coupled with the sharp postwar reactions to the styles and conventions of the preceding decades, created an entirely new public taste which caused Art Nouveau types of glass to fall out of favor. The new taste demanded dramatic effects of contrast, stark outline and complex textural surfaces.