When the Farnsworth family moved to their new farm in 1919, eleven-year-old Phil

When the Farnsworth family moved to their new farm in1919, eleven-year-old Philo was surprised to find it wired for electricity.This unusual circumstance contributed to his fate — to become an importantinventor of the twentieth century.

    By thirteen, Farnsworth had becomea self-taught electrical engineer. He was able to fix the farm’s generator（发电机）when none of the adults could. In 1922, he read anarticle about a new idea of John Baird, a Scottish scientist, who had beenworking with the cathode ray tube (阴极射线管) for thetransmission of electronic pictures and wanted to attempt it himself.

    Farnsworth studied everything hecould find on the subject. Although many older engineers with money backerswere already developing television, Farnsworth made a bold decision — he wasgoing to perfect a working model of it before anybody else.

    In college, Farnsworth continuedhis research with cathode ray and vacuum tubes, but the death of his father,the only money maker in the family, forced him to give up this research andfind a job. His first job was for George Everson, with whom Farnsworthdiscussed his dream of television. While acknowledging the achievements ofthose who came before, Farnsworth thought that he could get closer. Eversonagreed to risk $6,000 for the research.

    Backers came in 1927 to see thefirst American television, one year after Baird’s. They were astonished to seethe image of a single white line resolve itself on the screen before them, andagreed that this new invention was worth putting money into.

    In 1930, Farnsworth won a patent (专利权) for his all-electronic TV. By the time he died, he hadearned over 300 American and foreign patents for electronic and mechanicaldevices.

1.When Farnsworth was at a young age, he _______

A. had to drop out of school to help on the familyfarm

B. was sent to school to study electrical engineering

C. wanted to be the first person to invent thetelevision

D. had shown a surprising ability in the electricalfield

2.What difficulty did Farnsworth meet when he firstbegan his research on the television?

A. His parents didn’t support his work.

B. He didn’t have enough knowledge in this field.

C. He didn’t have enough money for his research.

D. No one was interested in this research.

3.How old was Philo Farnsworth when he invented thefirst American television?

A. 11.                 B.13.        C. 19.       D.22.

4.From the passage, we can learn that Farnsworth is______.

A. the first person who worked for the transmission ofelectronic pictures

B. an inventor who improved on somebody else’s idea

C. an inventor who always came up with an originalidea

D. a person who earned over 300 American patents for electronicdevices   

试题答案

【答案】

1.D

2.C

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题