My love of building things began when I was a kid. It wasn’t until I ________ about Thomas Edison, though, that I really became excited about inventing.

When I was in fourth grade, our teacher gave us a ________. We had to write to a company and learn about the products it made. Each student would then give a report in front of the class. I ________ the Thomas A. Edison Company.

Soon after I wrote to the company, our postman, ________ a package to me. It contained a book about the life of Thomas Edison. How I ________ reading and rereading about his inventions! The ones that ________ me most were movies, recorded sound, and the electric light. Edison became my hero.

My dad noticed my interest in inventing and ________ me. He showed me how to turn my ideas into plans and, finally, into new things.

Together, my dad and I repaired radios and televisions. Once, I made a ________ to adjust (调整) the brakes (刹车片) of our car. This surprised my dad so much. Later, we found a similar tool in a store. That’s when I learnt that ________ inventors often invent similar things. It is not ________ for this to happen. I also learnt that not all great ideas work. ________ is a common part of the inventing ________.

As my father and I worked together, I began to ________ that my dad was quite an inventor himself. His guiding hands, together with my ________ in inventing, led me to become an engineer and inventor. But I am ________ to Thomas Edison, too, for first lighting that bulb (电灯泡) inside me.

I’m good at my schoolwork, but for some reason, I have a very bad habit of losing things.

Last summer, I was on vacation with my family at the beach. On the first day, my father gave me a watch. “You need to have a watch, so take good care of it,” he said.

The next day, I went swimming. The sun was shining on the water. The water was warm and beautiful. I really enjoyed being in the water.

When I returned to beach, I was quite tired so I lay down. At that moment, I wanted to see what time it was. But the watch was gone! I looked for it all afternoon, but I could not find it.

That night at dinner, my sister asked, “What time is it?”

“Ask Tom,” my mother said. “He has a new watch.”

Dad looked at me and said, “Don’t tell me that you’ve lost the watch already!”

“No!” I said. I was sweating (出汗) with great fear. I knew I was going to be caught in a terrible lie. Just then, there was an announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen, a very nice watch was found on the beach today. If you lost one and can identify (确认) it, please come to the front desk.”At once, I knew what I had to do. I slowly got up, with my whole family staring at me. I went to the desk. There it was. The watch was not broken. It was still working.

I walked back to the table, sat down and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell the truth.” My family smiled. They knew that I had finally learned my lesson.

“Don’t tell it to anyone.” We hear these words before or after someone tells a secret to us. But it can be hard to keep a secret. We just can’t help “spiling the beans”, even if we regret it later.

One expert explains why keeping a secret is a challenge. According to Dr Asim Shah, keeping a secret may become a burden. As soon as you tell somebody not to repeat your secret, they begin to have an obsessive urge (过分冲动) to share it with others.

With secrets so often getting out, why do people share them in the first place? Shah explained one is that people often feel like it will help them keep close friendships with others. However, linking telling someone your secrets with how close you are to them is not always advisable. It’s important for people to understand that they can have close relationships without sharing their secrets unnecessarily.

Another reason is that people feel guilty (内疚的) about not sharing a secret. For example, if your friends tell you a secret but you don’t share it with those close to you, you may feel ashamed. If you don’t share certain things with them, a sense of distrust can develop. Keeping or sharing secrets often puts people in a position of either losing or winning the trust of someone.

He added that people who are more talkative may let a secret slip out, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to share secrets with quieter people. If somebody is quiet and keeps everything in, it may cause them to have more stress, and finally they will talk to somebody.

“If you end up accidentally sharing a secret with somebody else, it’s best to be honest and let the person know that you shared his or her secret and that it isn’t so secret anymore,” Shah said.

①Of all the animals on Earth, none are more willing to explore than humans. Other animals will go in search of food or water. But humans are searching for possibilities of discovery (发现). So what caused us to explore across the world?

②Maybe it’s in our DNA. In 1999, Dr. Chuansheng Chen carried out a study of a gene (基因) known as DRD4-7R. This gene is found in about 20% of all humans. This kind of people are mostly interested in taking risk, exploring, and getting new ideas. Dr. Chen found that DRD4-7R is more common in people who move around a lot than those who don’t. For example, studies in Africa show that the gene is much more common in nomadic tribes (游牧的部落) than in tribes that like to stay in one place better. Several other researchers have studied this topic and found out more to support Dr. Chen’s research.

③But can one gene be a drive (驱动) for the need to explore? Dr. Kidd doesn’t think so. He thinks DRD4-7R might make people get more curious (好奇的), but other important sets genes also give us great minds and skilled hands. He believes that not just one gene, but groups of genes work together to create behaviors like exploration.

④The environment we live in also makes much difference to our need to explore. For example, during the European Age of Exploration, explorers became rich and famous for their discoveries. This made others try to make themselves become rich through exploration too. Therefore, their exploration was more likely encouraged by money than by genes.

⑤Maybe the need to explore comes from something inside us, such as the DRD4-7R gene. Or maybe it has more to do with what’s happening in the world around us. Maybe it’s both. Whatever the reason, it seems we (or at least some of us) will keep exploring the mountains, the sea, the stars, and so on because that’s just what humans do.

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